I am struggling to choose between
UCL and Bsc Psychology
vs
Glasgow and Joint Honours CS and Psychology
There is a possibility that I might go into tech in the future. Whether that a tech cooperate job, or AI/Machine Learning, or maybe my dream field of — Computational Neuroscience/Computational Psychology (mixture of tech and Psych), if the field become bigger than it is now because it is currently a very niche and research based field. Or i might just remain in psychology field.
i am aware that both are good unis within the UK, but I want to go abroad after education, and UCL prestige >> Glasgow internationally by a lot. And I don’t really prioritise which uni i’ll enjoy more really because ik both cities have extremely good social life. therefore I want this decision between both unis to be based on future employment prospects only.
PROS of UCL:
- london, so extremely loads more networking event, esp in terms of tech companies
- UCL international prestige >>>> Glasgow’s by a LOT. (for example - Glasgow even tho it is ranked higher than notts and birmingham for example, but notts and brum has higher international prestige than Glasgow i would say, partly because notts and brum is such a big city w a big uni w extremely high employability rates despite it ranked lower)
- target uni
CONS for UCL:
- j pure psychology degree is seen as a ‘mickey mouse’ degree, to put it harshly, because it’s oversaturated. and it’s got this stigma around it w employers as well that people who are average and don’t know what they want to do in life do psychology degree, hence it’s not an ‘employable’ degree at all. its got extremely low employment rates and for those w psych degrees who are employed in non-psych jobs, those jobs are in departments which don’t pay that well (eg. marketing)
- it might make it really hard to go into a field which involves even a little bit of tech (even Computational Psychology) with a just pure Psych degree. ik boot camps are a thing, but everyone does them nowadays, and with tech sector becoming more and more saturated as the years go on, it’s going to be harder to get into psych w just tech boot camps certificates
-A*AA
PROS of Glasgow:
- course is very good. it being a joint honours mean I am BPS accredited in Psychology, which allows me to go into pure Psychology field without and issue. whilst also allowing me to go into tech
-AAA
CONS:
- international prestige <<<< UCL by a lot
- not in london (and FAR from london), so there are so little networking events nearby. esp w tech companies
- semi-target uni (at best)
- although it is ranked very high, even compared to some other Russel Group unis, it’s employment outcome/employability rate is lower than most Russel Group unis. (for example - notts and brum are ranked lower than it, but employers love graduates from those two unis. their uni employment outcomes are superior than glasgow uni’s)
I am aware that if I do choose UCL and want to go into tech, I can do a masters in tech after my psych undergrad, and therefore go into tech. However, if I do go into Computational Psych, it is still a psych field, so I’ll most likely need a psych masters as well (as most psych fields need a masters to even step into the industry, not just a undergrad). So in that case, I would do a masters in Psych and either I do another masters in CS or i try to get hired into Computational Psychology with no tech degree at all. I feel as if this is risky as I am putting all my eggs and trust into the masters basket. Any thoughts on this?
also, I am currently holding AAC, and is resitting either One or Two of my A levels (very likely only one subject, aka my C in maths. Idk if i feel confident getting an A* for UCL, whereas i only need an A in glasgow)
i’ve also heard some negative things about glasgow’s psych course (it being oversubscribed so the uni pushes people out after second year into a bs degree which is not accredited) , but i need to research more into it. if anyone has any information please let me know! but in the meanwhilst, please give an answer or some input into my question of UCL vs Glasgow without taking this into consideration. i need to look into this more
apologies for all that waffle, i’m genuinely just so lost and stressed. please let me know if any advice or thoughts on this topic!!