Second bachelor's or master's degree?

[ekm0924]

Hello Everyone,

Just signed up and I'm sure this will be the first of many questions. I have a bachelor's degree and was a history major. I only took an intro to psych course so I definitely don't have enough coursework to apply right now to a doctoral program. I also have no clinical or research experience. So I know I should get another degree before I apply for a doctorate. I'm thinking I probably want to apply for a Psyd program. Should I get a second bachelor's in psychology or should I get a master's? If I get a master's, I will have to take pre-req's just to get into that, so it would definitely take more time. What does everyone think I should do?

Thanks!

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[Ollie123]

No need to go all the way for a second bachelor's, unless you want to. As long as you have a fair amount of coursework, you should be fine applying without a psych degree. I know several people in my program did not do psych undergrads and they're doing just fine. In some ways its actually a good thing...we need more diversity in this field. Not just the usual ethnic/racial/sexuality/etc. diversity (though we need that too) but diverse ways of thinking.

Take some foundation coursework and make sure to nail the psych GRE and you should be fine applying with a history degree. I don't mean to discourage you from doing a second bachelor's if that's what you want, just know that it isn't necessary to be accepted, and would likely just be some additional debt since you'd probably need more than just some pre-reqs to get a bachelor's degree in it.

In fact, one of my professors got accepted to and got his PhD in psychology from Stanford after doing his undergrad in history.

 

[JockNerd]

I agree with Ollie, but maybe also look into how much work it would be to get a second degree. I don't know how long you've been out of school, but at my UG if your degree is less than 7 years old you can apply credits to a new degree. So, your history courses could fill all your elective hours and you would only take the courses necessary to get a psych BA/BSc. That would be about two years, which is also a good amount of time to get some RA experience and volunteer somewhere. That would set you up in great shape for application time. Just one option to consider.

 

[deleted176373]

Hello Everyone,

Just signed up and I'm sure this will be the first of many questions. I have a bachelor's degree and was a history major. I only took an intro to psych course so I definitely don't have enough coursework to apply right now to a doctoral program. I also have no clinical or research experience. So I know I should get another degree before I apply for a doctorate. I'm thinking I probably want to apply for a Psyd program. Should I get a second bachelor's in psychology or should I get a master's? If I get a master's, I will have to take pre-req's just to get into that, so it would definitely take more time. What does everyone think I should do?

Thanks!

As others have said a sufficiently high score on the Psychology Subject GRE test is often accepted as proof of a sufficient psychology backgound, however if you want to apply to a Psy.D. program you might want to get some experience on a rape or suicide crisis line or some other clinically relevant experience.

Contact the programs you want to apply to (unless you have your apps and GRE scores in hand you are probably too late to apply to a Psy.D. or Ph.D. program for this year.) and find out what they want from candidates who are coming out of a different major. The programs will tell you what you need as a minimum before applying. So start by identifying programs now!

Attempting a psychology masters program with no undergraduate background in psychology would be challenging but not impossible though. Personally, I think it would be better to have the second B.A. degree as opposed to the masters degree. It will take about the same time but give you a broader understanding of psychology with a greater probability of maintaining a high GPA while the tuition would likely be less expensive.

The upside to a masters degree is the likelihood of clinical and experimental research. These are important factors to consider, but if you are clever in pursuing a second B.A. you can accomplish these same things. It's important to realize that there is no right answer here. All the different paths can all work and mine contribution here is just suggestion.

Mark