What college classes should I take to become a clinical psychologist?
Okay, so I am in my second year of community college. I know what university I want to transfer to so I have been very mindful of the classes I have taken thus far. I am going to receive my AA degree next summer. I want to be a clinical psychologist. Unfortunately this college does not offer a BA here so I have to transfer. So here is a list of classes that I should take at the university. I only need to take 9 credit hours (three electives). Which ones should I take that would be relevant to become a clinical psychologist?
PSYC 2133 - THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Credits: 3
PSYC 2343 - CHILD & ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT Credits: 3
PSYC 2353 - ADULT DEVELOPMENT AND AGING Credits: 3
PSYC 2433 - HISTORY & SYSTEMS PSYCHOLOGY Credits: 3
PSYC 3003 - ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY Credits: 3
PSYC 3043 - COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY Credits: 3
PSYC 3052 - FIELD EXPERIENCE IN PSYCHOLOGY Credits: 2
PSYC 3533 - PSYCHOTHERAPY: THEORY & PRACTICE Credits: 3
PSYC 3633 - PROFESSIONAL/ETHICAL/LEGAL ISSUES Credits: 3
PSYC 3733 - SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Credits: 3
PSYC 4033 - PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY Credits: 3
PSYC 4133 - STATISTICAL METHODS Credits: 3
PSYC 4423 - EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY I Credits: 3
PSYC 4433 - EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY II Credits: 3
Thank you in advance
I am confused as well but the university website said that these classes are all electives and we only need 9 credit hours worth of electives.
Thank you both for taking the time out to answer! It’s hard to choose a best answer because you both helped me. Yep, I know that it will be a lot of work but this is something that I really want to do 
Thanks again!
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September 13th, 2011 at 6:33 am
So you need 3 classes from this list (assuming all three at worth 3 credit hrs)?
First thing you want to know is do you want to work with all ages or not?
1.3633 I’d say would be good
2. 3533 for sure
3.3003
I’m a little confused b/c all those classes listed seem like classes you should take …
EDIT: hmmm…. Ok well if that’s what they say! =) I would say 4133, 3733, 3052, 3043, 2353, 2343 are all other good choices if you can’t get into the above three. Either way, you will end up taking almost all of these classes anyway once you finish you Bachelor degree and then grad school.
September 13th, 2011 at 6:33 am
I think you’d want to do the Field Experience course, just to get your feet wet, in a sense. You’ll probably want to take Stats, because grad schools often require that. You might also want to do the Psychotherapy course. That’s nine credits, but I’m surprised that some of those courses aren’t required ones.
Basically, it doesn’t matter much what you take as an undergrad, as long as you do very, very well, getting a high GPA and doing well on the GRE or whichever admission test your future grad school requires. Psych grad school is very competitive. To become a clinical psychologist in most states requires a PhD, so you’ve got lots of hard work ahead of you.
Good luck!
September 13th, 2011 at 6:33 am
Many of these are fairly important courses — if you can afford it, I wouldn’t limit yourself to just the required hours and see if you can at least audit more than 3 of these courses.
You should definitely take:
PSYC 3003 - ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY Credits: 3
Choose one of the following depending on your interests:
PSYC 2133 - THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Credits: 3
PSYC 2343 - CHILD & ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT Credits: 3
PSYC 2353 - ADULT DEVELOPMENT AND AGING Credits: 3
PSYC 3043 - COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY Credits: 3
PSYC 3733 - SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Credits: 3
PSYC 4033 - PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY Credits: 3
PSYC 4423 - EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY I Credits: 3
PSYC 4433 - EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY II Credits: 3
One of these might be useful if you want to go into a PsyD (practice-oriented) program, but you will learn about these in grad school, so I don’t see them as particularly useful:
PSYC 3052 - FIELD EXPERIENCE IN PSYCHOLOGY Credits: 2
PSYC 3533 - PSYCHOTHERAPY: THEORY & PRACTICE Credits: 3
PSYC 3633 - PROFESSIONAL/ETHICAL/LEGAL ISSUES Credits: 3
If you intend to pursue a PhD (research + practice-oriented) program, you would definitely want to take 4133 — the more methods courses you take, the better off you will be:
PSYC 4133 - STATISTICAL METHODS Credits: 3
Hope this helps. Good luck, and congrats on your AA degree!