By the beginning of your senior year you should have the kind of record that you will need to compete for the job you want or to apply for advanced study in psychology. For example, if you intend to apply to graduate school a) your GPA must be high enough, and b) you should have done honors work or independent research. See the current APA Guide to Graduate Study for details about admission requirements etc. (your advisor and Career Center has copies). If you are seeking BA level employment, a) it helps to have relevant experiences e.g. summer work, fieldwork, or extracurricular activities, and b) good grades in career relevant courses. Design your junior year to accomplish these kinds of goals.

 Visit the department's web page and click the links to some fantastic information on careers, graduate study, and life planning.

 If you plan to go to graduate school and must take the aptitude and subject GRE, go to the Career Center to obtain application forms and details on the dates and places the GRE is administered. We recommend taking the aptitude test in October and the subject test in December of your senior year.

 After the second semester of your junior year you should have satisfied most of the University, School, and Department requirements for graduation, if not, you will put excess pressure on yourself your last semester at SBU.

 The Psychology Department still requires that you meet a comprehensive requirement. To do this you must take Senior Seminar and do an original independent research project. Start thinking about your project. Do preliminary projects or pilot projects through your normal course work by electing research options in lab courses.

 Do you have specific postgraduation plans? It will become increasingly costly for you to have no plans or to have vague plans. Please begin to make graduate program inquiries or do initial research on potential employers. But first you have to decide who you are and what you are going to do with the five years of your life that follow graduation.

 If you are in a 5-year program, begin the process of taking courses that will satisfy both BA-level and MA-level degrees. Announce your intentions to your advisor and the department chair of the MA program. Begin the early phases of formally applying to the MA program.

 Are you having fun? Have you discovered things about yourself, others, and life that make it worth getting out of bed in the morning? If not, this is a good time to take an inventory of things and change your life. Muster some courage and talk about the big picture with your peers and faculty advisor; the Career Counseling Center can help you do this too.