Psychology at university – what’s it all about? Ask the experts here

Where can a degree in psychology take you? What are the career options available?
Thank you in advance

Generally, how much of a Psychology degree is science-based?
Also, how are students assessed (coursework, exams, etc.)?

Are there really too many Psychology graduates?

(it sounds facetious but I'm being genuine, I keep hearing that for Psych and Law all the time)

Is psychology undergraduate really completely different to psychology a level?

Ever wondered what makes people tick? Or why we react in certain ways to certain situations? Or even what it means to be alive?

Psychology is about understanding behaviour, in all its forms. It’s a broad subject and psychology courses can vary from uni to uni. It’s understandable that you may have some questions about what a psychology course will involve. So we thought it would be handy if started a thread with a few of our academics from the BSc (Hons) Psychology course team at Nottingham Trent University. They can all help you with choosing the right psychology course; tell you what they enjoy most about teaching the subject and why they are passionate about psychology.

Curious about studying psychology but not sure what your options are or where it could take you career-wise? Post your question below.

Answering your questions will be:

Dr Sally Andrews - BSc (Hons) Psychology course leader originally wanted to be a clinical psychologist. At university, she studied Psychology, and got involved in psychological research alongside her studies in a number of different areas. Sally’s background is in how we identify and learn faces, however she loves Psychology because of its breadth, and is interested in sports psychology, cyberpsychology, and almost any other branch of psychology that people talk about!
In addition to her role as course leader, Sally also teaches on a number of modules on the undergraduate course, including Statistics, Professional Practice in Psychology, Person Perception, and has previously taught and lead on Research Methods and Cognitive Psychology modules.

Rebecca Stack - BSc (Hons) Psychology with Sociology and BSc (Hons) Psychology with Criminology Course Leader. Rebecca originally decided to do a psychology undergraduate degree because she enjoyed studying psychology at A-level and wanted to learn more about mental health. During her degree, Rebecca developed an interest in how psychology could be used to encourage people to take up healthy behaviours (e.g. exercise), stop unhealthy behaviours (e.g. smoking) and deal with the stress of long term illnesses (e.g. adjusting to a diagnosis of cancer). She then spend time working in the NHS, completed a masters health psychology and a PhD to understand patients attitudes towards taking medicines. As well as being a course leader at NTU, Rebecca also teaches health psychology, research methods and psychological wellbeing. She also enjoys teaching tutorials and supervising student’s projects.

Loren Abell - BSc (Hons) Psychology Associate Course Leader. She considered becoming a midwife before taking Psychology at A-level. Loren decided that Psychology was something she wanted to pursue with the aim of becoming a counsellor. Loren then completed a degree in Counselling and Psychology. Whilst doing this degree Loren undertook a research internship and decided, she wanted to pursue a career in research. Loren then completed a PhD looking at how personality influences our behaviour in friendships. Loren now looks at how our childhood shapes our personality, and how this then influences our social relationships, both in childhood and in adulthood.

Angela Young - BSc (Hons) Psychology with Sociology and BSc (Hons) Psychology with Criminology Associate Course Leader. Angie considered a career in Geography and Ecology, before developing a
passion for the investigation of human behaviour. When she was completing an undergraduate degree in Psychology, she developed an interest in the Psychology of everyday behaviour and how we carry out simple tasks that we often don’t even think about. How do we find our car keys in a messy room? What grabs our attention when we move around in the world and why? To what extent are we really processing all the information around us? Angie’s applied research is in driving Psychology; finding out where we look when we drive and using this to figure out how attention is affected by additional tasks, like talking to a passenger or on the phone, and what makes us more or less likely to be involved in a collision. Angie teaches on a number of modules on the BSc Psychology degrees, including Research Methods, Statistics and Tutorials and really enjoys helping students develop their research ideas so that they can find out new things about human thought and behaviour.

Post your question and the academics will be online this week to help you

hi there im actually applying to NTU to study psychology!!


I was just wondering if there's an opportunity for me to specialise in animal psychology because that particularly interests me

also, during the degree, will i be conducting lots of experiments?? Like, a fair few, the occasional one or LOTS?

thank you!

What are the job prospects like for Psychology graduates, particularly for Clinical Psychologist careers or for Psychology teachers? Thanks xx

In your 3 year you'll get the opportunity to select from a range of modules, some of our modules present critical comparisons between human psychology and animal psychology. I think the 3rd year module which may interest you the most is ‘Evolutionary Psychology’.



There are also a range of postgraduate opportunities which will allow you to specialise in animal psychology.



In terms of experiments, the study of psychology uses a range of experimental and non-experimental methods and you will have the opportunity to get hands on experience of a range of research methods - including experiments. I don't know if I'd say "LOTS", but you will get quite a few opportunities to design and run experiments during your course.

I hope this answers your question.

Rebecca

What are the job prospects like for Psychology graduates, particularly for Clinical Psychologist careers or for Psychology teachers? Thanks xx

Hello!

I have a few questions regarding lab practicals as well: will they roughly be weekly during the degree or more/less often? And during Year 1 in particular, will practicals be general biological lab techniques or will they be specific to psychology?
Also is it possible please for you tell me roughly how much maths and/or chemistry is involved in a BSc psychology degree?

Thank you very much!
Megan

Hello!

I have a few questions regarding lab practicals as well: will they roughly be weekly during the degree or more/less often? And during Year 1 in particular, will practicals be general biological lab techniques or will they be specific to psychology?
Also is it possible please for you tell me roughly how much maths and/or chemistry is involved in a BSc psychology degree?

Thank you very much!
Megan

Hello Can anyone tell me which of these 2 universities has a stronger reputation in the Department of Psychology? Essex or Goldsmiths?

Thank you