Preparing for a Psychology degree

Gilldog

Hi guys,

I'm gonna be starting a Psychology degree in september. Im going back as a mature student so I feel that I've got my head on a little straighter than when I was 18 and want to get the most out of the 4 years, and obviously a good mark to give myself the best chance at a masters programme.
I've completed a Fetac course to get my place in college, and obviously that is not the same level as a degree, but it gave a good overview of the different modules involved (behavioural studies, criminology, statistics etc) which I found really helpful.
However, as excited as I am to start my degree, I worry that I may be overwhelmed by the level of reading/ research that is needed to get the best mark, or even to keep up to the standard required. This is probalby just general 'going back to serious education' anxiety, however I'm assuming that Psychology is a very theory heavy subject and there will be a lot of extra research and further reading that will have to be done as well as my coursework....

Are there any starter books anyone can recommend that I should be reading to broaden my perspective, ones that might not be on my college reading list?

Also, to those of you who are now practising psychologists, or doing postgraduate studies....or even in your third of final year of your degree - is there any advice you would like to give a newbie that you would have found useful yourself??


Thanks in advance!!:)

The Black Oil

How are you with self-directed learning/motivating yourself? I think the level of reading can vary a bit, depending on the style of each lecturer. You'll probably have a few main textbooks, but will likely be expected to read outside of these and chase up other materials/journal articles. If you want to throw your head into something now maybe look up some neuroscience, stats, abnormal/psychopathology or child development stuff, but if you have your course outline for first year try to link in with that. You shouldn't have to buy everything from your reading list and some people don't buy any textbooks at all, but if you know you'll get use out of some then it might no harm to have a few. I bought most of mine second hand from amazon and saved a good bit of money that way.

Have a look at Academic Earth, you mightn't get much from it, but it may give you an idea what to expect.

Good luck with your course.

TrollHammaren

I just finished a psychology degree in Trinity, and I don't even know whether it's all that necessary to do some prior reading. I would be less interested in doing some reading around the subject and more interested in brushing up on reading and writing skills. It's a steep learning curve but if you read the material they give you and read a bit around the subject you should be fine.

Your best bet is to familiarise yourself with the curriculum and know how to look up journal articles. You're very welcome to PM me if you need any advice or if you have any specific questions. Best of luck with your course!

sadie9

I would concentrate on enjoying the rest of the summer rather than get stuck in to any academic books. There will be plenty of time for that.
The BEST thing you can do when you enrol at whatever college it is, is familiarise yourself with the Library - together with how any electronic libraries or journal databases work etc. Where the right catalogs for the different subjects and topics are etc.
Take all the library tutorials, do the online demos etc for finding books and articles even if it seems really boring. It is this sort of preparation work that will really help when you need to use it. Most colleges have a specialist librarian for each subject so make friends with this person!
So that when the time comes for that first big essay or project, you won't have to start learning how to access journal articles or online book chapters.
A lot of textbooks are available now in PDF form, from the electronic sections of libaries. So you can pull down chapters of books that way.
If you are not that computer literate, then an short basic computer course in Word, creating folders, what the different file formats are, using email, getting about screens etc would be an advantage.
If you can't touch-type I would also strongly recommend if you have a couple of spare weeks now, you could teach yourself to type using a software programme if you were really dedicated spending a few hours a day on it. It is these 'peripheral' skills that'll provide you with support as you tackle the academic work. Good luck with it.

Gilldog

Thanks a million for the responses...I guess i'm over thinking it at this early stage. I'm really excited to go on to degree level, but I'm still apprehensive about my abilities as far as assignments and research goes. I realise it's a learning process and it'll take practice.

Thanks again future colleagues!