This roadmap for practice and research careers will help you while in college and through applying for graduate school or starting your career search. Career options in aging and gerontology include all levels of training (e.g. Associate, Bachelor's, Master's or Doctoral degree) and in a wide variety of settings (e.g. home, community, health care, university, research, institutional).
If you are already a graduate student, check out our Careers in Aging: A Guide for Graduate Students and get unique advice.
Choosing Your College Major
You can start planning for a practice career in aging at the very beginning of your college career. As you decide which major to pursue, consider the following.
Get Started
Job Opportunities
What job opportunities does this degree offer for working with older adults?
Should I Double Major?
Will you be more competitive in the job market if you have a double major or a minor? If so, what area would be a good complement?
Position Yourself for Graduate Study
Do your career goals require more than a Bachelor’s degree? If so, what major will position you well for graduate study?
Paying for Your Education
If you do not plan to continue onto graduate school, what salaries might you earn with this Associate or Bachelor’s degree? Will you be able to pay back student loans?
What Is the Psychology of Aging?
First and Second-year Undergraduate Students
- Keep those grades high
Employers and graduate programs look at your cumulative grade point average. It is difficult to make up for low grades received early in your education. - Find aging experts on campus
Research and read about faculty at your university with expertise in aging. Enroll in their courses and ask questions inside and outside of classes to show your interest. - Ask faculty about community-based research, programs or events
If faculty are in are involved in events that include older adults (e.g. health fairs, presentations at senior centers), ask if you can assist. - Be an undergraduate research assistant
Ask faculty if they need an undergraduate research assistant, especially faculty who teach classes that are relevant to aging research topics. - Select good mentors
Seek out mentors, both faculty as well as graduate students. Your interests over the years will likely evolve and change. So, look for mentors who are supportive, even if their area of expertise is not exactly what you think you want to focus on later in your career. - Regularly check career postings
Visit your university’s career counseling center. Go at least once a semester as information and postings will change.
- Know stats
Take classes in statistics. It is a foundational knowledge base in many disciplines including Psychology. - Become an aging wonk
Learn as much as you can about aging. In each of your classes, regardless of whether they are aging focused or not, try to apply assignments to issues related to aging. - Get involved with student organizations
Seek out organizations inside and outside your department. These activities give you opportunities to complete projects you can list on your resume and expand your social and career networks. - Time to read up
Read blogs and other media (not just online) about a variety of aging-related topics. In social media forums, you can follow people and organizations (e.g., APA Office on Aging, AARP, Generations United, Eldercare Workforce Alliance) that are well known in the aging field. - Not sure if you're going to school?
If you are not sure you want to go to graduate school, use the resources section provided below to help you explore possible careers that might best match your interests.
Third-year and Above Undergraduate Students
- Start working with older adults, right now
Find volunteer or shadowing opportunities in areas relevant to your interests. Getting experience in a variety of settings and populations may give you career ideas you never considered. Examples might be an Area Agency on Aging, senior residences and centers, Meals on Wheels and friendly visitor programs (provided by Area Agencies on Aging), recreation and health departments, nursing homes and hospitals. - Be an undergraduate research assistant
As a third-year and above student, you can still ask faculty if they need an assistant to do aging research. Even if you are looking toward clinical work in the future, it is important to get exposure to research used to develop effective programs and treatments. - Paid assistant job openings
Check a variety of department websites for paid or volunteer research or project assistant job openings. Examples include: departments of psychology; public health; human development and family studies; cognitive science; etc. - Follow social media
Read blogs and follow people whose careers you might be interested in pursuing. - Improve your writing skills
Take advanced classes that require essay assignments and papers. Let your professors know that you welcome feedback on your written work. - Learn the norms by reading more
Read scholarly and research publications to learn the writing norms. Learn how to use your library to find scholarly work.
- Search, review and repeat
Acquire skills in conducting literature searches and research reviews. University libraries often offer training for these skills. - Aging-related academic journals
Read aging-related academic journal articles and start getting to know the work of people in a variety of fields to discover what focused topics most interest you. - Get the best skills
Learn about the research that faculty at your college are conducting, then talk to their research assistants to learn more about the research project, its components, and the skills required for their work. Research skills, including coding and statistical skills, are increasingly important for many jobs and graduate programs, in both research and practice. - Plan a community-based aging event
Explore opportunities to organize a community-based event for older adults (e.g. health fair, art show) or to conduct your own independent research (e.g., honors thesis). - Grants for undergraduates?
Learn if there are small grants your university awards to pay for undergraduate research activities or sponsoring community events. - Prepare for your graduate entrance exams
If you are thinking about graduate school in the future, plan to put a lot of preparation into graduate entrance exams like the GRE and the MCAT and continue reading this guide for more tips.
Preparing for Graduate School
The Basics
Fitting Your Interests
Research the types of practicum sites and research laboratories that the program offers to see if they are a good fit with your interests.
Are you ready to go to graduate school immediately after your college graduation?
If you plan to apply for a clinical-focused program, apply to a large number of programs to increase your chances of being accepted into graduate school. If you are pursuing a research career, apply to those that best match your preferences. Have you planned for the costs of submitting multiple applications and visiting/interviewing at these schools?
What kind of degree is the right fit?
Do you want a terminal master’s degree [e.g. Masters of Public Health (MPH), Masters of Social Work (MSW)] or a doctoral degree (PhD, PsyD)? Will you be competitive in your desired field with a terminal master’s degree?
How will your education be funded?
Will there be assistantships and/or will you take out loans? Will you have the earning power to pay back the loans?
How competitive are you?
Do your graduate entrance exam scores, (e.g., GRE, MCAT, LSAT), GPA, and work experiences make you competitive for graduate programs?
The right faculty fit
Where to study
How to Make Yourself Ready
Your GRE, Résumé and Loans
Prepare for and take the required GRE, and develop a strong personal statement and résumé/curriculum vita (CV). Educate yourself about student loans.
Ask for Advice
Ask your professors, mentors and graduate students you know to review your documents and provide honest and detailed feedback. Ask your college professors and mentors for advice about getting into graduate school. They may have a lot more to offer than just letters of recommendation.
Fitting Your Interests
Research the types of practicum sites that the program offers to see if they are a good fit with your interests.
Contact Major Professors
Contact potential Major Professors at programs where you are applying. Let them know your clinical and research interests are a good fit with theirs, and ask if they are planning to accept new graduate students.
Schedule Visits and Interviews
Many graduate programs have scheduled visits and interviews, and it is important to attend these. If no scheduled visit is required, ask if the programs welcome visits with applicants and schedule a time to check out the program if you are able.
Increase Your Chances of Being Accepted
Apply to a large number of programs to increase your chances of being accepted into graduate school. If so, have you planned for the costs of submitting multiple applications and visiting/interviewing at these schools?
Resources
Aging Program Directories and Resources
- Geropsychology Training Opportunities
- Gerontology Graduate Programs and Gerontology Degrees
- GeroCentral undergraduate training programs
- APA Div. 20 (Adult Development and Aging) Graduate Studies Directory
- APA Div. 40 (Society for Clinical Neuropsychology) database of neuropsychology training programs
- Primary-care psychology: Doctoral training programs (PDF, 182.07KB)
General Academic Resources
- Guide to choosing college majors
- Improve your writing skills
- Aging issues on the APA Psychology Benefits Society blog
Preparing for Graduate School
- Finding Fit: A Roadmap to Grad School
- What you need to know about graduate school from the students themselves
- FAQs about graduate school
- Are online graduate programs for you?
- Roadmap to graduate school
- Tips for getting into graduate school
- American Psychological Association of Graduate Students
- Online directory of gerontology and geriatrics programs
- Applying, getting accepted and successfully completing master's and doctoral programs
Job Search Preparation
- High impact reference letters
- How to avoid indecision when choosing a career path
- Writing a CV: What to include
Careers
- 101+ Careers in aging
- Gerontology careers outside of academia: Broadening your horizons (PDF, 87.17KB)
- An aging population means new jobs
- Aging Week career resources from the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education