A few questions about Psychology at University?

Your fine with just one science subject, i would drop either law or politics next year if i were you. As long as you have at least a B in GCSE maths you will be fine and an A for (Bath/Oxford-howver this can sometimes be overlooked) then you should be alright. Exeter do a flexible combined honours degree (FCH) where you can do Psychjology and English and also get accredatid by the BPS so you can become a Psychologist if that what you want after your degree.
However if your going to take Psychology seriously it would probably be best to just do a pure Psychology degree, at Exeter in your first year you can do 25% of your modules in othe departments :smile:

if you need any more advise just ask :smile:

Reply 2

*Elizabeth*

7

Original post by carehow

Hello - I'm in my AS year and currently studying Biology, English Literature, Law and Politics. I'm really unsure of what degree to do right now, either English Literature, Psychology or something healthcare related (nursing, counselling or speech & language therapy).

If I do decide Psychology is for me (I'm doing a lot of research into what it involves, reading textbooks and getting involved in my college's Psychology department)... What universities can I rule off my list straight away, given I'm only studying one science, two of my subjects aren't that respected and I messed up my GCSEs (with valid reason, at the moment I'm on all As for my subjects at AS Level)?

Are there any decent courses that combine English and Psychology? If so, how good are these courses on the Psychology side, or are courses like that worth avoiding?

Thanks.

Hey,

Just a thought,

If you opted for a joint honours degree or a duel subject degree, then I would definitely recommend looking at British Psychological Society (BPS) accredited undergraduate courses only. Obtaining a BPS accredited psychology undergraduate course will enable you to apply for postgrad courses in Psychology and psychology related jobs. There are BPS accredited Psychology and English undergrad courses out there!

http://www.bps.org.uk/bpslegacy/ac?frmAction=results&CourseType=UG&Search_Type=NC

You never know, you may well wish to specialise in Psychology later on. A BPS accredited undergrad course will open that door for you after graduation. You won't be able to apply for most psychology postgrad courses or for some graduate psychology jobs without a BPS accredited undergraduate degree. A Psychology degree will enable you to apply for lots of different jobs within social science fields. Also important to leave with at least a 2.1 to improve your employment prospects after graduation, especially if considering applying for graduate positions.

Best of luck with your A- levels :smile:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 3

punctuation

16

Original post by carehow

Hello - I'm in my AS year and currently studying Biology, English Literature, Law and Politics. I'm really unsure of what degree to do right now, either English Literature, Psychology or something healthcare related (nursing, counselling or speech & language therapy).

If I do decide Psychology is for me (I'm doing a lot of research into what it involves, reading textbooks and getting involved in my college's Psychology department)... What universities can I rule off my list straight away, given I'm only studying one science, two of my subjects aren't that respected and I messed up my GCSEs (with valid reason, at the moment I'm on all As for my subjects at AS Level)?

Are there any decent courses that combine English and Psychology? If so, how good are these courses on the Psychology side, or are courses like that worth avoiding?

Thanks.

Oxford will likely offer "Psychology and Linguistics" for 2013 entry. Does that sound like something you'd be interested in? :smile:

Oxford doesn't have any required courses, although they recommend one science (which you have).

Are you looking, on the psychology side of things, for social OR bio/neurosci psych?

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 4

carehow

OP

10

Thankyou for all your help! :smile:

Original post by Jackkkkk

Your fine with just one science subject, i would drop either law or politics next year if i were you. As long as you have at least a B in GCSE maths you will be fine and an A for (Bath/Oxford-howver this can sometimes be overlooked) then you should be alright. Exeter do a flexible combined honours degree (FCH) where you can do Psychjology and English and also get accredatid by the BPS so you can become a Psychologist if that what you want after your degree.
However if your going to take Psychology seriously it would probably be best to just do a pure Psychology degree, at Exeter in your first year you can do 25% of your modules in othe departments :smile:

if you need any more advise just ask :smile:

That sounds really good, actually, I'll look at it. I don't have a B in GCSE Maths though, I have a C. >.< Would they still take me seriously if I retook the GCSE this year to get a higher grade?

Original post by *Elizabeth*

Hey,

Just a thought,

If you opted for a joint honours degree or a duel subject degree, then I would definitely recommend looking at British Psychological Society (BPS) accredited undergraduate courses only. Obtaining a BPS accredited psychology undergraduate course will enable you to apply for postgrad courses in Psychology and psychology related jobs. There are BPS accredited Psychology and English undergrad courses out there!

http://www.bps.org.uk/bpslegacy/ac?frmAction=results&CourseType=UG&Search_Type=NC

You never know, you may well wish to specialise in Psychology later on. A BPS accredited undergrad course will open that door for you after graduation. You won't be able to apply for most psychology postgrad courses or for some graduate psychology jobs without a BPS accredited undergraduate degree. A Psychology degree will enable you to apply for lots of different jobs within social science fields. Also important to leave with at least a 2.1 to improve your employment prospects after graduation, especially if considering applying for graduate positions.

Best of luck with your A- levels :smile:

Thanks

And okay, I'll definitely look at the BPS site there, I knew there was no way I'd want to do a degree that wasn't accredited anyway.

Original post by punctuation

Oxford will likely offer "Psychology and Linguistics" for 2013 entry. Does that sound like something you'd be interested in? :smile:

Oxford doesn't have any required courses, although they recommend one science (which you have).

Are you looking, on the psychology side of things, for social OR bio/neurosci psych?

I'm ruling out Oxford straight away, as I'm really, really not Oxford material, although it does sound like something I'd be massively interested in.

I'm not really sure which side of psychology I'd like to go into 'eventually', I'm trying not to think about my future too much (not exactly wise, I know, but it freaks me out no end if I think about where I might like to end up), I just find the subject fascinating and something I can see myself doing at a higher level. :smile:

I have a huge interest in psychopharmacology though, so I suppose I'm more interested in the neuroscience aspect.

Reply 5

punctuation

16

Original post by carehow

I'm ruling out Oxford straight away, as I'm really, really not Oxford material, although it does sound like something I'd be massively interested in.

I'm not really sure which side of psychology I'd like to go into 'eventually', I'm trying not to think about my future too much (not exactly wise, I know, but it freaks me out no end if I think about where I might like to end up), I just find the subject fascinating and something I can see myself doing at a higher level. :smile:

I have a huge interest in psychopharmacology though, so I suppose I'm more interested in the neuroscience aspect.

There's no 'Oxford material'. You should definitely apply! :smile:

Neuroscience is great, Oxford's psych area is more based on neuroscience though with the linguistics joint honours you'll just be taking some linguistics modules along with the neurosci-ish psych ones :biggrin:

Reply 6

Yeah they would deffinitely consider you if you are re-taking the GCSE maths to get at least a B. All they would do for example would be offer you AAA + B in GCSE maths, or whatever the A level grades are the university requires.
As for Oxford-GO FOR IT!
I have pretty poor GCSE grades compared to many and ive just had a stab. My As grades are also below what they would want, but you NEVER KNOW what might happen. I spoke to someone on the open day who got 2A* and C's and GCSE, subsequently did well at interview and got a place!!!
Good luck :smile:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 7

Ellieee

6

Hey, I'm studying Psychology at the University of Leeds, and they asked for B's in GCSE Maths, English and Science, and 3 A's at A Level.
At A Level, I ended up getting A's in Psychology, English Lit/Lang and Law, and a C in Human Biology.
Even though I didn't do so well in my Biology, I'm really glad I kept all 4 subjects for both years as I think that probably helped me when I was applying as most people only have 3. However if you do want to drop one, it should be Law or Politics :smile:

just because when I got my offer I was told that 2 of the A's had to be from a certain list of subjects: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Maths, English and Geography.
I know it will be different for all universities but they seem to be the useful ones for a Psychology degree :smile:

Good luck whatever you decide to do!

Reply 8

Simone.xox

4

Hi, I'm studying psychology and sociology at Manchester Metropolitan. I think the good thing about doing combined honours is that you can combine almost anything, so at my uni you can definetely do an english and psychology. I also think there's advantage in doing subjects which are very different to each other because it opens doors for other careers.

As far as I'm aware I don't think you need an A level in a science to study psychology, I had sociology, psychology and philosophy. I would advise keep reading into psychology, look at all your potential unis and make not of the units on offer. Make sure you know what these unis entail and don't worry, I know a few people doing psychology degrees that have never studied it in college, and it's interesting learning a new subject :smile:

Reply 9

Hi, I know that this discussion ended ages ago but I'm looking at doing a Flexible Combined Honours degree at Exeter but I'm slightly confused about this 'Honour'.

I just wondered how is the FCH different to a normal Combined Honours degree and why only a selection of Universities do it?

Also, are FCH credited in future life, if say I was interested in working at a newspaper but achieved a FCH in English and Psychology, would my degree be recognised?

PLEASE can someone help me out...

Reply 10

Original post by amymac

Hi, I know that this discussion ended ages ago but I'm looking at doing a Flexible Combined Honours degree at Exeter but I'm slightly confused about this 'Honour'.

I just wondered how is the FCH different to a normal Combined Honours degree and why only a selection of Universities do it?

Also, are FCH credited in future life, if say I was interested in working at a newspaper but achieved a FCH in English and Psychology, would my degree be recognised?

PLEASE can someone help me out...

The 'Honours' part just means that the degree is at the same level as any other, so Honours level... not something to worry about at all.

The FCH at Exeter is NO different whatsoever to any other combined honours degree you may find. The reason it is called Flexible is because Exeter has the provision for its students to combine a vast selection of subjects together-so a kind of mix and match.

I don't know what you mean by 'credited' however the degree is just as respected as any other-it just means you get to pick the courses you would like to mix together-so yes you would be able to peruse a career in journalism etc.

I would however suggest you did Psychology and English (so it is accredited by the BPS-so 60% Psych and 40% English)> If you were to do it the other way round your degree won't be accredited.

I hope this helps :smile:

feel free to ask if you have any more questions :smile:

Reply 11

carehow

OP

10

Why has this thread been dragged from the depths? :tongue:

Reply 12

Original post by Jackkkkk

The 'Honours' part just means that the degree is at the same level as any other, so Honours level... not something to worry about at all.

The FCH at Exeter is NO different whatsoever to any other combined honours degree you may find. The reason it is called Flexible is because Exeter has the provision for its students to combine a vast selection of subjects together-so a kind of mix and match.

I don't know what you mean by 'credited' however the degree is just as respected as any other-it just means you get to pick the courses you would like to mix together-so yes you would be able to peruse a career in journalism etc.

I would however suggest you did Psychology and English (so it is accredited by the BPS-so 60% Psych and 40% English)> If you were to do it the other way round your degree won't be accredited.

I hope this helps :smile:

feel free to ask if you have any more questions :smile:

Thank you SO much, that was so helpful!

So if I were to choose this 'flexible' degree it would definitely be as much respected as any other?

Like you said, I would love to become a journalist or reporter in the future but I'm very much undecided about English or Psychology at the moment, but if you are saying that a FCH and a CH are equally recognised I think the FCH at Exeter sounds amazing!

Have you done a degree at Exeter? If so, do you like it?

Also, I was looking into the 4 year course that included a year abroad so I don't know whether you have done/heard of that?

Thank you for being so helpful!

Reply 13

Original post by amymac

Thank you SO much, that was so helpful!

So if I were to choose this 'flexible' degree it would definitely be as much respected as any other?

Like you said, I would love to become a journalist or reporter in the future but I'm very much undecided about English or Psychology at the moment, but if you are saying that a FCH and a CH are equally recognised I think the FCH at Exeter sounds amazing!

Have you done a degree at Exeter? If so, do you like it?

Also, I was looking into the 4 year course that included a year abroad so I don't know whether you have done/heard of that?

Thank you for being so helpful!

No problem. FCH basicly is a Combined Honours degree. You graduate with a degree in Psychology and English for example not a FCH degree (thats just the name they use for a combined degree). So yes just as respected and from Exeter :smile:

No ive not done a degree yet, but I have an offer from them to do Psychology. I looked at doing FCH in Psychology and Philosophy so thats how i know about it :P I decided not to only because Id rather do pure Psychology and just do some open units in Philosophy if i decide to go to Exeter.

yeahh the 4 year courses look really good and would enhance any application you make to get a job etc. Are you currently in Y12 then? Where else are you looking at going?

Reply 14

Original post by Jackkkkk

No problem. FCH basicly is a Combined Honours degree. You graduate with a degree in Psychology and English for example not a FCH degree (thats just the name they use for a combined degree). So yes just as respected and from Exeter :smile:

No ive not done a degree yet, but I have an offer from them to do Psychology. I looked at doing FCH in Psychology and Philosophy so thats how i know about it :P I decided not to only because Id rather do pure Psychology and just do some open units in Philosophy if i decide to go to Exeter.

yeahh the 4 year courses look really good and would enhance any application you make to get a job etc. Are you currently in Y12 then? Where else are you looking at going?

Oh wow, well done! Were your grade requirements AAA?
If I were to put down Exeter next year (yes, I'm in Y12) AAA would be really difficult to achieve but this course sounds perfect!

Do you know whether you can choose where you go abroad or how do they organise that?

And well at the moment I'm constantly looking at UCAS, (being slightly keen as I haven't even done my AS levels yet), but I was interested in doing an English and Creative Writing degree at Warwick or somewhere but now I'm really enjoying Psychology.

I don't want to get my hopes up though because I know how difficult it will be to get the grades and apparently the FCH has only 55 spaces!?

Reply 15

Original post by amymac

Oh wow, well done! Were your grade requirements AAA?
If I were to put down Exeter next year (yes, I'm in Y12) AAA would be really difficult to achieve but this course sounds perfect!

Do you know whether you can choose where you go abroad or how do they organise that?

And well at the moment I'm constantly looking at UCAS, (being slightly keen as I haven't even done my AS levels yet), but I was interested in doing an English and Creative Writing degree at Warwick or somewhere but now I'm really enjoying Psychology.

I don't want to get my hopes up though because I know how difficult it will be to get the grades and apparently the FCH has only 55 spaces!?

Yeah AAA is my offer :/ going to be a struggle :P

I think if i remember rightly from the open day you get a choice of locations, or select universities that Exeter has links with-I think you rank your preferences when your on the course...

I know a couple of people who have offers for the FCH at my school. There is roughly only 55 places yeah, but they make offers to more, because not everyone will decide to Firm Exeter and others wont meet the grade requirements.

Psychology is amazing I would totally recommend it!! I only decided to take it on to degree after studying it at AS :smile:

- however like I said before I would say make sure you do it so its accredited by the BPS just in case you love it at uni and want to become a Psychologist or do postgraduate study. So the FCH in Psychology and English is still accredited.

Only other problem would be your personal statement, as Im not aware of that many Universities who do Psychology and English combined or have a strong FCH scheme like Exeter. Durham do have a similar scheme as Exeter however Psychology can only be combined with a select combination of subjects under the Natural Science degree (Anthropology, Business, earth science, Geography, Biology< chemistry, Physics, maths, Philosophy etc) However you cant combine Psychology with english to my knowledge.

A few universities would do the combination, but they are not at the same level of University as Exeter and Durham etc

Reply 16

Original post by Jackkkkk

Yeah AAA is my offer :/ going to be a struggle :P

I think if i remember rightly from the open day you get a choice of locations, or select universities that Exeter has links with-I think you rank your preferences when your on the course...

I know a couple of people who have offers for the FCH at my school. There is roughly only 55 places yeah, but they make offers to more, because not everyone will decide to Firm Exeter and others wont meet the grade requirements.

Psychology is amazing I would totally recommend it!! I only decided to take it on to degree after studying it at AS :smile:

- however like I said before I would say make sure you do it so its accredited by the BPS just in case you love it at uni and want to become a Psychologist or do postgraduate study. So the FCH in Psychology and English is still accredited.

Only other problem would be your personal statement, as Im not aware of that many Universities who do Psychology and English combined or have a strong FCH scheme like Exeter. Durham do have a similar scheme as Exeter however Psychology can only be combined with a select combination of subjects under the Natural Science degree (Anthropology, Business, earth science, Geography, Biology< chemistry, Physics, maths, Philosophy etc) However you cant combine Psychology with english to my knowledge.

A few universities would do the combination, but they are not at the same level of University as Exeter and Durham etc

Well good luck, you seem really devoted so I'm sure you'll get the grades. Like you, I've only just started Psychology and really love it. Also, I will definitely consider your advice to do to choose the accredited pathway if I were to do the course.

Oh right, because I've always wanted to go to Australia after my education and Exeter have partnerships out there so it makes me want to do the degree even more!

Do you suggest anything (qualifications) that are recognised by Exeter that would push my application into the limited spaces?

Also, what do you mean by a 'problem' of my personal statement? Do you mean that it would have to be amazing?

Reply 17

Original post by amymac

Well good luck, you seem really devoted so I'm sure you'll get the grades. Like you, I've only just started Psychology and really love it. Also, I will definitely consider your advice to do to choose the accredited pathway if I were to do the course.

Oh right, because I've always wanted to go to Australia after my education and Exeter have partnerships out there so it makes me want to do the degree even more!

Do you suggest anything (qualifications) that are recognised by Exeter that would push my application into the limited spaces?

Also, what do you mean by a 'problem' of my personal statement? Do you mean that it would have to be amazing?

Yeah I wouldn't think it a problem going to Australia :smile:

ummm well I did an Extended Project and if you have the opportunity to do one i would definitely recommend it. It was reallly good to do a project on something outside of my a level spec's etc :smile:

What i meant by problem is that if your writing a personal statement for several courses it can be hard to show dedication to your subject/s. So if you were to say apply to 5 uni's for Psych and Eng then it weould be easy to balance your PS. However if say you applied to Exeter for Psych and eng, and then that course at Warwick and then say a straight eng course or a straight psych course it might be harder to show admissions tutors that you definitely want to study their degree, if you see what I mean.

Reply 18

Original post by Jackkkkk

Yeah I wouldn't think it a problem going to Australia :smile:

ummm well I did an Extended Project and if you have the opportunity to do one i would definitely recommend it. It was reallly good to do a project on something outside of my a level spec's etc :smile:

What i meant by problem is that if your writing a personal statement for several courses it can be hard to show dedication to your subject/s. So if you were to say apply to 5 uni's for Psych and Eng then it weould be easy to balance your PS. However if say you applied to Exeter for Psych and eng, and then that course at Warwick and then say a straight eng course or a straight psych course it might be harder to show admissions tutors that you definitely want to study their degree, if you see what I mean.

Right, I get what you mean now. I'll definitely have to speak to someone about my personal statement then. Thanks for the warning!

And yeah, recently they have discussed the EPQ at school and I think that I will do it. It does seem like a good qualification because I can choose a topic related to both English and Psychology. Did you do an essay format?

Reply 19