Major Spotlight: Psychology

For our third installment in our major spotlight, we heard from current junior Serena Bane (graduating December 2023). Serena talked to us about her experience with the Psychology major here at Barnard and graduating early.

Why did you choose psych?

I’ve always been interested in human behavior and cognition. In high school, I liked my humanities classes but was always interested in taking a class to understand human behavior - why things were happening, people were acting a certain way, etc. I’ve also always been a people person (not that you have to be) and have always been interested in understanding the interactions between people, both academically and socially. So coming into Barnard, I knew that I wanted to take classes in Psychology. At the time, I was also thinking of being prelaw. However, I knew that psychology is a very adaptable and relevant field, and I also wanted to major in something that was interesting to me, no matter what I ended up pursuing long term, so I decided to enroll in the classes - and here we are.

What do you like about the major?

I really like that the psych major is customizable. For a while, I was debating between majoring in psychology and political science, but I chose psych because I liked that the psych major was interdisciplinary. You have to take a number of psychology courses, but only three of them are required, the rest of them you can choose to focus on the area of psychology you are most interested in. In addition, you also take two science courses and a cognate discipline, so you really have a broad scope of classes to choose from for the major. It’s possible, and common, for two psychology majors  to be taking almost entirely different classes. 

Do you concentrate on anything within the major?
There are no official concentrations within the major  and though I would like the opportunity for a concentration, it is still easy to take most of your classes in the area of psychology that you are interested in. People who major in psychology have a number of different interests and plan to pursue a number of different career paths, so while some people would prefer a specialization, it is not necessary in order to take the classes you want. 

What is the senior requirement?

You can either do a seminar, which consists of taking a seminar and writing an in-depth paper, or a thesis. For the thesis, you work in a lab of your choosing and you also take a small senior thesis class at the same time for guidance and support alongside the process.

I’m graduating a semester early, so I’m doing my thesis project now. I’ve personally felt very supported in my thesis since the class is so small, it’s only around eight people. 

How easy was it to graduate early? 

Not difficult at all. I usually took two classes for the major at a time, so now I’m pretty much done except for the thesis. However, even though I took multiple classes for my major in a given semester, all the classes were in such different areas that I didn’t feel overwhelmed. I also took two classes during a summer semester and I came in with 2 AP classes, so it was pretty manageable with the credits I could transfer in. 

What don’t you like about the major?

The major is very general, which makes sense because Barnard is a liberal arts college. Personally, I am interested in industrial organizational psych and social psych, and I feel like the majority of classes at Barnard are geared towards  clinical psychology or psychology research. I do wish there were a few more courses and faculty members outside of these areas. However, since the major is so flexible, you are able to customize your experience a lot to your interests. For example, I took a lot of social psych related classes, and for one of my electives I did an independent study in the Columbia Business school.

What have your favorite classes been?

I really enjoyed forensic psychology. I really appreciated that it is a very niche area of psychology and had a large emphasis on applying psychological concepts to practical settings 

Are the classes competitive?

Not at all! First of all, I think Barnard in general is more supportive than competitive. Second, people majoring in psychology tend to have varied goals for what they’re interested in after college, so it’s not like everyone is competing for the same graduate school spot. 

What is the relationship with Columbia like? 

I take most of my classes at Barnard, for no other reason than that those have been the classes I’ve gotten into and been interested in. I did do an independent study at Columbia and that counted as an elective. There have been a lot of classes I’ve been interested in at Columbia as well, I think they have a little bit broader scope of classes there. Both departments are great, but I think Barnard students tend to love Barnard psych professors and like to take their classes. 

Anything else to share?

For me, the biggest thing is the customizability. Even though it doesn't have the exact program I plan to pursue post-graduation, Barnard really worked with me to make the psychology major my own. 

Find more information about the Barnard psychology major here.