I'm a postgraduate student at the University of Kent - Ask me anything!

Hi!

Coming to Kent in September 2023 or looking to apply for next year?

I'm a current PhD Psychology student who also did my MSc in Organisational and Business Psychology here in 2022. You can ask me anything, for instance:
- About the university itself
- Applying for a Masters/PhD
- Scholarships
- Postgraduate life
- School of Psychology/Kent Business School specifically

I'm also from the area, so if you have any questions about Kent/Canterbury in general, I'm happy to help!

Natalie :smile:

- University of Kent Student Rep

Reply 1

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

Best and worst thing about your course? :holmes:

University of Kent

Canterbury

Original post by 04MR17

Best and worst thing about your course? :holmes:

Hi @04MR17

Thanks for your question :biggrin:

I'd say the best thing about PhD Psychology is the freedom to be able to research whatever you want to. I also love the independence and freedom to plan my own research and being able to work more collaboratively with lecturers than in undergraduate study. If I had to choose a bad thing, I would say it can be hard to plan your time and work to your own deadlines on a PhD course.

If you have any other questions let me know!

Natalie :smile:

- University of Kent Student Rep

(edited 8 months ago)

Reply 3

sarahviv

Hi! I'm starting MSc Forensic Psychology in September and I was wondering what the jump in stats is like from undergraduate to masters level? My previous uni used SPSS and not R so I'm a little nervous about being behind!
Is there anything I could be doing aside from general reading and brushing up on stats between now and next month?
What did your week generally look like at Masters level? Trying to get a job on the side but not sure how the weeks are generally structured!
Thanks

Reply 4

sarahviv

One more question, sorry! Are societies and the union more aimed towards undergraduates or are they welcoming to postgraduates as well? I didn't join any in my undergrad and it seems like a good opportunity to try them out this year

Reply 5

University of Kent

Official Rep

Original post by sarahviv

Hi @sarahviv :thumbsup:

So in terms of stats, it is quite different using R compared to SPSS however, I was the same, and I think the majority will also be in a similar boat where they haven't used it before/have used SPSS instead! They do start fairly slowly so you learn the basics of how to use it first. As of the last few years there is one 2-hour computing workshop every week for R (I assume this will be the same this year!), so you have lots of time in workshops to get to grips with it and there are PhD students who float around in those sessions to help/answer questions! There is also a help section on R studio when you do use it too :smile:

I would say you don't really need to do anything between now and then as they do start from the basics as most people won't have used it before, but if you did want to, you could maybe research some 'R Studio basics' on Youtube/downloading R and R studio and just having a play yourself to get a bit familiar with it if you wanted a headstart? But again I don't think you need to by any means!

In terms of what your week will look like; I did the MSc in Organisational & Business Psychology so slightly different, but I can advise what mine was like/what others who did other MSc Psychology courses were like in 2022. I had a part time job at the same time as my masters, and was generally only at uni 3 days a week (for a few hours a day), so I found there was a lot of time to do my work/have a job alongside lectures and seminars! Again, I can't 100% for certain say yours will be the same, but since Masters courses do tend to be more focused on individual learning rather than taught content, it will likely be not as contact-heavy as your undergraduate and so you should be able to have a job alongside if you want to! You'll just have to wait to see what your timetable looks like I guess!

If you have any other questions, definitely let me know!

Natalie :smile:

- University of Kent Student Rep

Reply 6

University of Kent

Official Rep

Original post by sarahviv

Hi @sarahviv - no worries!!

I would say there is generally more undergrads in the societies (just as there are more undergrad than postgrad students overall) but they are definitely welcoming to postgraduate students if you find one you want to join! I wasn't in any during my MSc personally, but a couple of my friends on my course joined societies (one did swimming & one was a member of the film society) and they both loved it! So I would say they're definitely welcoming of postgrad students!

Here is the list of societies/clubs at Kent you can get involved in, if you want to have a look through: https://kentunion.co.uk/activities

Natalie :smile:

- University of Kent Student Rep