Psychology at University - FAQ

My predicted grades will probably be ABB.The ones with / are those i cant decide between.I live in london and would love accomodation in halls...i've read on chester's website that they cant gurantee accomodation which is a big punch in the face but as for the other BBB unis their in london so i'll have to commute but i dont want to as i want to live in halls so that i can be more independent plus im not sure about contact hours?


Is this a good selection of unis:

Loughborough - AAB
Reading - AAB
UEA - ABB
Coventry/Essex/QMUL - ABB
Brunel/Roehampton/Chester - BBB

Hello,

I currently study Psychology at the University of Essex (just about to go into my second year) so if you have any questions please feel free to ask!

^Natalie.

is there an ACS society and is it popular?

What is a better uni coventry or university of liverpool? Stuck between the two...is essex a rough area?

Which place is safer coventry or liverpool?

If it helps, coventry is smaller than liverpool but idk about the safest between the two. (I go to Coventry Uni and am studying Psychology too )

wats it like? hows nightlife?

do you think i could get an offer from loughborough with ABB predictions?

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/undergr...es/psychology/


tempted to go with

Reading(debatable)/Loughborough - AAB (Not sure if this is their standard)
UEA - ABB
Coventry/Liverpool
Essex - ABB
Brunel - BBB

is there an ACS society and is it popular?

What is a better uni coventry or university of liverpool? Stuck between the two...is essex a rough area?

Which place is safer coventry or liverpool?

I'm pretty bored, so I thought I'd make a "What is Psychology like at University?" thread as I tend to get a lot of PMs about it anyway. It would probably be helpful to say that I'm currently finishing my second year, beginning preps for third year research and what not.

I'll try and break the thread up into sections, maybe include a few slides from some lectures I've had, a few paragraphs from some of my assignments perhaps. So:

Contents
A-Level versus University
Are the statistics really hard?
What do you actually study?
What are the essays like?
What is your timetable like?
What are lab reports?
How much work do you do?
Do you have to do much reading?
What are the exams like?
Multiple choice exams?
Workload and Socialising?
Should I do some reading over the summer in preparation for degree level Psychology?
When (and where) should I buy my textbooks?
What are the best A-Levels for Psychology?
Do I need work experience for Psychology?

A-Level versus University: The jump up
I personally think that A-level Psychology, while worth studying, is not good preperation for degree level Psychology. This is mainly due to the ethos that the course instills in the students; Topic One has x research supporting and x research against, then generic criticisms of both. At degree level, it's just not that simplistic.

At degree level, it becomes very clear that the subject is not just a cluster of isolated theory. Everything is related. The mind is one of the most complex entities in our known world and this is certainly reflected in the theory used to explain it. No theory has clear supporting and opposing evidence. It's not as simplistic or superficial as A-level suggests.

Other notable points worth mentioning is the use of literary searches. Most a-level students would never have used a database like PsychINFO or ever read an actual research paper. It's worth doing as it is a useful skill in searching for and selecting relevant papers. It also helps when you come to find the relevant information in a paper.

Here's an example of a research paper:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=81977&stc=1&d=1267832240

Papers like this is what you will spend the next three years spilling your guts over. Get used to reading them.

Finally, referencing. During the time that you're not getting your head around needlessly complex experimental methods will be spent plucking your eyes out ensuring that every comma is in the right place in your references.



Are the statistics really hard?
Simply, no. If you can use BODMAS (aka PEMDAS) then you can do statistics. Most departments will start from scratch, I'm talking mean, median and mode. It will, however, progress very quickly and you'll soon be doing multiple linear regression in your sleep. The formulas might look complex, but they're essentially just recipes. Don't worry about it.



What do you actually study?
Biological, Developmental, Cognitive, Social Psychology, Research Methods, Statistics, Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuropsychology etc.
Psychology is dynamically broad. As a result, I have lecturers who have hugely competing views and regularly have arguments which is great. Social Psychology and Biological Psychology are just two completely different worlds. Thus, chances are, there are going to be topics you adore and topics you loathe. I don't know many people who enjoy the subject completely. For example, I can go from studying number representation in children to attribution theory to experimental methodology to Rogerian counselling to the functional architecture of the cerebral cortex to principal components analysis to neuroanatomy.

Example of one of our lecture slides discussing activation in the SMA a few seconds before activity in the primary motor areas:




What are the essays like?
Not too bad. They range from 2000-3000 words. To get a 2.1 you need to successfully use the research to support your argument, that means understanding what they did and the implication of their results upon your argument. It needs to be well structured and convincing. In order to get a 1st, it needs to be innovative and creative.

Here's an introduction to an essay titled "Why do people make errors in statistical judgement?" This got a decent 2.1.


The hardest part is actually fitting your essay within the word limit. It takes practice to condense your writing down to present the information efficiently.



What is your timetable like?
Pretty flexible. I essentially have a four day week, each day having 2-4 hours of lectures with the occasional tutorial thrown in. It's pretty independent in terms of the work that you do. This gives you plenty of time to work on your employability through volunteering, work experience, getting involved in departmental research etc. This naturally changes from year to year. In my third year most of my time will be taken up by the dissertation, lectures and essays due every week.



What are lab reports?
Essentially, you have to write a research paper. This would include an abstract, an introduction, a methods section, a results section, analysis and a discussion. You typically conduct an experiment with your year group and you are given the results to analyse and a general topic and asked to produce a piece of coursework ~2000-3000 words long. You tend to do about 3 or 4 of them per year.



How much work do you do?
This year (second year) I have had:
Six essays
Three lab reports
Three statistics assignments
And finally, summer exams.


Do you have to do a lot of reading?
Yeah. After each lecture we're generally given at least 3-5 papers to read, a few chapters in a book perhaps. This can take up a lot of your time.


What are the exams like?
They tend to be essay based and around two hours long. You often have your choice of questions. Here are a few examples from past papers:



Do you have Multiple Choice exams? If so, what are they like?
If you have MCQ exams, they will probably only be in your first year.

They include things like:

A likely cause of Korsakoff's Syndrome is:
A: Alcohol dependency or poor diet
B: Stroke to the right parietal lobe
C: Poor grouping of object variables
D: Epilepsy

or things like

Transfer-appropriate processing is a model of memory:
A: That suggests the most important determinant of memory is how extensively information is encoded or processed when it is first received
B: That suggests new experiences change people's overall knowledge base, altering their understanding of the world.
C: That suggests the critical determinant of memory is how the encoding process matches up with what is ultimately retrieved.
D: In which information must pass through three stages in order to become embedded in memory.

They tend not to be like:

Corbett 1980 did what?
A: Blah
B: Blah
etc



Do you have time to socialise with your timetable and workload?
I would say that you have plenty of time to socialise, or even hold down quite a hefty part-time job.

In the later years this might become more of a challenge, but if you plan out your assignments in advance then you will have absolutely no problem. Come the last half of your third year (i gather), however, I don't think you will be seeing daylight because of the workload.

But in general, you have plenty of spare time that you can dedicate to reading, working, socialising, volunteering etc.



Should I do some reading over the summer in preparation for degree level Psychology?
Sure, if you would enjoy it. It certainly isn't required and wouldn't give you an advantage per-say as you probably won't cover common topics. If you think you would enjoy it, there certainly isn't any harm in picking up a general textbook to get a feel for the subject. I would recommend something broad like: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Psychology-Henry-Gleitman/dp/0393973646/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268002781&sr=8-2 Psychology by Gleitman. It covers a lot of topics very generally. Naturally, there are more specific books out there, but it depends on what you're interested in. Other good books include:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cognitive-Neuroscience-Michael-S-Gazzaniga/dp/0393977773/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268504215&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Introduction-Statistics-Psychology-Dennis-Howitt/dp/0132051613/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268504246&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Biological-Psychology-Introduction-Behavioral-Neuroscience/dp/0878937056/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268504263&sr=1-3

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Social-Psychology-Student-Access-MyPsychKit/dp/1405893648/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268504298&sr=1-1

Other good reading includes The Psychologist magazine found here:
http://www.thepsychologist.org.uk/ This includes a free digital taster on the right, and the editions can be bought online very cheaply.


When (and where) should I buy my textbooks?
AFTER you have started and as you need them! Secondly, ignore the lecturers who try and convince you to go out and buy this 20 long list of textbooks that will cost you hundreds of pounds. Chances are, you will only open them once. 99% of your resources will be online research journals. Textbooks are only good for general overviews which are good for starting an essay on unfamiliar grounds.

If you ARE going to buy textbooks, the Amazon Marketplace is your friend. I've picked up next to new textbooks for pennies. Don't buy them brand new. OR, you can buy them off previous year groups. When you get your uni email account, you will be spammed by second and third years trying to sell their textbooks.


What are the best A-Levels for Psychology?
Firstly, consult your chosen universities to ensure they don't have any specific requirements. Secondly, I strongly recommend
Psychology, Biology and Maths (Or even better Statistics). This is THE best combination for Psych. You cover the fundamental basics, you have a good foundation for neuroscience, and you're introduced to the fantastic world of statistics. You're also given basic essay writing skills from Psychology. Your fourth choice can be whatever really.



Do I need work experience for university?
Simple answer is no. It's not expected as a requirement. That said, if you are considering applying to the competitive universities, e.g. Bristol/Oxford for example, it might be worthwhile. The kind of work experience available to you as an a-level student, however, is limited. At best, you can obtain voluntary positions in a caring environment, for example a hospital befriender or an volunteer assistant in a neurorehabilitation centre. The best website to use for finding these is http://www.do-it.org . There is an alternative called vinspired, but it is literally the same content.

Voluntary positions such as these are typically involving vulnerable people and thus require a criminal records check (CRB). It is the organisation's responsibility to provide you with this application and for voluntary positions, it is free to you. These can take at least 3-4 weeks, but can take much longer if it is your first one, of if it is a busy period.


I can't really think of any other questions, so if you have any feel free to ask and I'll add them to the thread.

What grades did you have during A levels and which university are you studying in?

Hi there,

My name's Josh, a student from the University of Central Lancashire, which is in Preston.

It’s results time and I know a lot of you could be feeling unsure about your future – whether it be clearing, results, accommodation or life at university in general.

Whether you have an idea what you to do next or not – please feel free to get in touch for any advice on what do next.

we have vacancies in our psychology courses – Our call centre is open until 6pm today and over the weekend: 9am-5pm (Sat), 10am-4pm (Sun)

Thank you everyone – and best of luck in the next step of your lives!

Josh

Hi!

I have no idea what to do at university and I am in year 13... I don't do psychology at Alevel and Was considering it for uni... But after reading that I am not sure. I hate essays :/
What do you suggest? I do, maths bio chem.