I want to be a Psychologist? (1 Viewer)

[MingX]

Umm, I'm not very good with terms (I'm only in Year 10 this year), but I'll try my best to explain...


I would like to be a Psychologist when I grow up; or at least major in Psychology at University, so here are some questions that I wanted to ask..



1) What kind of qualifications in Uni do I have to do to become a Organizational Psychologist? Or a clinical Psychologist/Neurophysiologist... haven't really decided. (Which things should I take up, basically..)



2) My School (Sydney Boys High School, Nerd school ) doesn't offer Psychology in year 11 and 12.. Where can I get basics in psychology for University? Or is there no need for them? Some good links/books/something?



3) Which subjects are best for Psychology in high school? (My school doesn't offer psychology.. Is there any subjects related to it?) Does the subjects matter?



4) What's the best university for Psychology? Why? And what's the ATAR cut-off mark?



I really do have some interest in Psychology (Don't confuse with Psychiatry ).. Is there any other 'obstacles' I have to pass to get there? Advice maybe?

EDIT: ANOTHER QUESTION..

5) High Competition, and Careers and Money?
Will a 166cm guy who is at his final height be criticized? Oh and he's gay too!

 

[spence]

1) What kind of qualifications in Uni do I have to do to become a Organizational Psychologist? Or a clinical Psychologist/Neurophysiologist... haven't really decided. (Which things should I take up, basically..)

Generally you'd do any degree which lets you do a major and honours in psych. And then you'd do either a masters or doctorate to become a psychologist

2) My School (Sydney Boys High School, Nerd school ) doesn't offer Psychology in year 11 and 12.. Where can I get basics in psychology for University? Or is there no need for them? Some good links/books/something?

Psych isn't an HSC subject, and there isn't any particular subjects you need to do in high school, its taught from scratch once you start uni. Some maths may be helpful for stats. If you're really inspired, go to a uni library and borrow a first year textbook

3) Which subjects are best for Psychology in high school? (My school doesn't offer psychology.. Is there any subjects related to it?) Does the subjects matter?

Subjects don't matter

4) What's the best university for Psychology? Why? And what's the ATAR cut-off mark?

I think UNSW and Mac are considered the best in Sydney, although as long as the course is accredited by APAC it shouldn't matter what degree you do. Cutoffs vary greatly

 

[kaz1]

3) Which subjects are best for Psychology in high school? (My school doesn't offer psychology.. Is there any subjects related to it?) Does the subjects matter?

I think assumed knowledge is 2unit Maths and Advanced English. You can look it up yourself for confirmation

 

[Morbo]

Umm, I'm not very good with terms (I'm only in Year 10 this year), but I'll try my best to explain...


I would like to be a Psychologist when I grow up; or at least major in Psychology at University, so here are some questions that I wanted to ask..



1) What kind of qualifications in Uni do I have to do to become a Organizational Psychologist? Or a clinical Psychologist/Neurophysiologist... haven't really decided. (Which things should I take up, basically..)



2) My School (Sydney Boys High School, Nerd school ) doesn't offer Psychology in year 11 and 12.. Where can I get basics in psychology for University? Or is there no need for them? Some good links/books/something?



3) Which subjects are best for Psychology in high school? (My school doesn't offer psychology.. Is there any subjects related to it?) Does the subjects matter?



4) What's the best university for Psychology? Why? And what's the ATAR cut-off mark?



I really do have some interest in Psychology (Don't confuse with Psychiatry ).. Is there any other 'obstacles' I have to pass to get there? Advice maybe?

Get in line. There's a few thousand other students who want to become psychologists. I think a good grounding of biology and/or chemistry will serve you well. There are no prerequisites but assumed knowledge is atleast Advanced English and any unit of science. The cutoff for B Psychology is fairly high (> 90 ATAR) for almost every uni but a psychology major in a B Science or B Arts (> 75 ATAR) will suffice as long as your marks are competitive enough to get you into Honours. After obtaining Honours you will have to complete a further two years postgraduate study to become a fully fledged/qualified psychologist. It's very competitive and I'm not exactly sure what the job oppurtunities are like. Psychiatry is a whole other thing.

 

[klara-klara]

Im doing Psych (Hons) at Macquarie Uni and i needed 93. something to get in there. Apparently its pretty good for psych in NSW, its just the best uni for me to go to.

I don't think that you will need to do anything really in particular, just work really hard in your HSC to prepare you for uni and give you the best marks possible.

I think that Biology, Adv Maths and Adv English would be good, but don't do them if you don't like them just for the Psych course.

If you are really interested in having a look before uni, maybe buy a second hand psych text book and have a look through it just to see what its all about.

In order to be a registered psychologist you need to do at least a 4 year uni course and then either 2 years of supervised training or a 2 year masters degree.

I hope i've been of some help.

 

[LordPc]

maths for all the stats and english, cause you will be doing a lot of writing, especially if you are aiming for org psych

you should also start reading a lot, just to improve cause you will also be doing a heck of a lot of reading in psych

 

[MingX]

Well are the subjects alright for year 11? I've got these in my head..

Maths 3U (Maths Ext. 1)
English 3U(English Ext. 1)
Biology 2U
Chemistry 2U
Physics 2U

(I just have to do 12 in year 11; I'll drop it to 10/11 units in year 12, probably one of the sciences..)

If I don't make it into Maths 3U or English 3 Unit.. Oh well, I'll decide then!

Oh and BTW, these wasn't because of scaling!

Well... I had to do English, and I like creative writing. Hate essays though.
Maths, I'm confident in it, and I like it. Science was always my favourite!

 

[Survivor39]

Well are the subjects alright for year 11? I've got these in my head..

Maths 3U (Maths Ext. 1)
English 3U(English Ext. 1)
Biology 2U
Chemistry 2U
Physics 2U

(I just have to do 12 in year 11; I'll drop it to 10/11 units in year 12, probably one of the sciences..)

If I don't make it into Maths 3U or English 3 Unit.. Oh well, I'll decide then!

Oh and BTW, these wasn't because of scaling!

Well... I had to do English, and I like creative writing. Hate essays though.
Maths, I'm confident in it, and I like it. Science was always my favourite!

Great, then you are on your way!

I found pyschology a bit boring to be honest and I don't know why it is such a popular elective in first year (over 800 students in first year psychology).
Anyway, who knows what will happen in 2 years time. Your perception may change when it comes to choosing what degree to do.

 

[LordPc]

not 100% sure but i think that if you are doing a B Science, then in 1st year you have to take science courses. psychology is an appealing alternative if you dont want to do biology, physics or chem which explains the higher number of students

 

[ddtng]

Cool..

Wow 800 people?

More like 1846 for PSYC1001 at Usyd this year.

I found pyschology a bit boring to be honest and I don't know why it is such a popular elective in first year (over 800 students in first year psychology).
Anyway, who knows what will happen in 2 years time. Your perception may change when it comes to choosing what degree to do.

For me, and a number of other people I know (not sure how representative it is of the whole 1500+ students who take it every year), I entered first year psychology simply as an interest/bludge subject and went out wishing I picked something more worthwhile. However, the number of people going into second year psych are around 500+, and that is a reasonably high retention rate.

And before someone asks, you can get Usyd enrolment numbers at: http://www.timetable.usyd.edu.au/

 

[bec_peace]

Me too! Do maths. And adv eng... Mac, nsw or syd uni are good. Aim for 92+

 

[meilz92]

Umm, I'm not very good with terms (I'm only in Year 10 this year), but I'll try my best to explain...


I would like to be a Psychologist when I grow up; or at least major in Psychology at University, so here are some questions that I wanted to ask..



1) What kind of qualifications in Uni do I have to do to become a Organizational Psychologist? Or a clinical Psychologist/Neurophysiologist... haven't really decided. (Which things should I take up, basically..)



2) My School (Sydney Boys High School, Nerd school ) doesn't offer Psychology in year 11 and 12.. Where can I get basics in psychology for University? Or is there no need for them? Some good links/books/something?



3) Which subjects are best for Psychology in high school? (My school doesn't offer psychology.. Is there any subjects related to it?) Does the subjects matter?



4) What's the best university for Psychology? Why? And what's the ATAR cut-off mark?



I really do have some interest in Psychology (Don't confuse with Psychiatry ).. Is there any other 'obstacles' I have to pass to get there? Advice maybe?

EDIT: ANOTHER QUESTION..

5) High Competition, and Careers and Money?
Will a 166cm guy who is at his final height be criticized? Oh and he's gay too!

1) Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) and another year of something (supervised practice i think) before you can become a registered psych. if you dont get honours, i think you have to get a graduates diploma in psychology or something (which takes about 2 years)

If you cant get into a B Psych, i know that macquarie offers Bachelor of Science- Psychology and Bachelor of Arts- Psychology, which are both professionally recognised.

2) There is no psychology HSC subjects. However to get into B Psych, it would probably be in your best interests to do HSC Mathematics, Adv English, and a couple of science units

3) see question 2

4) USYD probably, because you can either do it in the arts stream, or science stream (see their website for more details) but i think the 2010 cut off was like 97, so you'd need to aim high. At macquarie, the cutoff was only around 93, which is more attainable, and their other two recognised degrees which i already mentioned are much lower (ATAR in the 80s)

5) Discrimination based on height and sexuality are illegal under the Anti Discrimination Act 1977, so no you will not be discriminated against, but if you are, you can probably sue. There is high competition to get into the degree (thus, the generally high ATARs), and im not sure about the business. Id say the job demand is average. As for wages, the myfuture's average weekly fulltime wages for psychologists are around $1,200. But of course if you go into private practice and open up your own clinic, this would be much, much higher.

 

[meilz92]

More like 1846 for PSYC1001 at Usyd this year.

yes, but not all of them are doing B Psych. A LOT of them are Arts students, and some of them (like myself) are Science students.

 

[ddtng]

yes, but not all of them are doing B Psych. A LOT of them are Arts students, and some of them (like myself) are Science students.

Exactly the point being made earlier (that psychology is a popular first year elective).

 

[RDX]

Competitive field.

 

[LaurenHarvey]

Hey I am doing a BPsych at sydney and in my third year.


I would like to be a Psychologist when I grow up; or at least major in Psychology at University, so here are some questions that I wanted to ask..



1) What kind of qualifications in Uni do I have to do to become a Organizational Psychologist? Or a clinical Psychologist/Neurophysiologist... haven't really decided. (Which things should I take up, basically..)

You need an undegraduate degree with a major in psychology. This can come from any degree (i.e arts, science, liberal arts and science, economics and social science etc. + BPsych all have differing cutoffs). Then you need to complete an honours year (which envolves completing your own emprirical project and other course work). Entry into honours in psychology is highly competitive as most unis are subject to a quota of about 70-90 depending on the cohort of each year. If you do BPsych you will gain direct entry if you maintain a credit average in your first year and a distinction average in 2nd and 3rd years. If you are completing another degree you will need to compete for places with other students and you will usually need a Distinction or High Distinction average again depending on the cohort of that year. Once this is completed you can register yourself as an "Interim Psychologist". In order to become registered as a clinical or organisational psychologist you will need to complete further specialist training: either a masters in org psych, clinical psych, clinical neuropsychology, forensic psych or the Doctorate programs in clinical and clinical neuropsych.

2) My School (Sydney Boys High School, Nerd school ) doesn't offer Psychology in year 11 and 12.. Where can I get basics in psychology for University? Or is there no need for them? Some good links/books/something?

At Usyd I think our first year textbook was Psychology: Themes and Variations by Weiten. Any first year textbook or introductory guide to psychology is sufficient.

3) Which subjects are best for Psychology in high school? (My school doesn't offer psychology.. Is there any subjects related to it?) Does the subjects matter?
There is no subject at high school that is best for psychology. You may find doing 2 unit maths or higher (not general) useful for the stats subjects but again in stats the only thing that you cover that is relevant to high school maths is maybe some basic algebra. Just do subjects that you like that will faciliate entry into the course you end up choosing. You may need to complete subjects in high school for other parts of your degree. I think in BScience it is assumed or advised to do 2 unit maths or higher because maths is a compulsory subject in first year. This is also the case with BPsych (Bpsych-science stream at usyd)


4) What's the best university for Psychology? Why? And what's the ATAR cut-off mark?
In Undergraduate studies there really is no "best" university for psychology study. All universities must comply with guidelines set by APAC (Psych Accred. Council). Thus each university has very similar subjects which cover very similar content.



I really do have some interest in Psychology (Don't confuse with Psychiatry ).. Is there any other 'obstacles' I have to pass to get there? Advice maybe?
As long as you do your best, don't put too much pressure on yourself and do what you enjoy you will get there.

 

[meilz92]

if its your dream career, definately go for it, no matter what anybody says

 

[InterNut]

Lovin' this thread.
Mind if I chime?

I'm doing a B Commerce (Liberal Studies) starting.. now.
The handbook says I'm allowed a "*minor" in Psychology through the Science stream, which is what I've been intending. Say I wanted to keep my options open, could I somehow (say pay the UOC costs? to) do the extra units to major in Psychology, and from there attempt to get into the Honours year and become a registered psychologist after Honours and 2 years of supervised practice?

Thanks, guise.


ETA: Stupid question, admittedly. And eurgh, thought this was in the UNSW forum. Sorry, peeeeps.

 

[spence]

Lovin' this thread.
Mind if I chime?

I'm doing a B Commerce (Liberal Studies) starting.. now.
The handbook says I'm allowed a "*minor" in Psychology through the Science stream, which is what I've been intending. Say I wanted to keep my options open, could I somehow (say pay the UOC costs? to) do the extra units to major in Psychology, and from there attempt to get into the Honours year and become a registered psychologist after Honours and 2 years of supervised practice?

Thanks, guise.


ETA: Stupid question, admittedly. And eurgh, thought this was in the UNSW forum. Sorry, peeeeps.

USyd offers a graduate diploma in psych, which can get you into honours if you haven't done a psych degree. Other unis probably have similar courses

 

[killer-cupcakes]

My sister just begun her masters degree in pyschology at UWS, and she said yes it is alot of work but Its worth doing, she also did her fourth year with honours. But she did a gap year between 2008 and and this year, she spent last year gaining and working some experience. So good luck