Applying for Law or Psychology?

I'm currently a Year 12 student studying politics, philosophy and psychology at A level. I'm having difficulty in deciding what degree I want to choose between psychology and law.

On one hand psychology is familiar to me. I love the content of the course at A level, and while I find the workload intense, I think that once I study it at degree level, it may be easier for me to manage as I wont have two other subjects to worry about on top of that. I've looked at many universities for the course and have done my research on the modules, types of degrees, accreditations and career paths. If I were to study psychology and go into a career in psychology, I would want to be a clinical psychologist, which I'm aware is a lengthy process. I already have the best route for myself planned in order to try and get onto the DClinPsy, but I know this could take anywhere between 7-12 years for me to achieve after finishing my A levels. I know that a career in mental health would be incredibly rewarding for me and I have several other career options in case I change my mind or this route doesn't work out. My only worry with psychology is that getting a job in mental health is heavily reliant on experience. I have done work experience in general surgery, as this was the only clinical setting I've been able to get experience in, and I'm going to do another placement there later this year, as well as trying to get a placement in a specialist hospital for another department. While these aren't directly relevant to psychology, I'm hoping that if I tailor my CV and applications well, I can make them relevant.

Then there's law. I know that there are lots of different routes to becoming a lawyer and that's why I'm about 80% sure that I want to do psychology, but that 20% is still hooked on law. I like the degree - not all of it, but a good chunk of it. I've researched different paths to take to becoming a lawyer and I know that I can do a conversion degree later on, but I think my main concern with that is around the costs. If I were to do a psychology degree it would be an integrated masters course, which means I wouldn't be eligible for a masters loan and I'd have to fund the degree myself. As well as that, securing a training contract would be a lot easier if I were able to network with people at undergraduate level, and top firms prefer people with law degrees since they will have spent longer learning the theory side of things. I also may have an opportunity in law with a law firm for work experience and mentoring, which seems like too good of an offer to pass up, which is why I've chosen not to so far. It's not confirmed and I may not get it, but if I were to, it would up a world of opportunities for me. I think my problem is that there is so much overlap in law and psychology that I'll see modules from both degrees and wonder about things from the other's perspective (e.g. how forensic psychology is used in court, the psychological effects of negligence on claimants).

I'm honestly really confused. The last post I made on here was about my chances at a Russell Group for psychology and a lot of people were warning me about GCSE requirements. I know that at all the universities I've looked at for law, I 100% meet their entry requirements at GCSE, but I know law is incredibly competitive. If anyone has had this debate as well or studies law or psychology and can weigh in on this I'd be really grateful!

Have you attended any open days and listened to the subject talks for both courses?

I’m planning to attend open days in June for all the universities I want to apply for psychology in. I haven’t listened to any official talks but I did have a long discussion with the law teacher at my school about studying law and becoming a lawyer. For psychology I was hoping to attend some talks at UCL in January but they were all at times I was in school or busy. Do you know anywhere that does online lectures or talks?

I'm currently a Year 12 student studying politics, philosophy and psychology at A level. I'm having difficulty in deciding what degree I want to choose between psychology and law.

On one hand psychology is familiar to me. I love the content of the course at A level, and while I find the workload intense, I think that once I study it at degree level, it may be easier for me to manage as I wont have two other subjects to worry about on top of that. I've looked at many universities for the course and have done my research on the modules, types of degrees, accreditations and career paths. If I were to study psychology and go into a career in psychology, I would want to be a clinical psychologist, which I'm aware is a lengthy process. I already have the best route for myself planned in order to try and get onto the DClinPsy, but I know this could take anywhere between 7-12 years for me to achieve after finishing my A levels. I know that a career in mental health would be incredibly rewarding for me and I have several other career options in case I change my mind or this route doesn't work out. My only worry with psychology is that getting a job in mental health is heavily reliant on experience. I have done work experience in general surgery, as this was the only clinical setting I've been able to get experience in, and I'm going to do another placement there later this year, as well as trying to get a placement in a specialist hospital for another department. While these aren't directly relevant to psychology, I'm hoping that if I tailor my CV and applications well, I can make them relevant.

Then there's law. I know that there are lots of different routes to becoming a lawyer and that's why I'm about 80% sure that I want to do psychology, but that 20% is still hooked on law. I like the degree - not all of it, but a good chunk of it. I've researched different paths to take to becoming a lawyer and I know that I can do a conversion degree later on, but I think my main concern with that is around the costs. If I were to do a psychology degree it would be an integrated masters course, which means I wouldn't be eligible for a masters loan and I'd have to fund the degree myself. As well as that, securing a training contract would be a lot easier if I were able to network with people at undergraduate level, and top firms prefer people with law degrees since they will have spent longer learning the theory side of things. I also may have an opportunity in law with a law firm for work experience and mentoring, which seems like too good of an offer to pass up, which is why I've chosen not to so far. It's not confirmed and I may not get it, but if I were to, it would up a world of opportunities for me. I think my problem is that there is so much overlap in law and psychology that I'll see modules from both degrees and wonder about things from the other's perspective (e.g. how forensic psychology is used in court, the psychological effects of negligence on claimants).

I'm honestly really confused. The last post I made on here was about my chances at a Russell Group for psychology and a lot of people were warning me about GCSE requirements. I know that at all the universities I've looked at for law, I 100% meet their entry requirements at GCSE, but I know law is incredibly competitive. If anyone has had this debate as well or studies law or psychology and can weigh in on this I'd be really grateful!

Hi there

It is good to hear that you are already starting to consider your University options. Choosing a degree can be quite difficult as it is an important decision to make.
I am a current final law student at Kent, hopefully I can provide some insights on what it is like to study law: Students choose law for many different reasons, some because the course interests them, some interested in becoming lawyers which is a good career, law can also be quite a rewarding job depending on the area of practice you enter into.

Studying law is quite interesting as it gives you knowledge and insights into different legal areas, so an undergraduate degree can be quite helpful in deciding which area you may be interested in. I think the study of law and practice are quite different. Although we have the legal knowledge, it is quite different to applying it in a work environment. I would not say that a conversion course would make your CV any less competitive, as employability depends on many factors including work experiences etc. (Firms I think tend to look at your profile as a whole).

It seems like you are more interested in a solicitor path were you to go down the legal route? Have you perhaps had a look into the SQE path of qualifying? Under this route, it is not necessary to have a training contract to become a solicitor, I would recommend conducting some research into this if you find it useful. At this stage, since you are in year 12, deciding to pursue a legal career is not too late, and you will be in a good position to start looking for legal opportunities.

I would echo the advice above: after conducting some research on the areas and different career paths, attending open days is a really good idea - it will allow you to hear from different students and learn about course structures and content. If you have any specific questions about a law degree, I will be happy to answer them.

I hope this helps.
Chloe
University of Kent Student Rep

Thank you so much for the insight! I’ll do some more research on the SQE route as I didn’t know that training contracts weren’t required for it. My college is starting to put more pressure on us to look at our futures so I’ll do some more research into a law degree and make a decision after going to open days. For now I think I’ll keep my options open by trying to do work experience and extra curricular activities relevant to both subjects (including my EPQ which is going to use research from both fields), so I can use it in my personal statement.

You don't need work experience for law or psychology as they are academic subjects. Supercurriculars count for your personal statement, such as wider reading around your subject and completing MOOCs, etc. Have a look at the suggestions list from Cambridge:

https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/super-curricular_suggestions.pdf