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Hello. OK, I am looking for advice and/or suggestions on what I should do with my education and future career. Please keep any smart comments or any side stuff to yourself because that's not what I am here for. Thank you in advance to everyone that posts.
For the past year and a half, I've been attending the University of Phoenix Axia College for my AA degree in Psychology. (Yes, I know, I hate the U of Phx too - not the greatest school). Anyway, so I never realized that their credits are not transferable. So basically I am stuck with this school. (Yes, I know, my mistake but oh well it is what it is). I will be graduating in a few months and it's come to the point where I need to think about continuing my education OR just keeping the AA and that's that. I have to stick with the U of Phx, which sucks but I'm OK with it, and I do want to continue my education... I'm just not sure what I should go into.
I would like to incorporate Psychology with Criminal Justice somehow. So do I continue with Psychology and go all the way with that OR do I go into the Criminal Justice courses. If I do the Criminal Justice courses then I have two different options for the BS degree; Criminal Justice Admin OR Organizational Security and Management. I like the second option because it deals more with Homeland Security, which is what I would like to do in the future but I would also like to throw in my Psychology side as well. Ugh, see how confused I am?
Alright, let me know what your opinions, suggestions, and/or advice is...
You've said what you really want to do, and that's what I recommend. What you've learned in psychology will come in handy, both in your work and in your personal/family life, whether or not the degree is ever needed.
Wasn't your AA mostly general education? Even if you never use the psych., you can't have wasted very many course hours.
Before you proceed, check to see if either program is accredited. I know that some programs at UPX are not accredited by the appropriate national bodies. I understand the bind of having paid a "sunk" cost for your AA for credits that don't transfer. However, if your B.A. or B.S. won't be accepted by employers or graduate schools, you could end up in an even worse situation than you are in presently.
I'd talk to someone who works in government security. See what types of credentials they have, who they would look to hire, etc. That will help you to determine the best type of education for what you want to do. That way, you can be sure to graduate with the credentials you need for the job that's most interesting for you.
I think you should continue doing psychology, and then move on to take a few criminal justice classes. You should then go for the degree in Organizational Security and Management.
I don't know if this is good advice or not. I'm not really knowledgeable on stuff like this yet. I still have one year left of high school to finish.
I actually just assumed that this program was accredited. Oh my goodness OK, well that leads me to my next step then. Thank you for pointing that out. I've been looking at the two programs and I think I'm leaning more towards the Organizational Security but I still am not for sure...I'm going to do some more research and see what I find.
Become a cop? They get paid well and won't care that your degree is from University (?) of Pheonix...I'm making assumption here. Otherwise, do yourself a favor and don't waste any more money with them if you are looking to continue your degree because in the end it might be worthless...go to a reputable state school.
Who told you that your credits can't be transferred? I have a hard time believing that. I made sure before I enrolled at UoP that they would transfer and they will (unless it's a lot of core classes and the school you want to go to has different programmatic accreditation). With an AA degree, you probably had around 42 of the 60 credits in general education, the other 18 in PSY related courses. Double check the transferability with a few schools in your area. And usually when you get an AA, or BS, etc., the transfer process is easier/better.
I have an ungraduate BA in psychology. I have a masters in Counselor Education/Counseling Psychology(the difference is largely in the number of psychology courses involved at the graduate level including testing and individual differences).
A BA or a BS in psychology is about as useful as a BS in general studies or a BA in Peace and Global or Women's studies. There is currently only one job in all of psychology where even a MA allows you to do counseling without being supervised by a PhD(school counseling). In my experience,and I have experience with it since I floundered around with the full BA(you are only talking about an AA) for 8 years working along side people with high school diplomas before I got a Masters in Counselor Ed and got employed by a school district, and actually got on with a CAREER.
So..... IMO, your AA in psychology is less than worthless in the job market. A BA in psychology is worthless in the job market. A Masters in certain areas of psychology, like education, will get you a career move, if you can find a job, but they don't hire too many in public schools and they are not mandated in many states.
What to do? Look at your endpoint of what you want to do. Assuming you want a career in law enforcement, then you will need to look into getting into the Police Academy in a major city, into getting into the Military Police in some branch of the service(always a good way into civilian justice work; for example, 98% of airline pilots deliberately joined the Air Force knowing that its virtually the only way to get into the Airline Industry as a pilot; and in criminal justice the military will train you for free, and you will get valuable experience you can never get in civilian training---believe me that its a clearly viable option), getting into the State Police in your state(what ever they are called), or getting into some branch of the federal police forces such as the FBI or Drug and Alcohol and Firearms, or the Secret Service.
If this is what you want, then you need to talk to the recruiters(find a real agent or upper management officer person IN PERSON, not the internet) in these agencies, and find out what they will need from you for you to get a job with them. Once they tell you, tailor your training to fit the bill. AND.... check continuously to make sure that their requirements have not changed. Find summer internships in justice that you can use as a stepping stone. If you don't find someone at first, keep trying. For example, Look to your local FBI office. The Agent-in-Charge will be able to steer yout o the right place. But do your homework on the internet beefore you talk to these people. They don't have a lot of time to sit down with a youth a gab. Make sure you know what you want before to contact a real person. After you talk to them, write a nice thank you letter and send it SNAIL MAIL. Try to keep in touch with them as you progress through your training. You want references from responsible people in the organization that you want to join.
If I wanted to go into law enforcement now(this is stupid since I'm 61) I would contact the current attorney General of Pa(soon to be governer) because I went to undergraduate college with him. He is a contact. You also need real people as contacts and you need to develop them in high places even if you just start by cold calling them. If you keep in touch with them, even if they don't reply to you, when you need a reference they will be there to stand by you as someone who has goals and was willing to contact and stay in touch with someone they didn't know, just to get what they(actually you) wanted.
You can do this, but it will take a little bit of work.
I have an ungraduate BA in psychology. I have a masters in Counselor Education/Counseling Psychology(the difference is largely in the number of psychology courses involved at the graduate level including testing and individual differences).
A BA or a BS in psychology is about as useful as a BS in general studies or a BA in Peace and Global or Women's studies. There is currently only one job in all of psychology where even a MA allows you to do counseling without being supervised by a PhD(school counseling). In my experience,and I have experience with it since I floundered around with the full BA(you are only talking about an AA) for 8 years working along side people with high school diplomas before I got a Masters in Counselor Ed and got employed by a school district, and actually got on with a CAREER.
So..... IMO, your AA in psychology is less than worthless in the job market. A BA in psychology is worthless in the job market. A Masters in certain areas of psychology, like education, will get you a career move, if you can find a job, but they don't hire too many in public schools and they are not mandated in many states.
What to do? Look at your endpoint of what you want to do. Assuming you want a career in law enforcement, then you will need to look into getting into the Police Academy in amajor city, into getting into the Military Police in some branch of the service(always a good way into civilian justice work), getting into the State Police in your state(what ever they are called), or getting into some branch of the federal police forces such as the FBI or Drug and Alcohol and Firearms, or the Secret Service.
If this is what you want, then you need to talk to the recruiters(find a real agent or upper management officer person IN PERSON, not the internet) in these agencies, and find out what they will need from you for you to get a job with them. Once they tell you, tailor your trining to fit the bill. AND.... check continuously to make sure that their requirements have not changed. Find summer internships in justice that you can use as a stepping stone.
You can do this, but it will take a little bit of work.
Zarathu
This is really good advice!
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(Yes, I know, my mistake but oh well it is what it is). I will be graduating in a few months and it's come to the point where I need to think about continuing my education OR just keeping the AA and that's that. I have to stick with the U of Phx, which sucks but I'm OK with it, and I do want to continue my education... I'm just not sure what I should go into.
If I do the Criminal Justice courses then I have two different options for the BS degree; Criminal Justice Admin OR Organizational Security and Management. I like the second option because it deals more with Homeland Security, which is what I would like to do in the future but I would also like to throw in my Psychology side as well. Ugh, see how confused I am? 
