Psychology Major

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Opentoideas

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Apr 6, 2023
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I’m curious about getting a major in psychology at West Point. That being said, any information about the degree would be helpful.

- I’ve heard some degrees are more difficult than others. Is this a very demanding major?
- Does the organizational track deal with soldiers, just not to the extent of the applied track?
- For someone in this degree. Have you enjoyed the curriculum?
- Kind of a broad question. Would the Engineering Psychology degree open you up to a wide variety of jobs in engineering?
 
Can’t speak to psychology specifically at West Point. But I teach a lot of business minors who are majoring in psych. This they’ve told me:

It’s much more challenging than they thought it would be, with a lot of critical reading of many theories. Also a lot of writing to support or refute theories.

It can entail a lot of science, or at least the scientific method. There’s research involved, therefore statistics is involved. It helps to be comfortable with analytical and quantitative thinking.

Psychology is most helpful to your career if you can apply it practically. For example, as a business professor, I teach a class called Buyer Behavior. It’s deeply grounded in psychology, as well as sociology and anthropology and behavioral economics. Knowing how people collect information, form perceptions and make decisions is critical in business. Surely there are other practical applications in other fields. Find them and build some expertise in that area.
 
MidCakePa said:
Can’t speak to psychology specifically at West Point. But I teach a lot of business minors who are majoring in psych. This they’ve told me:

It’s much more challenging than they thought it would be, with a lot of critical reading of many theories. Also a lot of writing to support or refute theories.

It can entail a lot of science, or at least the scientific method. There’s research involved, therefore statistics is involved. It helps to be comfortable with analytical and quantitative thinking.

Psychology is most helpful to your career if you can apply it practically. For example, as a business professor, I teach a class called Buyer Behavior. It’s deeply grounded in psychology, as well as sociology and anthropology and behavioral economics. Knowing how people collect information, form perceptions and make decisions is critical in business. Surely there are other practical applications in other fields. Find them and build some expertise in that area.
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Thanks for the reply, Buyer Behavior sounds really interesting. I will definitely keep your response in mind.
 
In addition to the information available on the USMA pages about the major, plebes have a 'majors' fair and other events to expose them to the majors and help them make their decision. Best wishes.
 
Psych is one of the less demanding majors. In terms of the two tracks, I'd say applied focuses more on soldiers themselves whereas engineering looks at more tech stuff. Definitely check out the redbook to see the course differences. As for a job in engineering, e psych is pretty misleading in the terms that it doesn't reflect traditional engineering. If you want jobs in the math/stemy engineering field I would look at the engineering department itself. Hope that helps!
 
Lots of writing. Lots of essays. If those are your thing, you probably won't have to worry too much.

Psych is a very abstract and nuanced field. You make the rules as you're the one making the theories, so you have to be very careful with your diction and that you aren't unintentionally misrepresenting yourself.
 
Check the USMA Redbook. You can see just about everything about anything related to academics. You can learn about the psychology major, its requirements, what electives might interest you, etc…

It’s far more insightful than the main West Point website. Not a psych major personally. But the Redbook is a great resource.
 
Opentoideas said:
I’m curious about getting a major in psychology at West Point. That being said, any information about the degree would be helpful.

- I’ve heard some degrees are more difficult than others. Is this a very demanding major?
- Does the organizational track deal with soldiers, just not to the extent of the applied track?
- For someone in this degree. Have you enjoyed the curriculum?
- Kind of a broad question. Would the Engineering Psychology degree open you up to a wide variety of jobs in engineering?
Click to expand...
I know a yuk who’s a psych major, she isn’t too crunched for time but always seems to have an upcoming writing assignment.
 
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