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Posts Tagged ‘college major’

When should I declare my college major?

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Dear Babs,I love the website and find it very informative. In what year of college does a student have to declare their major?

Thanks,

L.E.

—

Dear L.E.

It really varies depending on the college. Most liberal arts colleges give students until the start of their Junior year (3rd year) to declare their major. This means that by second semester, Sophomore year, students should have a pretty good idea about what they want to major in. Students may have to declare earlier if they applied to enter straight into a specific college program, like the Tufts University School of Engineering. In such a specific program, the student may be asked to declare their specialization as early as the first semester of their freshman year, but these types of programs and colleges are rare.

For each school that you plan to apply, make sure you double-check what year you will be expected to declare your major, and think about if that is going to be reasonable for you. Generally, this information can be found under “Academics” or “Schools and Programs” of a colleges website.

Good Luck!

-Babs

POSTED BY Dear Babs IN Dear Babs
10.28.09
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College major for a wannabe therapist?

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

Dear Babs,

I want to be a therapist when I grow up. I’m taking a psych class as an elective next year in high school, but what should I do when I go to college? What sort of college major should I have? What is the usual career path for a therapist? Any good schools for therapy?
-Wanna Get Psyched

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Dear Get Psyched,

Taking a psych class in high school is a great way to get started. When the time comes for you to take Psych 101 in college, you’ll be ahead of the class.

If you want to be a psychologist, than the most obvious route is to major in psychology. It’s a pretty general degree, meant to provide you with an overview of the field. If you want to be a practising therapist, then you will need to obtain a graduate degree in some field. If you want to be a therapist, there are a few ways to go about it:

A therapist can either be a psychologist or a psychiatrist. This is a gross simplification, but it pretty much holds true. Psychologists have a PhD in psychology and cannot prescribe medication, while a psychiatrist has gone to medical school and can. Nowadays, most psychiatric illnesses require both “talk” therapy and drug therapy, so there are some advantages to going to medical school. Another way to be a therapist is to get your Masters in Social Work, or MSW. A person with a MSW can set up private practice as a therapist, but cannot prescribe medication. These therapists are often used instead of psychologists with children, families, or people with substance abuse problems.

It’s hard trying to figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life while you’re in high school, and frankly, you shouldn’t even try. Having an interest in psychology is a pretty good start. My advice would be to take your psych class next year, and maybe look at majoring in psych in college. Lucky for you, psychology is a pretty popular major, and most schools have an excellent department. Since you’re not sure what exactly you want to do in the field of psychology, why not try and find a school with psychology, social work, and pre-med programs? NYU, BU, or any big state school are good places to start. Once you’ve gotten a better feel for the field, you can decide if med school, social work, or graduate school is right for you.

Good Luck!
-Babs

POSTED BY Dear Babs IN Admissions, Dear Babs
06.02.09
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