Occupational Psychology Application

I wasn't sure where to post this (psychology/post. grad./elsewhere) so please let me know if you think it'll get a better response elsewhere...

I'm in my final year of an undergraduate psychology degree and am applying for a taught masters in occupational psychology to start next autumn.

Has anyone got any advice on applying for masters? I'm doing a dissertation relevant to the course, and have one reference from my dissertation supervisor and another from another member of the department, and have some work experience; I just wondered if there is anything else I could/should be doing.

Also, here's my personal statement, it is definitely a work in progress, but any thoughts would be much appreciated! Thank you!

Spoiler

There'll be an extra paragraph or so thrown somewhere into it about why I want to go to each specific uni I'm applying for, so that'll make it a bit longer (about a page) does that seem about right lengthwise?

Finally... does anyone know anything (good or bad!) about psychology/business/post. grad. at any of these unis:
Aston Uni., City Uni, Goldsmiths, Uni. of London, London Met., Manchester Uni., Nottingham Uni., Sheffield Uni., Surrey Uni.

Reply 1

Angelil

I would get rid of the final paragraph of your PS; it's not as good as the rest of it and is quite unnecessary.
Also, do you have anything you can add about books/theories that interest you, or about conferences/exhibitions that you have been to/are planning to go to?
I would advise going to www.conferencealerts.com, putting in your criteria (conference subject/location) and taking note of the emails that are sent to you once a month with relevant information. You can also browse conferences whose details are currently available on the site, and you might want to look at the websites of universities that are local to you as they may be holding relevant events that are not advertised on Conference Alerts.

Apply to the unis you most want to go to first; in the first 'wave' of your application, if you like (before Christmas). Pick your top four or so. Then you can see the outcomes of these applications first before applying to others in March, April or May if necessary - that way you save yourself and your referees some time (as I'm sure you know, the application process for postgrad courses is pretty time consuming).

Other than that, you seem to be on the right track.

Reply 2

k0932741

Me Myself I

....

Have had a sneaky look and think what you've written so far is pretty good :smile:

My advice would be to look at specific modules that take place at the uni's - generally they should be pretty standard at all of them given they are all recognised by the BPS. You could maybe use this information to your advantage - for example I used some health specific stats software I used for my dissertation to my advantage. You may be able to put something specific about your time with the occupational behaviourist that is associated with a module? When I applied to health psych I introduced some of the modules I had taken (in your case WILL take) that were relevant to the course and hence gave me some background to the masters - Sheffield uni undergraduates do a module in Occupational psychology for example.

I don't know if any of the above helped... I can always send you my PS if you want. I know it's for health psychology but it might give you some ideas?

I can of course help you when it comes to Sheffield uni and it's application process :smile:

If you'd like, I could ring my friend who applied and see if she still had her PS to hand to send on to you? She did get a place after all, and with no work experience specifically tailored to he course. I must warn you however, that she found that application process a little bit grueling. Once she'd applied they offered her an interview but she had to prepare a talk on something they'd sent her in the post; I can't quite remember the details but as I said I can ask her next time I see her/ring her if you'd like? :smile:

Last bit of advice would be not to go overboard on writing about the actual university itself - after all they know all abou themselves. You could look up what research is currently going on in the department and slip a comment in about how interested you are in that area (even if you aren't...) or something to that effect?

Anyway, good luck, I know how annoying PS's are to write but your's sounds pretty good :smile:

let me know if I can help with anything...!

Reply 3

Me Myself I

Thanks to both of you!

If you could send me your PS that would be great, Harriet - thank you! (And your friend's, if she's happy to do so!) Interview sounds a bit hellish, but it's good to know what they expect you to do - if she has any tips or anything on that it would be excellent :smile:

For the bit about the uni, that's exactly what I've been doing - going through their websites until I find someone doing research that I'm interested in, nice to know I'm not barking up the wrong tree with that idea!

Will definitely think about what modules I've done/am doing at undergrad. level, we did a bit of occ. psych. in 2nd year that I'm sure I could get in as an advantage somewhere; and also a book/article or two that I've read for interest.

Thank you both for your help! It's so much more tricky than ucas, where you've got teachers to help you whenever. Going to ask my dissertation supervisor (who did a pretty similar course 10 years ago) if there's anything else I should bung in as well. :biggrin:

Reply 4

Interrobang

I echo what the other two have said :smile:

write about what relevant modules you've done/modules you want to do. The courses should be accredited (check the bps website) but other than that, any should be fine. I know Aston uni is good for business, not sure about psychology! I applied to city for speech therapy but didn't get in... It'll be incredibly expensive in London tho!

Reply 5

Me Myself I

xKTx

I echo what the other two have said :smile:

The Occ. Psych. course at Aston is linked to the business school, which is why I'm applying there - apparently their research into occupational health psycholoogy (stress, etc) is really good.

And yes, I'm half and half with London. Part of me really wants to live there for a bit because I've never lived in a big city (Aberdeen's certainly not huge!), but the costs are putting me off, hardly any London unis seem to have accommodation, whilst most of the others seem to guarantee it to first year post grads... Hmm... Will apply for a few (as per Bianca's suggestion) and see how I go :smile: