Quote:
Originally posted by AlphaChiS2K
It's true that it's a long road. But so is pre-med, and I'm sure your parents would have no problem if that was your intended major! People somethimes think psychology is a fluff subject, but it's not. My focus is neuropsychology, which requires a lot of bio and chem classes on brain function and behavior. It's not just Freud anymore!
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AlphaChiS2k, thank you so much for your post - it really helped to reassure me! I'm so afraid that my parents will force me to change majors...since they will be paying all four years of my college education (if I go to a University of California, it will probably be five years), I'm afraid that I might not have any say? My sister was a "very good" daughter and ended up with both Accounting
and Business degrees!
They ask me how come I can't be more like her.
But what they don't understand, no matter how many times I tell them, is that I love psychology and think I would be very good at it. Actually, I was talking with my counselor one day at school, and she volunteered to call my parents to tell them how much I would excel as a psychologist, that I have a talent for it, etc. etc. They still haven't quite warmed up to it, though. But sometimes, my parents do say, "So little psychologist, what do you think of this?"
But I do wonder if that's just a joke...they are not being serious about it since I am not yet a full psych major.
You made such a brilliant point about the pre-med thing...gosh, my parents would fall to the ground with delirious happiness if I were to say, "Mom, Dad, I've decided that I wanna become a doctor!" Not happening, though
. Like you pointed out, they still do not believe that becoming a psychologist is such a respected position. I have to remind them that psychology is fast becoming a science, not just a social science. (In fact, that part bugs me - I cannot stand biology, to be honest. In my AP Psych class, I struggle with the chapters on the brain. Though I manage to get good grades on those chapters still, I'm afraid that I won't be able to succeed in college as a psych major if I loathe biology.)
If I were to focus on developmental or social psych, would I have to study a lot of things on the brain? Probably, huh? Also, I'm afraid that the colleges that I'm interested in do not have the five-year plans
. But, the fact that some companies will pay you to attend grad school is very cool; my sister was also paid by her company to get her MBA. She hasn't yet, though.
I think that I would probably go for a Ph.D., but I'm not sure because I think I would like to do research, but I would also like to hold a private office where patients could visit me. But I don't think people would go to a social/developmental psychologist for therapy!!
Sorry for such a long post, AlphaChiS2k, and thanks again!