How is it expected of students to be memorising essays for their exams?!

Okay so I am in my first year of Psychology, and I for some STUPID reason assuming that exams would be mostly chunks of questions that covers most of the module that we are taking the test on. I'm in first year so I have only been doing MCQ's but one of my modules wants us to do proper essay questions for our exam.

I thought we were past this whole memorising is the test nonsense that I had to endure throughout GCSE's and Alevels?! At least for alevels it wasn't hard to try memorise shxt for an essay because the content was very simple and the marking criteria was easy to please, you just needed to try.

But now I am expected to MEMORISE entire text books worth of content next year in the hopes that I will have memorised just enough for whatever one or two questions they pick out of a possible 100 per module.

The fxck?! I did not sign up for this. Now I wish I did something like pharmacy man :/ but I feel like I probably won't get anywhere with a Pharmacy degree ffs and I already switched to a different uni so this is my SECOND first year (modules weren't similar enough so they asked me to start again from first)

Anyways I am so close to giving the fxck up with this subject because I don't even do well with essays never mind flipping memorising like 50 possible ones per module nah allow that, thats Alevel shxt where tings were calm an dat, bruv I aint prepared for this?! My modules are so boring anyway i regret moving from a met uni to a Russel group legit, at least they taught us some interesting shxt and didn't expect you to be able to write lab reports and essays without any sort of guidance other than ones u can come across online lol pls bye

Okay so I am in my first year of Psychology, and I for some STUPID reason assuming that exams would be mostly chunks of questions that covers most of the module that we are taking the test on. I'm in first year so I have only been doing MCQ's but one of my modules wants us to do proper essay questions for our exam.

I thought we were past this whole memorising is the test nonsense that I had to endure throughout GCSE's and Alevels?! At least for alevels it wasn't hard to try memorise shxt for an essay because the content was very simple and the marking criteria was easy to please, you just needed to try.

But now I am expected to MEMORISE entire text books worth of content next year in the hopes that I will have memorised just enough for whatever one or two questions they pick out of a possible 100 per module.

The fxck?! I did not sign up for this. Now I wish I did something like pharmacy man :/ but I feel like I probably won't get anywhere with a Pharmacy degree ffs and I already switched to a different uni so this is my SECOND first year (modules weren't similar enough so they asked me to start again from first)

Anyways I am so close to giving the fxck up with this subject because I don't even do well with essays never mind flipping memorising like 50 possible ones per module nah allow that, thats Alevel shxt where tings were calm an dat, bruv I aint prepared for this?! My modules are so boring anyway i regret moving from a met uni to a Russel group legit, at least they taught us some interesting shxt and didn't expect you to be able to write lab reports and essays without any sort of guidance other than ones u can come across online lol pls bye

MCQs are an absolute waste of time for psychology students - most psych students don't ending up doing psychology after graduation, so the knowledge isn't that useful. Essays actually teach you how to write and research, which are the most important skills you can learn during a degree. Generally MCQs are only ever used by lazy course leaders (or those that don't have the resources to mark essays).

I studied A Level Psychology, so to an extent, I get what you mean in terms of all the memorising. Your ability to cram must really be on fleek. But having said that, you do sound a bit lazy. A good degree can never be a walk in the park and I am definitely sure that no university would sponsor an unachievable course. So rather than grumble, I encourage you to focus. You are not the first, neither would you be the last. Others have done it before you and it will continue to be done. From your post, it seems as though you believe Pharmacy may have been an easier path than Psychology, which is rather odd because quite frankly, it is not. We are all struggling and cramming too. Funny enough, pharmacy students encounter some psychology, mostly the biological aspect and the different treatments available. So if you had done pharmacy, chances are you'd probably still be unhappy.
Anyway, good luck and please think positive. Do not give up, most especially, since this is your last funded attempt. Endeavour to not screw it up.

You don't need to memorise essays or textbooks to write a good essay in an exam. A good psychology degree should essentially be like investigative journalism- your given a question a quesiton to research for an essay then you use textbooks but also primary sources like articles to develop an argument. When it comes to exams you should only really have to remember the main arguments and primary research backing up those arguments.

MCQs are an absolute waste of time for psychology students - most psych students don't ending up doing psychology after graduation, so the knowledge isn't that useful. Essays actually teach you how to write and research, which are the most important skills you can learn during a degree. Generally MCQs are only ever used by lazy course leaders (or those that don't have the resources to mark essays).

I'd argue that exams in general are used by lazy course leaders who can't be bothered to actually find out what students have learned and understand about their subject and how well they can apply it to the real world. MCQ's, short answer questions and essays are all exercises in remembering information and regurgitating it at the right time and in the right order. Essay writing for an assignment is valuable, in an exam, much less so. However, that is a different discussion really.

I can empathise @PsychPrincess , I also struggle with essays in exams. On the whole, as @iammichealjackson says, try and remember the core of the theory/topic and then the general gist of the research around it and you'll be able to write decently about any topic, throw in your own opinion and analysis and you'll have a fair essay.

If you're brave, you can always take the triage route - let's say your module has 6 topic areas and the exam has 3 questions and you pick 1. You could, and I stress the could, only study 3 or 4 of the topics and bank on those coming up.