What can be done with a BS in Psychology?

[ultrafilter]

@GiantRat

A degree in, for example, BioChem, demonstrates an ability to regurgitate formulae.

This simply isn’t true. A biochem major learns to think like a scientist, just like a psychology major learns to think like a psychologist. You should be more careful to avoid declaring that you can “think with a measure of agility” and immediately spout tripe like this.

[alterego]

If all you did in college is get a degree in psychology then you would have to admit that you didn’t try very hard and therefore aren’t qualified to do much else. Psych is easy. Myself, I got a degree in psychology and also took several courses in computer science such as artificial intelligence, natural language processing, machine learning, etc. Based on this course work and my programming experience I applied for a very interesting job on the east coast that asked for a PhD (postdoc status) and I was offered the job. At the last minute I decided to go to grad school because, even though I had gotten this job, I realized that a degree in psychology is only sufficient to satisfy your interest in how the mind works but not to do anything truly productive with your life. If you are only going to school to satisfy curiousity that’s fine, but after you get your degrees in History and Psychology you’d better plan to get further training in something that’s actually practically useful.

[robert_columbia]

Are you in the US? The US Army can make a commissioned officer out of you with a Bachelor’s degree. I believe I know someone who got into the Army as a commissioned officer with a BA in Elementary Education. Interested in wearing a gold bar and running around Afghanistan?

[kenobi_65]

@DrCube

Finance, actuarial science, nursing… Can we think of any more?

Finance and actuarial science are usually specializations within a business degree, which spenczar had originally mentioned.

At least in the case of actuarial science, in addition to an undergrad degree, ISTR that there are also a series of professional exams which you must pass.

[MikeS]

@thelurkinghorror

By the way, I don’t think there is any functional difference between a BA and BS is psychology. If someone had a BA in Physics, I’d assume it’s a crippled degree. In psych some schools give one or the other; some give both depending on which option or specialty you’re taking. I see no general correspondence in BA/BS vs. whether the department is in the school of Liberal Arts or Science.

@Nametag

I assure you that my BA in biophysics is not “crippled”; like all degrees offered by UC Berkeley’s College of Letters and Science, it’s a BA because that’s all they offer – that’s “how it’s always been.”

Same here. My small liberal-arts college gave me a B.A. in physics, but there wasn’t an option to get a B.S. The same was true for Astronomy, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, and Computer Science. The only department in the entire college that you could get a B.S. from was Engineering, and I was led to believe that the only reason they did it this way was for accreditation reasons.

[ultrafilter]

@kenobi_65

Finance and actuarial science are usually specializations within a business degree, which spenczar had originally mentioned.

It seems to be a toss-up as to whether actuarial science programs are run through the business school or the math department, but at a fair number of schools, it is a separate major rather than a specialization under some other program.

[spenczar]

@GiantRat

There’s a lot of liberal arts shellacking going on in this thread. As a Lit and PHL grad, I assumed I was destined for academia or Starbucks. Somehow, I landed in the IT field.

I agree with the previous comment that a “liberal arts” (phrase I detest) degree demonstrates an ability to think with a measure of agility. A degree in, for example, BioChem, demonstrates an ability to regurgitate formulae. To each his/her own.

In my decade of experience in IT-world, I’ve encountered some folks with hardcore science backgrounds who impressed me. They were usually managed by folks with liberal arts degrees.

I don’t know what thread you’ve been reading, but I don’t see much “shellacking.” The consensus seems to be that your case is the norm - a liberal arts degree is a general “this is a pretty smart person” degree, but not something that puts you into a specific career path most of the time.

I’d also strongly argue against your contention that a degree in biochemistry indicates rote memorization. Did you take any biochemistry classes, or are you just sort of speculating? In my experience, those classes were second only to formal math in requiring creative, lateral thinking - coming up with the sequence of chemical reactions required to produce some compound on the spot is really, really tough and requires quite a bit of ingenuity.