Becoming a School Psychologist?
You are on the right track (educationally). You are right, you can't become a school psychologist with a masters or according to the APA any "psychologist". However, you have two options. 1. When done with your masters, earn a doctorate in clinical or social psychology, then earn a post doctoral specialization in school psychology 2. When done with your masters, transfer into a school psychology program Neither option is better than the other, it just depends on what the universities you want to go to have available. Some have doctoral programs in school psychology, some offer post doctoral training in school psychology. If you spend an hour or two researching universities with school psychology programs, I am sure you could really figure it out. Keep in mind, you will probably have to go to a professional school, which is quite expensive. Look into Argosy University, they have a doctoral program in school psychology and have campuses everywhere. Many of your MA credits will probably transfer.
Should I become a clinical child psychologist or school psychologist?
There's no question I'm interested in both psychology and an educational environment. I thought of teaching, but it wouldn't satisfy me because I think it's funner helping a child to meet grade standards. I think I would do great working with kids who need help academically. I'm less interested in an clinical office setting, but I want to travel around, evaluate children, give recommendations, etc. I'd be happier with the title clinical child psych, but I know I'd be focused on helping children achieve in education. That's where my passion is. Do clinical child psychologists do this with schools, or do they go through a school psychologist for that? I have three quarters to go til I transfer, and I figure each way is a BA in psychology anyway, but it'd be really nice to know right now! Those with experience would be more preferred to answer. Thanks!
How do I become a clinical child psychologist?
Becoming a psychologist of any kind is a lengthy and challenging process. Majoring in psychology and getting your bachelor's degree is the first step. You would do well to try and get an honours degree. Getting into graduate school in clinical psychology is very competitive. If you succeed you are looking at 4-6 years of additional education in order to get a doctoral degree. It is at this point that you can begin to specialize with children. You will also need to complete a one-year residency - again, this provides an opportunity to get speciality training with children. Finally, in order to get licensed as a psychologist, you will need to take additional exams and go through a period of supervised practise. This is not the path you would follow if you want to become a high school or college teacher. To teach at the high school level, you would need an education degree. You may be able to teach at the college level with a Master's in psychology, but you would not be able to practise as a psychologist (unless you lived in West Virginia or another jurisdiction that licenses at that level). Although becoming a psychologist is a lengthy process, if you have such a calling, it is a very rewarding career. Good luck.
Some good observations by the previous answers. I think there are some differences in your undergrad major based on if you have an idea of the type of psychologist or grad school you are likely to choose even though you may change. If you think you are gearing up for an academic or elite APA grad school admission will be helped by good psych courses and previous publishing in psychology. If you are attracted to a professional school to become a therapist or consultant, then a broader academic resume and life experiences will be more of an asset. However, majoring in business, English literature may be interesting but will put you behind psych majors when taking the GRE Advance section and being attractive to a faculty looking for young scholars. Social work is different than psychological testing, research and science based practitioner mandated by most APA schools. But if your goal is counseling even with a MA, Social work can be a good major. Talk to a few social workers and psychologists to get their perspective. Good Luck!
Becoming a Child Psychologist?
It's really broad to talk about a 'child psychologist'. Psychologists do a broad variety of things, and are defined by the subject they study, not the population they study. The title you are probably looking for is 'clinical psychologist', who diagnoses and treats mental disorders in children. Secondly, the title 'psychologist' is reserved for people who have earned a Ph.D. Getting a bachelor's or master's in psychology does not allow you to legally call yourself a psychologist. However, individuals with a master's degree in clinical psychology or counseling psychology often work in a private practice, often under the leadership of someone who has their Ph.D. So with a master's you could still work in a private practice, but you could not call yourself 'psychologist'. Yes, I believe there is a licensing exam. You can ask these kinds of questions to someone in admissions for a master's in clinical or counseling psychology program. I think it is wise to stay an Early childhood education major. One reason is because a bachelor's in psychology by itself is nearly useless. If you want to go to graduate school in psychology, it is not necessary for you to have a bachelor's degree in psychology, and may even be useful if you have a degree in something else. Which is good news for you! If you are still interested in this after you finish your B.A. in Early childhood education, I recommend that you think about whether you are more interested in working with children who have mental disorders, in which case you would pursue the Master's in clinical psychology, or if you want to work with children who are psychologically normal but have difficulties (grief, low self-esteem, bullying, test anxiety etc.), in which case you should think about a master's in counseling psychology. And so you know, this is an *extremely* competitive field, because there are lots of people who say they want to be a child psychologist.
Is there a way to become a psychologist/school counselor with an undergraduate degree in education?
What kind of Psychologist do you want to be...school, clinical, experimental, counseling? To be a school counselor, most states require an education certification. What you would do is complete your undergraduate in education and then apply for for your masters in school counseling. You can do the same for school psychology (but apply to a school psychology program). If you are going towards the psychology route, I would suggest minoring in psychology or at least take a significant amount of courses in psychology (research, statistics, social psychology, abnormal psychology, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology). If you are going a clinical or counseling route, I would highly recommend doing a minor in psychology. Please note, to be a licensed psychologist you will have to complete a doctoral degree in psychology. But, for a school psychologist you will just have to have a graduate degree (I believe 66 graduate hours). If you want, you can message me for more details: mkberry85@gmail.com
I want to become a psychologist?
well in order to become a certified psychologist you need to get more than just your bachelor's degree. You need either a master's or a doctorate. So it will be anywhere from 6 to 8 years in college. You will have to major in psychology in college. Pretty much the only type of psychologist that only gets a master's is a school psychologist. If you want to become a clinical, sports, industrial organizational, evnironmental, or any other type of psychologist you will need to get your doctorate. Which requires a lot of time, hard work, money, internships, etc. I majored in psych initially but then realized I didn't want to be in school for 8 years before I had an actual career. I wanted to start a family and be done with school earlier than that. So now I switched and I am pursuing teaching. Spending a short amount of time in college and becoming a psychologist do not go together.
Would it be feasible to become a school psychologist and than latter on get a doctorate degree in psychology?
Would that be possible? See, I'm worried I wouldn't be able to make it through 9 years of school financially (I'm leaving home very shortly...and so, school tuition+apartment+living expensive=$$$$ ..and I work at wawa >.<) ...Schooling to be a school psychologist is 6 years, so I would be done at the age of 24...and I could work some and safe up to maybe buy a house...but what I want to do eventually is become a psychologist who works with military families. I think I might need a doctorate to do this (I'm not sure though)...which would take another 5 years... And if I were to get a doctorate, I don't know that I would *quit* my job as a school psychologist, because, really, I would love to work as a school psychologist during the school year and then work with military families in the summer time/ part time. Also, does anyone know of jobs that only require a BA in psychology? That way after 4 years, I can work part-time as something that will bring in a decent income and get some experience. Gah. Can anyone advise me? I don't know what to do.