Msc Psychology conversion course after neuroscience degree.

Harder than? The purpose of the conversion is to get your GBC from the BPS. Unless you already have GBC from your current course (I know some neuroscience courses do apply to this), you wouldn’t be able to apply for an AP role without having completed an MSc conversion / another accredited BSc

While I haven't applied for AP roles (I've got a PhD offer from doing a conversion, and my first degree was in design), I did look at them and had also applied for the IAPT training scheme as a backup before I got my offer - I would imagine that a bigger part is what other relevant experience you bring to the table. That's likely where my gap was (I have 8 years experience including senior roles in a different field and a research internship - but they specifically ask for mental health experience). But doing a conversion certainly hasn't stopped me progressing on my own path.

On the masters, while you basically are going through an intense crash course in psychology and research methods, you also expected to produce work at a masters level. It's also more self-guided, independent learning. If you come out with good grades (particularly in your statistics work) then the fact it's a conversion degree shouldn't really be an issue. Having spoken to the course director of DClin at my university he considered the MSc Conversion to be a 'masters in psychology' rather than a "lesser" course so long as you get the marks

There's also a very honest summary from an AP here (post #6) - https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3841101

At the BPS careers conference end of last year they did reiterate that conversion students wouldn't be at a disadvantage over undergrad students. Yes there might be some individual snobbery about the concept, but ultimately when there's so much competition for roles it is more likely to be down to what you bring to the table as an individual. I've heard more about automatically rejecting people below certain grade boundaries, but not the same about the masters conversion.

Also worth mentioning lots of people take the course part time which may help you build up relevant work experience alongside (which would still be quicker tha taking a BSc!)

Thank you so much, this is really really helpful! I didn't think about doing a part time masters conversion alongside working to gain more experience, I might consider this! Good luck with your PhD!

No problem! It’s a confusing process at times and I had the same concerns before

Hi PsycStudent2020,
I'm currently applying to conversion masters having no previous experience in the field and looking for a career change.
Based on your experience, how much does university reputation matter when doing a conversion msc and wanting to apply to a doctorate later on? I have been accepted to several unis for this msc (some part of Russell Group, some not) and I'm not sure how to choose.
Also some universities offer optional modules such a clinical or counselling psychology, others only offer an "applied psychology" module. Would you say these are important when thinking of future professional training / job prospects, for instance am I slightly more likely to be accepted into a clinical doctorate because I would have studied a dedicated clinical psychology module during the conversion msc?
Would love your advice, thank you in advance!

Your #1 priority is getting GBC so as long as the courses that add the extra modules on still get you that then that’s ok.
I would stress it is an intense course though, so I’m not sure how they add that on top of the BPS requirements without taking away from the rest of the course (for example we spend a week on each topic - when I say intense it is intense!). 12 week term = 3 disciplines = 4 sub disciplines PLUS research methods modules on top. If you’re particularly interested in one area (clin, educational, etc) there’s normally a way you can try and incorporate those into your work when it’s relevant (psychobiology essays, research project, etc)

In terms of reputation, I guess it depends what you’re basing your assessment of rep on. I’m at an ex-poly but it ranks joint first for research impact in the U.K. That was important for me and pre-Covid I was helping on a really great study in addition to the course. It also has the educational, counselling and clinical psychology doctorates as well as org psyc at postgrad levels (My thinking originally was if I wanted to do clin psy they’re not going to judge me for going to the same uni / people hiring for AP roles will know the uni rep / may have even been there themselves). But if you just think about general uni rep you probably wouldn’t think about it. So I can’t really say that the reputation of my uni hasn’t helped me progress because it does have a good reputation within psychology circles if that makes sense?

If you have a few offers I would suggest - compare contact hours, class size, timetable, convenience, whether they’re doing any face to face teaching next term (online lectures are expected but you do need seminars / computer lab sessions), how you’re assessed etc. Email the course directors and ask - you’ll see immediately how responsive they are!
Also look at what else they do beyond the course (tip - check the school’s twitter / news pages, although ours isn’t regularly updated) - it will affect your research project at the end a bit due to supervisor allocation, but also gives you an idea of the department reputation as a whole. Your biggest priority overall is probably to get as good a mark as possible so that there’s no question you can’t handle study at a graduate level - think about the things that will most help you achieve that 😊

Hope that helps! Feel free to DM me if you have any specific questions

Thanks so much for taking the time to share all this! I really appreciate it.
I will do more research / ask questions around the overall content and structure of the classes + level of support. I might not have mentioned, but I will be doing the course part time and completely online, so that will affect the way the classes are delivered.
The MSc I am considering at Uni of Glasgow (with 2 optional modules) is actually longer than most programs (2.5 years part time instead of 2) so I believe that is how they make it all fit. But if I understand correctly, having these optional modules is not necessarily a major bonus on your CV (even though I do really like the opportunity to explore different applications).
And in terms of reputation, you're saying it wouldn't make a massive difference to go for a Russel Group uni necessarily - and grades are what's most important for doctorates etc, correct?
Thanks again

You could always ask if you will have some live sessions rather than pre recorded? I’m not sure how the online courses work though. I would say seeing how responsive they are on email would be a good thing to see if you are doing the online route though. You’d also have decent online journal access I’d hope! (Something I’m struggling with right now!!)


The optional modules do sound good in terms of being able to specialise a bit more. It might also be worth checking the future courses / jobs you want to do to see exactly what you would need from the course

My PhD will be a research one but it will be funded and I haven’t ever gone to a Russell group, but that’s just my experience. About half of DClin courses are based at non-Russell group unis though - https://www.leeds.ac.uk/chpccp/courses.html
I always like to believe it’s what you bring to the table as an individual and the experience you’ve accumulated but maybe I’m naive! It could be worth seeing if you can find any more specialised info from this group - https://mobile.twitter.com/DCPPreQual?lang=en

That’s not to say these paths aren’t really competitive (clin in particular is super competitive) - good grades and good references definitely should help, but I’ve heard work experience is just as important for DClin. Some people say the conversion is like PGCEs where you should just pick your closest uni, but if you’re online I guess it’s about what course / department you’re drawn to the most and how you’re being assessed. If that’s Glasgow then great! 😊

I've read a few posts that say a second masters degree after the conversion masters would be required in order to get an assistant psychologist position and then eventually onto a doctorate programme. Is this true? Or is the conversion masters still equivalent to a normal psychology masters?

While I haven't applied for AP roles (I've got a PhD offer from doing a conversion, and my first degree was in design), I did look at them and had also applied for the IAPT training scheme as a backup before I got my offer - I would imagine that a bigger part is what other relevant experience you bring to the table. That's likely where my gap was (I have 8 years experience including senior roles in a different field and a research internship - but they specifically ask for mental health experience). But doing a conversion certainly hasn't stopped me progressing on my own path.

On the masters, while you basically are going through an intense crash course in psychology and research methods, you also expected to produce work at a masters level. It's also more self-guided, independent learning. If you come out with good grades (particularly in your statistics work) then the fact it's a conversion degree shouldn't really be an issue. Having spoken to the course director of DClin at my university he considered the MSc Conversion to be a 'masters in psychology' rather than a "lesser" course so long as you get the marks

There's also a very honest summary from an AP here (post #6) - https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3841101

At the BPS careers conference end of last year they did reiterate that conversion students wouldn't be at a disadvantage over undergrad students. Yes there might be some individual snobbery about the concept, but ultimately when there's so much competition for roles it is more likely to be down to what you bring to the table as an individual. I've heard more about automatically rejecting people below certain grade boundaries, but not the same about the masters conversion.

Also worth mentioning lots of people take the course part time which may help you build up relevant work experience alongside (which would still be quicker than taking a BSc!)

Hi!

Just interested as you say you had a design degree, I do too but mine is a 2.2, do you think this will impact my ability to get onto a conversion masters? Also is it worth me gaining any other kind of voluntary experience to aid my application? I'm digitally attending the BPS careers seminar this weekend so hoping that will enlighten me a little as I've only just started thinking of this as a possible career change. Thanks!

I think it's down to the university so it's worth checking different universities entrance criteria - some places take 2.2s, others don't

In terms of voluntary work it totally depends on what you want to do with the conversion, but I don't think you have anything to lose getting more experience if you're interested in the subject