BA or BS Psychology Degree

[Renaissance_Man]

I hope someone might help me with this question. I want to become a neuropsychologist. Would a BA in Psychology be detrimental towards my path in becoming a neuropsychologist? Ideally, I want a BA in Psychology, because I want my minor in Philosophy. I absolutely love Philosophy and Psychology. However, that mixture of degrees is rather extinct--or so it seems to me.

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[futureapppsy2]

No. If you are interested in nueropsych, classes like neuroautonomy might be vaguely helpful, but even then. you'll get much more in depth content on that in your graduate training. If you want to get a PhD in psychology, getting solid research experience is much more important than what exact classes you take, IMO, assuming you cover the basics (e.g., abnormal, research methods, stats, etc).

 

[473912]

BA vs BS doesn't matter. A degree in Biology or chemistry or biochemistry would work as well also, especially if you want to do research. You'll get the majority of it in your grad training. If you do plan on going outside a UG psych degree, make sure you take the common pre-reqs anyway if you're going to fold back into psychology (Intro, Abnormal, Social, etc, or whatever your grad school wants).

 

[Renaissance_Man]

Thank you both for your valuable response!

 

[deleted343839]

I absolutely love Philosophy and Psychology. However, that mixture of degrees is rather extinct--or so it seems to me.

Don't give up hope: http://www.socphilpsych.org/

 

[smalltownpsych]

Philosophy is, of course, the foundation for psychology. Perhaps even more so than for other sciences. I also think that a study of philosophy benefits research and practice of psychology. The reality is that many of my undergrad philosophy classes (I took a few as electives, too) have been more useful to me in the post grad world than my psychology classes. The two big exceptions to this would be my biopsych and research methods classes. Just make sure to get some solid research experience under your belt and the doctoral programs will be glad to have someone who has a philosophical bent.

 

[QAsPsych]

Don't give up hope: http://www.socphilpsych.org/

We even have a division of APA: http://www.theoreticalpsychology.org/index.php

 

[Renaissance_Man]

Don't give up hope: http://www.socphilpsych.org/

Thank you MamaPhD for the link! I wasn't aware of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology. It got me excited. I will definitely sign up for it. =)

 

[Renaissance_Man]

Philosophy is, of course, the foundation for psychology. Perhaps even more so than for other sciences. I also think that a study of philosophy benefits research and practice of psychology. The reality is that many of my undergrad philosophy classes (I took a few as electives, too) have been more useful to me in the post grad world than my psychology classes. The two big exceptions to this would be my biopsych and research methods classes. Just make sure to get some solid research experience under your belt and the doctoral programs will be glad to have someone who has a philosophical bent.

Kindred spirit. I've always believed Philosophy can benefit anyone, even more so to Psychology majors. It pleases me to read how your Philosophy classes gave you an advantage in your post grad classes. Thank you for your advice and encouragement.

 

[Renaissance_Man]

We even have a division of APA: http://www.theoreticalpsychology.org/index.php

Fascinating stuff. Got it saved to my favorites. Thank you for the link!