Second B.A. in Psychology

[franki_j]

I am seriously thinking about going back to school for a second undergraduate degree in Psychology.

I received a 3.6 GPA during undergrad with a double major: history/English and finished in 3 years. I spent a year after undergrad waitressing and applying to graduate school. Currently, I am completing a Master's degree at NYU's Interdisciplinary Draper Program, where most of my classes were English/gender studies (I have a 3.7 GPA). I am writing my thesis on white women performing in blackface. My original plan was to apply to English and American Studies PhD programs next year.

Here is where it gets complicated. Last year, I entered therapy for an eating disorder. My therapist helped me so much, and I am still seeing her. Previous to going into therapy, people had always told me what a good listener I was or that I should become a therapist, etc. but I never paid any attention. For me, therapists were something abstract; I never really knew what they did and could never imagine going into therapy or being a therapist, even though I do love to help people (this is one of the things that bothers me about my field; it is pretty elitist and most of the work you are doing has no impact on people in the "real world"). Anyways, as I write my thesis and finish up my MA, I find myself seriously thinking about foregoing my current plan and going back to school to earn another BA in Psychology (I have literally no psychology classes under my belt) in order to apply to PhD programs in Psychology. I am wondering what the people on this board think? I would want to transfer the credits from my first undergrad degree so I would not have to take any core classes and just take the Psych classes and gain research experience as well. Any advice? How doable is this? Thanks in advance!

[svh]

I am seriously thinking about going back to school for a second undergraduate degree in Psychology.

I received a 3.6 GPA during undergrad with a double major: history/English and finished in 3 years. I spent a year after undergrad waitressing and applying to graduate school. Currently, I am completing a Master's degree at NYU's Interdisciplinary Draper Program, where most of my classes were English/gender studies (I have a 3.7 GPA). I am writing my thesis on white women performing in blackface. My original plan was to apply to English and American Studies PhD programs next year.

Here is where it gets complicated. Last year, I entered therapy for an eating disorder. My therapist helped me so much, and I am still seeing her. Previous to going into therapy, people had always told me what a good listener I was or that I should become a therapist, etc. but I never paid any attention. For me, therapists were something abstract; I never really knew what they did and could never imagine going into therapy or being a therapist, even though I do love to help people (this is one of the things that bothers me about my field; it is pretty elitist and most of the work you are doing has no impact on people in the "real world"). Anyways, as I write my thesis and finish up my MA, I find myself seriously thinking about foregoing my current plan and going back to school to earn another BA in Psychology (I have literally no psychology classes under my belt) in order to apply to PhD programs in Psychology. I am wondering what the people on this board think? I would want to transfer the credits from my first undergrad degree so I would not have to take any core classes and just take the Psych classes and gain research experience as well. Any advice? How doable is this? Thanks in advance!

I think this is certainly doable if you really want to abandon your current plans. If you're serious about this, I would suggest you get involved in research immediately. Grad schools will wonder why you made the switch, but I think you have a great story if you just tell them the truth.

[tupacodaman]

First off, I would realllly look into what exactly it is you want to do. From your post, it sounds like you want to go into clinical psych, which I believe is the second most competitive kind of psych grad school. Find someone at the career center to talk with about your current situation and future plans and get feedback from them. It would probably be good to try to talk to some of the psych faculty at NYU too, maybe even the grad director, to get his feedback. Most people who go to grad school in psychology majored in psychology or at least in a related major while taking psych classes, but your case is definitely interesting and I'm curious to see what the career counselor/faculty have to say. I'm sure you can get into PhD programs, but the questions to consider are "what will it take to get in"? and "is the time, energy, and money required worth it?"

Also think about what kind of therapy you would want to do. I could be totally wrong since I don't much about counseling psychology, but I think high school counselors just need a master's, so if that's an attractive career choice, that is something to look into (and you'll save time!). I'm sure there are many other counseling jobs available without a PhD, but yeah, definitely not an expert here

But if you're looking to go more into research, or decide that a PhD is in fact the best choice for you, I'm still not sure that a second degree is necessary/worth the time and money for you. Instead, look into:

http://ce.columbia.edu/Postbaccalaureate-Studies/Psychology-Certificate-Program

especially since you're already in NYC. And of course, look into other postbacc programs. Something else to discuss with the career counselor/psychology professor. I have a hunch that if you do decide to go for the PhD, that a postbacc and a solid RA/lab manager job for 1-2 years is the better route (and more intellectually stimulating ) way to go

on a final note: not to scare you, but to really illustrate how competitive getting into a program is and how important it is to get as much expert feedback on your chances of getting in:

http://gradschool.duke.edu/about/statistics/admitpsy.htm

and this is Duke. great psych program, but not top 10 in any one area I believe...

Good luck!

Edited February 2, 2012 by tupacodaman

[EastCoasting]

If you're only interested in doing therapy, and not in research and academia, you should consider either a MSW or a psychology masters (in mental health). It will save you a lot of time and money (possibly as much as six years of your life). Just something to consider. CUNY offers those, and that's probably the cheapest tuition anywhere.

[franki_j]

Thanks for the responses! I was especially grateful for the one about Columbia's post-bacc in Psychology, which I had no idea existed. I have been looking into this option quite a lot since it was suggested. I think that I would either want a PhD or PsyD. What I am doing now is extremely research heavy, ie spending hours in the library with no human interaction, and while I do not want to spend my entire life solely focused on research and not interacting with other human beings, as most of my profs seem to do now, I also do not want to stop researching completely. I still enjoy academia, just not to the extreme extent which seems to be required by my field.

[Arcadian]

I think this could potentially be a good choice, but it depends. You should know that academic psychology is primarily research-oriented. Even clinical psychology is heavily research-based, and therapy is often secondary. The trouble is, most people want to become clinical psychologists (or counselors) when they start studying psychology - partly because that's what most people mistakenly think psychology is all about - but most people end up going into different fields. An undergraduate psychology degree is focused on experimental psychology, the scientific study of behavior and cognition. All of your required courses will relate to experimental - not clinical or counseling - psychology. At most, you might take one or two electives in those areas, but not all schools offer them. There is also an emphasis on inferential statistics and research design and analysis.

If you actually want to be a clinical psychologist - do a lot of reading before making this decision - you will need a BA in psychology and then a PhD in clinical. In that case, you have no choice.

If you want to be a counselor, there are several routes to doing that. Many of them don't require a BA in psychology, and many of the graduate programs in counseling are in departments other than psychology.

There is also a concern that your writing will need some, uh...de-individuation. As a graduate of English and history, your writing is undoubtedly brilliantly verbose, and your voice beautifully distinct. When you write scientific papers, all that will need to change. You will opt for brevity wherever possible, and your voice will have to be removed. (There is a social psychologist in my department with a bachelor's degree in English, so it does happen.)

On the other hand, I generally think psychology is one of the best majors for anyone to take, because psychology is the most intuitively interesting subject in the world. All humans by nature desire to understand how other humans think and behave. The methodology is where many people lose interest, but the content is utterly fascinating. Not only that, but psychology is still a developing science, so there is no unifying theoretical paradigm for it as a science. This means that young/current psychologists are potentially playing a pivotal role in the history of psychology. If you are an empirical and analytical thinker, you will love it.

Edited February 5, 2012 by Arcadian

[che psyra psyra]

Arcadian, that was an excellent summary of points to consider when entering the field!