Mental Health MSc UCL or Kings?

Hi everyone,
i study psychology and thinking to apply for MSc Clinical Mental Health Sciences at UCL or MSc Mental Health Studies at Kings.
Any opinions in which programme is better... or anyone studied there?

Is it a good choice? I am actually searching to find a master in a good university in london to increase my qualifications for a PhD course in clinical psychology!

I am not a UK resident so i'd really appreciate any feedback on the topic! :smile:

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Reply 1

Moyaaa

Hey,

I got offers from both of these courses and am currently trying to choose between the two! There's an open evening on in UCL next Wednesday, maybe you should come along and it might help you decide? As far as I can tell, there doesn't seem to be very much difference with regard to content in the courses. Kings has placement opportunities in the Maudsley (!!!) and UCL say that they can "arrange placements". Both have similar modules and have a research dissertation. It's the first year of the UCL course but UCL is world class and they don't do any course half-heartedly! I've asked a number of people's advice on this and they've all said the same thing, that both unis are world class and that I should look at the staff's research interest and decide based on where the researchers I want to work under are.

Here's the link to the open evening anyway if you're interested! http://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychiatry/prospectivestudents/openday

Ps. Sorry if I posted this twice - just joined there and don't really know how it works yet :P

Reply 2

Moyaaa

I'm in the same boat myself - got offered both courses and can't decide which one to take! The content looks pretty similar but the Kings course is more established (it's the UCL course's first year) and has a placement. That being said, UCL has an amazing rep for psychology. There's an open evening on next Wednesday in UCL. Maybe that will give you a better sense about the course? I'm hoping that it will clear up some questions that I have about the course anyway :smile:

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychiatry/prospectivestudents/openday

Reply 3

scucca

Another in the same position here and unfortunately I was unable to attend the open day. Has anyone now found out any information which has helped them to make a decision?

Reply 4

dora14

Is it really UCL's course running for the first year? hmmmm didnt know that...thought it was new, like 3-4 years running but not for the first year!!!

Finally, I didn't apply for this year and thinking to apply next year...so any future opinion from your experience with the courses would be really helpful!!

If i was in ur place i would probably go for UCL..it has a better world reputation and i suppose that the staff would more supportive during the studies and afterewards to find a job,as it is a new program...a Msc with good reputation certainly needs satisfied students! Plus, I personally liked a bit more the courses and the staff's acdemic interests in UCL...although King's placement opportunities sound very very tempting!!! Do u have any clue on UCL's intake?? Kings will take 100 students...ii seems a bit too much...

Congrats for being accepted and hope u ll make the best choice!

Reply 5

Moyaaa

Original post by dora14

If i was in ur place i would probably go for UCL..it has a better world reputation and i suppose that the staff would more supportive during the studies and afterewards to find a job,as it is a new program...a Msc with good reputation certainly needs satisfied students! Plus, I personally liked a bit more the courses and the staff's acdemic interests in UCL...although King's placement opportunities sound very very tempting!!! Do u have any clue on UCL's intake?? Kings will take 100 students...ii seems a bit too much...

Congrats for being accepted and hope u ll make the best choice!

Yeah it's UCL's first year running the course! I went over for the open evening and also went to Kings that day and I decided to accept UCL. I called into Charles Bell House that morning, just to have a look at where the lectures would be on, and I ended up meeting half of the staff! I called in unannounced and they were all so so welcoming and the course co-ordinator spend a good hour with me answering questions and telling me about the course, staff and the research interests. I also met Sonia Johnson, who runs the MScs and the course administrator Chris Coup - all so nice and came out of a meeting to meet me and were not put-off by my calling in. In fact, they were delighted to meet me!

UCL is such a highly ranked Uni and the course is very very clinically orientated (placements are being arranged with various London Trusts and the optional modules are focused on clinical research and practice). They were very upfront saying that they did expect "teething issues" but they were so friendly and student-focused. I found them all very down-to-earth and easy to talk to. They had no hint of an "air" about them, which they would have every right to have given that they are so well-regarded internationally. They said that they hoped to take 20-40 students and I know at the moment there are about 20 on our class page.

Kings was also top-class. Like UCL, they have some of the top researchers in clinical psych/psychiatry in the world. The lady who I met with was a sweetheart and talked to me for about an hour and a half! She mentioned a few times about how students come to her sometimes when supervisors don't have time for them, which made warning bells go off in my head. She also said that you would only get experience working with a clinical population if your dissertation was on a clinical sample. The building itself at Kings, had much more of a campus-feel. Charles Bell House is horrible!! BUT I just felt that the MHS course at Kings sounded like a cattle-mart with students fighting it out for supervisors' time, which I think we should be entitled to anyway. I had been much more pro-Kings before I went to visit both of them but having seen both, my gut was telling me UCL. The staff there seemed much more willing to accommodate my research interests and seemed willing to facilitate me in whatever kind of placement I wanted. The optional modules are also very broad and can be taken from the Dept of Epidemiology to more Bio- focused modules. Kings is obviously a well-established course (running for well over 10 years) and it's also a great course (the staff at UCL even said this) but I just felt like they were very set in their ways and also much much much more psychiatry-orientated. It seemed like you would be more likely to be helping the supervisors with their own research than doing your own. On top of that, there was much more of an "air" about Kings. A sort of "you would be lucky to study here" which was so different to UCL where I felt like I was on the same level as the lecturers.

It seems that there really is very little between the two courses if you are interested in going down the clinical route. I would suggest that you go visit the two Unis if you're unsure!

Hope this helps! Any more questions, please do fire away!

Reply 6

scucca

Thanks for sharing your views Moyaaa! I'll definitely visit UCL on the open evening in June, although unfortunately it seems I have missed my opportunity to visit KCL.

The UCL placement scheme sounds great. Were the staff research interests diverse? I was concerned that the course would be too research and "psychiatry-focused" and that staff would mostly follow a medical model. I would really like to study mental health disorders (across age groups) and interventions, as well as the evidence for them. The Kings course seems to cover this, but since CMHS is such a new programme there is very little information about the modules beyond their titles. Perhaps you could offer some insight on this?

(edited 9 years ago)

Bump.

Hey guys!
I'm intending on applying to this MSc (to both, UCL and King's) and I was wondering what my chances are of getting admitted? Are there many students who apply, and how many students will be accepted? (I'm not a UK resident!)

Reply 9

beertje_91

Hey guys!
I intend to apply to this MSc at King's and UCL, but I was wondering what my chances are to get accepted. How difficult it is to get into this course, are there many students who get accepted? (I'm not a UK resident!)

Reply 10

mariel21

Hey Guys! Im also planning to apply to both KCL and UCL's mental health studies programs. Im currently an undergraduate student in the USA, in my fourth year and earning my bachelors of science in psychology this coming May (2015). My CGPA is currently a 3.4 and prospective by graduation is 3.5- this is very average for the US, but I'm not sure how this is perceived by the UK system. I know the minimum for both programs is 3.3, but do you think since my CGPA is not too much higher than the minimum that it will really hurt my chances at getting accepted? I hold a lot of experience with research and working in psychology. In the past three years I've conducted two independent research studies with a cognitive psychology professor, one which was published last year. I've volunteered as a research assistant in a neuroscience, cocaine addiction based lab and am currently interning as an ABA therapist for autistic children and adolescents, as well as working towards certification as a registered behavior technician. I'm also currently working on my bachelors thesis research project in memory and stress towards publication this coming May (2015). Im hoping to get accepted into the MSc program to further a career in counseling or clinical psychology. What do you think my chances are of getting in? Please reply with any opinions or advice- its quite difficult to know what to expect when applying from the US!

Reply 11

olivec

Hi I have just accepted UCL as I spoke to my lecturer and she was very for UCL over kings as she had found some of her Phd students to hate it. I was wondering if you had any feedback on the year you have just had, how big the class was, the age range and also if you feel you made the right decision. Are any of you now applying for the clinical doctorate or will you work for a while before? Any info would be greatly appreciated

Reply 12

uctvhlg

Hey,

I have just seen this - for anyone that reads this thread now, I'm doing the Clinical mental health sciences MSc at UCL. I think it's really good, you're taught by people on the admissions team for the DClinPsy so obviously you make great contacts. I have 3 or 4 tutors, the support is great and they want to meet up with you all the time. You can discuss anything you want.

They also GUARANTEE you a clinical placement. I didn't even have to interview for mine - I'm an honorary assistant psychologist at a prison and im supervised by a clinical psychologist. me and all my friends have had patient contact with our placements despite having no clinical experience before. they run talks on how to get onto the clinical doctorate, etc etc.

I don't know anything about kings but this masters is really good. we have our own common room and our own floor in a really modern building (the location moved at the beginning of this academic year - it used to be pretty rubbish so that's great!)

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 13

Grace.mnch

Original post by uctvhlg

I'm in the process of applying for this course at the moment and it sounds amazing. Can I ask you about what your grades were like before applying?I have an average 2:1 but know that I under achieved and have built up a fair bit of relevant volunteer work.

Also what is the work load like ? I was hoping to get a small part time job alongside my studies as I have always worked, but am unsure of whether it would be feasible.

Thanks in advance !!

Reply 14

AlexPhillipsSA

For anyone reading this post now - I am a current MSc Mental Health Studies student at KCL and I am loving it. I am doing my placement at a local psychiatric intensive care unit and work there as part of a multi-disciplinary team with psychologists, psychiatrists, support workers, nurses, social workers and more. It has given me great exposure to individual presentation of symptoms and care plans within a patient - things you cant get from a lecture. I also have a couple of part time jobs such as tutoring which work well as they are flexible around my academic commitments.
I hope to go on to the the Dclin is Clinical Psychology and believe this masters gives me a good clinical knowledge foundation upon which I can build my experience for next year moving into a role as Psychology Assistant.

My favourite thing about studying at the IoPPN at KCL is the amount of opportunities available to attend talks, seminars and workshops led by the world's best researchers and experts in their field. For example every Wednesday we have a Grand Round where a complex client case is discussed. It is led by the psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health practitioners that have been dealing with the case and students are welcome to attend. It is a fantastic insight into the workings of the mental health system and psychiatric disorder at an individual level.

Reply 15

rbholmes17

Sorry to post something that isn't necessarily related to the KCL vs. UCL conversation but it may also contribute to swaying people if it turns out to be different - I was just wondering how busy the schedules are for the two courses in terms of actual contact hours and the amount of independent learning required? In other words is it feasible to hold up a part-time job at the same time? It's the only way I'd realistically be able to afford rent in London...

Reply 16

AlexPhillipsSA

Hi,

I have two part time jobs - I tutor which is really flexible as I can do my own hours and I also worked as a student telephone fundraiser where I was employed by the University. This meant I got London Living Wage as the University pay well and it was two evenings a week. I am doing the Mental Health Studies course and there are two days of teaching, I also do one day of placement and two days working on my dissertation/private study.

Reply 17

rbholmes17

Thanks for the reply!

If you don't mind me asking, what class degree/experience did you have when you applied?

Reply 18

vmilner

Original post by rbholmes17

Thanks for the reply!

If you don't mind me asking, what class degree/experience did you have when you applied?

Hey,

I am also on the MSc Mental Health Studies course this year! Before graduated from my BSc Psychology (1st class) at the University of Reading in July 2015 and started my MSc September 2015!

I had a little bit of experience during my undergrad (I volunteered lots and I worked as an honorary assistant psych one morning a week) but not much!

Everyone on the course is completely different though, some people come from non-psychology backgrounds, some have worked for years (even decades) before starting the MSc, some have 2:1s etc...

Reply 19

sairawazir

Hi Everyone, I've in third year in my undergrad Psych degree, I'm looking to apply for my Masters in Mental Health Studies, are Kings and UCL the only universities that offer this degree?

Also, does entry to these interview work on an interview basis? I've got a little experience as a Psychology Intern and my grades are pretty good thus far. Is that going to be enough to get in?! I just need a little reassurance!