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I am tired of thinking Psychology degree is not challenging me, has it happened you

Yup, i found my psychology degree to be very basic level and just giving you overall ideas of psychology. If you actually want to be challenged and achieve something within psychology then you should continue onto a master and phd as then you'll be doing the specific branch you find interesting and/or challenging
Original post by SonicsLeftNut
Yup, i found my psychology degree to be very basic level and just giving you overall ideas of psychology. If you actually want to be challenged and achieve something within psychology then you should continue onto a master and phd as then you'll be doing the specific branch you find interesting and/or challenging

Psychology is extremely broad. Many people study straight psychology to get an idea of what field they want to go into and then specialise, as it's unlikely you'll know what specific area you want to go into whilst you're dong A-Levels.
This will be highly dependent on the institution you attend, but also your attitude towards how you approach your degree.

In my experience the basic psychology curriculum at undergrad is very broad and built around accessibility and getting everyone to a general level of understanding. I remember the compulsory elements of the degree were probably comparable to A-level with regard to complexity. Stats were trickier, as you had to learn the equations and do them by hand during the written exam, (but I am aware some courses just focus on SPSS which I think underprepares you for postgrad). I can remember people who took the attitude of "do I need this to pass the exam" did relatively well despite not being particularly bright or academic.While it was relatively easy to pass an exam and assigments, it was far harder to publish a paper or dig through advance theories and critiques (which weren't really taught during lectures) and get invovled in the research that was happening around us.

However, for me the real undergrad learning came outside the lecture hall in the small seminar groups, tutorials with the academics, and the study groups we would hold. I was really lucky to have those peers, who were a group of motivated undergrads, PhD students and junior teaching staff, and they really did set the standards about what psychology was about. The small study groups were also where we would tear apart the less empirical and rigourous areas of psychology and learn what to extract and what to take with a pinch of salt.

So to use the OPs example I would:

1) Exposed to the basics of Freud's idea in the lectures,
2) Learned more about it in seminars and its various critiques
3) In the individual sessions learned about its place in the historical context for what follows (e.g. the work of Bowlby, Winnicot, Beck) and implications.
4) In study groups learn about its wider impact in other fields such as literature, continental philosophy etc, and what were better theories and applications.

That route got me interested in taking psychology to postgrad, and for me the jump from undergrad to PhD was the really tough one and where I learned the most. No regrets though.
Original post by Lord Asriel
This will be highly dependent on the institution you attend, but also your attitude towards how you approach your degree.

In my experience the basic psychology curriculum at undergrad is very broad and built around accessibility and getting everyone to a general level of understanding. I remember the compulsory elements of the degree were probably comparable to A-level with regard to complexity. Stats were trickier, as you had to learn the equations and do them by hand during the written exam, (but I am aware some courses just focus on SPSS which I think underprepares you for postgrad). I can remember people who took the attitude of "do I need this to pass the exam" did relatively well despite not being particularly bright or academic.While it was relatively easy to pass an exam and assigments, it was far harder to publish a paper or dig through advance theories and critiques (which weren't really taught during lectures) and get invovled in the research that was happening around us.

However, for me the real undergrad learning came outside the lecture hall in the small seminar groups, tutorials with the academics, and the study groups we would hold. I was really lucky to have those peers, who were a group of motivated undergrads, PhD students and junior teaching staff, and they really did set the standards about what psychology was about. The small study groups were also where we would tear apart the less empirical and rigourous areas of psychology and learn what to extract and what to take with a pinch of salt.

So to use the OPs example I would:

1) Exposed to the basics of Freud's idea in the lectures,
2) Learned more about it in seminars and its various critiques
3) In the individual sessions learned about its place in the historical context for what follows (e.g. the work of Bowlby, Winnicot, Beck) and implications.
4) In study groups learn about its wider impact in other fields such as literature, continental philosophy etc, and what were better theories and applications.

That route got me interested in taking psychology to postgrad, and for me the jump from undergrad to PhD was the really tough one and where I learned the most. No regrets though.

Thanks for the advice! You are right, perhaps I will need to study Statistics by myself or outside the classroom if I would like to pursuit a career doing some research. Although I dont like Freud, I appreciate your comment since it can help me with my studies in Skinner behaviorism, because it seems what I need to do, is to understand Psychology History and to relate it to others fields as you said. I hope to do it as well as you!
Original post by ren_15
Yeah, maybe you are right! I was not sure if this path was the right for me. I like Psychology, but also challenges, and watching that many students seem not take it seriously make me hesitate about the seriousness of the degree. I guess I wont figure how seriouss it is until I pursuit a Master or a Phd.


To get anywhere in a psychology career you'd typically have to do postgrad studying anyway. Hope you figure out what you want to do soon :smile:
I have just completed my ba in psychology which yes is ver broad But then you can see what interests you. Like for me I’m interested in criminals and will be doing my masters this year in investigative forensic psychology. A friend on my course has chosen to do her masters in neoscience
So Yh I’m hope the subject become more interesting for me now going forward
It really does depend where you study it, and the workload your expected to do.

I would say, that most of the content in psychology is often not hard to understand. However, writing a first-class essay is still a challenge (as you need to know the area well, have something interesting to say, etc.)

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