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Cardiff or Sussex?

The Boosh

17

Cardiff or Sussex for psychology? Which uni is better?

Reply 1

zoea85

2

Hey, I have a similar problem, I am choosing between Sussex and Exeter for psychology. I think Cardiff is pretty high up on the league tables, much higher than Sussex and probably more respected as a uni but when I went to Sussex they did really impress me more than I expected and I felt that they should be ranked higher than they are, because their results and department seemed so good, so you can't really rely on the league tables too much, they're all so different anyway!
I was feeling like I should choose Exeter because its probably got a better name than Sussex but they didn't really inspire me at all whereas the talk at Sussex made me really interested and excited about studying there! Look on the Times/Guardian league tables and particularly the TQI site though to see how they're both rated, that could help a bit, have you visited them both?

OP

...

Hiya The Boosh,

Ahh its a tough one isn't it?! What subject are you doing at Exeter at the moment? I didn't dislike psych at Exeter, it was actually my favourite choice and I was pretty certain I was going to choose it until I visited Sussex and was really impressed by their department and realised how much more enthusiam they seemed to offer. Exeter was really friendly but Sussex put on a much more impressive show and gave much more information about the course. I guess I feel if I choose Sussex I'll be making an informed choice whereas I didn't really get much info from Exeter either way.

Back to your decision - bearing in mind you've already been at Exeter, I don't think doing an Msc at Sussex as opposed to Cardiff would lower your employability. Sussex obviously isn't the 'best' but I think its got a fairly good reputation for Psychology. I do think its important to go with the course, thats why I am leaning towards Sussex, even though I'd love to live in Devon. But saying that I do have my concerns about Sussex, I think it has a reputation as a loud, partying uni and I even read in the union's paper that students have been defacing library books there, which is slightly concerning!! Ah well good luck with choosing, its such a big decision and so confusing! I guess there are plus and minus points to every uni!

Reply 4

The Boosh

OP

17

Hi Zoe - Im doing a phd

Reply 5

p.pete

The Boosh

Hi Zoea85. Im currently doing a PhD in Exeter and know that they are actually a very good department for psychology. The problem is that i want to do a conversion course post. phd and cardiff/sussex seem to be the only place that offer them. My instincts say cardiff over sussex like you - but i prefare the course at sussex and they offer an msc psych. as opposed to cardiffs dip.psych. But then again, Cardiff has got the better reputation... grrrr!

I'd be checking out why one is offering a MSc Psych as oppossed to a (Grad?) Diploma from Cardiff. I'd expect a MSc to contain a larger research element and would be questioning why not if it doesn't. MSc doesn't imply conversion course to me, but perhaps based on your doctoral study you can transfer to a slightly higher level?

Personally I'll be starting in Cardiff psych dept. in September and am confident that it's a very strong department after visiting them. Unfortunately my previous degree was in engineering so I'll have to go through the degree from scratch, a conversion course would have been cool!

Reply 6

The Boosh

OP

17

Hi p.pete.

Both courses are designed to be BPS recognised conversion courses. The MSc will have a dissertation, the diploma wont. I think the Sussex MSc is unique because the other masters degrees out there that are officially conversion courses are for educational psychology. The Sussex MSc offers you a masters and a conversion that is experimental, not psychological, so you can slot into clinical psychology easier (I imagine). But as others have noted, psychology at Cardiff appears to be better.

Reply 7

p.pete

The Boosh

Hi p.pete.

Both courses are designed to be BPS recognised conversion courses. The MSc will have a dissertation, the diploma wont. I think the Sussex MSc is unique because the other masters degrees out there that are officially conversion courses are for educational psychology. The Sussex MSc offers you a masters and a conversion that is experimental, not psychological, so you can slot into clinical psychology easier (I imagine). But as others have noted, psychology at Cardiff appears to be better.

Clinical psychology can be extremely competitive to get into as far as I know. The PhD in special education will hopefully look excellent on your cv!

You probably have specific clinical courses to aim for as your follow-on step after the conversion course - the best advise I can give you is to try track down admissions people for these courses, ask them how strong your credentials are already and which the best course to do next would be.

Other then that you could find that if there's a specific branch of psychology that you're aiming for then Cardiff may not be the stronger for that specific branch. Overall Cardiff is a very strong psych department and seems very well positioned to specialise in almost all areas of psychology - narrowing it to one specific area though (if you're in a position to do that) you could find Sussex comes out stronger, maybe not though :smile:

.

A masters is definitely better then a diploma, doing a dissertation is definitely better then not doing a dissertation. The fact that both courses cater to BPS requirements should set your mind at ease whichever you choose, good luck!

Sussex!

sussex

saffron.coco

Sussex!

This thread is from 2006.

Cardiff or Sussex?

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