Getting a Masters Degree in Psychology

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=James_August_Smithe]James August Smithe
A masters degree in psychology is one of the best career choices. Clinical psychologists are known to have stratospheric salaries, and even though much of this reputation is a mix of urban myth and easy stereotyping, there is some grain of truth in it. This makes a graduate or a masters degree in psychology one of the most competitive domains when one is trying to get a seat after their undergraduates. Indeed, it has been reported that only about 2-5% of students who apply for a seat in a masters course succeed in getting a seat. Here we discuss the how and why's of getting a masters and graduate degree.
Why You Should Get a Masters in Psychology
One of the foremost reasons why people do a graduate degree in psychology is that it is the only possible way to become an accredited clinical psychologist. Without a masters, you can be a psychologist, but you will not be able to see patients in a clinical setting. This degree also allows you to become a counselor, which is a professional who advises people with their day-to-day life. Such counselors include school psychologists, marriage counselors and educational counselors. If you specialize in social work, you can also work as a psychologist in a social work environment. Depending upon the specialization you take, you have a choice of working in many different settings. A masters also allows you to pursue a graduate degree in psychology.
Graduate Degrees After Masters in Psychology
In the United States, there are two types of doctorate degrees you can do after masters in psychology - one is the more popular PhD program that is more academically inclined, and the second kind are the PsyD (doctor of psychology) degree program that is more practically oriented. In the United Kingdom, one has to complete a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (D. Clin. Psych.) after their bachelors to get a masters. In most countries, after completing a degree, a license is required from the government or the relevant body to practice.
Getting a masters in psychology is not an easy task: first you have to get a seat in a program of your choice against heavy odds, then it takes more than 6 years to complete the degree, and that is not including any internship required. And all this after you have to pay very high fees for the degree itself - any decision to take a masters should be weighted in with the cost, benefits, your long-term goals and tempered with a passion for psychology. Because only when you really like this field would you be able to succeed in it.
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Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Getting-a-Masters-Degree-in-Psychology&id=6623865] Getting a Masters Degree in Psychology