Confusion : Shall i apply to Glasgow?

Hello there!

I would recommend you studying BSc Business and Management with specializing in Human resources/ Organizational behaviour. If you take up this BSc, you will compulsorily have Organizational behavior module as an elective and this subject is a mix of psychology and management. SO this well suits your requirement.

Glasgow uni is indeed good with international ranking. You may also try Edinburgh and St Andrews that are equally good in ranking, and are located in Scotland.

Yes you may be able to transfer to uni's in your undergraduate in case you join some other uni and wanted to get into Glasgow.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Thanks a lot that was a very comprehensive reply indeed.But i just do not get the the point ' with specializing in Human resources/ Organizational behaviour'.Is that mean doing a msc. in HR or Organisational Behaviour.Or this means that i major in this.Will i be able to do a PHD in psychology after doing an undergraduate in in business and management?

And will this disadvantage me keeping in mind that my ultimate aim is to specilaise in psychology.The aim behind combing it with business or management is just to increase my job prospects where employees do not usually understand the breadth of a psychology course.Well all this is my framework, we never know where life's plane land for me.I will be thankful for any kind help though.

If your aim is to specialize in Psychology in the future then you have to study BA/ BSc Psychology only. If you are doing BSc Business and management course, then you have an option to choose a specialization as part of the BSc program and here you can either choose HR or OB. This is known as being specialized in Hr or Ob as part of the BSc.

Please understand HR/ OB is partly different from the core psychology. A core psychology is more clinical but HR/ OB is non clinical programs. So you really cant say you have to do BSc Business with HR/ OB because of job prospectus. Psychology is well established and has a good standing in the UK. NHS has many funded projects, placements and PhD studentships in psychology so it is never degrading with job prospectus.

All you need to do now is, genuinely understand and analyse what you want to study: Psychology or Business.
If you choose to do

1. BA/ BSc Psychology, then you can further do
MSc in Psychology/ Occupational psychology/ Organizational psychology / Organizational behaviour / Human resource management.

PhD in Psychology/ Occupational psychology/ Organizational psychology/ Organizational behavior/ Human resource management.

2. BSc Business and Management with HR/ OB:
MSc in HR, Business and Management, OB, Organizational psychology.

PhD in HR, Business and Management, OB, Organizational psychology.
(You cannot do a PhD in Psychology in this route)

If you are unsure what you will lead to in future, the best thing is to do BA Psychology now and in future you can stay either in pure psychology side or the applied psychology side like the OB/ HR and stuff.

If you do Business and Management, you can never do a PhD Psychology in future. Hope this helps.

I am really delighted, it was a very comprehensive reply.One that i really needed.Just want to bother you last time.If i choose to do msc in i/o psychology, can i change my field for phd?

Another option can be doing a joint hons in both psychology and business and management in that way both of my reservations can be settled down.

And from my research there is a complete dearth of jobs for psychology undergraduates and even postgraduates?If i pay this much fees as an international student for 6 years and then suddenly realise it was not worth it, i will be really upset.And also for me most of phd.s might not be funded?Actually what i am worried about is tuition fees after undergraduate which are enormous and i cant keep on working as a part timer to collect each penny to drop into university's fund?I am just thinking about such questions.And what guarantees my stay for so long in uk, circumstances may force me backward to my home country,where pure psychology is just usually in teaching field?What will you say?
I think again you deserve a lot of appreciation as am getting on your head.

Yes you may very well look for unis that offer both Psychology and Management, but I think there might be very few who offers this combination. You need to research on this going on every uni website that you like to apply.

If you do I/O Psychology in your MSc then you should do a PhD in the similar lines, meaning you should read the PhD in I/O Psychology or Organizational behavior only.

Psychology has enormous funding available in the UK and as I mentioned earlier there are many funded projects or PhD studentships by the NHS itself.

The best strategy would be to do a BSc Psychology or BSc Psychology with management as you desire. You may then do a O/I Psychology in your MSc and then end up with the PhD.

If you are going to do a PhD, then you don't have to worry about jobs post UG. Coz straight after your UG, you do your PG and then the PhD. But make sure you maintain a First class honors preferably a Distinction in your ug and pg, if you need funding for your PhD.

If you desire PhD with full funding, as an international student you can always achieve this only by three strategies.
1. Strong academic record preferably with Distinction grades in both ug and pg.
2. If possible have one paper published at your MSc level or have two papers presented at international conferences.
3. A strong and compelling research proposal.

If you can meet the above three you can easily find a funded PhD place in any top uni. Hope this helps.

Yes, I am doing the PhD Organizational behavior now and finding your inquiry close to my subject, I was glad in replying you.

You can take a BA/ BSc whatever the uni offers. You can indeed consider the combination psychology and management but I doubt if there are any good number of universities offering this combo. Like I said a BA/ BSc never matters but getting a First class honors with distinction is required to get a funded PhD place.

BA's are usually three year course and sometimes it may differ depending on the uni. You need to check the uni and their program structure for more details. To my knowledge I know most of the BSc Psychology are of three years where as BSc Business and management are either three or four years (again depending on the institution).

Very helpful Amirra!As my relative is willing to give me an accommodation in glasgow,i will be studying there.I mailed the three universities in glasgow to find whether they offer a joint honors in either business and psychology or management and psychology.If someone of them do so, then i will further ask whether its a ba or bsc honors.Well what do you think a personal statement should include i read a couple on student room but again a human and practical advice is something more helpful.I hope i wont disturb you more, keeping in mind the enormous load of your studies already eating up your energy.Thanks!

No problem. My pleasure. Rather emailing, you could yourself visit the uni's website to check the courses and joint honors details. If you are considering Scotland, then I would advice only to consider Glasgow, Strathclyde, Edinburgh and St Andrews as these four are world leading research unis and the best ranking from Scotland. I wouldn't personally appreciate applying to other set of unis in Scotland. You will realize later why studying in a reputed and high ranked uni is rewarding. So try your luck with the Uni of Glasgow and Strathclyde as it is in Glasgow. In case you cant do a core psychology course and are going to do a BSc Business and management, blindly go ahead with Strathclyde, Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews in order. Strathclyde business school leads Business school ranking in Scotland and one of the bests in the UK too. However to understand the overall uni rankings and subject rankings much better visit QS World rankings website.

Personal statement: I would say it needs to be typed on a MS Word and not more than two pages. It should explain the following:
1. Who you are and your edu background so far
2. Explain since when you had developed interest in this subject
3. Why this course?
4. Why this uni?
5. Why studying in the UK is essential for you?
6. What are your career ambitions?
7. How this course will help you achieve your career ambitions?
8. What skills you will bring to the uni? (Your extra curricular activities)
9. How will you make use of the uni's facilities to develop yourself?

Try to cover the above points as all these makes a very strong personal statement. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Hey thank you so much. I've always helped people with queries. Yours is one such rare appreciation. I am delighted. Many thanks. Hope my perspectives will serve you to the best. May God bless you with your applications. Good luck with everything.


A Mirra

You can take up the Strathclyde course. You dont have to be worried about the BPS because it values only when you are planning to enter core psychology BSc programs and later study professional programs in psychology.
However as you are planning to do business honors with Psychology, this is never an issue. The key to win a PhD is
1. Get a first class distinction from a top ranked uni
2. Again a distinction in your MSc from a top ranked uni
3. If possible publish one paper during your MSc in a leading international journal
4. If possible present one or two papers at a conference
5. Write a strong and convincing research proposal

Only these matters for getting a funded PhD place and nothing else. For now, keep these unis in option in the following order.
If applying for Psychology with minor in Business and management:
Edinburgh
Glasgow
St Andrews
Strathclyde

If applying for business and management with psychology as minors
Strathclyde
Edinburgh
Glasgow
St Andrews
I wont appreciate applying to any other unis in Scotland other than the four mentioned above.

I understand you have facilities with accommodation in Scotland but why don't you stretch for a uni outside Scotland. You could apply to other top unis like Bristol, Nottingham, UCL, Warwick, KCL, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield. You could probably select the fifth choice from the list above.

I think you can move in your ug from one uni to another so its always possible to get transferred. Regarding the distance between Edinburgh and Glasgow, its almost one hour on train. So its practically not possible to travel everyday from Glasgow to Edinburgh.

If you really want to stay only within Glasgow, Uni of Glasgow and Strathclyde are the only two options you will have in hand. Hope this helps.

1. Strathclyde business school is one of the leading business schools in the UK and Europe. Its on the top 10 in the UK and top 50 in Europe. If you choose a degree like BSc Business with psychology, then it means Business is your major subject and psychology the minors. In this case it will be either 50-50 or 60-40 of each subject ratio. If you choose Psychology with business then Psychology is your major, in that case choosing Glasgow is good.
Glasgow uni has reputation for overall ranking whereas Strathclyde is highly ranked for the business school alone. If your major is business then blindly go ahead with Strath. HRM and psychology honors is a wise choice at Strath.

2. HRM can be done irrelevant to your ug degree. A psychology degree is usually not essential for doing HRM. I have plenty of friends who did their BA Music, Arts, History and then did an MSc in HRM.

3. Joint honors is usually 50-50 though some unis will make it a 60-40 or 70-30 ratio. You should actually write to the school inquiring on the subject ratio. You can visit the school on open days and talk to the professors and admission officers to get more info on their subject and ratios.

4. Yes, you need to complete a sem or two to be able to get transferred. You carry over your completed credits to the new uni.

Sorry you have misunderstood. A ratio of 50/50 says you will study both subjects in equal proportion. A ratio of 60-40 or 70-30 says you will study one subject all three years and the second subject (minors) will be done only from second or third year.

Yes ask the uni to understand their syllabus ratio or read the sub contents on their websites.