Diploma in Psychology, DBS

Dr. Nooooo!

http://www.dbs.ie/psychology/evening-diploma

Has anyone done this? What was it like? Did you like it?

I want to pursue a career in psychology and am considering doing this course to get a taste of what it is like and thus figure out for sure if it is the thing for me(its one thing to do a lot of research and reading about something and think its for you, compared to actually studying it), while working and saving up for further study. Following that I intend to go on and do the higher diploma conversion course in DBS, it seems that the 1 year diploma will grant me exemptions from a couple of modules and would be better than doing one of the many 10/12 week courses on psychology that there are out there.

Has anyone else gone down a similar road? Any advice/experiences would be appreciated.

Odysseus

I haven't don't it, I know one of two people who did and enjoyed. It was one of the courses I was thinking might be helpful to you in the direction you are thinking of going.

At the least I think it it worth you checking it out; it certainly has positives for you. In that it a solid enough introduction to psychology which should help you with your decision. I also think it is better than one of the 12 week evening dipolmas that will cost you about half the price of that course.

If you don't go for this one I would suggest you try find one that covers the same amount of material. I think you might get two of the evening programmes for the same price in most colleges; however, I don't think you would get the same level of learning as you would with this.

One thing to check out is the excemptions, a poster stated recently that they only apply to those who undertake the BA part time not the H Dip.

Dr. Nooooo!

Odysseus wrote: »

I haven't don't it, I know one of two people who did and enjoyed. It was one of the courses I was thinking might be helpful to you in the direction you are thinking of going.

At the least I think it it worth you checking it out; it certainly has positives for you. In that it a solid enough introduction to psychology which should help you with your decision. I also think it is better than one of the 12 week evening dipolmas that will cost you about half the price of that course.

If you don't go for this one I would suggest you try find one that covers the same amount of material. I think you might get two of the evening programmes for the same price in most colleges; however, I don't think you would get the same level of learning as you would with this.

One thing to check out is the excemptions, a poster stated recently that they only apply to those who undertake the BA part time not the H Dip.

Thanks Odysseus you have been very helpful

About the exemptions, I was worried that that might be the case, there is an open evening on the 14th of May, I will have a list of questions to ask, that among them.

From looking at the Hdip and the diploma it seems that there are only two shared modules (Social Psychology and The History and Schools of Psychology) rather than the three that it shares with the BA. But at the end of the day if it means I have to do two of the modules, or a slight variant thereof, twice it's certainly by no means the end of the world, it would just be an added bonus if there were exemptions.

Considering I'm aiming to get an introduction to psychology and save up for the hdip in DBS over the next year it certainly looks ideal. E1990 is more expense than one of the 12 week courses but not by too much and it certainly seems higher quality.

Odysseus

Open evening is a good idea, I studied at DSB, well it was LSB when I started my degree and DBS when I finished my masters. I went to an open evening and found it very helpful.

I don't know of any similar courses, but christ it is expensive.

IIRC my masters cost 1700 and 1900 in the first and second year; it is now 7500 each year there:eek:

At that price I would say you woud get 3 12 week courses; but I still think this or similar [if available] would be superior

Dr. Nooooo!

Tell me about it! The cost is heartbreaking. I've already pumped 7 grand or there abouts into my undergrad.

Even the 10 week "Introduction to Psychology" course in DBS is €1,250.

I'm just trying to think about the cost on a year by year basis rather than the end of the road cumulative cost which will be a sizable fortune. It will be worth it though.

Searching for a job at the minute but its tricky. Either way though I reckon I should be able to get the 2 grand from somewhere, its the 9 grand for the 2 years of the hdip which is going to be the tricky part. (as well as the subsequent post grad).

Any idea what the workload is like for the hdip, is it feasible to work full time, or should I be looking for part time work? The part time hdip is 2 years also, the workload seems the same but just with the lectures shifted to two nights a week?

I'm just finishing off my undergrad which is in law and the workload was very heavy in that the amount of reading was absolutely immense(literally you can never read enough). There's no way I would have been able to work full time and be able to do the amount of study needed to excel rather than just scrape by.

Odysseus

Dr. Nooooo! wrote: »

Tell me about it! The cost is heartbreaking. I've already pumped 7 grand or there abouts into my undergrad.

Even the 10 week "Introduction to Psychology" course in DBS is €1,250.

I'm just trying to think about the cost on a year by year basis rather than the end of the road cumulative cost which will be a sizable fortune. It will be worth it though.

Searching for a job at the minute but its tricky. Either way though I reckon I should be able to get the 2 grand from somewhere, its the 9 grand for the 2 years of the hdip which is going to be the tricky part. (as well as the subsequent post grad).

Any idea what the workload is like for the hdip, is it feasible to work full time, or should I be looking for part time work? The part time hdip is 2 years also, the workload seems the same but just with the lectures shifted to two nights a week?

I'm just finishing off my undergrad which is in law and the workload was very heavy in that the amount of reading was absolutely immense(literally you can never read enough). There's no way I would have been able to work full time and be able to do the amount of study needed to excel rather than just scrape by.

At the end of the day, try not worry about the money; to the best you can of course. Learning is learning and sadly it costs; I didn't think their 10 week course would

I worked part time during my degree and full time during my masters; now I studied psychoanalysis there; but during my degree I shared a fair few classes with the psychology degree. It was hard going for those working but they still made it.

What I used to do was get the reading list for the following year and read as much of that as I could during the holidays. It did make quite a difference, it felt like I was getting nowhere, but then things would click.

I just find the cost of education is becoming prohibitive, however it seems like you have the basis of a solid plan starting to form for you

Naked Lepper

dbs BA psychology student here, i have already completed all of the modules required for the diploma (but through the degree program so dont have anything to show for it just yet!)

if you did continue to do the degree course after the diploma then the modules dbs are offering for diploma are pretty good to see what its all about imo

history and schools of psychology covers the philosophical underpinnings in psychology, the history of psychology in the lab, madness, medicine, various types of psychology (overview of cognitive psych, behaviorism, humanistic psychology, evolution, memory, psychoanalysis etc.) - this is an intro module and doesnt go into too much depth in any specific areas.

social psychology will cover topics such as self/identity, aggression, social influence/ conformity, pro social behaviour, how you can apply social psychology to real world events, you will also cover some landmark studies in this such as milgrams obedience to authority, banduras bobo doll experiments etc etc

the intro to psychology is really just an overview of studies that have been done, what psychology is, what methods are used to research in psychology, stuff like ethics - apa guidelines etc, youll have some assignments like essays or posters to do for this one


in the BA degree in dbs there is psychoanalysis in the first year too, but i see they have not included this in the diploma.


any questions feel free to ask!

Dr. Nooooo!

Naked Lepper wrote: »

dbs BA psychology student here, i have already completed all of the modules required for the diploma (but through the degree program so dont have anything to show for it just yet!)

if you did continue to do the degree course after the diploma then the modules dbs are offering for diploma are pretty good to see what its all about imo

history and schools of psychology covers the philosophical underpinnings in psychology, the history of psychology in the lab, madness, medicine, various types of psychology (overview of cognitive psych, behaviorism, humanistic psychology, evolution, memory, psychoanalysis etc.) - this is an intro module and doesnt go into too much depth in any specific areas.

social psychology will cover topics such as self/identity, aggression, social influence/ conformity, pro social behaviour, how you can apply social psychology to real world events, you will also cover some landmark studies in this such as milgrams obedience to authority, banduras bobo doll experiments etc etc

the intro to psychology is really just an overview of studies that have been done, what psychology is, what methods are used to research in psychology, stuff like ethics - apa guidelines etc, youll have some assignments like essays or posters to do for this one


in the BA degree in dbs there is psychoanalysis in the first year too, but i see they have not included this in the diploma.


any questions feel free to ask!

Thanks for that, it sounds fascinating and just what I am after. After completing those modules I should definitely know for sure if psychology is for me. I know this may sound a bit overcautious but I'm wary of making the same mistake I did prior to my leaving, when I picked law thinking that I'd like to be a barrister. Although how anyone is to be expected to know what they want to do with the rest of their lives at 17 is beyond me, despite what I thought at the time.

I've been on to the college and they said that they will send me out a bunch of leaflets. It's just been some emails back and forth but they have been very helpful and prompt which is a welcome change compared to my current college where you nearly have to kick down doors to get any questions answered. But then being an independent college I suppose it is a different animal.

I'm looking forward to the open day.

Odysseus wrote: »

At the end of the day, try not worry about the money; to the best you can of course. Learning is learning and sadly it costs; I didn't think their 10 week course would

I worked part time during my degree and full time during my masters; now I studied psychoanalysis there; but during my degree I shared a fair few classes with the psychology degree. It was hard going for those working but they still made it.

What I used to do was get the reading list for the following year and read as much of that as I could during the holidays. It did make quite a difference, it felt like I was getting nowhere, but then things would click.

I just find the cost of education is becoming prohibitive, however it seems like you have the basis of a solid plan starting to form for you

Thats a great idea about the reading list, I'll do that.

It's definitely going to be hard work, but everything worthwhile is I guess. I'm hoping to get part time work soon and fund everything through that. I'm lucky that I have free (for now at least) accommodation in Dublin so my only main expenses will be food and the fees, and a part time job should be enough for that. I don't know how someone could afford to attend college if they had a family to support or even rent or a mortgage to pay on top of fees - in the current economic climate were even minimum wage jobs are hard to find. The loan system is a joke too, I was looking at BOIs loans, you pay interest only for the length of your postgrad (1 or 2 years, you're screwed if it is 3 years I guess!) then 3 months after you finish your postgrad you have to start repaying the capital too. THREE MONTHS to find a job. Why there is not a loan system like in the US or the UK is beyond me.

Naked Lepper

Dr. Nooooo! wrote: »

I've been on to the college and they said that they will send me out a bunch of leaflets. It's just been some emails back and forth but they have been very helpful and prompt which is a welcome change compared to my current college where you nearly have to kick down doors to get any questions answered. But then being an independent college I suppose it is a different animal.

I'm looking forward to the open day.

ah yeah the set up is very good, the buildings have great facilities and the lecturers and staff are all very quick to reply and helpful. best of luck with it