Frequently Asked Questions
Are Teaching Assistant positions available? Are there paid positions? What qualifications do I need?
Transfer/Class Substitutions
If I passed the AP Psychology exam, does that count for Psych 111?
I am taking the “old” psychology track and was supposed to take Psych 490, but that class no longer exists. What do I do?
Research
How do I go about getting involved in research?
What is a capstone course?
How do I sign up for a capstone course?
Are there research opportunities for undergraduate psychology majors outside of BYU?
Internships
How do I set up an academic internship?
Can I receive academic internship credit for work I already did in a previous semester?
Where can I go to search for an internship?
Job Info
What can I do with my degree?
What types of psychology-related jobs are available in Utah County? How do I find them?
How do I get involved in human resources?
How much money can I expect to make in different professional careers within psychology?
Graduate Studies
What types of graduate programs are there? How can I differentiate between clinical and non-clinical programs, PhD’s and PsyD’s, etc.?
How do I start looking for a graduate school?
How can I find information on graduate schools in Forensic Psychology?
How do I learn about the GRE? How can I prepare for it?
My question isn't here!
Are Teaching Assistant positions available? Are there paid positions? What qualifications do I need?
Psych Central is a great place to begin building experience in tutoring others, especially Psych 111 students. Students working there as teaching assistants earn credit in Psychology 492R. The center is re-staffed every semester or term. If you are interested, go to Psych Central and make an appointment with the Graduate Student Coordinator in order to discuss possible openings. Graduate students fill most paid Teaching Assistant positions, so there are limited undergraduate positions. There is no special way to identify them except by asking professors whether they have paid undergraduate teaching assistant positions available. Also, talk to students who are already teaching assistants and ask them about possibilities. While some positions pay, most undergraduate students only earn credit for the experience.
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If I passed the AP Psychology exam, does that count for Psych 111?
If you scored a 3, you will earn general credit toward the requirement of completing 120 credits for graduation but it will not substitute for Psychology 111. A 4 or a 5 on the AP test will fulfill the Psych 111 requirement.
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I am taking the “old” psychology track and was supposed to take Psych 490, but that class no longer exists. What do I do?
Take either Psych 210 or Psych 311. Each fulfills the former requirement.
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How do I go about getting involved in research?
There is no guaranteed way to get involved in research, and it generally requires much initiative on your part! Far too many students sit around, hoping something will just fall into their lap. This rarely happens. To make sure you don't miss out on valuable research opportunities, the key is to get started early! First, identify the professors you might want to work with. You can access the research interests of the professors on the faculty page of the psychology department website. The Undergraduate Coordinator’s office also provides updated information about professors who are seeking students. Next, it helps to look up the professors who interest you on the Harold B. Lee Library web page (go to Article Indexes, then Psychology, then Webspirs), in order to gain more specific knowledge about what the professors have published. Read some of their work to make sure you are interested in what they are doing. You could also approach the professors directly to ask about their research or for reprints and other literature that would better prepare you to work with them. When you do approach a professor about working with him or her, you may phone or use e-mail but it is often more effective to visit in person during the professor’s office hours. Office hours listings are available in the Psychology department office (1001 SWKT). Remember that it may not be easy to arrange an opportunity to do research with a professor, much less the one you hope to work with, because there are far fewer professors than students. For this reason, you should start early in your search for research experience. If the professors you really want to work with are booked for the semester, you will have the opportunity to prepare and approach them again the following semester. You might also consider working with a professor who is not your top choice as far as your research interests are concerned, but with whom you would enjoy working and in this way gain valuable experience. Once you have agreed to work with a professor, undefined be responsible and follow through on your commitments. Do more than is asked, and volunteer (and expect) to do grunt work. You must show you are sincere in your interest to do research before a professor is inclined to involve you in larger responsibilities.
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What is a capstone course?
Capstone courses are designed to integrate what psychology majors have already learned from the undergraduate curriculum with a hands-on experience in teaching, research, and/or community service. The courses are intended for seniors or advanced juniors, and are generally small - often fewer than 10 students. Thus, capstones also present a unique opportunity to become better acquainted with a professor and his or her work. Capstone subjects vary from semester to semester and generally have a narrow focus. Brief descriptions of the courses are available on AIM. More detailed descriptions are available at the Undergraduate Coordinator’s office (1150V SWKT).
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How do I sign up for a capstone course?
Some capstones may be added directly on AIM, but most must be added by contacting the professor who will be teaching the course. If you have further questions, contact the
Undergraduate Coordinator
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Are there research opportunities for undergraduate psychology majors outside of BYU?
It requires some internet research and some persistence on your part, but absolutely! Here are a few websites to get you started:
http://www.apa.org/science/undergradopps.html
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/5353/classes/intern.html
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How do I set up an Academic Internship?
There are two routes to an internship. The first is to already have a psychology-related job in place and then contact Dr. Miller for approval to participate in the Psychology Internship Program (harold_miller@byu.edu, 1074 SWKT). Or, you may look for volunteer or employment positions which would fulfill the Psych 399R requirements. Please click here for more information on obtaining an internship.
Once you have obtained an approved internship, you must make sure the appropriate paperwork is filled out before adding the class. These forms can be obtained online or by contacting the internship office.
Click here for more information about Psych 399R.
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Can I receive academic internship credit for work I already did in a previous semester?
No. This is prohibited by the BYU academic internship policy.
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Where can I go to search for an internship?
There are many ways to locate an internship. You can look through employment listings in your local newspaper, talk to the graduate student liaison in 1007 SWKT. or search through the numerous databases available here. You may also click here for other ideas on finding an internship.
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What can I do with my degree?
There are six common career paths following a psychology degree. They include: outpatient and residential care, social and human services, human resources, therapy, teaching, and professional graduate schools (e.g. medicine, business, law, etc.). (Note that, in order to do therapy in its traditional sense, you will need at least a master’s degree.) To teach high school psychology, you must receive a teaching credential. Teaching at higher levels requires graduate degrees. There are also “less traveled” career paths. To read about some of these possibilities, visit
http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb01/careerpath.html
.
For more details about the traditional career paths, go to
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/5353/classes/careers.html
or
http://www.psywww.com/careers/
.
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What types of psychology-related jobs are available in Utah County? How do I find them?
There are jobs in Utah County both for people working on undergraduate psychology degrees and for those who have completed degrees, but you should be warned that competition can be fierce and it may take several months to get this type of job. Among the main employers in the area are the Utah State government (go to
www.dhrm.utah.gov/
for listings) and the local mental health providers, such as Wasatch Mental Health, Provo Canyon School, Heritage Schools, Chrysalis, Slate Canyon Youth Center, Center for Change, and the school districts. You might also check under “Mental Health” in the Yellow Pages. If you are having difficulty breaking into the job market, you may want to try volunteering or completing an internship in order to get your foot in the door and build your resume.
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How do I get involved in human resources?
According to John Ostrom and Darin Walker from the Human Resources Department at Intermountain Health Care, you can generally get a job in human resources with only an undergraduate degree. However, you should expect to start from the bottom of the totem pole--perhaps by doing filing and other types of clerical work. They also indicated that human resources is far more competitive in Utah than in other states; often there are more than 100 applicants for one job. Thus, if you want to get into human resources you might want to look outside of Utah.
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How much money can I expect to make in various professional careers within psychology?
For statistics on the incomes associated with Masters and Doctorate level positions, see
this salary table
(PDF).
The American Psychological Association and the National Association of Colleges and Employers list the most common psychology employment areas and salaries as:
* Health care and social services, $20,000 to $25,000. Job tasks include counseling, administration and research.
* Education, $17,000 to $25,000. Job responsibilities include teaching, research and provision of student services. Childcare pays the lowest salaries--typically below $20,000.
* Management and business, $25,000 to $40,000. Such work includes employee development and training, consulting, merchandising, banking, customer service and office work. Banking and consulting earn the highest salaries and customer service and office work the lowest.
* Federal, state and local government, $20,000 to $29,000. Duties include law enforcement, legislative support and administrative work.
For more information, go to
http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun02/goodnews.html
.
Also, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics offers detailed statistics about occupations. Their website is
http://www.bls.gov/home.htm
.
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What types of graduate programs are there? How can I differentiate between clinical and non-clinical programs, PhD’s and PsyD’s, etc.?
The
Rider University web page
has some great answers. Here are some excerpts from the site:
General Information:
There are several types of graduate programs in psychology, the most common being experimental, developmental, social, biopsychological, cognitive, clinical, counseling, school, and organizational psychology (also known as industrial-organizational psychology, or simply "IO"). These last four (clinical, counseling, school and IO) are considered by the American Psychological Association (APA) to be the four distinct areas of applied psychology. Other more specialized graduate programs might be devoted to sports psychology, psychology and law, or behavioral medicine. Large psychology departments at large universities may include many of the most common programs, but most universities will have only a few of them.
Programs in Applied Psychology:
MASTERS PROGRAMS (may be full time or part time)
There are a variety of Masters levels programs in fields related to clinical and counseling psychology. Usually these programs train students in basic counseling skills. Some programs may have specialized areas of training such as marriage and family counseling, drug addiction counseling, group counseling, vocational counseling, family therapy, child therapy, divorce mediation, prison counseling, etc. When it comes time to apply for jobs, it is very advantageous to have an area of specialization. People with Masters degrees usually work in group counseling practices, clinics, programs for niche populations (drug abusers, battered wives, chronic psychiatric patients, etc.), and employee assistance programs. In many states people with Masters degrees CANNOT have their own private practice. A Ph.D. will enable you to make more money and may open up different doors for you, but it is not absolutely necessary to have one. In many cases a Masters degree may be ideal! In fact, with the current rise of managed care systems in the field of mental health, insurance companies may only pay for psychotherapy provided by clinicians who are part of a group practice. While Ph.D.'s may be in charge of the group, they may very well hire clinicians with Masters degrees to do therapy with the clients who are referred to the group. It is very possible that psychotherapists with Masters degrees will be in greater demand in the future than they have been in the past. If you are determined to get a Ph.D., you can sometimes get a Masters degree from one school and then transfer to a Ph.D. program at another school. However, you will probably lose credits. Many Ph.D. programs also prefer to train students right from the start and do not give advantages to transfer students.
COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY (Ed.D. or Ph.D., usually 4 -5 years full time, longer if part time; sometimes less difficult to get into than clinical psychology programs).
Counseling psychology programs usually emphasize training in counseling/psychotherapy methods. These programs also include some training in research methods (stats and experimental courses), but usually are not as rigorous as such courses in clinical psychology programs. However, counseling programs that offer a Ph.D. rather than the traditional Ed.D. often have intensified their research training. Similarly to clinical psychology programs, counseling programs require internship experiences and a dissertation. In many cases, the distinction between counseling and clinical psychology programs is disappearing. A counseling program is often completely separate from the psychology department at some universities.
Ph.D. CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY (5 years minimum; full time; difficult to get accepted)
These programs educate students about issues related to mental health and mental health treatment. Many programs emphasize research and will require you to take courses in statistics and experimental design. You will be expected to conduct experimental research, which will culminate in your dissertation. A dissertation is a year-long research project that you design and conduct on your own (with help from a committee of faculty members). Most programs are behavioral, cognitive, biological, or psychoanalytic in their approach. Some programs mix all of the above. A few are humanistic/ existential. During the first few years in a clinical program, you will get some training in psychotherapy and psychological testing, but the most intense clinical training usually comes later, during an internship. A few Ph.D. clinical psychology programs underplay the research component and spend more time on training you to do psychotherapy, but most programs weigh heavily on the research.
PSY.D. CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY (4-5 years; full or part time; difficult to get accepted)
These programs lead to the degree "Doctor of Psychology" rather than the traditional Ph.D. ("Doctor of Philosophy"). They were created as an alternative to Ph.D. clinical psychology programs. They are designed specifically for people who want to practice psychology and are not interested in quantitative research. There is some research training, but much more time is spent on learning the various aspects of clinical work (individual and group psychotherapy, testing, marriage and family counseling, etc.). Usually internship experiences in a wider variety of settings are required more than in Ph.D. programs. Psy.D. clinical psychologists usually work in hospitals, clinics, and in private practice.
CLINICAL SOCIAL WORK (MSW, 2-3 years full time, longer if part time)
Social work programs are an alternative to psychology training. "Clinical" social work programs teach students about working in the mental health and social welfare systems. Training in counseling and psychotherapy sometimes is not as extensive as in psychology programs, especially Psy.D. programs. Research usually is not emphasized. Many clinical social workers do individual and group psychotherapy. Social work programs may be easy or difficult to get accepted to, depending on the reputation of the university.
SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY (approx. 4-5 years for Ph.D. or Ed.D., 2-3 years for masters degree)
School psychologists are trained to do counseling and psychological testing in a school setting. Their strength, therefore, is their understanding of school systems and education. They may work with the school's students or the staff. Some school psychologists may also have an additional private practice. Some school psychology programs offer the Ed.D. Others, which may place more emphasis on research training, will offer the Ph.D.
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How do I start looking for a graduate school?
A good place to start is by visiting one or all of the following websites:
www.psychgrad.org
www.geocities.com/heartland/flats/5353/classes/graduatestudy.html
www.rider.edu/160_418.htm
The first site has questions you can ask yourself about whether you are ready for graduate school, and if so, what preparation you need and how you might go about looking for a school. It also has helpful hints about choosing schools, writing your personal essays, obtaining letter of recommendation, etc. There are also helpful websites for looking at school profiles, including
GradProfiles.com
,
GradSchools.com
, and
Petersons.com
. If you are seeking a particularly academic track, consult
http://www.phds.org
. A helpful book published by the American Psychological Association, entitled Graduate Study in Psychology (2003 edition), is available in 1150V SWKT. It lists over 500 graduate programs and includes information on the number of applicants during the previous year, the number of acceptances, financial aid and tuition, what the school is looking for in a graduate student, contact websites, and other useful information. The book is not available for checkout but may be used in the Undergraduate Coordinator’s office.
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How can I find information on graduate schools in Forensic Psychology?
Some useful websites:
www.psywww.com/careers/forensic.htm
www.tulsa.oklahoma.net/~jnichols/bookmarks.html
www.unl.edu/cs/forensics/index.shtml
According to Cathy Oslzly of Division 41 of the APA (Psychology and Law), the schools listed at the last website are of top quality.
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How do I learn about the GRE? How can I prepare for it?
A visit to
http://www.gre.org
will answer most questions, including how to sign up for the exam. Some who have done well on the exam recommend prep courses while others find a prep manual adequate. What works for you will largely depend on your study habits. If you are disciplined enough to study on your own and can learn and review concepts from a book, a prep manual will likely suffice. If you have a difficult time motivating yourself or would like concepts explained by a teacher, a course might be more suitable. Whichever you choose, try to make sure you have the opportunity to take at least one practice test in order to familiarize yourself with the computer format. Most books come with cds or internet sites for practice tests (prep courses also feature practice tests).
Note: There is a wealth of information about psychology available on the Internet. Many of the links listed in the FAQs have information beyond responses to the specific questions posed here. If your questions remain unanswered, call the Undergraduate Coordinator at 801-422-5356, or send an email to
undergrad_coord@byu.edu
. If you have questions of a more general nature, try the following websites:
www.psywww.com/index.html
www.tulsa.oklahoma.net/~jnichols/bookmarks.html
Both have links for nearly any psychology-related question or topic you may want to explore, from graduate school info to specialty areas in psychology.
You may also want to explore the American Psychological Association’s website:
www.apa.org
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