University choices!! HELP

Hmmm, when you get to university perhaps you could study what psychological condition makes people litter their writing with CAPITALS, bold text and even BOLD CAPITAL TEXT!

Hi im Freya and im in my 1st year of sixth form, I study Psychology, Biology, English Literature and Religious Studies. In my first set of exams ( January 2013) i achieved:
Religious Studies: A
Psychology: B (2 MARKS OFF AN A)
Biology: B
I am currently on an A in my English literature coursework.

I don't know about you guys but university searching/shopping is an exciting prospect for me. I want to study Psychology and my current 2 top choices are University of Leeds and University of Sussex.
University of Leeds : Psychology
University of Sussex : Psychology with American Studies
They both have pros and cons:
I have never been to any of these areas as i live in London, more specifically Essex, but i WILL visit them during open days. I don't necessarily consider distance has a problem.
I have been told by many people that Leeds is a lovely city and the student union is AMAZING as well as the nightlife. These factors would help me settle in nicely. Sussex student union isnt as great but iv heard the nightlife is quite good.Then again, by comparing the two universities for their Psychology Courses, Sussex has amazing feedback from the STUDENTS and obviously the main factor is enjoying the course.Sussex is the only university that interested me with PSYCHOLOGY WITH AMERICAN STUDIES.. as i enjoy essays and would enjoy reading about American history, literature and culture etc (The year abroad is just a bonus)
I enjoy the fact Psychology is a science and american studies is just the cherry on top.

GUYS I NEED HELP!! IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT 'PSYCHOLOGY WITH AMERICAN STUDIES' OR JUST 'AMERICAN STUDIES' AND 'PSYCHOLOGY' IN GENERAL PLEASE MESSAGE ME!!
p.s ANY information about Leeds and Sussex/Brighton as an area would be nice and even more perfect about inside information about the Universities. I am open to all opinions and suggestions.

Perhaps when you ditch that immature attitude and educate yourself on ignorance maybe you can realise that your the one that is probably psychologically suffering from low self-esteem and the only way you gain some form of confidence and entertainment is by sitting alone behind a computer and writing sad comments like this.
Have a nice day

I dont know a huge amount about the two courses in much depth as i didnt apply to either but did consider it - im going to be doing psych at a different uni in October. I have stayed with a friend in leeds and went to a psych lecture there which was sooo good - they content was soo interesting and the lecturer seemed really engaged. Ofc this is just one tiny part of what you would experince, but from who i spoke to etc they spoke reallyyyy enthusiastically. The 3rd year modules seem reallyyyy good

As for a city Leeds is VERY clubby, bars everywhere, the SU was awesome and the city has a really nice vibe! People do seem to go alot, whihc may or may not suit you, but they also seem to work really hard The facilities are great and the psych department seemed really good and apparently they do give you alot of help if needed. There are equally lots of nice green parks etc and york is just 20 mins on the train away

If you plan to have a career in psych, Im not sure what the perception of future employers would be about psych and american studies....i really doet know but Ive always been under the impression thata straight psych degree is best unless you want to join it with neuroscience or something...

Brighton as a place is really vibrant, the sea may be a selling point but remember you will be at home during the majority of summer so probably wont use it as much as you might think....the psych department i meant to be highly regarded but ive not visited the uni so i cant say much....although Ive heard its not that pretty if thats an important aspect to you Also bare in mind Sussex is a campus uni.

Best of Luck deciding !! Where else are you considering applying to ?

Well that's told me, good and proper!!!

The more pertinent side of my point (which was made with a big smiley!) was that if you write in that way, people will take you less seriously than if you write normally and lay out your text in an easy-to-understand format.

Well i'll take what you said into consideration. I am new to this and i guess i just excited and carried away by the prospect of my future at university What made it rude was that you had the audacity to comment negative (as you call constructive) criticism on my thread but didn't even contribute anything to the thread title and help..which made you 'helping me out' as just deemed irrelevant and unnecessary. Hope you understand my point.
Thank you

Yes, I can detect the excitement running through all your posts now

All the unis you are looking at would be fine choices for Psychology. I think the idea of a fashion journalist with a background in psychology is very interesting, btw.

I definitely want to do further study after my undergrad degree in psychology. I am interested in Educational, Occupational and Clinical psychology but this choice will be made clearer through age and studying at university (currently my idea is Educational). The fact you said Psychology with American studies would lower my chance has scared me. I love the idea of American studies as i have ALWAYS considered a career in Journalism ( specifically Fashion Journalism) and me personally i change my mind a lot. So by having an accredited BPS degree and a minor in american studies i felt it only strengthen my job prospect and my personal character. I also have future plans of moving to america and becoming a psychologist in the states. Has that made you understand my reasons or do you still think it weakens my future job prospects?(i appreciate your open deeply)!!

I think i would love either university its just the courses and student life and enjoyable experience which is the deciding factor for me. Leeds also offers a year abroad to America.

I am looking into Sheffield, Nottingham, Exeter, Bath..i thought Bristol but i don't think the student life is especially for me.
(sorry for the long reply..this just a hard decision haha)

Umm I get where you are coming from and if your reallyyyy stuck between Fashion Journalism and Applied Psychology Careers then i understand why you would like that option. I doubt it would give you a disadvantage as for those types of postgraduate degrees they would be FAR more interested in your research experience/assistant psych jobs which you would do between your undergrad and applying for postgraduate educational/clinical courses. Equally its best to pick the degree that you think you would get the best mark in...and enjoy the most as you will do better (hopefully). Doing a straight psych degree would still certainly open up journalism to you as a future career path!! If i was giving a perosnal opinion I would say the leeds course with year abroad would be more appealing to a employer for psychology (specifically for assistant psych roles- which you would need to apply for to get experince before the doctorate courses) than the Psych and American Stud. with year abroad.... However again what you enjoy should be a big factor! Make sure you visit the places as well as you really do need to get a vibe of what it would be like - it make look great in the prospectus but not in real life....

I have applied to Bath, Exeter and Bristol. Bath I have to say would be the place to go if your keen for clinical and or applied courses as their placement year (possibility of going abroad e.g.. there is a competitive placement to Harvard). The course allows you take options along side psych eg. sociology, education, neuroscience, biology, sport science.... The placement year would give you research experience that you can draw on when applying for docoral positions. They always perform highly and have a great overall department!
Campus uni - quite small, not in the city but a bus ride away. very modern. Night life is okay, but for bigger nights bristol is where its going on

Exeter equally offers a really varied course and especially brilliant for clinical as they have a new mood disorders centre just built funded by the welcome trust. You can apply for an applied course which focuses on clinical psych but the methodology/training would equally be looked upon favourably for any future applications to occupational/educational psych! They offer sucha varied course and there is opportunity to take modules from other departments too! although they dont offer a year abroad but if you take psych as part of a combined degree it might be possible. Make sure its still BPS accredited though!

Bristol is reallyyy excellent also, but is veryyy focused on the experimental side of psychology and its taught as a strand of biology. They have very few optional modules in y3 as opposed to most uni's, so if your into the theoretical side of psych and psychiatry and cognitive psych its great! Bruce Hood lectures there which is pretty cool !! What do you mean about the student life? Its much the same as leeds, people go out a fair amount but work hard, its a precinct uni so most halls are clubbed together in clifton area or at stoke bishop a 5 min free bus ride away.

I didnt apply to Sheffield, or Nottingham but they are great courses from what I have heard

see i knew you weren't truly evil haha! Do you think doing psychology with american studies would hinder me or strengthen me by making me stand out? Are you in university? Where and what do you study?

Yes i definitely need to visit these universities to get a clearer understanding of my choices. Leeds does look amazing but the course on unistats doesn't compare to psychology at Sussex. Students rated it astoundingly more satisfactory than Leeds and a combination with american studies increased the job opportunities and starting salary...If i start now and get a lot of work experience in maybe that will weigh up the fact its not a STRAIGHT psychology degree at Sussex. I do prefer the SU and student life from videos ive seen of Leeds...when i visit the campuses hopefully i will get that magical gut feeling of 'The One'

Whether taking a minor in American Studies would be an advantage or disadvantage is not a question that can be answered definitively yet. You will clearly go through less teaching of Psychology, which could hinder you in getting onto further courses or working in the profession.

However, looking at the course on the Sussex pages it's clear that most of your American Studies comes through the third year, which is spent in the US. Importantly, it appears that your final year is just Psychology - and means that you aren't hindered in specialising in particular areas. The course is accredited by the BPS, so there is no problem there.

On balance, therefore, it could well make you a more attractive proposition - not least because the extra year abroad will give you experiences that other graduates will not have. (Of course, you will also have a larger student debt!)

No, I'm not a student now. My undergraduate degree was in History. The reason I know a little about Psychology courses is that I've been helping the daughters of two friends - one is applying for entry this year, one next. Neither friend went to university so I've been involved in a small way in their research.