Pathway
Psychology & Human Behavior
Understanding why people do what they do, and using it, in therapy, research, schools, or product design. More statistics than most people expect.
Majors
- Psychology
- Cognitive Science
- Neuroscience
- Human Development
- Counseling (graduate)
Jobs people do
- Therapist / counselor (requires a master's)
- School psychologist
- Clinical psychologist (doctorate)
- UX researcher
- Behavioral data analyst
- Human resources specialist
Watch out
The choices that quietly close a door here
Assuming a psychology bachelor's alone qualifies you to be a therapist.
It doesn't, clinical roles require a master's or doctorate plus supervised hours. Students who don't know this hit a wall at graduation.
Instead Decide early whether you're on the clinical track (plan for grad school) or the applied track (UX research, HR, analytics, where a bachelor's works).
Avoiding math because psychology sounds like a humanities major.
Research methods and statistics are required courses in every psych program.
Instead Take Statistics in high school. It makes freshman year dramatically easier.
Course ladder
Grade by grade
Course names differ at every school, and graduation requirements differ by state. Take this list to your counselor so the two of you are working from the same page.
Grade 8
- Algebra I if availableWorth doing
Grade 9
- BiologyLoad-bearing
- English 9Load-bearing
- GeometryLoad-bearing
Grade 10
- ChemistryWorth doing
- Algebra IILoad-bearing
- Intro Psychology, if offeredWorth doing
Grade 11
- AP PsychologyWorth doing
- StatisticsLoad-bearing
Psychology is a statistics-heavy major. Students consistently underestimate this and it's the course that trips them up freshman year.
- Sociology or AnthropologyWorth doing
Grade 12
- AP Statistics if you haven't taken statsLoad-bearing
- Anatomy & Physiology or AP BiologyWorth doing
Useful if you're drawn to the neuroscience side.
- Research methods or capstoneIf you have room
Outside class
Peer counseling / peer mediation program
The closest high school gets to the actual work, and it's genuinely hard.
From grade 10
Crisis line volunteering (age permitting)
Some organizations train volunteers at 16–18. Serious training, serious experience.
From grade 11
Tutoring or mentoring younger students
Teaches you how people learn, which is half of applied psychology.
From grade 9
Run a survey study at your school
Get permission, ask a real question, analyze the results honestly. Very few applicants have done this.
From grade 11
Things to build
Replicate a famous psychology finding at small scale
Then read about the replication crisis and write about whether yours held up.
From grade 11
Interview five adults about how they chose their work
You will learn more about careers from this than from any quiz, including ours.
From grade 9
Is this actually a fit for you?
Ten minutes of questions, and Bearing turns this into a plan that starts from the grade you're in.
Take the survey