A little scared!

lorr3

hi there small problem, have to chose my Cao choices before wed and i am still none the wiser, have all the info,have posted elsewhere on boards about this but am still stuck, dont know what to do. am between doin two courses and no matter how much i weigh them up or do pros and cons i get nowhere! when i talk to people...have done this a lot..it ends up still coming down to what i want...just dont know what this is, any advice anyone else go through this???:o

RedXIV

I remember this, literally 24 hours before they had to be done, I still hadn't decided. My advice is look long term and job prospects. You may have already done this but a bit more research may be in order. For example, ireland is saturated with law graduates, so i'd stay away from that, IT is on the decline apparently and Ireland is a HUGE IT nation, so i'd lean towards that. Once again, there's loads of unemployed teachers out there, so i'd steer clear from that but of course if you really want to do something pursue it.

It's a bit all over the place but hope it helps.

Also, don't think about it for a few hours, enjoy yourself and then come back to it when you're calmer and more focused

Best of Luck

lorr3

thanks red am between psychology or ot both with job prospects, further study opportunities both great jobs and i think if i could study both i would in a flash. tbh i think i have done too much research...if you get me? i dont want to regret my choice...

RedXIV

OK well be a bit more specific with what you want to end up doing? I did computer game developement in college right? Because i loved the idea of working in the industry. However i found out after about a year i was crap at programming. something i would have discovered with more research. If you like figuring our how PEOPLE work, then go with psychology (i'd love to have done this now), IT on the other hand is a HUGE area, is there anything in particular you'd like to do in it?

leeroybrown

RedXIV wrote: »

IT on the other hand is a HUGE area, is there anything in particular you'd like to do in it?

The poster is talking about 'OT' (not a typo) by which they mean Occupational Therapy.

RedXIV

leeroybrown wrote: »

The poster is talking about 'OT' (not a typo) by which they mean Occupational Therapy.

whoops, shows what i know

lorr3

sorry for not being clear have been typing occupat....... into this computer for a solid week and i find putting in OT is easier. apologies for the confusion!

Rb

RedXIV wrote: »

I remember this, literally 24 hours before they had to be done, I still hadn't decided. My advice is look long term and job prospects. You may have already done this but a bit more research may be in order. For example, ireland is saturated with law graduates, so i'd stay away from that, IT is on the decline apparently and Ireland is a HUGE IT nation, so i'd lean towards that. Once again, there's loads of unemployed teachers out there, so i'd steer clear from that but of course if you really want to do something pursue it.

It's a bit all over the place but hope it helps.

Also, don't think about it for a few hours, enjoy yourself and then come back to it when you're calmer and more focused

Best of Luck

So as opposed to choosing the subject you think you'll enjoy, or maintain an interest in and would like working in later, you're advocating targetting what you think will be the biggest earner when you leave?

Well, that's the right path to absolute misery anyway and completely contrary to any advice I ever heard from actual guidance counsellors.

OP, find a balance between what you think you'll enjoy and what you think will have good prospects at the end of it, find a bunch of subjects you enjoy and look at the long term prospects. Don't just do IT in the hope that the IT industry magically picks up in a few years, or law in the hope that all the current graduates emigrate etc.

RedXIV

It's ok! my bad, bit presumptuous of me alright

Having looked at both quickly, you might be able to get more work if you broach the OT side of things, I know psychology has been very popular but i *think* the drop out rate is pretty high too. Hmmmm. What you could do is pop over to the psychology forum and ask for a day in the life sort of thing? or what was involved in getting your qualification?

Don't know where you would talk to someone about OT (only knew it existed 10 mins ago)

leeroybrown

Would I be correct in saying that if you're interested in both Occupational Therapy and Psychology, your interest in the latter is in the clinical field? If this is the case would I be correct that your interest in both comes from wanting to work in a patient focussed clinical field where you get to help people?

If I'm correct about both of the above then maybe you should forget about the educational and career related focus for a minute and look at what you want to do in each of the two fields. Is one of them more likely to satisfy the reasons that have motivated you to consider it than the other. I'd also suggest considering whether your academic interest lies more in the specific medically technical science of OT or in the more abstract science of Psych.

You might already have mulled over these in depth but I haven't read your other threads so I don't know.

RedXIV

Rb wrote: »

So as opposed to choosing the subject you think you'll enjoy, or maintain an interest in and would like working in later, you're advocating targetting what you think will be the biggest earner when you leave?

Well, that's the right path to absolute misery anyway and completely contrary to any advice I ever heard from actual guidance counsellors.

OP, find a balance between what you think you'll enjoy and what you think will have good prospects at the end of it, find a bunch of subjects you enjoy and look at the long term prospects. Don't just do IT in the hope that the IT industry magically picks up in a few years, or law in the hope that all the current graduates emigrate etc.

Just pointing out that i'd prefer to have a job than not when she leaves college. Obviously she'd choose between what she'd like to do. But when you hear about the 70,000 graduates who are going straight onto the dole, and plenty of them high profile professions, I reckon that it might make sense to actually think about job prospects too.

just my 2c as an unemployed graduate

lorr3

helping people probably main reason im chosing these, have done a lot of caring or people as it is and its what i want to work in. as for clinically am really open to see where either takes me but as it stands working with kids is where i would like to be both possible from these jobs. i dont want to be so specific at this stage if you get me.

as for employment even with things the way they are there are job shortages in these areas and most likely in 3-4 years time.
hae met with graduates from both courses and know the day to day stuff,have been to lectures about the job prospects within the health system....like i say slightly overinformed!
normally i know what i want i can follow my heart or my head..with this i feel a little lost,i will be very reluctant to drop out once i start because both are jobs i would like to do. Am just afraid a year or two down the line maybe 22 i will turn around and say that was the wrong choice...

RedXIV

lorr3 wrote: »

helping people probably main reason im chosing these, have done a lot of caring or people as it is and its what i want to work in. as for clinically am really open to see where either takes me but as it stands working with kids is where i would like to be both possible from these jobs. i dont want to be so specific at this stage if you get me.

as for employment even with things the way they are there are job shortages in these areas and most likely in 3-4 years time.
hae met with graduates from both courses and know the day to day stuff,have been to lectures about the job prospects within the health system....like i say slightly overinformed!
normally i know what i want i can follow my heart or my head..with this i feel a little lost,i will be very reluctant to drop out once i start because both are jobs i would like to do. Am just afraid a year or two down the line maybe 22 i will turn around and say that was the wrong choice...

happens to alot of people. And there's not alot people can do, except when you realise its the wrong decision, you act upon it. And there's no harm in switching courses or even completing two. But trust me, you can never be over-informed, it's the best way to be

Carsinian Thau

Well it's clear that helping others is what you want to do.

Next you need to know in what way you want to help them.

What do you find more interesting, the mind or the body? And which one would you like to help more? Both involve giving people back their lives and helping them to recover from difficulties that have fallen upon them or situations that have arisen.

I know a lot of people who had difficulty with their CAO choices. Thankfully, I was spared the experience. I don't envy you. Good luck OP.

Btw, I'd like to congratulate you on you maturity not to base this on points. It makes a refreshing change.

D.R cowboy

lorr3 wrote: »

helping people probably main reason im chosing these, have done a lot of caring or people as it is and its what i want to work in. as for clinically am really open to see where either takes me but as it stands working with kids is where i would like to be both possible from these jobs. i dont want to be so specific at this stage if you get me.

as for employment even with things the way they are there are job shortages in these areas and most likely in 3-4 years time.
hae met with graduates from both courses and know the day to day stuff,have been to lectures about the job prospects within the health system....like i say slightly overinformed!
normally i know what i want i can follow my heart or my head..with this i feel a little lost,i will be very reluctant to drop out once i start because both are jobs i would like to do. Am just afraid a year or two down the line maybe 22 i will turn around and say that was the wrong choice...

I have a very simple answer do your psychology degree unhappy with it do a masters in O.T that's what Iam going to do

You make the choice the other way around and there is no way back into psychology

Carsinian Thau

D.R cowboy wrote: »

I have a very simple answer do your psychology degree unhappy with it do a masters in O.T that's what Iam going to do

You make the choice the other way around and there is no way back into psychology

Are you sure you can do a masters in OT without your primary degree being in healthcare?

I would have thought that you'd have to go back and do an OT degree from scratch.

lorr3

Carsinian Thau wrote: »

Well it's clear that helping others is what you want to do.

Next you need to know in what way you want to help them.

What do you find more interesting, the mind or the body? And which one would you like to help more? Both involve giving people back their lives and helping them to recover from difficulties that have fallen upon them or situations that have arisen.

I know a lot of people who had difficulty with their CAO choices. Thankfully, I was spared the experience. I don't envy you. Good luck OP.

Btw, I'd like to congratulate you on you maturity not to base this on points. It makes a refreshing change.

thanks, well from early on i knew it was one or the other, put the choice to one side and concentrated on workin my ass off to get over and above what is needed, all goin well ive done that bit:)

since i finished i went back to decidin, looked through all my reseached did out PRO's and CON's ...several times. really soul searched and the thing is if i was told you cant do OT then i would be happy with Psych and told you cant do Psych then i would be happy with OT.

you will understand then why my head is fried! as i said i have experience of helping people,both in a physical sense and an emotional one, am finding it impossible to say whether i want to help the body or mind or both!

yet again apologies for total indecisiveness:o

Carsinian Thau

lorr3 wrote: »

thanks, well from early on i knew it was one or the other, put the choice to one side and concentrated on workin my ass off to get over and above what is needed, all goin well ive done that bit:)

since i finished i went back to decidin, looked through all my reseached did out PRO's and CON's ...several times. really soul searched and the thing is if i was told you cant do OT then i would be happy with Psych and told you cant do Psych then i would be happy with OT.

you will understand then why my head is fried! as i said i have experience of helping people,both in a physical sense and an emotional one, am finding it impossible to say whether i want to help the body or mind or both!

yet again apologies for total indecisiveness:o

You have a big decision to make, it's natural to be indecisive. No-one makes the choice easily (I spent the entirity of my fifth year and the following summer trying to make up my mind.)

It will be a difficult decision.

Could you try and tie it to any external interests of yours? OT is quite science based and psyhcology is obviosuly psychologically based. The more ties to your interests, the more enjoyable it would be to study.

lorr3

external interests..art,music,working with kids,sport in a big way but then i have at the same time an interest in the likes of biology,important to both.
in some ways i seem to have a bit of everything but not enough to pull my in any one direction...

Carsinian Thau

lorr3 wrote: »

external interests..art,music,working with kids,sport in a big way but then i have at the same time an interest in the likes of biology,important to both.
in some ways i seem to have a bit of everything but not enough to pull my in any one direction...

Both of those seem fit fairly well with both.

A friend of mine based his decision by borrowing some academic textbooks for both fields and trying to see if they were what he thought they'd be like. It helped him, but due to the fact that you've already done so much research, it may not do much (if anything) for you.

Just on the OT side, (if you don't mind my asking), what draws you to that particular health science?

leeroybrown

Carsinian Thau wrote: »

Are you sure you can do a masters in OT without your primary degree being in healthcare?

I would have thought that you'd have to go back and do an OT degree from scratch.

There's a graduate entry programme in UL that accepts graduates from any degree. Someone with a psychology degree would probably get preferential entry as they're already in the healthcare area.

EDIT: Details here.

Carsinian Thau

leeroybrown wrote: »

There's a graduate entry programme in UL that accepts graduates from any degree. Someone with a psychology degree would probably get preferential entry as they're already in the healthcare area.

EDIT: Details here.

Thanks. At least there's a back door to OT.

Of course, there's also a back door for psychology: do an arts degree taking psychology in it and then do a few postgrads.

I wouldn't use the "safety factor" of being able to get into the other as a main basis for choosing OP.

lorr3

dont mind at all, you said about the text books i looked at notes from different lectures much the same thing i guess,both equally fascinating!

OT,well as distinct from nursing or medicine neither of which i wanted to get into for personal reasons, this allows you to help people. your involved in what they WANT and NEED to do rather than what you have to do for them. its about giving people back thier independace in tasks they want to do to live.
nursing is caring but at the same time i would feel restricted, with OT there is a kind of freedom to make this difference bassed in individual circumstances.

again i could argue the same for psychology.. at this stage.. forgot to mention i wont be around on monday evenin or tuesday so today and tomorow are my last days..i am thinking of opting for a coin toss!

uberwolf

commit to making the decision by flipping a coin. Let that select it for you.

Then gauge your gut reaction to that selection. Might tell you something.

Carsinian Thau

lorr3 wrote: »

dont mind at all, you said about the text books i looked at notes from different lectures much the same thing i guess,both equally fascinating!

OT,well as distinct from nursing or medicine neither of which i wanted to get into for personal reasons, this allows you to help people. your involved in what they WANT and NEED to do rather than what you have to do for them. its about giving people back thier independace in tasks they want to do to live.
nursing is caring but at the same time i would feel restricted, with OT there is a kind of freedom to make this difference bassed in individual circumstances.

again i could argue the same for psychology.. at this stage.. forgot to mention i wont be around on monday evenin or tuesday so today and tomorow are my last days..i am thinking of opting for a coin toss!

Coin toss (while tempting!) is largely only good in theory.

That's a good mindset for OT. And you are correct in that it can transferred rather well to psychology at the same time.

Are you sure that you'd be truly equally happy with either? I know that when I first knew completely that I simply couldn't take anything else until I was rejected for my first preference.

Also, have you focused on the disadvantages of both? The advantages can be easy to look at and make the decision difficult but there could be an aspect to one that is just strongly unappealing to you.

lorr3

disadvantages... psychology well will be doing my final exams near my 21st! ha ha no but seriously for psych i will definately have to do a post grad to get recognised by the society of ireland...dont mind this even though it adds to cost and i will need to have worked to get into a post grad.
both fairly demanding jobs, needing patience, working against a useless system and with the way things look thats set to get worse. the idea of slow progess with those i deal with doesnt bother me, if i can make a small diference it will be worth it.

its funny even as im typing these replys am leaning from one to the other, typing the bit about why i want to do OT made me say to myself DO OT!!! but then thinking the same about psych and the same effect!!! grrrr!!!

Carsinian Thau

lorr3 wrote: »

disadvantages... psychology well will be doing my final exams near my 21st! ha ha no but seriously for psych i will definately have to do a post grad to get recognised by the society of ireland...dont mind this even though it adds to cost and i will need to have worked to get into a post grad.
both fairly demanding jobs, needing patience, working against a useless system and with the way things look thats set to get worse. the idea of slow progess with those i deal with doesnt bother me, if i can make a small diference it will be worth it.

its funny even as im typing these replys am leaning from one to the other, typing the bit about why i want to do OT made me say to myself DO OT!!! but then thinking the same about psych and the same effect!!! grrrr!!!

I guess it doesn't help the both of them have very similar disadvantages.

What are your feelings to the different type of patients that you'll be dealing with? There could be overlap between the two sets but by and large they can be separated into different columns.

lorr3

no it really doesnt.. patients... depends mainly on what area i specailise in but as of now am thinking educational or councilling. OT can be dealing with anyone from a 4 year old with learning diiculties to a 94 year old with impared mobility and then in between stroke victims car crash victims. its so varied. god this is tough

lorr3

back again! spent all last night thinking and am goin to cry...why can i not just decide?

Carsinian Thau

lorr3 wrote: »

back again! spent all last night thinking and am goin to cry...why can i not just decide?

Because it's a tough decision.

But you're still the only person qualified to make it. Did anything new occur to you throughout your night of thinking?

leeroybrown

lorr3 wrote: »

disadvantages... psychology well will be doing my final exams near my 21st! ha ha no but seriously for psych i will definately have to do a post grad to get recognised by the society of ireland...dont mind this even though it adds to cost and i will need to have worked to get into a post grad.

It will always take time to get into a clinical position, not just in educational terms, but also because the extra experience and maturity tend to be seen as a necessity to allow someone to work full time in clinical psychology without putting their their own mental health at risk.

lorr3 wrote: »

back again! spent all last night thinking and am goin to cry...why can i not just decide?

As Carsinian says it's because it's such a huge decision and you're worried about the implications of getting it wrong. A lot of people I know still didn't have a clue what they wanted to do after four years of college let alone starting. Your difficult decision is a good thing in many ways.

philologos

OP: Calm down. There are options. If you find that you do not like the course that is currently first on your CAO, there are options to transfer courses or in the very worst take a year out and re-apply for the other course the next year. I can understand how stressful a time this is for you, however you are really worrying far more than it is worth. People switch and change courses quite regularly. For example, I did a BA Politics for first year, I am transferring into Computer Science and Software Engineering for the rest of my course (I did Comp Science as a minor in first year). Make sure to contact your Academic Advisory office on campus if you are finding the choice a bad idea.

Good luck, and cheer up, it could be much worse

lorr3

thanks guys, Carsinian .. no nothing new occured to me really same thing of goin OT because of xyz and then Psych because of xyz...
i know its a big decision,and that loads of people still dont know what to do finishin their course its just well i do know what i want to do... help people in one way or the other. as i already said grrrr!
the idea of being fully qualified as an OT is appealing and at the same time i know i wont mind more college to do psych...

know am the only one to make this choice but as ever all advice is really appreciated. thank you.

LegacyUser

Hi, I actually started a degree in OT (after completing another degree in a completely unrelated field), dropped out after a year for a multitude of reasons, primarily because I decided I would prefer to study Medicine. As an OT you can end up working in a range of areas and ages, from working in the community to being hospital based. With regard to job satisfaction, it is likely to provide you with a hugely rewarding career if you find your niche. I cannot stress enough that the actual job and the degree bear little in common with each other, as it is a job that is largely intuition and logic based (or so it seemed to me when sitting through dull lectures on various theories of OT). One aspect of the course that I loved, and that would continue on in your career as an OT is the opportunities offered to students from the very start to interact and engage with individuals from various socio-economic backgrounds and situations, be it on trips to prisons, doing art classes with students with intellectual disabilities etc. I have formed friendships with people who I would never have met ordinarily.

Ultimately, I decided that OT wasn't the career for me, as I often felt frustrated as the course was not academically very challenging, and the lack of job prospects at the end of the degree was a very real threat. I had, like yourself been unsure whether to choose OT or Medicine, yet I haven't a single regret over the time I spent as an OT. If anything, my respect and admiration for all the great work OT's do has increased with an insight into the lack of funding and challenges they face.

Best of luck with whatever course you do choose in the end, you sound like you're on the right track anyway!

lorr3

thanks unreg, am glad to know that you found what you wanted to do and that you had the same problem as me deciding, you said about job prospects being uncertain..from what i can see its one of the only jobs hiring right now? maybe thats me being optimistic but ive seen a few offers. anyway am still weighing this up so im sure to pick something...i hope! ha ha

D.R cowboy

Do psychology