placement years / sandwich courses in psychology.

Is anyone thinking of a degree with a placement year?

I'm having a bit of a rethink on where i'm applying, and thinking over the 4 year courses at Bath, Surrey and Cardiff.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Reply 1

Lolly-88

I'm considering a sandwich course at Loughborough and Bath....I wasn't aware Cardiff did one otherwise i might of considered applying there. I also chose to apply to Bath and Loughborough because I went to the open days and I really liked them, i was intending to apply to Aston becuase they did the sandwich course but i really hated the university.

If you like the universities or the course then you should apply but not just because of the sandwich course. If you're really intent on doing a years work experience you can always arrange it yourself after you graduate from a three year course.

Reply 2

shewantstobeme

Surrey has swayed me because of the 4-year.
I'd say go for it. So many people are coming out of degrees with 2:1 or higher, and just having that extra year experience will put you above the rest because you will have hands on experience. Surrey said they the placements try to be graduate-level too, so you can go into the job you want to do once you're degree is done. Some even offer you a job at the end of it apparantly!!

Reply 3

smeepee

im in my final yr at aston and would definately reccommend doing a placement yr. if u can afford to. Aston were quite good at helping sort out a placement. Although i must say ive not been very happy with the course itself this year - all the modules are bio-psychology based, which is bit crumby when they advertised all sorts of modules when we started!

Reply 4

NSW

Surely your first years work experience after a degree is just as benificial (if not more so) as a placement year during your degree? A years experience is a years experience no matter when you've done it.

Apart from the obvious support you recieve from the university in finding a placement, what other benifits are there?

Reply 5

smeepee

well i guess it depends on what field you want to go into. I did a clinical placement - and found the placement quite easily becase a) their previous placement student was from my uni and b) i worked voluntarily. It is going to be MUCH harder to find a job after graduating, however, this experience should help the application look better. My placement supervisor said she always looks for experience gained at uni coz it shows commitment.

Reply 6

lolly83

Hi I'm doing the sandwich at loughborough. When I was interviewed for it I asked what the benefits of doing a placement were, being a mature student was worried that an extra year at uni might not be right for me.
Basically I was told that most of the first's they gave out were to people who had done a placement, that some often left uni to go staright to work for the people that they had done a placemet with, and they were generally much more prepared for the hard work and commitment needed in their final year to achieve (hence more firsts.)
When you consider how competitive a workplace the field is I think it's invaluable. Also the psychologist (bps's monthly mag for students) did an article last month raving about how great they are.
I think they're a fantastic idea and if you have the opportunity go for it.

Reply 7

PsychNick

I too think they're a good idea, and would go for one if I hadn't already taken a year out. I know its a bit silly, but I feel like I'll have wasted more of my life if I now take up a 4-year course as opposed to 3.

However, if I wasn't in this position I'd strongly consider it, particularly at somewhere like Surrey as I'm interested in Counselling Psych, and they could set you up on a fantastic placement for it with their departmental connections.

It's definitely a huge advantage to get yourself free work experience - but I think the placement courses are obviously better for those absolutely sure they want to continue with Psychology at a postgraduate level. If one was unsure then they should probably go for a straight 3-year honours. Its a course for the committed I think.