"Your life soley on this"

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Welcome to being highly qualified. I'm considering work as a Theology professor and I'm looking at a very similar length of schooling if I go through it.

[xblack_x_rosesx]

I ... cracked.

I started freaking out tonight, I think my mental health just blew. I'm light headed, and I keep forgetting where I am... >< Plus I keep hearing voices, and seeing things, and that only happens when I'm very very very stressed out.
I am definetely taking a mental health day tommorow.

I'm psyching myself out WAY too much about this.
I really can't take this.

[goldenspines]

Just relax, Roses. ^^ Rely on God, He can balance everything in your life perfectly, no matter how impossible it may seem to you, He can make anything happen. Don't see this as a life or death situation(because it really shouldn't be), see it as an opportunity to step back and ask God where He wants you to go with your life. He has your best interests in mind and knows the deepest desires of your heart. ^_^

I'll be praying for you.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Relax, but you gotta know if you're going for anything regarding psychological therapy or anything in that medically general direction that you're gonna be bringin' your work home and it is gonna be seriously stressful. Look for a career where you feel like you'll be having fun while you work! ^-^

[Warrior4Christ]

Anyway, I talked to a professor from the University I'm attending, and he told me that it'll take me 4 years to complete my undergrad, 2 years to complete my MA, and 3-4 years for the Ph.D.
So, essentially 10 years of schooling.
Dewd.

Is it possible to do an honours year after the undergraduate part, then go straight to PhD? Is Masters a prerequisite for a PhD?
Yes, it's a long time... that's why I'm not doing a PhD... yet.

(Computer Science is not Arts!)

[termyt]

You don't need a medical degree. If you want to be a psychiatrist, then you need a medical degree. Psychologists do not. The basic difference is focus of study – psychiatrists are MD’s (and thus can prescribe medicine) and psychologists, while they still usually have a PhD or a PsyD, are not Medical Doctors (so they don’t use drugs to treat patients). Psychologists don’t go to med school and don’t do a residency but they will still need to have an internship of at least 2 years.

Don't let the "Science" in Bachelor of Science scare you, though. That does not necessarily mean taking chemistry and physics. It has more to do with the approach to the subject – kind of like the difference between learning how something works vs. why it works. Most of the courses you would take would be the same, I'd think.

Ten years of schooling may seem like a lot, especially at 17 and just finishing up 12 years - your whole life has been in school. However, 10 years is not that long.

Even still, there's plenty to do with a psych degree that does not require a doctorate. You could work for the government in welfare or child services or any number of other offices. Also study Education and you could become a Guidance Counselor at a school. Study business and you would do well in advertising.

It’s not necessarily true that the more education you have, the more jobs that are open to you. Getting a doctorate may open the door to becoming a psychiatrist or psychologist, but it will likely close the door on counselor since not many employers will want to pay for a PhD.

[Dante]

But seriously.
10 YEARS?! To be a shrink? 10 years?! Thats... ridiculous! =\

If you wouldn't want to spend 10 years studying the major then maybe it isn't the right one for you.

Idea: Most college kids have no clue what they want to major in right off the bat, so that's why most universities require them to take a bazzillion courses in various areas like the social sciences, history, math, science, writing ect. ect. ect... One idea is to perhaps take out the lower division courses required for most degrees at a community college and then transfer the credits over afterwards. (I'm suggesting this because community colleges generally cost less (GCC, is less then $2000 a semester last I checked) and focus on lower division courses.

Doing this you could try out Comp Science and other ideas in order to see if you might actually enjoy studying it for ten years at a university and the rest of your life outside academia.

-Pascal

PS This semester marks the end of my tenth year in college, its not that bad! I have over 250 credits to show for it too!

[Etoh*the*Greato]

o.O you've been in college since you were 12?

[Kat Walker]

Well, there's a lot you can do with a psychology degree - true, to get into a solid career you often (but not always) have to add a master's (or in some advanced fields, a PhD) in a specific discipline onto your studies - all of those would require a psych background anyway.

If you're willing to put in the work and go all the way, that hardly leaves you with a choice between teaching and working at McDonald's! Here's some of your options:

Speech Language Pathologist

Counselor or therapist

Social Worker

Rehabilitation psychologist or therapist

Paid researcher for a university or a pharmaceutical company

School counselor

Child/Developmental psychologist (diagnosing and treating mental disorders in very young children or the elderly)

Special education teacher

Social Psychologists (as some people have mentioned, psych degrees are sometimes sought after by marketing companies, since you need to know how people's minds work, how they perceive messages, and what the best ways are to get them to buy something)

Clinical neuropsychology (more medical and hard science than other branches of psychology - it involves how various diseases and injuries of the brain affect emotion, perception, and behavior, and how to treat them)

Government service (forensic psychologists are needed in many criminal investigations)

Engineering psychologists (making technology more user-friendly and intuitive, basically)

Try to think about which sounds best to you and do lots of research.

[ich1990]

One idea is to perhaps take out the lower division courses required for most degrees at a community college and then transfer the credits over afterwards. (I'm suggesting this because community colleges generally cost less (GCC, is less then $2000 a semester last I checked) and focus on lower division courses.

I highly recommend this approach. I was lucky enough to have a community college nearby that offered classes I enjoyed and classes that transferred to my university of choice. It is an extremely cheap (with scholarships, it is sometimes free) way to get those lower level courses out of the way and help you decide what career field you want to go into.

PS This semester marks the end of my tenth year in college, its not that bad! I have over 250 credits to show for it too!

Congrats! I just finished up my fifth year this semester. Like you say, ten years isn't as long as it seems. In fact, I found that once you get into the "groove", the years seem to evaporate. Time goes by a little too fast for me.

Well, there's a lot you can do with a psychology degree - true, to get into a solid career you often (but not always) have to add a master's (or in some advanced fields, a PhD) in a specific discipline onto your studies - all of those would require a psych background anyway.

Government service (forensic psychologists are needed in many criminal investigations)

Yes. I have a friend who just got a job working for the FBI as a psychologist. She had a masters degree (and a couple of years of work experience).

[Lochaber Axe]

How about taking the first two years at a community (or junior) college and then transferring to a four year when you know what you want to do? Its cheaper, and for the most part, the first two years are usually High School 2.0.

Oh and on theology... you can get a masters in a seminary with any bachelor degree.

[ADXC]

Yeah, I plan upon graduating this year to go to my local community and get all of those classes that I need to do out of the way before I deciding what I really want to do.

Don't worry I have some ideas of career choices, but I haven't set anything in stone.

[Dante]

o.O you've been in college since you were 12?

Yep!

http://www.tensor-industries.com/Beyond_The_Horizon.html
-Pictures! (And an ocean of too many words)

Congrats! I just finished up my fifth year this semester. Like you say, ten years isn't as long as it seems. In fact, I found that once you get into the "groove", the years seem to evaporate. Time goes by a little too fast for me.

Congratulations! Sounds like we started out about the same age