Psychology major in college.?
I'm a senior in High School right now. I'm thinking about majoring in Psychology in college. I'm just curious about what to expect while studying Psychology. Like, do I have to write a lot of essays, papers than I would for other classes? Do I have to read lots of books like in English class? They are the two questions I can think of right now. Thanks..
What can I expect of a college Psychology course?
If it's a basic intro to psychology, you'll be covering the basis of how the brain works, how neurons work, how these effect the mind (psychology is the study of the mind, so you need to know how the brain works as well). It'll be a basic overview though, you'll be focusing more on some of the connections, how the messages pass on, about some things like dopomine, melatonin, etc. You'll also cover a little of each speciality of psychology, the history of psychology, some major people, addictions, some mental disorders, sleep disorders, maslow's hierarchy of needs, etc. Now, being in college is being in college. Some professors will be easier, some will treat you like you're in a masters class and don't need to be hold by the hand. They will expect you to know what you're doing in college. They will only treat you differently if you have a disability. But I don't know any professors that will grade a 16 year old differently just because of their age. College isn't hard, you just have to find your own way around. That is the only difficult part. The only difference between high school and college is college is a shorter version of a high school year where people don't feel like you need to be told everything, because you learned how to be a good student in high school. COLLEGE IS NOT HARD THOUGH. So don't worry. It's just like highschool, just shorter.
Taking sociology 101 and psychology 101 in one college semester?
Sounds like you need a new adviser (one that knows what they're doing). Trust me when I say it's easy coursework. Psychology 101 is just the basics - even better if you get a fun professor. Since psychology is the just the logic functioning of the human brain, it's an easy course. Sociology 101 is just as easy, if not easier (less reading, generally). You'll be fine.
Do any U.S. colleges have parapsychology degrees?
There are only two accredited schools that I know of that offer degrees (and this is a PhD) in parapsychology - that would the University of Edinburgh (Scotland) and Utrecht University (Holland). There's a reason no other schools are offering it - because they've never found anything to study. All their experiments come up with the result 'no paranormal powers'. A few US schools offer a class here or there in the subject (Duke did until pretty recently, you could check there and the U of Arizona and Penn State) but usually from the debunking point of view. If you really want to study it, here's what to do. Get a bachelors in psychology and then a PhD or PsyD in psychology. Learn what we already know about the psychology that does work, learn how to set up a good experiment, learn how to use controls, learn how to not bias your results, and THEN go apply these skills to whatever you want.
What should I expect from a college-level Psychology 101 course?
I'm currently a senior in High School (2013-2014 school year). The local community college is having a free (minus the $200 textbook we had to buy) Psychology 101 for early college credit. It is a college-level course, so what should I expect from this class? It runs once a week for about 2 months. We had to pass an Accuplacer test and be an honor student in High School to be accepted. I was accepted, so I was very excited. We weren't really given much information on about what things we will be discussing, and I'm really nervous about the workload. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.