Is a Bachelors in Psych advantageous for a PhD in Psych

[tooth decay]

This is a question for a relative of mine. He has a minor in psychology in his undergraduate university. Does finishing (and doing well) and getting a major in psychology as an undergraduate give him any advantage when applying for doctorate programs in psychology? His advisor says no.

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[Ollie123]

As long as he has the necessary courses (stats, research methods, abnormal, etc.) and rocks the psych GRE, its probably not a big deal. More classes is BETTER, but if he has a high GPA and most importantly, some really solid research experience, I doubt it not being a major will keep him from getting in somewhere.

 

[Thrak]

I'd guess not directly. But indirectly, more psych courses usually means more chances for research, and exposure to more topics within psychology, which helps.

 

[psychdude5469]

Not necessarily. My undergrad advisor said that he would actually rather have a student that majored in statistics or math as opposed to a psych major. A psych major prob has more exposure to the issues in psychology and therefore prob has a better idea of why he would want to go into a grad program in psych (as opposed to a math major anyway).

 

[Anx73B]

I'm not a psych major and I got three offers to clinical phd programs straight out of undergrad without taking the subject test. I think research experience is more important than the classes you have taken.

 

[clinpsychjack]

I would say, more often than not, it is advantageous to be a psych major. It shows your long-standing interest in psychology and that you have a strong (assuming you have good grades) knowledge-base of psychology which you can obviously use in grad school. Also, unlike law school, which accepts students from various disciplines and prefers students to come in as "tabula rosa" or as clean slates, most graduate students in psychology were undergraduate psychology majors. However, it is not disadvantageous, per se, to come from another major as long as you have good Psych GRE scores. However, I remember seeing at least one grad school that wouldn't accept any non-psych majors.

 

[MaddieMay]

On the flip side, how important is it to have a BS in psych in order to get into a PsyD program? Especially if it's been 10 years since you graduated and became interested in psychology through work or volunteer experience?