UCL MA Psychoanalytic Studies or Birkbeck MSc Theoretical Psychoanalysis ?? Watch

clandestin3

Badges: 3

Rep:

Report Thread starter 1 year ago

Hello! I am very interested in applying to
MA Psychoanalytic Studies at Birkbeck, or/an
MSc Theoretical Psychoanalytic Studies at UCL

Does anyone have any recommendations or views on either?
I am coming from a BA in humanities, and am at the moment interested in looking at psychoanalysis from a sort of literary perspective, with the hope of potentially doing humanities-based PhD research. Obviously quite vague at the moment. But does anyone have experience from being on the courses?

The UCL course seems maybe more focused on what psychoanalytic theory is DOING rather than what can be DONE with it, and potentially more scientifically rigorous... and also UCL has more of a name I guess... Do you think this is more beneficial?? Anyone any experiences of the different departments?? Thanks!

Puddles the Monkey

TSR Community Team

Badges: 21

Rep:

Report 1 year ago

Hi - sorry you haven't had a response to this yet. I'm just going to bump the thread in the hope that someone sees this and can help

username3760972

Badges: 1

Rep:

Report 1 year ago

The Birkbeck MA is great if your primary interest is psa applied to literature or history. However, I do know of people who have gone on to do language and literature PhDs from the UCL course. Having chatted with them, I have the impression that the UCL course is perhaps more demanding than the Birkbeck course and, yes, probably more prestigious! The Birkbeck MA is intellectually interesting and really flexible in terms of module options. On the downside, there was not much of a sense of a community - many students dropped out half-way and I didn't have the impression that the professors actually got to know the students. It can be a fascinating course, but I found it very impersonal.

clandestin3

Badges: 3

Rep:

Report Thread starter 1 year ago

(Original post by stellato)
The Birkbeck MA is great if your primary interest is psa applied to literature or history. However, I do know of people who have gone on to do language and literature PhDs from the UCL course. Having chatted with them, I have the impression that the UCL course is perhaps more demanding than the Birkbeck course and, yes, probably more prestigious! The Birkbeck MA is intellectually interesting and really flexible in terms of module options. On the downside, there was not much of a sense of a community - many students dropped out half-way and I didn't have the impression that the professors actually got to know the students. It can be a fascinating course, but I found it very impersonal.

Thanks so much this is really helpful! Did you do the Birkbeck course full time or part time? And do you know if people at the UCL course did it full time or part-time? One big difference that I can tell is also that UCL have very frequent assessments, also in an exam formats rather than just essays... not sure how I'd fare to that.
The tutors at Birkbeck like Professor Stephen Frosh seem great, and I've been reading some of the tutor's work and it definitely less clinical perhaps than UCL outputs

username3760972

Badges: 1

Rep:

Report 1 year ago

I knew people who were doing the UCL full time. They were very interested in the clinical aspects of psychoanalysis so it suited them and I guess you just get into the groove of regular exams. Birkbeck seemed to attract more historians + those like me who are interested in psychoanalysis in Latin America because of BBK's relationship with Sao Paulo). The BBK workload is not light, but there are no exams. Birkbeck is super flexible (it really suits those who want to combine their studies with work), but as I mentioned above, this can be isolating. The tutors are committed and engaging, but they are also spread thin. A friend of mine on the BBK course said that she thought the students took more interest in the faculty than vice versa – I think might be a good observation! Maybe go on some open days and check both places out. Good luck!

Harddecision1234

Badges: 1

Rep:

Report 6 months ago

Hello! I have the exact same conflict at the moment.Are you currently taking this MA at UCL or Birkbeck?Would love to hear it from you. I have the impression that UCL is more prestigious, but Birkbeck is also flying high in reputation. At least that’s what a few articles I read said.Thank you in advance.

clandestin3

Badges: 3

Rep:

Report Thread starter 6 months ago

(Original post by Harddecision1234)
Hello! I have the exact same conflict at the moment.Are you currently taking this MA at UCL or Birkbeck?Would love to hear it from you. I have the impression that UCL is more prestigious, but Birkbeck is also flying high in reputation. At least that’s what a few articles I read said.Thank you in advance.

Hi! I'm actually still deciding, I applied for both as well as the MA in Literature, Culture and Theory at Kings College London because I'm not wholly sure I want to focus on psychoanalysis. KCL also has an interesting module on offer on the British psychoanalytic tradition.

I actually turned down UCL because I felt the tutors at Birkbeck aligned more with my interests, the reading seemed more grounded in culture and other theoretical frameworks/ ways of reading, and there's the option to maybe take a module outside of the course.

They both seem like great courses, and to be honest I'm generally a very indecisive person, so I think the fact that Birkbeck and KCL have their course module descriptions on the website available to see just generally swayed my decision and made me feel more like I knew what I might be doing!

Not sure if that helps at all, at the moment still sort of in the same situation as I was when I posted this! But feel free to ask me anymore questions haha

start new discussion

Page 1 of 1

Go to first unread

Quick Reply

Submit reply

Attached files

Replying is easier on our app - Click here to download for FREE!

Write a reply...

new posts

University open days

University College London

Undergraduate Open Day Undergraduate

Fri, 28 Jun '19

find out more
University College London

Undergraduate Open Day Undergraduate

Sat, 29 Jun '19

find out more
University College London

Undergraduate Open Day Undergraduate

Sat, 7 Sep '19

find out more

Poll

Join the discussion

Do you give blood?

Yes

I used to but I don't now

No, but I want to start

No, I am unable to

No, I chose not to

Yes (69)

7.96%

I used to but I don't now (24)

2.77%

No, but I want to start (320)

36.91%

No, I am unable to (220)

25.37%

No, I chose not to (234)

26.99%