After Harvard

Thinking about life after Harvard can be daunting. But when you study psychology, the world is your oyster. Our concentrators go on to pursue a myriad of fields, ranging from consulting, to medicine, to business, to education - check out the chart below to see what our last graduating class did with their education in psychology!

Top 10 Careers for Psych Concentrators

[IMAGE: Table titled "Where Can Psych Take You?" listing the top 10 career paths that Psych concentrators from 2016-2022 pursued after graduation.]
View accessible version here.


Doing Psychology After Harvard
 

You might find that you want to continue pursuing psychological research after your time at Harvard. If so, first talk to your professors. Faculty members - especially those you have pre-established relationships with - will be an invaluable resource if you decide to continue in psychology. They'll be the ones to write your recommendation letters, offer advice on graduate school, and share with you current trends in the field that may inform how you approach your future research.

Next, talk to your Concentration Advisor! All of the CAs in Psychology are graduate students in the department and have likely been in your shoes at some point. They'll be able to offer some helpful insight on whether graduate school is right for you, and possibly direct you to other instructors or graduate students whose research interests align with yours. You can also contact Katie Powers - the Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies - anytime with questions about applying to research positions or graduate school. The American Psychological Association has put out a series of instructional videos that walks through the graduate school application process step-by-step. You can also explore the department’s PhD Resources & Online Tips Page (PRO-TiP) which provides easy access to resources that can help demystify the process of applying to graduate programs in psychology or this guide that outlines the steps to a PhD in Clinical Psychology.

Another great way to get involved in psychological research is to get a post-graduate research job. Many psychology laboratories are looking for research assistants or lab managers with a Bachelor's degree and a few years' lab experience, and this is a perfect way to see if psychological research is a field you'd like to pursue full-time after your concentration. The UGO keeps a regularly-updated list of current post-grad research jobs - check them out at the link above! We recommend bookmarking it so you can regularly check back. Here is a useful guide to writing resumes, CVs, and cover letters.