Hello jgc99: I don't know the answer to your question. But I saw no one had replied to your post. So I thought I would.

I'm an older person now. So it's been many years since I was making career decisions. But way back then, the common wisdom seemed to be... just go to college... it doesn't matter what you study... you'll be set for life. It was absolutely not true. Many of us studied English, philosophy, history, etc. And, in my case at least, my B.A. degree wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. I ended up going to graduate school & became a vocational rehabilitation counselor (which is part of the reason I was interested in replying to your post, I guess.)

I don't know why people scoff at the idea of studying psychology. Perhaps it's a corollary of the "pick yourself up by your bootstraps" mentality... the idea that mental illness is just a matter of being too self-absorbed & so people just need to "snap out of it". From that kind of perspective, psychology might seem to be a valueless profession.

It is true though, I believe, that a 4 year degree in psychology doesn't really qualify you to do much of anything really. So I think, if a person is going to study psychology, they really have to presume that they will go on to get a master's degree or doctorate. And (again from my perspective) I think it would be important to think seriously about what one wants to do in the field of psychology & to prepare specifically for an eventual career in that field.

You wrote that you genuinely love psychology. And, personally, I believe that one should pursue what one loves. Might you have better employment opportunities, with higher income potential, if you were to study mechanical engineering or computer science? Yes, that may well be true. But if you don't like those subjects, studying them anyway is simply a prescription for frustration, to my way of thinking. So what I would say is... if you love psychology... study psychology... a pox on the naysayers! But do it intelligently. Realize that when your studies are complete you're going to have to go out & earn a living. So you need to pursue your studies with an eye toward what specific type of job, within the field of psychology, you intend to pursue.

This brings up one other thing I want to mention. My perspective is that what type of employment a person should prepare for is inextricably tied to where one is going to live. One can choose to pursue a particular type of career, & be willing to move to wherever there are appropriate employment opportunities available. Or one can choose to live in a certain city, town, or other area & accept whatever type of employment one can get in that area. For some people, it is important that they live close by family & friends. So they have to accept whatever type of employment they can qualify for & get in order to make that possible. For someone else, her or his career may be important enough that s/he is willing to move wherever employment opportunities exist even if it is far away from family & friends. And so, as you consider your career path, I think one thing you need to think about is which type of person are you; & what does that mean in terms of what you study & what types of jobs you are going to prepare for. There are no hard-&-fast answers to that question. But I think it's something that is important to take into account. I wish you well...