Psychology has always been an area I'm interested in. For a while I wanted to other things like teaching, law etc. but now I again feel drawn to it. So I would definitely be considering those options - probably the honours/masters/phD program rather than diploma if I wanted to pursue psychology as a career which is a real possibility for me. But MAQ's APAC-accredited Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) looks good to me to start.
So yeah, without having a time machine on what I will think in the future, a psychologist is a career path I'd be open to. Do you have any advise? Also are job prospects good for psychologists? Perhaps in areas such as clinical?
Disclaimer: I'm not a psychology student but I just looked into it because I was interested in it before and the following is just from friends who are doing psychology.
Okay, from the regularity of your posts, you've probably looked into this already. But, just in case - look at the units in psych, there is a lot more statistics etc than the behaviour side that most kids seem to be interested in.
Second, the honours program is obviously competitive, even if you get the ATAR to get into the B Psych (Hons) you still have to maintain a certain GPA to stay in the program (if you fall below, you revert to a B Arts - Psych).
Thirdly, for clinical etc work, you really should consider postgraduate options - e.g. masters and PhD (you can combine the two programs together) - but as a warning, these programs are very very competitive. They will usually look at your grades, interview, practical experiences, reasons for doing the program etc etc.
Fourth, job prospects a pretty good - if you aren't picky. In terms of charging fees, however, you need to have completed the postgrad in order to charge a certain bracket. It also depends on what kind of career you are looking for - there are the obvious clinical settings; hospitals, private practice, research positions. But there are also other options - e.g. if you do organisational psychology - this opens up HR positions within firms or the public sector. Psychology can also be very useful to another degree - e.g. business etc, and if you look at many managers, many have some experiences or study in psych. Whilst you are studying, you may also consider taking up some work experience roles - e.g. research assistant etc.
Finally, at Mac - the postgraduate options are largely in three options: clinical psych, neuropsych, and organisational psych. Mac's psych reputation is good, and there are lots of facilities and clinics on campus (good for getting some idea or feel for what it's like to practice/research etc).
There's a lot of info available online, have a read of the blurbs about the different areas and consider whether this is something you want to spend many years doing (consider: 3 years bachelor + 1 year honours/diploma etc + 2 year master + PhD).
