Etherea

My research has led me to believe that a PhD is needed to land most jobs, but it's hard to find any first hand information since it's a new field.

I am currently a community college student and will be transferring to university once I complete my AA (two and a half semesters left). I'd be happy to share my experiences (while currently fairly limited, but relevant since you are just starting out). My senior year in high school I decided, to the dismay of my family and friends, not to go to college. It started out as taking a year off, but one year turned to two, then three, and so on. I graduated in 2008 and started my first semester in college in February 2015. I work full time and go to school full time. That's a tough combination, but doable. I don't know if that's your situation, but it sounds to me like you're also a nontraditional student, and most nontrads tend to have to juggle work and school (and whatever else). Going back to school was an adjustment for me. I like learning, I did ok in high school (I didn't apply myself though), but after taking a break I wasn't quite ready for what going to college would mean for me. The course work is, in my opinion, pretty easy to handle. It's the amount of work that gets me, though I've gotten a lot better at prioritizing (having a clear goal in mind helps, even if you do end up changing your mind eventually...I did, a lot). I have taken general psych, developmental psych, am in abnormal psych this semester and I plan on taking human adjustment next semester. General and abnormal psych is really very much like the several psych courses I took in high school (I took two semesters worth). I personally haven't learned anything from general psych and only a bit more from abnormal so far. Developmental psych was great and I'd recommend it to anyone no matter what their major or plans for the future. I loved the class and learned a lot of useful (useful in my slightly geeky mind anyway) information. My interest lies in I/O psychology and that's what I plan to get my doctorate in. I'm excited to get started on more psychology courses and really dig into my major.