For UCL applicants

markfung

Hey everyone, I just got a small problem!

I;ve applied to UCL for psychology and Ive been invited for an interview and I got this questionnaire to fill in.

Question 4 : Are there any other subjects which you seriously considered studying at university? if so, which subject were these and why did you decide in favour of psychology?

Ive also applied to dentistry and they know I have because in my UCAS applicaition, my personal statement was about dentistry.

The thing is i have applied for 3 dentistry and 3 psychology and if i get a place for dentistry, i am going to accept that offer over an offer for psycho.

So please, can someone help me answer this question?
Thanks in advance.

When I filled the questionnaire in I didn't wanna just say "I hadn't considered any other subject seriously", so decided it would be best to lie. I just made up a bull story about English Language cause of my solid grasp of continuous prose and enjoyment of creative writing - or something like that but with a bit more of a modest undertone lol.

Just make yourself up a good tale of woe and stick that in. To be honest, my interviewer didn't ask me about anything off that sheet (though I know others did).

Reply 3

Just be honest and say that you wanted to do dentistry. They will ask you about it since it will be what your personal statement is predominantly about. However they obvioulsy wouldn't have a problem with it otherwise they wouldn't have invited you for an interview.

Just put why you applied for dentistry and also why you considered psychology as an alternative option. As long as you can demonstarte you have a good understanding of what a pscyhology degree entails and that you are genuinely interested in it then you should be fine. Althought it would probably be a good idea to play it safe and act as though your are undecided about whether you want to do psychology or dentistry.

Reply 4

hey guys, just discovered this place. in the process of stressing about my interview. still haven't sent back that questionnaire. was just wondering what kinda things people have written. im being really silly about it and overanalysing. also, does anyone else have their interview on feb 28th?

Reply 5

*Jewels*

hey guys, just discovered this place. in the process of stressing about my interview. still haven't sent back that questionnaire. was just wondering what kinda things people have written. im being really silly about it and overanalysing. also, does anyone else have their interview on feb 28th?

If you look in the psychology offers thread you'll see a couple of other people have their interviews on the same day as you.

As for the questionnaire don't worry about it. I spent forever on mine and in the interview they only asked me one question related to what I had put in the questionnaire. As long as you put the truth you'll be fine. :smile:

Reply 6

vanillawick

How many books ahve you put in the psychology section?! Also what time did you have to be there and what time could you leave? Cheers!xxx

Reply 7

vanillawick

How many books ahve you put in the psychology section?! Also what time did you have to be there and what time could you leave? Cheers!xxx

I think I put down 5 or 6, which in my opinion is quite a respectable number for an A-level student. I think two of the books were A-level textbooks (no law that says you can't put them), two were on Counselling and Counselling Psychology which I'd read, then I bought a really slim text from Waterstones to bump up my list and quickly read it before the interview. I don't think they're that bothered though to be honest, I wasn't asked anything about my books.

As for the time to be there, that depends what your letter says. The January interview was at 12:30, but it didn't start til like 12:40 really, so as long as you get there on time you should be fine.

Time to leave depends on your grouping, though the interview letter said 4:30. When you arrive you're placed into either Group A or B. You all have the same introduction, but then Group A are interviewed whilst B partakes in an experiment, and then vice versa. So in B, you have to stay til like 2:30 before your set of interviews begin, but then if your interview was the first one, as soon as you're done you can leave, so you could leave by like 2:50, whereas if you're the last to be seen you'll have to wait for a good while.

Piece of advise though - if you're in Group A, I'd strongly suggest slipping out and not going to the experiment. They don't tick off names or anything like that, and would no way notice your absence. The experiment was just pretty boring, and I felt I'd rather have had the extra time to go round London considering how far I'd travelled just to go for a ten minute interview. Not that I didn't really like how the course looks, just that after the experiment, I had to go straight back to Euston and head home.

Reply 8

vanillawick

How many books ahve you put in the psychology section?! Also what time did you have to be there and what time could you leave? Cheers!xxx

i put 4 psychology books down which i think is a fairly decent amount. how about you? i found the question about what first made you become interested in psychology the hardest one to answer for some reason. what did you say for that?
have you recieved a letter from them yet?? sorry sooo many questions!

Reply 9

nickb123

I think I put down 5 or 6, which in my opinion is quite a respectable number for an A-level student. I think two of the books were A-level textbooks (no law that says you can't put them), two were on Counselling and Counselling Psychology which I'd read, then I bought a really slim text from Waterstones to bump up my list and quickly read it before the interview. I don't think they're that bothered though to be honest, I wasn't asked anything about my books.

As for the time to be there, that depends what your letter says. The January interview was at 12:30, but it didn't start til like 12:40 really, so as long as you get there on time you should be fine.

Time to leave depends on your grouping, though the interview letter said 4:30. When you arrive you're placed into either Group A or B. You all have the same introduction, but then Group A are interviewed whilst B partakes in an experiment, and then vice versa. So in B, you have to stay til like 2:30 before your set of interviews begin, but then if your interview was the first one, as soon as you're done you can leave, so you could leave by like 2:50, whereas if you're the last to be seen you'll have to wait for a good while.

Piece of advise though - if you're in Group A, I'd strongly suggest slipping out and not going to the experiment. They don't tick off names or anything like that, and would no way notice your absence. The experiment was just pretty boring, and I felt I'd rather have had the extra time to go round London considering how far I'd travelled just to go for a ten minute interview. Not that I didn't really like how the course looks, just that after the experiment, I had to go straight back to Euston and head home.

nick, if you weren't asked about your books, then what did they ask you about? i was sort of expecting most of the interview to be about what you'd read?

Reply 10

vanillawick

I don't know how many books I'll put down, I've got a fair stack off of friends and teacher! I haven't had a letter and am a bit worried as I'm going to the states on Wednesday and get back like 2 days before the interview (28th feb). If someone gets a letter could they please, please, please post the details so I can book a train whilst I'm away? Cheers!!!!!

Reply 11

*Jewels*

nick, if you weren't asked about your books, then what did they ask you about? i was sort of expecting most of the interview to be about what you'd read?

My interviewer was MUCH more interested in what I knew about the course, and was it suitable for what I wanted to do (i.e. Counselling Psych after BSc). He also wanted to know a lot about whether I could cope living in London - like he said its a beautiful city but can also be quite dangerous, and basically could I handle that urban environment etc.

I think its more is UCL right for you than are you right for UCL.

Reply 12

your interview sounds pretty chilled. actually they all do. i hope mine is like that, although i foolishly put down that im interested in neuropsychology so i bet theyre going to give me a hard time! hah. anyway, i have my suspisions they may be a little tougher on the feb group cos i think the jan interviews were for the people they were most sure about. anyway good luckk! let us know how you do!

Reply 13

*Jewels*

your interview sounds pretty chilled. actually they all do. i hope mine is like that, although i foolishly put down that im interested in neuropsychology so i bet theyre going to give me a hard time! hah. anyway, i have my suspisions they may be a little tougher on the feb group cos i think the jan interviews were for the people they were most sure about. anyway good luckk! let us know how you do!

Lol I hope you're correct about the Jan/Feb thing mate....

Definitely do not worry, the interviews are very relaxed and positive. Might wanna brush up of neuropsychology to impress, cause they have a fantastic department in that field, so will probably push your interest in that.

Reply 14

*Jewels*

your interview sounds pretty chilled. actually they all do. i hope mine is like that, although i foolishly put down that im interested in neuropsychology so i bet theyre going to give me a hard time! hah. anyway, i have my suspisions they may be a little tougher on the feb group cos i think the jan interviews were for the people they were most sure about. anyway good luckk! let us know how you do!

I got the impression that they invited people to interviews based on when they applied. When I went, there were ALOT of people who had also applied to Oxbridge and therefore applied early. A few people I spoke to applied early too but didn't apply to Oxbridge....including me. Therefore i don't think they were more sure about our group, they'll probably treat your group equally.

Reply 15

eviloldhag

*Jewels*

your interview sounds pretty chilled. actually they all do. i hope mine is like that, although i foolishly put down that im interested in neuropsychology so i bet theyre going to give me a hard time! hah. anyway, i have my suspisions they may be a little tougher on the feb group cos i think the jan interviews were for the people they were most sure about. anyway good luckk! let us know how you do!

Oh i hope that isn't true...if it is I voluntarily made my interview more difficult by rescheduling! On lolly-88's theory about when you applied, there was a few people i met on my Oxford interview who hadn't heard from UCL at all, and they'd all applied early.

Reply 16

eviloldhag

Oh i hope that isn't true...if it is I voluntarily made my interview more difficult by rescheduling! On lolly-88's theory about when you applied, there was a few people i met on my Oxford interview who hadn't heard from UCL at all, and they'd all applied early.

Well I could be wrong...it was just a speculation. However if they did do it based on when they recieved applications i'm sure they couldn't have invited every one who applied early to the January interview....there would have been way too many people. :s-smilie:

It could just be randomly allocated...although I do find it odd how there were a lot of early applicants there. Either way I don't agree that they were more sure about the January lot.

Reply 17

eviloldhag

For the people who had interviews in January, how did you find out the details of your interview and when? Mines in a week, and I haven't heard anything about it...

Reply 18