Psychology Undergraduate Course: My UofG Bad Bad Bad experience.

Long story, short:

-Very bad organized course.
-Very poor tutoring (uninformed Tutors)
-Psychology is very popular course generally. So, UofG is taking advantage of this fact. The university will accept as many as it can and then the majority of psychology students will be kicked out of the course at the end of the second year. The university will then push those kicked out students from psychology to follow one of the option courses as the main course (university will make you an offer at this point) so the university won't lose the money from those students.**** ATTENTION - Call every university before you accept any offer and ask handbook of the course and see if they have any condition in order to proceed to honor years (3rd and 4th).

If you like to take the time to read my story (this was my appeal letter and obviously I got rejected)*** ATTENTION - Always communicate by email, even if you go at their desks, email them after and make them state everything you said in a written form (email).

This is my story:







I chose to study psychology at University of Glasgow because it was ranked best in Scotland and 6^th in UK according to the Complete University Guide 2013. I was looking for Universities at all over Scotland and I ended up applying at three Universities in Edinburgh and one at Glasgow. Every course that I was looking did not have any condition to progression to Honors (at least online). When I took the decision to move to Glasgow I did not know that the University had a very strict condition for the progression into Honors. The condition is that you have to gain a total average of B2 in Psychology at the second year. If you manage to gain a B2 then you are welcome to proceed to third and fourth year of the course. The problem is that of course nobody will inform the student about that unless the student is already studying in Glasgow. Online on the University of Glasgow website there is only this information http://www.gla.ac.uk/undergraduate/degrees/psychology/#/programmestructure “If you meet the requirements for progression to Honours (years 3 and 4) you will take courses in cognition…” this is where I had to make a phone call and ask the university what do they mean by saying “if you meet the requirement...”. Unfortunately, I did not make that phone call because to be honest I believed that the requirements were to pass my exams. Furthermore, I did not put so much effort on the program structure online even though I had the basic idea; for example, in which areas of psychology is the course focusing. Moreover, in Strathclyde University and in Edinburgh University and many other universities in Scotland they do not have a condition like that, at least online.

When I started my first academic year at September 2014 I had to understand how the university system works. First of all, I did not know that I had to do subjects enrollment. I was looking everyday my timetable online but there was nothing scheduled. Around 10^th of September I went to student services to find out when my lectures will begin and they informed me that I had to do myself the subjects enrolment. The university staff redirected me to see a person in a building located at the University’s Gardens who would help me to enroll on my modules. Unfortunately, I do not remember her name but she can be found in the university’s archive as the person who did my enrollment on September 2014. This was the first person with who I discussed which subjects should I choose. Finally, I picked up two subjects from Arts; Celtic civilization and Philosophy.

When I finished with my enrollment I visited my official study advisor for the first academic year, Dr Heather Woods. She was the second advisor with who I discussed my subject choices. I booked an appointment with her because I needed someone to check my timetable and explain me how things work at my course and if she had any advice that could be helpful, I was more than welcome to hear it. We started our meeting by the very basics. She asked me generally about my life, how I ended up in Glasgow and how things are up until now in the city. As we were chatting I told her about my dyslexia and ADHD and she advised me to register to disability services, which was something that I had already scheduled to do. After our meeting, we exchanged couple of emails where I declare to Dr Heather Woods that if I do not do psychology I will quit the university.
In the second semester I asked for an appointment with her again. I just needed to have a chat with her and take any advice she had to offer. This was the second time that I met my second advisor. It was remarkable that she remembered me and she knew exactly my chosen subjects and my grades by heart. Back then my grade average was C1, she knew my profile and she managed to make clear that if I want to proceed to honors I had to increase my grades; I had to gain a total average of B2. I told her that I cope with dyslexia and ADHD, something that she already knew, and unfortunately for a person who copes with study difficulties, studies a course in a foreign language and works 16 hours per week, is very difficult for this person to gain a total average of B2. I promised her that I will give the best of me but I already knew that I will not get an average of B2 no matter how much I was about to try. So I asked her “what if I won’t manage to go to honors, is the university going to kick me out?” She replied that I have the alternative to go to a designated degree (3-year degree, non-honors). I asked her if I can apply to postgraduate courses with this degree and she said yes. Why Dr Heather Woods did not say to me that I have to pick a science subject if I want to be able to do the designated degree?

When I started the second year I dropped philosophy and Celtic civilization (the two subjects that I had chosen) and I picked sociology and Digital Media and Information Studies. At that point I received an email from Stephen Marritt:
“Dear Panagiota-Ira,
I am one of the advisers of studies in the new advising system, and we are checking through curricula just now to make sure people are fully enrolled and what they have enrolled in will allow them to progress to next year if they get the required grades. At the moment the system flags your enrolment up, you've only enrolled for 100 credits this year, and you need 120; and you also need at least 80 of this 120 to be at level 2, and at the moment you only have 60. Normally too, we recommend to Psych students they have an alternate route to honours just in case they don't meet the grade requirements for honours - so we'd normally recommend taking both courses of a subject at level 2 this year. Can we help you with enrolling or course choice at all?
Best wishes
Steve Marritt”.

I emailed him back and I booked an appointment. I went to the university gardens and I did get help from Carol E Smith. This was the third advisor I had a chat about my chosen subjects. We did the enrollment as it should be, I chose again Philosophy and I kept Digital Media and Information Studies. Carol E Smith enrolled me in both semesters of second year at Digital Media and Information Studies even though I needed only one semester. I emailed her back asking her if I need DSIM on the second semester and she replied to me that indeed I do not need to be enrolled in this subject for second semester and she removed it from my timetable.

October 2015 I approached Dr Margaret Martin via email. Margaret Martin according to the course documentation handles entry to honors and she can provide further information if required. So I emailed her asking for a meeting to inform me about my alternatives, if I do not manage to go into honors. She replied to me that a lecture is scheduled to take place on March 2016 but if I would like to see her then she would be available after a week from that moment. I told to myself that the university’s stuff knows better than me when is the proper time to give a lecture about the alternatives that students have if they do not manage to proceed to honors. So I continued my semesters’ assignments and studying (as you might know first semester at University of Glasgow is very short -middle September to early December- so I had to be very careful how I spend my time). If I wanted to be the best, I had to study all the time. So I chose to wait for the scheduled lecture.

After Christmas, late January, I was on campus and I had a chat with a colleague of mine who told me that she did her application to UCAS again in case she wouldn’t manage to proceed into honors so she could transfer herself to another university. I realized that I missed that chance because the deadline was 15^th of January. As I was searching information about my alternatives I came across at the first email that university sent me at the 2^nd of September 2014 (almost two years ago). On this long email there was a part which was saying that:

“All students doing a degree in the College of Arts have to do at least 120 credits from courses taught by Schools in the College of Arts over the course of their first two years of study. This regulation has been in place since the beginning of session 2013-14. Psychology is not a subject actually contained within the College of Arts - it belongs to the College of Science and Engineering - and it uses up 100 credits over years 1 and 2, 40 credits at level 1 and 60 at level 2. So over years 1 and 2, doing the expected 120 credits per session, you need in total:
100 credits Psychology
120 credits of Arts
20 credits in anything, but a Science subject is recommended to allow progress to the general degree Psychological Studies, if you are not accepted for Honours in Psychology, since it is a Science degree, and to enter it you must have done 120 credits of Science over years 1 and 2.”

This email was sent to me on the 2^nd of September 2014, when I did not even know how to do my enrolment. When I came across to that email again, on January 2016, I realized that I haven’t chose anything from science so I will not be eligible for the Psychological Studies (three years course). I immediately approached Margaret Martin. She was the fourth advisor I was meeting until that moment. I emailed her exactly these words:
“ Dear Margaret Martin,

I would like to come and see you whenever you are available.
I think I messed up my studies with the subjects that I have chosen until now.
I think I’m not able to go into general degree psychological studies, I’m not going into honors.
I am super anxious and worried and I need some information about alternatives if I do not go into
honors.

Thank you for your time.
Kind regards,
Ira”

She accepted me at her office and she advised me by saying that I cannot go to the general degree Psychological Studies because I belong to the school of arts, I belong to the School of Arts and I the designated degree (3-year degree, non-honors) belongs to the School of Science. She said to me that I have to focus on my studying and manage to gain a B2 but even if I won’t manage to gain a B2, I still have the opportunity to do appeal year, by appealing when the time will come. I followed her advice and I left. The semester passed away and I did not manage to take the total average of B2 (as I was expected).

I approached her via email and I told her that I had difficulties and I am coping with dyslexia that is why I did not manage to gain the B2 and I was asking to see her. She said if I would like her to do take the main points of that email and do my appeal. I did not have any idea what an appeal is. However, I told her “you could do that, but still I would like to see you if that is alright”. She booked me an appointment and she took the main points of my email and she did my first appeal. By the time I visited her I had already been rejected for my first appeal. I am not aware what she wrote on my appeal. I asked her explain me what is the appeal and if she could advise me for my academic career. She said forget the psychology and accept philosophy offer (I had an offer to do singe honors in philosophy). But how can I forget psychology? I left behind everything, my whole life to follow my dream and she was just telling me to forget psychology? I said no. I applied for psychology why I cannot do the general degree Psychological Studies? Then she searched her screen and she informed me that I am missing 20 credits in science and I cannot transfer to School of Science without these credits. I asked her why we, the students, were not aware of the 20 credits in science this year and she told me “You know the school told me to send the students an email which will say that the students have to pick a science subject in case they do not manage to gain the total average of B2, but I didn’t do it because it would be insulating, it would be like I mean that you have already failed to go into honors! You know what I mean?” Of course I do not have this in a written form I have only all the emails where you cannot see her wonderful, rational point. But how I know that the school of psychology told Dr Margaret Martin that she had to send an email that I never received? At that point she she advised me to see one of the chief advisors in arts, Professor Costas Panayotakis, something that for some reason Ms. Margaret Martin never recommended in the past. I met with him to advise me for my final appeal to the school of Psychology and generally to advise me about my academic career. Professor Panayotakis pointed out several websites about how to appeal against an academic decision and he was insisting that I have to go into philosophy. I made again myself clear that I applied for psychology. He told me what I will present bellow which he also sent it to me via email:

“In the conversation which we had in my Chief Advising office on 23 June I had mentioned to you that in session 2016-2017 you could opt to do a curriculum that would eventually qualify you for a three-year non-Honors designated degree, and that as part of this curriculum you could do 20 credits in Science (for example, 20 credits of Exploring the Cosmos) which, if you pass successfully, would give you the necessary 120 credits of Science courses (currently you have only 100) so as then to apply to transfer to the College of Science and Engineering in session 2017-2018 to complete your studies with a BSc in Psychological Studies. This is the route that I had suggested to you. If you wish to follow this route, then you need to inform my colleagues in writing ([email protected]) that you wish to finish next year with a designated non-Honors degree. Then you will be given an appointment with a Senior Adviser, who will sit down with you and construct a plan of what courses exactly you need to do (including the crucial 20 credits in Science). The good thing about this scenario is that it would give you the opportunity to finish with a three-year designated degree if you wish, but also, if all goes well with your grades, it would allow you not to graduate but apply for transfer to the College of Science and Engineering to complete your undergraduate studies with a BSc. I hope that this has been clear and helpful.”

After my meeting with Professor Panayotakis I did my appeal. The first part of my appeal is presented below:

“There have been several reasons that resulted to my current academic standing. Perhaps the most important one is that I cope with life-long disabilities; Medium – Mild Attention Deficit Hyperactivity, Mild Dyslexia and Time Management Problems. These conditions require special care, accommodations, understanding and help from my educational and occupational environment. According to Professor George Th. Pavlidis (who certifies my study difficulties) the previously mentioned diagnosis leads to the following recommendations:



The University of Glasgow disability service is aware of my study difficulties, as I have enrolled in the disability services since October 2014. Ms. Claire Rattray, my advisor, has kept a record of my diagnoses. However, from the recommendations mentioned above I have met only the two of them; the first and a variation of the third (since I have been given 15 extra minutes for every hour which is 25% present of an hour instead of 18 minutes which is the 30% of an hour). I have asked many times extended deadlines for the submission of my coursework, but Ms. Clair Rattray denied. She instead offered to provide me with a proof reader; Miss Jenny Scott. I accepted the offer, which at the begging sounded ideal, however that did not help me at all, because Miss J. Scott asked to proof-read my coursework six days before each submission deadline. At the end, half of the times I did not manage to be on time on my psychology assignments and for that I received a penalty. My good cause (study difficulties) was not taken into account. Additionally, the extra time given to me, was only for the final examination, while throughout the semester I took quizzes in the labs every fifteen days; these quizzes were the 10% of my total grade. To conclude I believe the University of Glasgow failed to take account of my medical circumstances.”

Of course I have provided all the documentations needed and of course I got rejected. They said to me:


“I am writing to confirm the outcome, under the College’s preliminary disposal procedures, of your appeal against the decision to refuse you to progress to Psychology Honours. The grounds for your appeal are relevant medical or other adverse personal circumstances which for good reason have not previously been presented.

The College Appeals Committee carefully considered the papers submitted to it and resolved to dismiss your appeal. Whilst the Committee was sympathetic to your medical and psychological problems, no good reason was found as to why you had not presented these circumstances earlier within a Good Cause application…”

In other words, university rejected my appeal because I did not present earlier my psychological and health issues. Even though I made clear on the appeal that the reason that I did not present them earlier was the stigma associated with mind and body illnesses. Furthermore, my grounds for appeal were two not one. First of all, it was the failure of my institution to take into account medical or other adverse personal circumstances that I had already provided (study difficulties) and secondly there were relevant medical or other adverse personal circumstances which for good reason have not previously been presented. However, I am thankful that the College Appeals Committee carefully considered the papers submitted by me. It seems to me that there was not carefully consideration at all. I have already regretted that I exposed my inner issues to strangers and if embarrassment of stigma is not a good cause for the committee then fair enough but I cannot do or say anything more. Fair enough is an ironic expression because for me it is not fair at all.

After my appeal rejection, even though I provided so many good causes, I approached Professor Panayotakis for guidance. I was asking him to help me go into three years non honor degree in Psychology. He told me that I cannot do it in the academic year 2016/2017 and he read again the email that he had sent to me, especially that point “…so as then to apply to transfer to the College of Science and Engineering in session 2017-2018 to complete your studies with a BSc in Psychological Studies.”. And I asked why I have to miss a year? On my last chat with Professor Panayotakis he said to me “You did not make clear that you are interested only in psychology, now you made that clear to us.” I said to him that this is the dream of my life and I have made that clear to every advisor I had spoken with and also the university has my personal statement before I even come to Glasgow. He said to me that only the admission saw my personal statement and not the rest of the university’s staff. Bellow you can read the personal statement that I delivered together with my application and the rest documentations needed for my application on UCAS.

“My first encounter with psychology took place during my adolescence. At that time, like many teenagers, I began to discover my inner world, as well as the dynamics which take place in a friendship, a relationship, between family members, between peers, or even amidst the members of a society. Subsequently, an experience drawn from within my close family circle brought about questions concerning both physical and habit-forming psychological dependence. I therefore took an avid interest in the discipline of psychology, and more specifically in the branches of behavioral and social psychology, who prioritize the study of personality types. Hence, I also became interested in the branches of ethology and behaviorism, who focalize on the study of animal behavior, both in natural conditions and laboratory settings.

Having worked in the restoration field for seven years, I have had the opportunity of coming across a multiple range of personality and temperament types. What are the prerequisites and the foundations which, in an entanglement of factors, account for the type of emotional, cognitive or behavioral response of a certain subject? What differentiates a normal response from a pathological one? And what can be considered as the border area between these two concepts? What drives a person’s behavior and acts? How did a subject come to adopt specific response patterns in various situations? It is amazing how all human beings strike one as having been born with the same physiological attributes, but are eventually unique both physiologically and psychologically.

Considering the previous interrogations, with a clear insistence on the notion of personality, I became fervently interested in theatre. Taking part in an amateur theatrical group from 2006 to 2009 was one of my most cherished and most enriching life experiences. It enabled me, through a form of art which demands self-knowledge, a capacity to adapt oneself but also empathy, to discover an important spread of personality traits and qualities. Moreover, with the aim of further investigating the subject with the approach of human and social sciences, I studied Theology at the Aristotelion University in Thessaloniki, Greece, and graduated in 2012. Nevertheless, I consider myself to be more of a historian specialized in the field of religion than a theologist per se.

For the past year, I have explored the discipline of psychology through the study of flagship works and research articles in the branches of clinical, social, abnormal, cognitive, behavioral, and differential psychology, as well as in the field of psychoanalysis. I decided to put forward an application in your university, with the strong belief that your academic program provides its students with the necessary theoretical knowledge, as well as with the required skills, methods and tools, that lead to a bright academic and professional career. “

How if I applied for psychology it is not clear that this is what I want to do?



• I wonder why the website of the Psychology course does not inform clearly the future students about the strict condition of a score average of B2 and it just says in a general basis “If you meet the requirements to proceed?

• I also wonder why my official advisor Professor Heather Woods did not make clear to me about the 20 credits I needed for science? Even though, she knew I was interested in following that course.

• I finally wonder why Dr Margaret Martin when I asked her to enroll me in a science course, on 2nd of February 2016, instead of helping me she misinformed me that I am not able to get into the designated psychology degree (3-year degree, non-honors)?

Was it unfamiliarity with her subject? Was it ignorance? Or was it something else, that I cannot and I do not want to imagine?

The University of Glasgow is inappropriate for students with study difficulties. I only gained embarrassment, not help. Furthermore, the University of Glasgow is unjust; I am not allowed to study what I had applied for. Furthermore, they give me no choice but applying to Psychological Studies (a conversion degree) which costs 7.700 pounds in order to gain the accreditation from British Psychology Society. This makes no point, why I did not chose to anywhere else in UK and graduate a course that I would have applied for, in three years instead of four.

Because of the reasons above, I should institute a process in law against University of Glasgow. However, because I consider myself part of University of Glasgow I will skip this option for the moment. Nevertheless, I have an obligation to protect the future student community by making them know my story. For that reason, I will publicize this bad University of Glasgow experience and will share everywhere online the disappointment that I have up until now.

I hope no other student to go through what I been through. As far as it concerns University of Glasgow, I hope my letter to consider as a feedback for improvement;




Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

It's a shame that you have had such a tough time. I am not a psychology student but have a lot of friends who are.
I remember them discussing in Year 1 after the inductions about the requirements for moving onto honours and the Sciences vs Arts issues.
It is made explicit in Year 1 that this is the case.

With regards to the University's disability service, again at your induction they are scripted to tell you that you should go visit them at your first opportunity to get any disabilities on record. You may not want nor require assistance but to have it on record so that everything is upfront. There is very little that the faculty can do after the fact which is why the information has to be given in advance.

There is a lot of personal identifying information in your post- this is probably not particularly wise. At the very least I would revisit your post and edit out your name.

If you do have problems studying in future, or if you are trying to increase your grades, consider attending one of the sessions run by the Student Learning Service. They are used to dealing with issues that are common for International students and there are specialists for each faculty.

It's a shame that you have had such a tough time. I am not a psychology student but have a lot of friends who are.
I remember them discussing in Year 1 after the inductions about the requirements for moving onto honours and the Sciences vs Arts issues.
It is made explicit in Year 1 that this is the case.

With regards to the University's disability service, again at your induction they are scripted to tell you that you should go visit them at your first opportunity to get any disabilities on record. You may not want nor require assistance but to have it on record so that everything is upfront. There is very little that the faculty can do after the fact which is why the information has to be given in advance.

There is a lot of personal identifying information in your post- this is probably not particularly wise. At the very least I would revisit your post and edit out your name.

If you do have problems studying in future, or if you are trying to increase your grades, consider attending one of the sessions run by the Student Learning Service. They are used to dealing with issues that are common for International students and there are specialists for each faculty.

Holy moly. I know this is an old old post but I couldn't resist.
So the biggest part of this post is the alleged medical issues. Now when you register on UCAS and on my campus you have a disability form to fill in. If you didn't fill it in that's kinda your own fault, sorry. If you don't register these things you can't expect everyone to account to you personally.
In terms of credits, when you choose coYour reply only exemplifies the kind of attitude associated with failure, lack of accountability, lack of honesty, lack of transparency. etc - "not my problem mate, everyone for themselves". The chickens of Rand and Thatcher are coming home to roost.

urses on mycampus/my registration (enrolment page) there is a clear outline of what you have to take. Again, if you didn't figure this out or read these it's your fault
You also applied to apparently a top psychology university and didn't expect them to have requirements for progression? The number of students per year is readily available online and you can see that it decreases from year 1 to 2 to 3 etc. Ye, guess why
I guess all in all take this as a lesson, be a little less entitled and take more responsibility. Stop blaming others and look at how little you did to help yourself