Should I go into forensic psychology? Is it worth it?

[Odyssey2077]

Hi,
I just found this website and I thought this might be the perfect place to ask some questions.

I'm going into college soon and I was thinking about majoring in psychology. I was reading about all of the different psychology career paths and forensic psychology caught my interest. Correct me if i'm wrong but I've also read that it's better to have a niche in psychology than to be a general clinical psychologist. If that's true then something like forensic seems more appealing.

I have a few questions.
Besides the long time commitment, would you say it's "hard" to get a doctorate degree in clinical/forensic psychology?
Should I aim for a PhD or a PsyD? (from what I understand this is a touchy subject)
Should I get a Master's degree or should I jump right into PhD/PsyD?
What is the estimated amount of debt I will I have by the end?
Is forensic psychology competitive? Is it hard to find a good job?
What is the average salary?
What is it like on a day to day basis?
Is it fulfilling or does burn out happen pretty quickly?
In general is it worth it to try to become a forensic psychologist?

Any other general advice you could give me would be valuable.
Thanks in advance!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[deleted343839]

You are many steps ahead of yourself. My advice for now is:

1. Take introductory psychology and maybe a stats/research methods in psychology course; these are fairly useful courses for anyone. Take courses in other areas that interest you also. Really take full advantage of the breadth that an undergraduate degree affords you. You will never again have this much opportunity to explore so many different fields and disciplines.

2. If after (1) you remain very interested in psychology as a career, get volunteer experience in a research lab on campus. Consider declaring a major in psychology if you have not done so by this point.

3. Continue (2) for a couple of years, while remaining open to other fields/areas.

4. Make excellent grades. If you are struggling in a course, get help and take ownership of your own learning. There are a lot of kinds of help but you have to ask/seek it out.

5. If after (1) through (3) you are absolutely passionate about a career about a career in psychology, talk seriously to your professors, the faculty member who runs the lab/research group you've been working for (see 2 and 3). Get their suggestions on your readiness to apply to graduate school, whom they would recommend working with, etc. Academic psychology is not a huge world and it pays to develop relationships with people in the field.

6. Come back to SDN if you have questions, though if you really do a good job of all of the above steps you probably won't need to, or you will have moved on to a more interesting, lucrative, and/or accessible field.

 

[Sanman]

What exactly are you picturing doing within forensic psychology. I would venture to guess that the most common job is simply psychologist in a prison. Yet this is not what people have in their head.

 

[PsyDuck90]

What exactly are you picturing doing within forensic psychology. I would venture to guess that the most common job is simply psychologist in a prison. Yet this is not what people have in their head.

Agreed. Forensic Psychology doesn't make you the guys from Criminal Minds. Forensic psych is also relatively broad in research scope, with things like eye witness testimony, sexual offending, domestic violence, law enforcement assessments, etc. all falling under that umbrella.

You are still very, very early in your academic career. MamaPhD gave great advice on how you should proceed. Most people end up changing their majors. I have a friend who did biology as an undergrad and then did a PhD in sociology. Explore in undergrad and find out what interests you. There's a reason most schools don't make you declare a major right away.

My research and academics have fallen within forensic psych and I met so many people who were there because they watched a lot of crime dramas and want to work with the FBI. If the idea of forensic psychology excites you because you want to profile serial killers, then that isn't realistic. If you have an interest in the intersection of psychology and the legal system, then it may be a good niche.

 

[PsyDr]

If you expect to be a profiler, or do anything related to silence of the lambs; you are not looking to become a forensic psychologist. Those people are uneducated profilers and they are in general, *****s. Yes, I have said this to their faces. Those people are generally FBI agents, who heavily recruits out of law schools.

The majority of crime is mundane, stupid, and inebriated. You will not be searching for super smart serial killers. You will be dealing with the socially immature basement dweller with an IQ just over ******ed who downloaded my little pony kiddie porn. Maybe you do threat assessments. Maybe you do therapy trying to get them to understand kids are off limits or trying to get them to cope with being in prison which looks like it sucks.

The formal jobs in this field pay baaaaad. Like you would be better off going to work for enterprise rentacar after undergrad. Except the CA bureau of prisons which can’t keep psychologists for at least the last 10 years. Should tell you how awesome those jobs are.