Attending a liberal arts college can be an overwhelming experience for many students, especially in the beginning. There are dozens of majors and minors for students to choose from, with hundreds of career paths available. For an incoming student who has not yet chosen a course of study, declaring a major can be stressful. Three or four years is a short amount of time to make a definitive decision about the future. In Stern College we have the resources of the career center and academic advisement to help map out both an academic and a career plan. Still, when choosing a major it is also helpful to hear what the faculty and fellow students have to say. Each month in the features section of the The Observer, we’ll explore one major offered at Stern College and focus on its requirements, faculty, and students, as well as the department’s broader influence on the university. This month we are concentrating on one of the most prominent majors at Stern College – psychology.
Attending a liberal arts college can be an overwhelming experience for many students, especially in the beginning. There are dozens of majors and minors for students to choose from, with hundreds of career paths available. For an incoming student who has not yet chosen a course of study, declaring a major can be stressful. Three or four years is a short amount of time to make a definitive decision about the future. In Stern College we have the resources of the career center and academic advisement to help map out both an academic and a career plan. Still, when choosing a major it is also helpful to hear what the faculty and fellow students have to say. Each month in the features section of the The Observer, we’ll explore one major offered at Stern College and focus on its requirements, faculty, and students, as well as the department’s broader influence on the university. This month we are concentrating on one of the most prominent majors at Stern College – psychology.Since it is one of the most popular majors among students, the psychology department is one of the largest at Stern. This allows the department to accommodate students with diverse interests, offering a general track of study along with a neuroscience track and a developmental track. In addition to offering three different tracks in order to accommodate majors, the psychology department offers a wide variety of courses each semester for majors, minors, and any student interested in learning a little more about the field. This fall, a total of 15 courses will be offered, including courses like Abnormal Psychology and Public Health.
Liorah Rubinstein, a junior majoring in psychology, expressed excitement over a course this coming semester titled Psychology and Religion. Although she said that she is happy with the variety of courses that the department offers, she did make suggestions to the department. “I have already spoken to one of the department heads about the fact that there are not as many honors classes offered,” Rubinstein said. “I would like to see growth in the department in that area to try to expand the amount of course offerings, especially because it is such a huge major.”
Beyond discussions about class offerings, Rubinstein has had an overwhelmingly positive experience with the faculty of the psychology department. “The professors are very friendly and open to helping you and answering questions,” Rubinstein said. Jordana Maged, another student majoring in psychology, echoed Rubinstein’s feelings about both the class variety and the faculty. “My experience with the YU department has been great so far,” Maged shared. “I’m really enjoying the classes that I’ve taken.”
The diversity of the Stern psychology department is further reflected in the wide range of career paths on which students are embarking. Some have a clear vision of how they plan to utilize their Stern degree. Maged plans to become a child psychologist. “I’ve always loved working with kids,” Maged explained. “I thought psychology would be a really rewarding way to be able to do it.” In contrast, Rubinstein keeps herself open to many options. “The truth is that I don’t have a specific vision of what I want to do with it after,” Rubinstein said. “I probably will end up going to some kind of grad school, maybe get a PsyD or PhD. It might lead me to open my own institution for whatever population I feel that I am most fit to address and that most needs to be addressed. Or, I might become a therapist. I might end up working in a school. I might have a private practice. I might go into social work. I’m not really sure where it will lead me, but those are [some] ideas.”
Both students spent this past summer working in positions related to their major. Maged continued her work in a summer camp, gaining experience interacting with children that will surely be vital to her studies, as well as her career as a child psychologist. Rubinstein spent five weeks as a part-time research assistant in the Boston University Twin Project (BUTP) lab. “The research was focused on child development and uses twins as their study subjects,” Rubinstein explained. “It deals with the questions of nature versus nurture. I got to work with the data from the different experiments and studies and I was involved in filming some sessions and editing the film.”
Despite the fact that the psychology department primarily caters itself to psychology majors and minors, the influence of the department can be felt throughout the campus. Stern College places a strong emphasis on mental health. The counseling center offers free sessions to students, and the Active Minds club emphasizes the importance of speaking out about mental health through shabbatons, speakers, and events.
So, what should someone who wants to major in psychology do in order to be successful? “Investigate early on what options there are in terms of courses that are being offered at YU and what course path would make the most sense to get all of the requirements done. And make sure that you’re getting in electives that interest you,” Rubinstein said. “Also realize that the faculty is there to help guide the students. It’s a fuzzy path that follows after this major, maybe not as fuzzy as other paths, but it’s good to be talking to mentors, doctors, and other faculty, [and] older students who can at least put ideas on the table, because there are really a lot of directions to go after that.”
“Some people say that psychology is an easy major,” Maged remarked. “It depends on how you approach it. If it’s something that you enjoy and take seriously, it can be really rewarding and fulfilling.”