It doesn't really make that much difference. I got a BA in Psychology undergraduate. It just means that I took English based courses for a minor in English and my major was Psychology. If you get a BS then you take Science based courses for you minor. A minor is 12 hours.

Either one will prepare you for graduate school if she chooses to get her masters or doctorate which is strongly recommended for a career in psychology. A bachelors in psychology doesn't really get you far. Most people go on to get a graduate degree. You can't be a counselor without a masters and you have to have a PhD to be a psychologist which is what I do - I am in private practice and work for myself.

When I was interviewing for psychology graduate school they told me that a BA in psychology had its advantages because they are looking for people who write so my English minor was a plus. They expect you to write articles and book chapters based on the research you conduct in graduate school so writing skills are required. You also write a lot for your thesis and dissertation projects so please encourage her to work on writing quite a bit if graduate school is in her future.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_L7ml1z1fG8w/SqQIKFrdk4I/AAAAAAAABRM/ghFKUmMb_LY/s144/therapist6.jpg

Also many graduate students got a BS and that also has its advantages because there are science based courses required for a graduate degree in psychology. We had to take neuropsychology, biology based psychology, cognitive psychology, and neuropharmacology so you can see why a BS would prepare you well for these courses.

So either way she is prepared. I would tell her to think about what she wants to focus on writing or research/science based aspects of psychology. If she gravitates to one of these areas then that is what she can choose to focus on in undergraduate. If she thinks she will eventually end up in research then a BS is the way to go. If she wants to teach or to be a counselor then a BA may be a better fit for her. It would be great if she started to think about what she wants to do in psychology. You can make a decent amount of money in research if you get good grants. In private practice you could potentially make good money if you set up your practice well and if you have specialty areas that you have expertise in. That way people will seek out your services because you are offering services that have a great need for a select population. But you income in private practice is unstable - yo never know what you are going to make from month to month. Business can be lower during economical crises and you never know how many clients will schedule or show up from week to week so it is hard to predict your income. It constantly fluctuates. So that is something to consider.

I created a page on deciding if you should go into private practice or not. This would be a great page for her to check out because I point out many questions that she should be asking herself to help her determine if it is going to be a good fit for her. There is a lot more to consider about private practice than you would first think. I have been doing this for 2 years and I am trying to help others with this decision so that they have all the necessary information based on my real world experience. This would have been very valuable information for me to have had in graduate school but they just didn't cover these private practice issues so it is something you face on your own as you are setting up and building your practice.

I hope this information helps!

Here is a link to my page on psychology private practice for her to read over!
http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-decide-if-i-should-be-a-psychologist-in-private-practice
Source(s):
personal psychology experience
http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-decide-if-i-should-be-a-psychologist-in-privat...

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_L7ml1z1fG8w/SqQIKFrdk4I/AAAAAAAABRM/ghFKUmMb_LY/s144/...

Asker's Rating:

Permalink | Report