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university change / course change

Hello,

I am struggling on deciding what I would like to study. I am currently studying Forensic Psychology as an undergraduate in my first year.
I feel like my course is not giving me enough career options, and the career options i have are not really linked to this course. I wanted to be a forensic psychologist, however, I have so many more options of careers I want to do.
I have researched and found another course in another uni, however I am not really too sure of what to do.
Do I carry on with my current degree and do this new course after - my pros with this is I will have a degree if anything fails. my cons with this is it will feel like money and time wasted, and will this new course still be here in 2 years time?
Do I quit after my first year and apply for my new uni/course and hope I get in? or do I drop out now, apply now and hope I get in. - pros, if I do get in, ill be doing what I want to do sooner. cons - i've still wasted money and time, and what if i don't get in.

any help/advice is appreciated,
thank you
rachel.

Reply 1

YSJstudents

Official Rep

Hi Rachel,

My name is Alex and I'm a second year psychology student at YSJ. From what I know about Forensic Psych, it's certainly a competitive field, meaning that if you're not 100% dedicated to the subject and would be happy to carry on studying beyond undergraduate level, the job you get after graduating might not relate to forensic psychology. That doesn't mean the degree is useless or a waste of time and money - there are plenty of jobs that having a degree in any subject may benefit, such as becoming a police constable (PC) and their degree holder entry programme. There are also grad schemes - employers that hire graduates from any subject - which you can typically find through job websites such as Indeed or LinkedIn. Talk to the careers team at your university about this - they will be able to advise you on what careers forensic psychology might help you achieve and what the steps might be to get there.

However, if you're really feeling like forensic psychology isn't suiting you anymore, I'd suggest talking to your tutor or the support team at your university. If the university you currently go to has a course you like, they may have a unique system to transfer students out of subjects they don't like. Many students do the first year or semester and change their mind about the subject, and it's important you are happy with the subject you're doing - degrees are a lot of work and take up a lot of time, and as you mention, a lot of money!

Your tutor or support team should be able to offer you advice about which course or pathway is right for you and help ease your nerves about potentially transferring. If you want to internally transfer, they may be able to explain the process to you, and information such as how to make the transition go smoothly and when to withdraw from your current course. If you tranfer to another university, they can still provide guidance on how to approach them and what might happen.

Hope this helps :smile: