Psychology TCD

mortyn93

Heeey I'm in LC and hoping to do Psychology in Trinity next year, just wondering what people think of it? Any problems, challenges, etc? Thanks

Extrasupervery

I'm doing an intro to psychology in nursing at the moment, and I find it really interesting. Obviously it has an emphasis on nursing but it's the same basic material as you would have in the arts degree.

I'd recommend Trinity for psychology purely so you could have Dr.Jan de Vries as a lecturer. The man is cracked in the finest sense of the word, and encourages interest in all 230 of us. No one ever wants to miss his lectures.

tunguska

Im shaping up to apply for psychology in TCD myself. Would really like to hear from somebody who has done this course in order to get an idea of what to expect.

TrollHammaren

Expect a lot of work and to do a lot of bullshít you're not interested in before getting to the stuff you really enjoy, but even the bullshít can be enjoyable if the lecturer is good.

One thing I must say is that it's an academic course, so you won't gain a profound psychological understanding of yourself or learn how to become a great counsellor. A lot of people are interested in studying psychology because they've suffered from some mental illness or other and are disappointed to learn that psychology in TCD is all about research.

Either way, I really enjoyed the course, moreso due to the people in it than the actual content, but I did TSM and it really took away from the entire experience.

If you have any specific questions, ask away!

mortyn93

Thank you, appreciate it

ArtOfEscape

TrollHammaren wrote: »

One thing I must say is that it's an academic course, so you won't gain a profound psychological understanding of yourself or learn how to become a great counsellor. A lot of people are interested in studying psychology because they've suffered from some mental illness or other and are disappointed to learn that psychology in TCD is all about research.

This! Psychology at TCD is very much on the cusp between science and humanities, so be prepared for lots of philosophy of science, statistics and research methodology stuff. There are some modules on clinical psychology but they're pretty theoretical and not very grounded in the actual day to day work of treatment and therapy.

There's no placement aspect so if you want experience in research or other settings, it's up to you to go and find it. There are plenty of those opportunities arising each year, though, so it's just about how much time you'd like to devote to it.

As the previous poster mentioned, there will inevitably be bits that don't interest you, but in third and fourth year you get to choose electives from five categories: cognitive, social, personality, biological and developmental. You choose six modules in third year and five in fourth, and you must cover one module from each category over the two years. This means you have lots of freedom in your sophister years to hone in on the areas that really interest you, or to take a broad range of modules.

Let us know if you have other questions!

mortyn93

Quick question...I'm just wondering what the hours are like in first year and if the workload changes much from first to second year?

ArtOfEscape

mortyn93 wrote: »

Quick question...I'm just wondering what the hours are like in first year and if the workload changes much from first to second year?

In first and second year single honours, I had around 10-12 hours of lectures a week. The overall workload doesn't change very much as first and second years share many of the same courses. There's a bigger jump in third year, though.

mortyn93

ArtOfEscape wrote: »

In first and second year single honours, I had around 10-12 hours of lectures a week. The overall workload doesn't change very much as first and second years share many of the same courses. There's a bigger jump in third year, though.

Awesome, thanks

Joe_Dull

In second year right now, loving it I must say. It's a great course for expanding your knowledge in general, you learn about people, the brain, the mind and plenty of stats and science thrown in for good measure. Not too specific yet but that suits me down to the ground, and the hours and workload are very manageable. Again, any questions, fire away!

tunguska

Just found out Im eligible to do the H.dip in psychology as I already have a degree. Its 2 years and at the end of it you get the same qualification as you would after taking the 4 year undergraduate degree.
Has anybody completed the H.dip? I heard its pretty intensive.

The Black Oil

The conversion Dip is quite intense, yes. I think a few bits may have changed since I went through it, but I don't know any details on that side of things. A few of the people I graduated with are now psychologists or are on their way with further training.

allybabe84

ArtOfEscape wrote: »

In first and second year single honours, I had around 10-12 hours of lectures a week. The overall workload doesn't change very much as first and second years share many of the same courses. There's a bigger jump in third year, though.

Hi thinking about applying for Psychology too in TCD but just want to check you say you do about 10-12 hours a week but what times every day do you start and finish?? Just checking because I start work at 6pm every day and wonder if it is doable, my job is not in the city centre so just checking for commute reasons... thanks! (I realise too that timetables change every year but a rough guide is better than nothing!)

ArtOfEscape

allybabe84 wrote: »

Hi thinking about applying for Psychology too in TCD but just want to check you say you do about 10-12 hours a week but what time on average every day do you finish up?? Just checking because I start work at 6pm every day and wonder if it is doable, my job is not in the city centre so just checking for commute reasons... thanks!

I don't think I finished any later than 5 on any day. The exception might be broad curriculum classes, which are elective courses from different subjects in your first two years, but you can choose those to suit your timetable.

Good luck!

Sir Ophiuchus

allybabe84 wrote: »

Just checking because I start work at 6pm every day and wonder if it is doable

Almost definitely yes.

Rosey184

Hey there! I'm in first year in Trinity at the moment and hoping to change course next year (ive realised the course im doing now just really isnt for me) Psychology has been on my mind for a long time, the only reason I didnt do it in the first place is because I heard it was extremely Maths heavy and Maths definitely wouldnt be my strong point!) I just wanted to know though would there be any books or anything at all you could recommend me taking a look at just to get a feel for the course before I make my decision (I really dont want to make the same mistake twice!) Any suggestions at all would be a huge help! Thanks so much!!

TrollHammaren

Rosey184 wrote: »

Hey there! I'm in first year in Trinity at the moment and hoping to change course next year (ive realised the course im doing now just really isnt for me) Psychology has been on my mind for a long time, the only reason I didnt do it in the first place is because I heard it was extremely Maths heavy and Maths definitely wouldnt be my strong point!) I just wanted to know though would there be any books or anything at all you could recommend me taking a look at just to get a feel for the course before I make my decision (I really dont want to make the same mistake twice!) Any suggestions at all would be a huge help! Thanks so much!!

I wouldn't worry about the maths, I'm absolutely terrible at maths but the stats in psychology are easy enough to get your head around. Discovering Statistics Using SPSS by Andy Field is a fantastic book for statistics in psychology.

For your course, your two best bets are to check out the course outline, which can be found here: http://www.tcd.ie/Psychology/undergraduate/freshman-years/ and ask people about the individual modules.

I'm very much a science person, so the fairly objective and artsy stuff was always an issue for me, but I quite liked everything neuroscientific and the likes. Feel free to ask any questions you like about the course.

tunguska

TrollHammaren wrote: »

I wouldn't worry about the maths, I'm absolutely terrible at maths but the stats in psychology are easy enough to get your head around. Discovering Statistics Using SPSS by Andy Field is a fantastic book for statistics in psychology.

For your course, your two best bets are to check out the course outline, which can be found here: http://www.tcd.ie/Psychology/undergraduate/freshman-years/ and ask people about the individual modules.

I'm very much a science person, so the fairly objective and artsy stuff was always an issue for me, but I quite liked everything neuroscientific and the likes. Feel free to ask any questions you like about the course.

I'd be the opposite, more into the arsty stuff. Is there that much maths involved? Im decent at maths and all but having said that I wouldnt be into doing something that had a lot of science involved. Is this course heavily science based?

TrollHammaren

tunguska wrote: »

I'd be the opposite, more into the arsty stuff. Is there that much maths involved? Im decent at maths and all but having said that I wouldnt be into doing something that had a lot of science involved. Is this course heavily science based?

There's a lot of artsy stuff and a bit of science in the Freshman years, but for the Sophister years you get to pick your own modules.

There's quite a bit of statistics involved but it's fairly basic and mostly done by computer. As long as you get your hands on a decent stats book you should be able to get your head around it.

I actually think it's not sciency enough, which is why I'm trying to bridge into neuroscience.