I basically agree with Ed, a solid education in academic psychology is the best experience for undergraduates. There are, however, other experiences undergraduates can get only at certain schools. At SUNY Oswego we encourage our undergraduates to serve as research assistants for faculty members. I steer my advisees towards faculty who are conducting research in an area that the student is interested. A student with an interest in forensics, for example, should attend a school where, at a minimum, there is someone with a research program in that area and teaches undergraduate courses. Internships, service learning experiences are also dependent on specific faculty members and school affiliations. Undergraduates should not be specializing within psychology but they also should be exploring different areas to see what interests them.
The other thing to be aware of is that the reputation a school has in a specific field is usually based on its graduate program and faculty research. These research oriented programs do not provide the same opportunities for undergraduates as schools that focus on undergraduate education. I would tell the HS students to see what courses are being taught at the school, see what research programs are on-going, and most importantly make sure there are opportunities for undergraduate involvement. Gary J. Klatsky, Ph. D. Department of Psychology [EMAIL PROTECTED] Oswego State University (SUNY) http://www.oswego.edu/~klatsky 7060 State Hwy 104W Voice: (315) 312-3474 Oswego, NY 13126 Fax: (315) 312-6330 -----Original Message----- From: Pollak, Edward [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, January 10, 2003 1:45 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: Help for a High School Teacher. > "James K. Denson" wrote > As a AP Psychology High School teacher I get many inquiries about which = > school is the best for certain fields. Mostly, I get inquiries about = > forensic, Abnormal & Developmental. I am asking if anyone knows of a place > I can get information on, about which colleges have the better programs > for certain specialized fields. > This sort of query drives me nuts. An undergraduate's job is NOT to become a little min-forensic psychologist or mini-clinician. An undergraduate's job is to get a) a solid education in academic psychology, b) get some research experience and c)get into the best grad school possible. In grad school you will specialize but you should not be specializing as an undergraduate. I may get some flack about this but I bristle when I see undergraduate programs in areas such as counseling or clinical psych. IMO, such programs are too often naught more than cheesy marketing come-ons. My advice to your students would be to go to the best college or university and to a psychology dept. with a solid reputation as an academic psychology department. This should be one where the faculty actively involve undergraduates in their research activities. Ed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Edward I. Pollak, Ph.D. Department of Psychology, West Chester Univ. of Pennsylvania ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Husband, father, grandfather, biopsychologist, bluegrass fiddler and herpetoculturist. http://hometown.aol.com/eip1/home.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shameless self promotion: The Mill Creek Bluegrass Band performs every Tuesday night at Dugal's Inn, Mortonville, 8 miles west of West Chester, PA. Call 610- 486-0953 for directions. http://hometown.aol.com/eip1/millcreek.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
