PSYC Student Handbook
Information and Resources for Westminster PSYC Students
Life After Westminster College
After you graduate with your psychology degree from Westminster College, you have several options. This is an exciting but overwhelming time. Be sure to talk with faculty advisors and mentors as well as the staff at the Career Center. In addition, you may wish to speak with alumni about their experiences after college.
Some graduates enter careers in a variety of fields (banking, business, sales, social service agencies, etc.) Others pursue full-time employment in a psychology related field in the hopes of later pursuing graduate study. If one cannot find a job in a psychology related field, graduates may choose to obtain adequate employment for paying the bills while volunteering in a setting where you may want to work in the future. Finally, some students head directly to graduate school. The next few pages will help you prepare for your options.
If you are considering applying for graduate study, please talk with advisors and faculty members. APA publishes a guide book called Getting In and some students find this very helpful. In general, when considering which graduate program is right for you, consider the following.
Quality of Program: What is its national reputation? How are the faculty perceived in the scholarly community?
Difficulty of Admission: What are the minimum and average test scores and GPAs of admitted students? What other criteria are considered for admission? How many students are admitted to programs each year? What is the ratio of in- and out-of-state residents?
Programs/Curricula: What degrees and specializations are offered? What is the philosophy or orientation of the program (e.g., applied vs. theoretical, research vs. clinical)? What are the course and other requirements? What degree of individualization is possible? What are the opportunities for related work experience? What is the average length of time for program completion? What percentages of students complete their programs?
Available Resources: What facilities are available for students (e.g., lab space, offices, office space)? What is the size and accessibility of the library? Who is available for advising students? What placement resources/services are there?
Faculty: What current research are faculty involved with? Is it anything you are interested in? If clinical work is involved, are skilled supervisors available with faculty and staff? What is the student/faculty ratio? What is the faculty turnover rate?
University Environment: What are faculty-student relationships like? What is the size of the institution? What geographic area is it in? Is it urban or rural? What is the surrounding community like? What is the financial situation of the university as a whole? What reputation does the department have within the university?
Financial Considerations: What is the cost of tuition and the cost of living in the area? What financial aid, particularly fellowships, assistantships and grants are available? What are the criteria for eligibility for these awards? What percentage of students is funded? What percentage is working outside the university to support themselves?
Accreditation: Is the program accredited? Should it be? (In many professions it is important to graduate from a program accredited by the national professional association in order to meet future licensing/certification requirements.)
Other: Where are graduates of the program working? How many are working in the field? How useful is the particular degree offered by this institution? Is it respected in the field?
Once you have narrowed your choice of graduate programs to a reasonable number, you are ready to begin the application process. Initiate this process as early as possible. A full year-and-a-half before your anticipated starting date is not too early to take the necessary steps to gain acceptance into a program.
Application deadlines may range from August (before your senior year) to late spring or summer of your senior year. Medical schools in particular have very early deadlines. Most graduate schools have deadlines between January and March. Applying early can be an advantage in cases where schools have rolling admissions.
It is recommended that you follow the timetable that appears below to maximize your chances for acceptance:
Junior Year – Fall & Spring
Meet with your advisor to discuss your plans and get advice
Research careers, areas of interest, institutions and programs
Investigate financial aid opportunities
Register and prepare for appropriate graduate admission tests
Junior Year –Summer
Take required graduate admission test
Send postcards requesting applications, bulletin and financial aid information
Visit institutions to talk with admissions staff and faculty of program
Write application essay
Develop calendar of deadline dates
Senior Year – all
Obtain letters of recommendation from faculty or from professionals in the field with whom you have worked
!!! Give faculty members at least 1 month warning before letters are due!!!
Send in completed applications
Senior Year –Spring
Call all institutions to ensure they have your complete application materials
Send deposit to the institution of your choice
Notify other colleges and universities that accepted you of your decision so that they may admit students on the waiting list
Send thank you notes to reference writers, informing them of your plans
How to find a job with an undergraduate degree in psychology
By Sara Martin
Congratulations on your psychology degree! Now, what are you doing with it?
First, the bad news: If you're hoping to get a psychology-related job, the odds aren't in your favor. A 2003 survey by the National Science Foundation found that of the 122,800 people who graduated with BS degrees in psychology, less than 5 percent got jobs in the field.
Now, the good news: Employers of all stripes want and need your communication and interpersonal skills; your ability to collect, organize, analyze and interpret data; and, perhaps most important, your strong understanding of human behavior. As a result, many psychology majors find jobs managing human resource departments or working as recruiters, according the PayScale Salary Survey.
So, how do you find a job that fits your interests and talents? You probably know about the importance of exploring careers through informational interviews and effectively using Web resumes. But here's some lesser-known advice from the experts:
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Plan early. As early as your freshman year, in fact, says Drew C. Appleby, PhD, author of "The Savvy Psychology Major" (Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 2007). Meet with your academic adviser to discuss your career interests and options. Continue to hone your career choice by the end of your sophomore year so that you have identified the unique constellation of knowledge, skills and characteristics you need to enter the career of your choice—and also have time to take the classes and engage in the activities you'll need by the time you graduate. Remember the old saying, "Failing to plan is planning to fail."
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Assess yourself. Figure out who you are and what you want from a job, advise Julie DeGalan and Stephen Lambert, authors of "Great Jobs for Psychology Majors" (McGraw-Hill, 2006). To do that, sidle up to your computer and answer these questions: What are the 10 traits that describe you best? What working conditions must you have? How much money do you need to make? What are your long-term goals? What skills do you have and which do you most enjoy using? Your answers will provide a foundation for your job search and enable you to pinpoint the opportunities best suited to you.
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Capitalize on your connections. You've heard it before, and it's still true: Networking is critical, says Boise State University's R. Eric Landrum, PhD, author of "Finding Jobs with a Psychology Bachelor's Degree" (APA Books, 2009). Think about the people you've met who could give you job leads—perhaps you completed an internship, participated in a service learning event or volunteered at a school. Also, be sure to stay in touch with your professors since local agencies may contact them looking for "good" graduates to fill a job. And don't forget, even after you graduate, you will need references or letters of recommendation, so staying connected with faculty is a smart choice.
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Look beyond Internet job postings. With such sites as careerbuilder.com and monster.com, the Internet is a wonderful tool for finding jobs. But it's limited, warns Landrum. For example, many corporations don't list their jobs there. To find those and other opportunities, read the newspaper, visit companies that interest you and network. Don't forget to monitor newspapers in regions you'd be willing to move to, adds Betsy L. Morgan, PhD, co-author of "Majoring in Psych? Career Options for Psychology Undergraduates" (Allyn & Bacon, 2009).
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Take advantage of campus services, even after you graduate. Your campus career center and alumni office are both interested in your long-term success. Many even host training, job fairs and other events for graduates. Landrum's university alumni office, for example, is hosting an all-day "Job Search Boot Camp" this month.
Find this article at:
Getting In to Graduate School
Graduate School Tips
Graduate School Timetable
Why To Consider Getting More Experience Before Grad School
By Jen Simonds, Associate Professor of Psychology (who took meaningful time off between degrees and found work she loves in the process).
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Gain valuable real-world experience to apply to graduate work.
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Create a second source for letters of recommendation from professionals in your chosen field.
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For some, add a semester’s worth of improved grades to your transcript.
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Allow time for your senior project or thesis to be submitted in full with your graduate school application.
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Become familiar with the work you plan to do in the future and see if it “fits.”
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Most importantly: Allow time away to be sure that you want to go to graduate school.
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Many students say, “I need to go right away, otherwise I won’t want to go or won’t have the motivation to go later.” You should only go to graduate school because you really want to go and/or need to go to do the work you really want to do and know that it’s the work you want to do from first-hand experience. This needs to be a “fire in the belly” kind of feeling. You need to feel like you have to go because it is really what you want to do and because it involves subjects and work about which you feel nothing short of passionate!
Do not go for your parents.
Do not go because a field sounds important and is respected.
Do not go because you don’t know what else to do.
Do not go because you got good grades.
None of these motivations can sustain you through a grueling process that is a minimum of 3 intense years (law school) to the typical 5-7 years it takes for a Ph.D. Professional master’s degrees can take as little as 2 years, but can be very expensive.
To quote a webpage from Swarthmore College:
If you're thinking you might want to pick up that Ph.D., then be sure before you apply. Take time away from college. That will tell you how much you want to be back in this life. Love your subject well before you ever start, because that passion will be tested mightily. http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/tburke1/gradschool.html