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college help
ok i want to be a child psychologist but i dono where do start or wut college i shud go to or wut i should get into in college i need some major help please im in the 10 grade i should kno by now but i dono where to start or what to do please help me fulfill my dream
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Want to answer more questions in the Work & School category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Colleges & Universities?
Do you want to be child psychologist or a child psychiatrist?
The two are different, and the pathways to achieve them are different too.
The difference between the two is that a child psychiatrist is a M.D. and is able to prescribe medications to people, however, a child psychologist cannot do this, but both can do therapy.
Psychologist Pathway: find a program that you are interested in that has a good psychology program. This is one of the most popular majors so it may take some time to find a college that you really like. However, to be a child psychologist, you will need to pursue a graduate degree- at least a masters if not a PhD. The graduate school is more important than the undergraduate degree- but you should see a University that also has a good graduate school too.
Psychiatry Pathway: This is the M.D. pathway. You will have to complete an undergraduate degree in any subject that you like (psychology need not be the only subject, but can be- I have a degree in psychology). You will have to take your core science classes- Biology, Chemistry, and Physics and also some other classes- Calculus, and English. Usually around your junior year- some very motivated people do it after the summer of their sophomore year- you have to take the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test). This test is required to gain admission to medical school. Once you're in a medical school- you will want to do your residency (post medical school training) in psychology or pediatrics and then specialize in child psychiatry. There are many programs that have combined residencies, but generally this is another 4-5 years. After that, you'll get licensed to practice child psychiatry.
As you can see both paths are not easy- PhD is at least 8-9 years, M.D. is at least 11-12 years, but its really worth it if you're passionate.
Best of luck,
AK
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You should go fill out a profile at FastWeb ([Link](Mouse over link to see full location))
It's great that you're trying to get a head start on your college search, and this site will help you a lot. Yes, it takes a while to fill out the profile, but they give you all sorts of information -- like what colleges have the majors you're looking at, what you have to do to get into those colleges, and they have great information on literally HUNDREDS of scholarships and internships.
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