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51³Ô¹ÏÍø serves students through a blended advising model in most major programs. Advisees work with Professional Advisors for the first 45 earned credit hours to understand their interests and strengths as related to their chosen majors, the core curriculum, registration and program policies and procedures, academic support services, and the process to establish academic goals. Students then transition to faculty advisors for the junior and senior years where they receive a greater focus on mentoring and identifying internships and other discipline-specific learning and career opportunities. Find your professional academic advisor on the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Psychology Advising Tools page. Your faculty advisor will be assigned to you after 45 credit hours, and you can see who that advisor is in your Student Tranguid.

Whereas Professional Advisors are beneficial in navigating your time at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, Psychological Science professors can provide guidance on life after 51³Ô¹ÏÍø. You can speak to a Psychological Science faculty member for advice on the major, career options and graduate school preparation at any point in your education.

Students may meet with any professor in Psychological Science to discuss the Psychological Science minor. You can find a professor for your campus by visiting the faculty contact page.

If you are interested in the Interdisciplinary Leadership minor, you should contact Dr. Kathryn Narciso. If you are interested in the Neuroscience minor, you should contact Dr. Ryan Shanks.

A LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) obtains a master's degree in social work while a LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor) obtains a master's degree in counseling. You can counsel with either, but in some cases a LCSW will open some doors that a LPC will not. Job opportunities for counselors typically require LCSW or LPC licenses; however, there are many other opportunities which will only accept LCSWs.

The process to obtain a license is similar and is regulated through the Composite Board under the GA Secretary of State. The differences in the degrees center on content of the program. A counseling program centers on counseling and assessment while a social work program trains in counseling and assessment but will give the added social work content, setting up programs, connecting with community resources, etc.

A student's best bet is to compare a social work program (such as ) and our Master’s program in Counseling or other similar programs to see the difference in topics.

• Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC): Requires a master’s degree in order to provide counseling and is considered a "generalist" degree. Students might want to look for CACREP accredited programs, specifically in Counseling, which is a 60-hour program. Licensure requires 3,000 hours (or 3 years) post-masters experience in counseling (2 years in some states) and you must pass the National Counselor Exam (NCE).
• Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW): Requires a master’s degree which is typically 30 hours of coursework and requires 3 years post-master's experience (although some requirements might vary by state). Social Work differs from counselor training in that there is more emphasis on social systems. The main tasks of professional social workers can include a number of services such as case management (linking service users with agencies and programs that will meet their psychosocial needs), counseling & psychotherapy, human services management, social welfare policy analysis, policy and practice development, community organizing, international, social and community development, hospital and aged care, advocacy, teaching (in schools of social work), and social and political research.
• Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT): Requires a master’s degree which is typically a 60 hour program where the focus is on counseling couples and families rather than individuals such as LPC or LCSW. Training is more specific but also more limited in the scope of practice. Licensure includes 2,000 hours of post-master's, supervised clinical experience.
• Licensed Psychologist (LP): You can obtain a degree in counseling psychology or clinical psychology in order to provide counseling services. The LP requires a doctorate (PhD or PsyD) and programs vary in length and entrance requirements. This training differs from other degrees in there is more training based on a medical model and includes more assessments such as administering and interpreting tests (i.e., personality, IQ, etc). Post-doc experience is required in order to obtain a license and requirements vary by state.

First, interested students should gain appropriate knowledge in the area by reading, attending workshops, talking to individuals, asking questions, and researching. Next, volunteer at an agency that specializes in this population or visit sites such as , , or to find ways to get involved. If you are able to complete an internship, then look for agencies specializing in the LGBTQ population.

No, students may take any of the sciences listed in the catalog under Area D in the core curriculum. However, the Department of Psychological Science recommends Biology, Chemistry, or Physics in preparation for and as a prerequisite for PSYC 4290 Neuroscience. Many students choose to take BIOL 1101 to refresh themselves on Biology, then move on to taking BIOL 1107 and possibly BIOL 1108.

Having one of the above sciences as opposed to Astronomy, Geology, etc. can be a benefit to students who are applying to competitive programs at the graduate level, because they are more closely related to the Psychology major than the other sciences.

We encourage all psychology majors to consider participating in an internship. Successful internships help students determine which area of psychology they want to pursue and provide valuable work experience.

We also encourage students to consider how they plan to use their Psychology degree and then choose electives to fit in with those plans. For instance, if a student plans on going into counseling, the student should consider electives such as PSYC 4840: Counseling and Clinical Methods, PSYC 3600: Psychology of Women, PSYC 3520: Human Sexuality, PSYC 3181: Psychology of Aging, or some of the special topic classes like PSYC 4303: Drugs, Brain, and Behavior.

AP credit can be good and allow students to save time and money.  However, AP credit might not be your best option. If students receive credit for the first course in a sequence, they should consider if they feel prepared for the next course in the sequence.  While, in theory, AP courses are meant to instruct at a college level, students may not receive the information in a way which prepares them for the classes in a particular major at a particular school.  Some students elect to take the classes they received AP credit for while others do not. 

Students are always encouraged to take classes of interest to them.  However, in some instances, the department has made recommendations.  For example, we prefer psychology majors take MATH 1111 or higher in AREA A2 but MATH 1101 would suffice.  We also recommend our students take Biology, Chemistry, or Physics lab courses in AREA D.  There are many other recommendations, which students will hear about during advisement sessions. Regarding electives, students should take classes which pertain to their field of interest. Also, consider doing research and an internship. 

The Department of Psychological Science is flexible in regards to where a student may have an internship. Students are encouraged to choose an internship site which will help them gain experience in the area of Psychology in which they are interested.

Additional information about internships, including past internship locations, may be obtained by contacting the Internship Coordinators in Career Services. Career Services has Internship Coordinators on the Dahlonega and the Gainesville campuses. Students should also review the Internship Handbook and meet with the Department of Psychological Science Internship Coordinators who oversee internships within the department and determine academic credit eligibility. For the Dahlonega campus, the Departmental Internship Coordinator is Dr. Bryan Dawson. For the Gainesville campus, the Departmental Internship Coordinator is Dr. Shelley Aikman.

Students should be aware some internship sites require students to purchase a short-term liability insurance policy.

Students must have Junior status or higher to receive academic credit for an internship. Since setting up internships can take time, students should plan and organize the internship 1-2 semesters in advance.

A copy of the internship handbook can be found by logging into my51³Ô¹ÏÍø and visiting the Psychological Science Portal Site under Directories. Once students have reviewed the handbook and discussed their desire to do an internship with an advisor, they should schedule an appointment with the departmental internship coordinator, Dr. Bryan Dawson (Dahlonega campus) or Dr. Shelley Aikman (Gainesville campus).

Students are encouraged to minor in an area they like and which will enhance their psychology major based on what they plan to do when they graduate. The psychology department oversees the neuroscience and the interdisciplinary leadership minors.

Students may meet with any professor in Psychological Science to discuss the Psychological Science minor. You can find a professor for your campus by visiting the Faculty Contact List. If you are interested in the Interdisciplinary Leadership minor, you should contact Dr. Kathryn Narciso. If you are interested in the Neuroscience minor, you should contact Dr. Ryan Shanks.

Dr. Bryan Dawson has put together a great series of podcasts devoted to answering this very question!  You can subscribe for free .

The more, the better! However, it depends on what a student is looking for in a graduate program. When in doubt, students should contact the schools or programs in which they are interested and ask.

Studying abroad is an excellent opportunity for all majors to get a better sense of our global society and experience a culture vastly different than their own. There are study abroad Psychology courses offered occasionally; however, many core curriculum courses are routinely held as study abroad courses. While students may not directly benefit from study abroad in the field of Psychology, it does give them the opportunity to have experiences that may set them apart in their graduate school interviews, especially if the trip results in the formulation of a particular research topic.