The Student Room Group
University of Sussex
University of Sussex
Brighton

How important is the first term?

Like on the grand scale of things?
Cos i've missed a stupid amount of stuff, and im transferring from psychology with sociology to straight psychology starting as of january.
My mums a lecturer at another uni and she said not to worry.
But i'm worried i'll fail the first term......infact im almost positive i will.
Will i get kicked out?
Apparently your degree balances mainly on your third year and if u screw up then 20% is your second year.
PLEASE HELP ME WITH ADVICE!!!
:frown: bumcheese
Reply 1
At least you've got two and a half terms to sort it out. Work hard, especially in Spring and Summer, and speak to a student advisor (not sure if Psychology will have one, but SOCCUL certainly does) about coping, and speak to your personal tutor about the academic side of things.

the most important bit is recognising that you need to buck up your ideas, this is a good place to start.

You may need to do some resit exams in September if you have done as badly as you think, but that's one to discuss with your tutor. I'd also suggest that you don't assume you've done badly, and just concentrate on getting it right from now on.
University of Sussex
University of Sussex
Brighton
Reply 2
Meatcake
Like on the grand scale of things?
Cos i've missed a stupid amount of stuff, and im transferring from psychology with sociology to straight psychology starting as of january.
My mums a lecturer at another uni and she said not to worry.
But i'm worried i'll fail the first term......infact im almost positive i will.
Will i get kicked out?
Apparently your degree balances mainly on your third year and if u screw up then 20% is your second year.
PLEASE HELP ME WITH ADVICE!!!
:frown: bumcheese


Simple answer: Not very.

Basically, to progress into your second year you'll need to pass (i.e. get 40% or more) 90/120 credits-worth of courses. You'll be allowed to retake any modules you fail first time round just before the start of next year. If you manage that, then you'll get into your second year, and none of your slightly-less-than-perfect results will affect your final degree classification in any way.

Your final classification is based on a 40/60 weighting between your second and third years respectively. The first year doesn't even come into it.

Furthermore, the fact that a "with" degree is 75% the first thing (in your case, Psych), and 25% the second (Sociology for you), means that you've only spent 25% of this term studying Sociology. Assuming you're switching to a BA in Psychology, then you've actually missed nothing, as the two units for the first year that would have replaced Sociology were electives - a choice of approved modules from other subjects, which could have included Sociology.

Bascially, providing you change before January to a BA in Psychology, then the only thing that will change is the name of your degree. Until the second year, BA Psych and BA Psych with Sociology follow remarkably similar paths, and changing should be relatively simple. If you want to change to a BSc, then things are more complicated, although - even so - the only course you'll have missed is 'Animal Behaviour' (which, if I remember correctly, is popularly seen as vaguely useless in the grand scheme of things).

So: Relax. As long as you get moving now, you'll be fine. :biggrin:
Reply 3
I must say that la hell of a lot of people I know doing Psych are in an absolute mess with it too. They don't give us any help and rush through it as if we've already done the first year. Everyone I know are having nightmares with their essays and Research Methods is just a joke really. The amount of people attending the lectures has been decreasing steadily since day one :frown: I don't know whether other Universities are like this but I can't imagine it being any worse.
Reply 4
(which, if I remember correctly, is popularly seen as vaguely useless in the grand scheme of things).


I thought it was an interesting and really well taught course, but there we go :smile:.

Research Methods is just a joke really.


Just wait until the second year. Just you wait and see.

I must say that la hell of a lot of people I know doing Psych are in an absolute mess with it too. They don't give us any help and rush through it as if we've already done the first year.


Uni is very different from school. They don't teach everything; they'll give you and overview, and it's your job to fill in the blanks.

See one of the student mentors if you're struggling.


OP: First year doesn't matter really.
Reply 5
Hey Mipmapped, you know for the Animal Behaviour essay questions, do you by any chance know what the structure of the question 'How do birds know which song to sing' is supposed to be? Is it supposed to be nature VS nuture arguments? It's just most of the evidence supports learning so I don't know if I can do two sides. I would see the mentors but I've been before about graphs and they couldn't really shed much more light on my question than I could myself.

Does Graham Hole still teach Research methods in the 2nd year? Please god no! He's very funny and everything but he just goes ridiculously fast so that it's impossible to take anything in and he just reads out the slides word for word.
Reply 6
Someone rang? What was the neg rep for?

Does Graham Hole still teach Research methods in the 2nd year? Please god no! He's very funny and everything but he just goes ridiculously fast so that it's impossible to take anything in and he just reads out the slides word for word.


No, it's Andy Field. He's amazing, and has won awards for his teaching!

Sorry I didn't reply to your question earlier. Would I be right in guessing that it's a bit late now?
Reply 7
mipmapped
No, it's Andy Field. He's amazing, and has won awards for his teaching! /QUOTE]

Oh that's great to hear we get him in the 2nd year, I've heard so many great comments about him and his book got brilliant reviews didn't it?
I was beginning to think I'd been completely duped by the open day. Hopefully they just give the first year the crap and it changes as you go further into the course?!

No worries about the random bird question! I thought it was a bit of a stab in the dark to ask anyway and I should have made it more conspicuous instead of in the middle of an unrelated thread, but I think I was half asleep at my keybord at the time.

But yeah, I've done it now, thank god :smile: don't think it was very good but it's my first essay so hey, they shouldn't be too harsh, if I pass I'm happy :smile:!

I don't know why, but having to force myself to write 1000s of words about birds, red deers, schizophrenia and aggression all in the space of a couple of weeks has turned me slightly doolally.
Reply 8
I don't know why, but having to force myself to write 1000s of words about birds, red deers, schizophrenia and aggression all in the space of a couple of weeks has turned me slightly doolally.


Hehe. Don't worry, there have been no animals this year!
:smile:

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