Psychology in College

dublad23

Hi

I'm sorry if these Questions have been posted before - I have read some of the threads and the replies have helped somewhat.

I am hoping to study Psychology this September in NUIG.

I'll be starting it in Year 1 as a Arts Student (I missed the mature student deadline and don't have enough points for the Psychology Course - I have 445)

It is something I really want to do but I'm 24 (almost 25) and I am wondering if the 10 - 12 years is worth putting all my time into.

I'll be nearing 40 when I am fully qualified I guess.

I know it is probably a tough course but will I need to make sacrifices etc to acheive the masters / doctorate.

I would rather doing it without having to do it as part of arts but unfortunately that isn't possible now.

Do the Arts Psychology students take the exact same course as the ones who are only doing Psychology for the first year?

Thanks for any replies.

The Black Oil

I'd shave a little bit of time off that 10 or 12 years, mightn't take quite that long but it is a long road, yes. I think there might be one or two Irish Google groups on psychology so see if they're around, might help in keeping your ear to the ground. Some people manage to get experience alongside their degree though it's not necessarily through college contacts, rather personal ones, experience with kids with autism etc.

Sorry I don't know anything about the NUIG setup, have you got the course handbook?

Ava Grace

Don't worry about going the Arts route, I studied Psychological Studies as part of my Arts degree at NUIG and did a conversion course after in the UK conferring my Arts degree into a fully accredited psychology degree. I didn't want to do psych through arts either (missed it by 5 points :mad:) but in the end it really didn't matter.

In First Arts, and throughout the degree, most if not all of your modules will be on the Applied Psych course aswell so you'll be in the same class for those, the Applied Psych class do have a substantial amount of additional modules as well though, I think it's quite intense as far as I remember! The major difference between the degrees is that the Arts Psych students don't have half as much statistics, and they don't turn in a project in final year. The level of stats you do in Arts is an absolute joke to be honest.

When I was at NUIG, the people in the top 5 results-wise from First Arts were given the opportunity to enter the psychology degree. Don't know if that's still an option, but you should check it out.

The easy part is getting the degree to be honest, it's at post grad level that it gets really competitive and scary :eek: The Clinical docorate seems to be the holy grail of all courses and you need so much research and practical experience on top of your academic qualifications to be even considered. Educational Psych is getting increasingly competitive also. Occupational Psych seems to be most straightforward, you can enter a MSc straight after your degree for alot of universities, there doesn't seem to be such a focus on gaining experience beforehand. 10- 12 years might be what it takes to get into clinical, the doctorate itself is 4 years but I think it would be a bit shorter for other psychology disciplines... if that gives you any hope!

The Black Oil

I'd say AG is right in terms of getting your undergrad, there's certainly a lot of competition for quite a few places at postgrad level. You get the impression that some colleges won't even look at you if you don't have a first not to mention relevant experience.

Miss_Moneypenny

Hi Dublad
I also did psychology at NUIG as a mature student a couple of years back - was 24 on entry to degree. I started as a general arts student studying psychological studies, sociology / politics, archaeology and philosophy. At the time you could enter 2nd year of denominated psychology by being ranked in the top 15 at the summer exams. I'm not sure if you are thinking of doing it this way but if you are then I found that it helped to study consistently from the start ie no cramming. Also, attend every lecture. I deliberately chose subjects with a light workload for my 3rd and 4th subjects (philosophy and archaeology) and TBH was expecting to be studying psychological studies and soc / pol for my degree. And yes, it is a long road to become a chartered psychologist (I am not - working in special needs education). If you are aiming to become a chartered psychologist I would advise you to get some paid / unpaid work experience during your summer holidays / at weekends / during evenings that is relevant to clinical / educational psychology... There are lots of websites such as the BPS and PSI websites where you can find information about relevant work experience. Start planning your career now as this will give you an advantage over people who have to get all their relevant work experience after they have graduated. Best of luck

Genevieve

Hi,

I'd definatly take afew years off 10 to 12 of course that is depending on what route you take. It could be 8 years. I'm 25 and started college last year. I would like to do a masters when I'm finished which could be 18 months and then I would like to do clinical psychology which is another 3 years.

Saying all of this.............

It is very difficult to get into clinical psychology and it may take alot longer or it may run smoothly, who knows, but I better get a 1.1 if I want to do anything!

There are lots of openings with a psychology degree and who knows what route you might take in the end. I would remain positive and do your own research on what you would like to get out of the degree and all available routes to achieving what you want.

Most importantly enjoy the course and read and read and read. You never stop studying when you get a degree in psychology, it's a lifetime of interesting study.

Good luck!

Newport81

What other well paid careers could you pursue with a psychology degree? Does anyone know if it is still the top 15 in the summer exams that get offered the full time psychology degree, i read somewhere that it was the top 100? Im starting Arts this september with view to pursue psychology still unsure what other 3 subjects i should choose to try get in the top 15 in summer exams, was thinkin inf technology but i heard its really hard and lots of maths which im **** at, but think im ok with computers?