What Psychology Electives Should I Take?
Credit: Vladimir Vladimirov / Getty Images- An advisor recommends all psychology majors explore each area of psychology and take electives in topics they want to study further.
- Students interested in clinical psychology could take electives in abnormal psychology/psychopathology to learn more about mental health.
- Students who want to advance in academia should prioritize research in their undergraduate career before going to graduate school.
- Students interested in statistics, neuroscience, or other STEM-heavy fields should pursue higher-level electives in math and the sciences.
Figuring out which electives you should take in college can be difficult. It’s even harder when you’re majoring in psychology, one of the biggest and broadest majors in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
BestColleges spoke with a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill) academic advising director to let you know what classes would be most helpful depending on what you want to do with your psychology degree.
Desiree Griffin has been a teaching professor at UNC-Chapel Hill since 2012. In addition to teaching clinical psychology, psychopathology, clinical sports psychology, psychology and law, and forensic psychology, she is the director of undergraduate advising for the psychology department.
Mental health treatment and therapy are what most people think of when it comes to psychology. But Griffin said it’s much broader than that. Griffin always encourages students to take classes in the different areas of psychology and start digging deeper once they find a topic they enjoy.
“If you enjoyed social psychology, then you might enjoy an upper-level class where you look at decision-making or how attitudes can change,” Griffin told BestColleges. “Maybe you’re interested in applying clinical psychology to athletes, so you take the sports psychology class.”
While Griffin’s recommendations and classes are from a UNC-Chapel Hill perspective, many colleges offer classes with the same or similar names that explore similar topics. If you’re unsure if your college has these classes, speak with your academic advisor or a faculty member for more information.
Recommendations for All Psychology Students
One class Griffin highly recommends to all psychology students is psychopathology, also called abnormal psychology at some colleges. Understanding mental health is important no matter what major or career you choose.
Griffin also recommends every psychology major take social psychology to understand how other people think and process information and how your perspective is different from others.
“I think it just helps people navigate the world around them so much more, not only efficiently, but with so much more awareness and understanding,” Griffin said.
Griffin didn’t give recommendations for specific electives outside the psychology department but did say that a second language always looks great on a resumé. And taking classes that expose you to research and qualitative methods is also a plus.
Electives for Students Interested in Clinical and Client-Facing Careers
If you’re interested in mental health counseling, social work, or any client-facing career, Griffin recommends any psychopathology or abnormal psychology class alongside a class focused on clinical psychology.
A clinical psychology class can help dispel myths and show you what it looks like to be a clinical psychologist.
Once you have an idea of what field or who you’d like to serve in clinical psychology, you can explore upper-level electives that focus on autism, child development, child psychopathology, or any classes that let you dig into a specific condition, treatment approach, or clinical skill.
Some Students Should Prioritize Research Over Electives
Griffin’s biggest recommendation for students who want to advance their education isn’t even course-related. If you’re considering a future in academia, you need to consider gaining research experience to prepare for a master’s degree and beyond.
That doesn’t mean electives can’t help you gain ground on your goal. Griffin said electives focusing on math, statistics, and data analysis are beneficial.
“Joining a research lab of some sort, that’s going to be one of the biggest things they can do to really prepare themselves for grad school,” Griffin told BestColleges. “Now, in terms of courses, some schools are heavier on quantitative courses, other schools are not. But I would always recommend students take quantitative courses if at all possible.”
She said a strong research background is the crux of most academic positions, and any research is better than none. She recommends going beyond data entry and possibly taking on an honors thesis.
If you can’t get enough research experience during your undergraduate studies, you can also do a post-baccalaureate to focus on research.
Electives for Psychology Students Interested in Medicine
Griffin said it’s common for many psychology majors to go pre-med. If a student is interested in using their degree for medicine, she recommends a bachelor of science since they’ll be required to take more science and higher-level math electives, which may be outside of the department.
If your school offers neuroscience, it may better suit you if you’re wishing to pursue a more science-heavy career. UNC-Chapel Hill’s neuroscience and psychology majors are in the same department and often overlap courses and labs.
Electives for Students Undecided on Their Career
You don’t have to know what you want to do right away, and, for some careers, you also don’t have to go to grad school.
Griffin said about 50% of UNC-Chapel Hill psychology graduates go on to grad school, medical school, or some other professional degree, while the other half go straight into the workforce.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that psychology bachelor’s degree-holders made a median salary of $55,000 per year, with the American Psychiatric Association reporting 38% making at least $60,000 annually.
“A psychology major is refreshing because it’s got so many ways you can apply it, but I think that’s also daunting because a lot of students want a specific pathway, and it’s hard,” Griffin said. “It’s hard because psychology keeps so many pathways open.”
UNC-Chapel Hill Psychology Professor Patrick Harrison, director of Instructional Development in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, previously told BestColleges that many psychology bachelor’s degree-holders pair it with statistics, computer science, economics, and any discipline that helps them understand the right way to ask questions and record accurate data.
He said the more students experience, the more opportunities they’ll see to marry their interests with the major.
In the end, Griffin recommends you use your electives to take what you like.
“When it comes to psych electives that will benefit them, what I tend to tell students is, ‘This is your opportunity to take what you enjoy,'” Griffin said.
“So I tend to lean students more toward, ‘There’s no specific class that’s going to offer you a significant benefit.’ So I tend to tell students, ‘Do what you enjoy. Let those be the classes you take as your electives.'”