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Psychology in College

Faded .45

Faded .45

Bluelighter
Joined
May 19, 2010
Messages
157
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NY
Well, I'm starting Introduction to Psychology at college in a couple weeks. I think I'll like it, I've always been interested in psychology, and I have a natural ability to "read" people.
Anyway, I have no actual experience studying psychology besides bits and pieces on the internet, and lots of experience in all kinds of drugs=D.
So, has anybody taken or taking psychology classes? What do you think of them? Is it kinda boring in the beginning? Is it hard? You get the idea
 
Faded .45 said:
Well, I'm starting Introduction to Psychology at college in a couple weeks. I think I'll like it, I've always been interested in psychology, and I have a natural ability to "read" people.
Anyway, I have no actual experience studying psychology besides bits and pieces on the internet, and lots of experience in all kinds of drugs=D.
So, has anybody taken or taking psychology classes? What do you think of them? Is it kinda boring in the beginning? Is it hard? You get the idea
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I took an introduction to psychology class my freshman year of college and I found it very interesting. Unfortunately I was more interested in getting drunk and chasing girls than studying and focusing on my classes that semester, so I cheated myself out of fully experiencing a pretty cool class.

Later on I took psychological anthropology and actually took that class seriously. The human mind is very powerful and that kind of shit is fascinating.

I never found it boring. One thing I learned in all my college years: how hard a class is means nothing if you enjoy it. Some people may tell you that psych is really tough, but you might enjoy the fuck out of it and find it easy to make A's....it's all relative. Don't let someone else's opinion steer you away from what may be your path. The only way to know is to take a couple of courses and find out for yourself. Good luck.
 
Faded .45 said:
Well, I'm starting Introduction to Psychology at college in a couple weeks. I think I'll like it, I've always been interested in psychology, and I have a natural ability to "read" people.
Anyway, I have no actual experience studying psychology besides bits and pieces on the internet, and lots of experience in all kinds of drugs=D.
So, has anybody taken or taking psychology classes? What do you think of them? Is it kinda boring in the beginning? Is it hard? You get the idea
Click to expand...

See what you think about intro. to psychology first, then take a few more courses. Abnormal psychology and the psychology of death and dying are fairly interesting courses to take, as are child psychology and adolescent psychology. Just take a few courses and, if you make it to the upper-level courses and you can do well in those, you will have a better idea of whether or not psychology is for you. In my experience, it takes a certain type of person to really stay committed to psychology, especially if you go into a line of work where you interact with mentally ill patients on a daily basis. A lot of people will initially take some courses because, well, it's an interesting subject, but once the higher-level, more demanding courses come into play some people just can't cut it. If you choose to make it a career, prepare for the fact that you will be continuing your education in the field near constantly to stay up-to-date on the latest techniques and information. Continuing education is pretty important in the field, so if you find that you are not a big fan of studying and academia in general it may not be for you. You can't really do much that is interesting in the field without a masters degree.

I suggest going to the library and checking out books on psychology. Keep in mind that the best and most accurate information is going to be from books published within the last few years. In my experience, books are far more reliable than the internet. If you search on the internet, stick to well-recognized organizations and journal archives. Once you start college, you may be able to access many journal archives for free online through your college as long as you are a paying student. If you are lucky, your professors will have worked in the field themselves (if they are good professors) or may still be active while they teach. Take advantage of their experience and try to learn as much from them as possible.

Good luck in school :) Whatever career path you decide on, I wish you luck. My first two years of college, I found, was about discovering myself and figuring out which field I was best suited for. I changed my major about five times before I settled on psychology. My advice would be to try a few different things, take courses in different disciplines, and find out what you really enjoy and are great at.
 
I've got an honours degree in psychology (from the mid-90s! I feel old..).

It's mostly interesting. Bear in mind that psychology is a lot more than just 'lie down on this couch and tell me how you feel'. It covers the whole range from how people behave in social situations, to theories of personality, to learning, memory, how people act in the workplace, animal psychology, drug interactions, etc etc. And there's math ;). Many people (myself included) come to psychology from an arts background, and aren't really expecting to have to do maths. You might not like that part so much.

It's interesting though - you learn a lot about a lot of different things (including 'you guys should try acid' - one of my lecturers).
 
Psychology is pretty cool. Sometimes some of the papers you write will just get you in a certain way. I remember I had to write about victim stories from my own experience for Positive Psychology and it just rubbed me the wrong way. It's a lot harder than you think to write about horrible experiences you know personally. You may know vividly, but trying to put it down on paper is hard. It can definitely get boring if you go over the same stuff, but so can anything. I had three courses my first semester based around some of the same psych studies. I hated it. It was so boring heaving about maslow(he was actually 4 classes -.-), pavlov, phineas gage, ect a thousand times.
 
I'm just finishing a psych degree with a sociology degree as well. You won't like all psych classes thats the way it is. I really loved my Abnormal Psychology as that is were my interest lies. If you try and are interested it shouldn't be more than you can handle. There is no real way of telling how you will handle college till you get there.
 
Pillthrill said:
I'm just finishing a psych degree with a sociology degree as well. You won't like all psych classes thats the way it is. I really loved my Abnormal Psychology as that is were my interest lies. If you try and are interested it shouldn't be more than you can handle. There is no real way of telling how you will handle college till you get there.
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Have you taken any courses involved with positive psych? I don't think that's what I want to do with my life when I graduate, but it really was a life changing course.
 
Actually no not exclusively. You often will start with a background on many of the great minds that made psychology what it is today. Such as Freud and Maslow ( a humanistic psychologist, which can relate to positive psychology). Don't worry it isn't as boring as if sounds. I find that it is important because you can see which areas of thought you agree with and which ones you don't. IMHO, you will often find that the best stance in psychological thought is one that is built on a foundation of combined thoughts and theories of the ones that came before you.
 
I dug the intro psych class I took. It seems like a totally saturated major though...I think almost half the people who graduate my school in a given year are psych majors. Don't what what all these people end up going; I can't imagine it's really that big of an industry. If you're just going to college to have a degree when you're done and you like psych, I could see why it would be a worthwhile study. Check it out but think hard about majoring in it. It's a well beaten path at this point, from what I've seen.
 
Yea psychology degrees are not really worth the paper they are printed on, that being said, i like mine quite a bit, tho the classes are quite repetitive
 
skn said:
Yea psychology degrees are not really worth the paper they are printed on, that being said, i like mine quite a bit, tho the classes are quite repetitive
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You're correct if we're talking about a Bachelor's degree. To make a career in psychology one would want to pursue a graduate degree.
 
And there's math ;). Many people (myself included) come to psychology from an arts background, and aren't really expecting to have to do maths. You might not like that part so much.
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^This is true

There is a heap of stuff about research methods, statistics, data collection and the like involved in psychology. If you don't like that you will find a lot of the classes very difficult indeed.

Also as mentioned previously there are an awful lot of graduates each year. How are your skills in pumping petrol or flipping burgers?
Seriously though if you dont get through to masters or phd level there may be other related occupations that you could use the degree to gain entry into.
 
Pillthrill if you don't mind me asking, what option are you taking for sociology. Right now I'm about a semester from getting my b.s. in psych and a year from getting my b.a. in sociology: law and social control. Just a little curious as what other soc majors are getting and what they plan on doing with said degree
 
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For a bright career in psychology, one needs to have degree in that particular field.
 
I know at my university, intro psych was a weed out class. It was one of the most awful classes I ever took. They basically expected you to memorize the textbook and spit it out on multiple choice exams. If I had known that, I never would have taken it. I learned almost nothing.
 
Am just starting a double Molecular biology (BSc.) and Psychology + History & philosophy of science (BA) degree. Word is that psychology is great until you start the statistics requirement which goes quite deep. Personally I'm shit at mathematics so am fearing that aspect.

If my ex-girlfriend can do it at the best uni in Australia and pass then anyone can (she's flat-out stupid and got daddy to pay her way into uni). Getting the high marks required for MAPs (Master of Applied Psychology - standard for practising psychologists in Australia) is a different story.

To give you an idea of content, below is the standard units of the psychology major I'm doing at the moment.
NB: Research methods is basically "statistics".

Code/Course Title/Units of Credit

PSYC1001 Psychology 1A 6
PSYC1011 Psychology 1B 6
PSYC1021 Introduction to Psychological Applications 6
PSYC2001 Research Methods 2 6
PSYC2061 Social and Developmental Psychology 6
PSYC2071 Perception and Cognition 6
PSYC2081 Learning and Physiological Psychology 6
PSYC2101 Assessment, Personality & Psychopathology 6
PSYC3001 Research Methods 3A 6
PSYC3011 Research Methods 3B 6
PSYC3051 Physiological Psychology 6
PSYC3121 Social Psychology 6
PSYC3141 Behaviour in Organisations 6
PSYC3201 Psychopathology 6
PSYC3211 Cognitive Science 6
PSYC3221 Vision and Brain 6
PSYC3241 Psychobiology of Memory and Motivation 6
PSYC3301 Psychology and Law 6
PSYC3311 Language and Cognition 6
PSYC3331 Health Psychology 6
PSYC3341 Developmental Psychology 6
PSYC3351 Assessment, Personality and Psychopathology 6
PSYC4053 Psychology 4A 24
PSYC4063 Psychology 4B 24

For a brief overview of two preliminary courses:

PSYC1001

This course introduces the content and methods of psychology as a basic science, with emphasis on the social bases of behaviour. After an initial review of the historical foundations for the scientific study of human behaviour, several specific topics related to the social aspects of human behaviour are discussed. Specific topics covered in this course include: development, measurement of personality, theories of consciousness, and social influences on behaviour. In addition, training in the methods of psychological inquiry and basic procedures of data analysis is also provided.

PSYC1011

This course introduces the content and methods of psychology as a basic science, with emphasis on the biological bases of behaviour. Specific topics covered in this course include: perception, learning, memory, motivation, emotion, and abnormal behaviour. After describing the basic phenomena within an area, the goal will be to explore the neural bases of these behaviours. In addition, training in the methods of psychological inquiry and basic procedures of data analysis is also provided.

Hope that helps shed some light on it for you!
 
Though I only took Intro to Psychology, it was one of my favorite classes, and IMO much more interesting than sociology; psych teachers seem to be a lively bunch. :) If you like to read about what makes people tick, then it's the class for you; there are key concepts from the class that I still think about regularly (attribution error, cognitive dissonance, etc.).

Note that you will probably be required to take part in at least one experiment for your grade, even though technically you'll be a "volunteer"; one of the perks of being a psych grad is that you have a never-ending supply of subjects to work with. Note that the days of Milgram and Zimbardo are long gone, so don't expect anything earth-shattering.

Good luck!
 
cocacrazy said:
Pillthrill if you don't mind me asking, what option are you taking for sociology. Right now I'm about a semester from getting my b.s. in psych and a year from getting my b.a. in sociology: law and social control. Just a little curious as what other soc majors are getting and what they plan on doing with said degree
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option?
I was taking psych and I enjoyed it so much that I took all the soc classes too. SO I just ended up with a double major

I want to do counseling but at right now as long as it is psych related, I'll take it
 
Do not pursue a degree in psychology unless you plan on going to grad school. You will probably have to go to grad school anyway with whatever you study but it is something to consider.

That being said, I did enjoy my intro to psych class when I was doing my undergrad and took the psychological statistics class as well. After those two classes I was pretty much done with psych though and eventually got my BFA in Theatre.
 
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