Hi, everyone!
Long story short - I have a background in Econ, with an interest and some experience in Behavioral Econ. I'm set to pursue a PhD in Econ next year, at a top 10 department. However, during my gap year, I figured out that my interest in Econ may not have been really in Econ, but much more in the psychology of it. In general, I spend a lot of my time thinking about why people do things, what their reasons are, if they're 'right' reasons, if something caused it, how do people find meaning etc. Psychology was never a major I'd considered, because, in my country (non-US), it's hardly taken seriously or done well. When I started to look it up and take some online classes this year, I realised I like it a lot and might want to pursue a research career in it. This is purely hypothetical, for now, but:
1) If I apply for a Psychology PhD at top 20-departments, with zero classes in Psychology and an Econ background, would I have a shot?
2) If I 'shadow' or attend Psychology classes at my uni during the PhD and even take summer courses in Psychology, to gain some background and much needed recommendation letters, would it make a difference? This would mean sabotaging my Econ PhD grades and time, but could it increase my odds and help get me into a good department, such that it would be worth it?
Again, all this is just for exploratory purposes. My mind is not set yet, but I'm wondering if such a transition could be made. Thanks.