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Want to Change Courses - Please Advise

I'm a first year and I'm desperate to change courses. I asked a few weeks into the course if I could but the course was full so I decided to just try and stick with it. Now I'm feeling incredibly unmotivated and I'm falling behind. The method of assessment (essays) and subject matter don't agree with me so it's just a recipe of disaster.

My university allows us to pick subjects outside of our chosen course so this term I'm doing one module from the course I wish to transfer to (Biology) and I'm really enjoying it and doing quite well in all of my assessments (92% average). I feel like I've made such a mistake with my course choice and I don't know what to do.

I would love to drop out ready to start Biology next September but I don't know if my university will accept me and I don't really want to go through the UCAS process again (but obviously if I have to, I will). I also can't afford to pay back my maintenance loans, maintenance grants, tuition fees and bursaries just yet.

I don't mind staying on for the year in Psychology in order to transfer to Biology next year but I'm worried that poor academic performance will negate my chances of being accepted into bio.

Does anyone have any advice please? :frown: I'm getting veryyyy stressed thinking about all the reading and exam prep for the summer I need to be doing.
Have you spoken to anyone at the university who would be able to help you with this, like whoever's in charge of Psychology or Biology, or whoever else can manage that kind of stuff? That's a little ambiguous, sorry, but I'm sure you can do that research yourself; it depends on the university and varies from place to place.

If you keep going with the year and pass it then the university may let you restart on Biology as first year, provided your previous qualifications are sufficient (A-Levels etc.) and the course isn't oversubscribed by new people - you may have to go through UCAS again, but at least you'll be familiar to the process now.
It's unlikely that you'll be able to switch course this far into the year, but that might depend on how modules in the course you wish to switch to are assessed and you might not have missed anything vital. Needless to say, you'll still have missed out about 25% of the content of the 1st year and would have to catch up (and miss sleep for about a week of constant studying) or accept a lower grade if you were able to switch (not so important for 1st year, but there are reasons you might want to do well - placements, employment and so on).

It's not as if people haven't completely failed a year (we're talking <5% here) and still managed to retake the year (sometimes in a different subject), and if you're averaging 92% like that and can continue to do so then that's a good thing.

So yeah, talk to someone important. Don't suffer a year in the hope that you'll be able to do something better next year.
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blossomx
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Original post by EpsilonSigma
Have you spoken to anyone at the university who would be able to help you with this, like whoever's in charge of Psychology or Biology, or whoever else can manage that kind of stuff? That's a little ambiguous, sorry, but I'm sure you can do that research yourself; it depends on the university and varies from place to place.

If you keep going with the year and pass it then the university may let you restart on Biology as first year, provided your previous qualifications are sufficient (A-Levels etc.) and the course isn't oversubscribed by new people - you may have to go through UCAS again, but at least you'll be familiar to the process now.
It's unlikely that you'll be able to switch course this far into the year, but that might depend on how modules in the course you wish to switch to are assessed and you might not have missed anything vital. Needless to say, you'll still have missed out about 25% of the content of the 1st year and would have to catch up (and miss sleep for about a week of constant studying) or accept a lower grade if you were able to switch (not so important for 1st year, but there are reasons you might want to do well - placements, employment and so on).

It's not as if people haven't completely failed a year (we're talking <5% here) and still managed to retake the year (sometimes in a different subject), and if you're averaging 92% like that and can continue to do so then that's a good thing.

So yeah, talk to someone important. Don't suffer a year in the hope that you'll be able to do something better next year.


Thank you. I have emailed undergraduate admissions and an online help desk but I'll try contacting the biology department directly.


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