Psychology is a great major to consider when choosing a career path. It will require a lot of hard work if you plan on following this major in college, but it’s a great field to enter if you love helping people. Most people believe if you are planning on majoring in psychology then you are automatically going to start analyzing them, but there’s more to psychology than most people think.

If you have one or more of the following qualities then a psychology major could be for you --a scientific curiosity about behavior, a desire to prevent social problems, sensitivity to individual differences, a desire to understand what motivates people, compassion for the welfare of others, and integrity. The study of psychology can lead to a better understanding of differences between people, relationships, and their environment. It can also help in understanding different values concerning gender, sexuality, culture, and race.

Most people believe that if you are majoring in psychology then you are going to be a shrink and analyze them. When in reality a psychology major can be great preparation for education, social work, law, medicine, and business.

Another major misconception about psychology is that getting into graduate school will be easy. Only a small fraction of those people who enter graduate school will actually make it. This is not to scare you out of majoring in psychology but rather to help you prepare better. Smart students will have a back up plan if graduate school doesn’t work for them. Getting in to graduate school is a competitive process, but working hard, getting good grades and involving yourself in research can help you make it in.

The top ten best colleges for majoring in psychology are; Stanford, The University of Michigan, Yale, UCLA (University of California Los Angeles), University of Illinois at Urbania-Champaign, Harvard, University of Minnesota twin cities, University of Pennsylvania, University of California in Berkley, and USCD (University of California San Diego).

Psychology is a broad career field; your pay will vary depending on where you live and what you do. A typical psychologist can earn around $72,487 a year, or on average $50,000 and up. A psychiatrist on the other hand can earn around $163,144 a year, or on average $100,000 and up. The reason psychiatrists earn much more than psychologist is because psychiatrists can prescribe medicine to patients, rather than just provide therapy.

A psychology major can prepare you for many things in life; it’s not just useful for careers in the psychology field.