Could I get a PhD in Psychology if my Master's is in Business?

Does anyone know how that works? Just curious. I won't be going back to school for at least a couple years, but I am interested in taking more courses in psychology. I don't know that I'd ever actually become a therapist, but maybe work on the research side of things. I am good with statistics, analytical stuff, so I wonder if I could do some kind of research psychology thing.

Would I need to get a Master's in social work or psychology first? Or just take a few prerequisite courses?

I'm only halfway thru my MBA (Master's in Business Admin.) - I started in 2004/2005 but had to quit when I had my baby. I have not been back, but I do plan to at least finish a Master's degree...someday!

Techniquely its possiblle though hard it might be.
Actully the basic requirements for a PhD. in certain area differ from school to school. But you have to pass the test on that subject at least.
this is the admission requirements of Graduate study in Psychology for the univerisity of Columbia in New York.
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/psycholog...plication.html
hope it helps.
p.s
checking out that kind of information on the official website of a univerisity is really tough work
take it easy lol

Some schools require you to take the GRE in psychology. If you did well on that, they may excuse your differing background. I don't know. The simplest thing would be to contact the schools you are interested in attending and ask directly.

Ok. First of all, it is very difficult to get accepted into a PhD program in clinical psychology. The acceptace rate is ~8%. Many say it is more difficult to get into a PhD program in Clinical Psych than Medical School
Applicants are generally top notch, have GPA 3.8 or better, and GREs greater than 1200.

You do not have to a MS, but would need the prereqs for the particular psychology program.

It is a plus that you are good with numbers, because research requires the application of statisics and study design methods to the pyschological problems.
Most PhD programs pay their students to goto school, with a stipend, tuition, and health insurance.

Razzleberry, what are your career goals? If you knew what career you wanted to have, then it would be easier to say what education you needed to have. For example, if you wanted to work in Human Resources at a company (a field in which psych is very useful), maybe you would just need the MBA plus some sort of certificate in psych, or a masters. There may be psych research positions that only require a masters, for example, if you wanted to help with analysis and delivery, but you couldn't be the head of a study without the PhD. My psychiatric nurse practitioner has a Master's and is a therapist. She works on research studies at a university providing therapy to patients in the studies. So she doesn't have a PhD, but she's not the head honcho either. I have a friend with a Master's in Forensic Psychology. She works in the legal system.

Here is an online brochure on careers in Psychology. It lists different types of psychologists and what they do. And also what you can do with a master's, PhD, bachelor's, etc.
http://www.apa.org/topics/psychologycareer.html

Check out clinical psychology. You can most certainly change your major, and almost all PhDs that I know (myself included) did so. Since I changed from Education, I only needed a handful of additional courses that I didn't pick up with the master.

Sit with the catalog (or copy off the course requirements) along with what you have...and you should be able to figure out how many courses you will need in addition to the regular.

good wishes.

In many PhD programs, the Master's is obtained on the way, and so any courses in the psych. master's program that you have not already taken, would have to be completed. If you have a statistics background, some of those may apply. Each dept. is different.

As noted by dustfinder, doctoral programs are EXTREMELY competitive to get into, and clinical psychology programs, indeed, are even more difficult than other areas in psychology. You must apply to a variety of schools because of the numbers game, and be willing to move anywhere (it's only temporary).

I agree, though, that you need to define your goals first and then see what you need to get there. For example, if you wanted to get into personnel, an MBA and an MS in industrial/organizational psych. may be tops.

Midway into an MBA sounds great! But don't sacrifice the MBA if you can't get a master in psych "easily" Having the business degree will give you great support for when you enter private practice.

I agree with Sky. My program actually offers two different business certificates, one based on MBA type work and one that is health care admin. related. These are earned by taking business electives instead of all psychology electives. This content has been invaluable. Many of us agreed that we could always learn the stuff we might have learned in a psych elective by taking seminars, reading, special practicums, etc., so we didn't feel we were sacrificing anything psychology-wise.

The only other thing I'd add (if no one else has) is to find out as much as you can about what it's like to go through a doctoral program beforehand. And make sure the field/opportunities it will offer you are what you want. It's a big change from undergrad, and also a change, albeit smaller from a master's program.

Good luck.

gg

Yep everyone is right lol.

My school accepts about 12 students out of 1500 applicants for the PsyD. I'm not sure about PhD.

A Psych background does help but at the same time graduate programs like to see their students have abilities beyond their target now.

One of my professors got an MBA and then started a psych PhD program. Another was a psychologist and then got an MBA to help with managing the clinic he ran. One of my classmates in my master's program in counseling was a lawyer. Another was a high school principal. People do get into psych programs from a variety of backgrounds.

If you haven't taken a lot of psychology, you might want to pick up some classes, do some volunteering, and get involved with a research project somewhere. It seems to be getting more competitive all the time. I'd still like to get a phd and be a psychologist, but don't know if I can get in, and I have a 3.96 GPA and some clinical experience. I've been turned down several times. Not enough research experience. But it might be easier to get into a research degree program since there is often more demand for clinical.

Hi, I know I am coming late, but just to add to this discussion...

MBA is a terminal professional degree, not an academic degree like the PhD. Social science research methodology will be different than what they teach in a professional degree program, unless your program requires social science stats.

My advice is to finish the MBA with flying colors and then use those credentials to apply to a PhD program in economics. Realistically, PhD candidacies are going to be filled by students who have been in the discipline since undergrad and who have done original research via their undergraduate and graduate thesis.

However, if you design an area of research for your dissertation, you can very easily in an economics program make it cross disciplinary with psychology. It requires have a broader base of published literature, but still...something along the lines of the psychology of consumer spending....the psychological effect of triggering advertisements. These are just examples and maybe they have been written about ad nauseum. I don't know...psych is not my area.

But then you could easily get a job teaching in a psych department with the right job offer and course design, even with a PhD in a different social science. If you wanted to do clinical work, then there are professional degree programs that are two and three years long dedicated to clinical practice.

Realistically though, without a strong psych academic background, it will be hard to apply to an academic psych program. I believe the PsyD is also a research/academic degree even though it is much more geared to the clinical setting than a PhD.

Just a thought though...