I have always been writing posts that promote psychology, and it seems like now is the time to be critical and think about the opposite direction as well.

Yes, you want to do psychology and may be suitable for psychology, but is psychology really a good choice?

If you think it through, actually psychology doesn’t seem like a very good choice. This can be supported by the following reasons (and their respective links):


Studying Psychology

  1. It is difficult to get into a psychology program in a local university.
  2. You have to learn everything in psychology in the first few years, a lot of which you may not like or may not use at all in the future.
  3. You have to read a lot, and even do statistics in most psychology programs.
  4. With a psychology undergraduate degree or diploma, they are just general degrees.
  5. It takes too much time and years (and maybe $$$ too), and usually requires more than just a bachelors degree to be a psychologist.
  6. It is even harder to get into an Honours program and/or a Masters program.
  7. You have to go overseas to study if you wish to specialise in anything other than clinical, educational or counselling psychology.

Being a Psychologist

  1. Other than just having a Masters, you need to have 1000 hours of placement/job attachment to qualify for registration as a psychologist.
  2. You will be restricted by a strict code of ethics if you wish to be a psychologist.
  3. Even after you have become a psychologist, you are required to do 30 Professional Development hours every year.
  4. It may not really give you a good-paying career, even if you finish your Masters.
  5. If you can’t get your Masters degree, you can’t be a psychologist; with only a Honours degree which is considered as a Bachelors degree, you may not be able to get the job that you want as it has an academic requirement of Masters.
  6. Recognition and prestige of psychologists in Singapore is not as good as in other countries.
  7. Psychological specialties, other than clinical psychology, are not under scrutiny by the Singapore Law (Allied Health Professionals Act). Update: This has not been enforced till today since the passing of the Act.

So you still want to study psychology?

Disclaimer: This post is written based on the author’s point of view, and may not be a true reflection of what is happening.