life with a 2.2 degree classification

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kels488

Hi!
I have just graduated with a 2.2 in psychology and was hoping to do my masters this year- but most MAs are looking 2.1s :frown:

. My longterm goal is to become a neuropsychologist or something related, but i need to get onto a MA to rebuke my 2.2- but most MAs in Psychology are looking 2.1s- I find this bizzare! :mad:

Anyone been in the same position as me or give me advice on how i can go forward?
thanks

Reply 21

Comp_Genius

mickeyfit

My impression of the postgrad system is that they discourage people from applying purely for the reason of rebuking their bad undergrad degree, which is why entry onto them is usually to the same standard as entry onto any graduate scheme.
Not to mention that PG's are extremely hard work, that require great academic ability, so most uni's will expect a 2:1 as proof that you will be able to handle the coursework and understand the concepts covered.
Also, from reading the Postgrad threads, it is also my understanding that an MA will not replace a poor performance in UG - employers will still refer to your UG result.

I would say an undergraduate course is much more rigorous and difficult than a postgraduate one. The latter is a way for universities to make money.

Reply 22

hobnob

princessnavi22

People take 2.2s far too bad on here!!
It's not the end of the world!! Geez!!

Of course it's not the end of the world, but for someone hoping to do a PhD in a relatively popular subject, it's still quite a setback. (I have no idea whether Psychology really is that competititve at graduate level, but G50's comments suggest that it is).

Reply 23

Communist Daughter

My brother got onto a Masters Course in Durham University with a 2.2 (mind you was in law).

Reply 24

GodspeedGehenna

hobnob

Considering Assistant Psychologist jobs can receive ~300 applications per place within about 24 hours of them being posted, I'd say yes, unfortunately.

Psych is tear-jerkingly competitive at postgraduate level and can take 5 years or so before applicants get on. There is a huge bottleneck as previous posters have said, and only the top notch candidates get the places.

Reply 25

0404343m

Like undergraduate entry requirements, sometimes this 2:1 can be a reflection of the demand on the course- several courses are really only interested in people who are very close to firsts, for instance. It's been mentioned, but look at Aberdeen. It's location usually puts a lot of people off applying, so I doubt its courses will be full- it also had the world's first chair of Psychology, and a relative graduated in Psych from there about a decade ago- it ain't half bad.

Some postgrad courses are little more than money spinners, and lecturers criticisms of them seem to indicate they're at best only equal to another final honours year. However, it's best to avoid generalisations on this front, some (especially those which prepare people for further research) are not really designed to bring in the foreign students who pay big fees (the MBA has made a lot of unis a lot of cash), so you may well find them rigorous and demanding. You have to be prepared to work pretty damn hard, but a 2:2 is not the end of the world- I know a 2:2 St Andrews grad with a distinction (and prize) from a masters at Dundee who went on to gain PhD funding.

Reply 26

RadioElectric

kels488

My longterm goal is to become a neuropsychologist or something related, but i need to get onto a MA to rebuke my 2.2- but most MAs in Psychology are looking 2.1s- I find this bizzare! :mad:

Neuropsychologist is a nice word but what do you actually want to do? Clinical work? Research? What area?

A masters at this stage will be very expensive for you, have you thought about how you'd pay for it? Funded positions will be the ones with the most competition so you would probably struggle toget on one.

My advice is to work out what you want to do and get some work experience (employed and paid if you can) as close as you can get to it. Some places will even want to help you take a masters or whatever later on.

Reply 27

GodspeedGehenna

RadioElectric

I fail to see how any of this is relevant to what OP posted.

Reply 28

RadioElectric

GodspeedGehenna

I fail to see how any of this is relevant to what OP posted.

Then you must be confused:

Hi!
I have just graduated with a 2.2 in psychology and was hoping to do my masters this year- but most MAs are looking 2.1s . My longterm goal is to become a neuropsychologist or something related, but i need to get onto a MA to rebuke my 2.2- but most MAs in Psychology are looking 2.1s- I find this bizzare!
Anyone been in the same position as me or give me advice on how i can go forward?
thanks

Reply 29

GodspeedGehenna

RadioElectric

Then you must be confused:

Still not relevant.

OP was asking how to proceed on to postgrad with a 2.2, yet here you are questioning his ability to fund the course as well as his direction in what he wants to do. Not really useful.

Reply 30

AATTMM

kels488

Yup i am taking a year out ll! :eek3:

i need a break, but am going to spend that year working productively getting experience in the field (most of it will be voluntary) and travelling for a bit! :biggrin:

What is a graduate diploma? never heard of it before!
Cheers Kels

It's sort of not quite a masters but would make you more attractive to universities (possibly) =) I'm not even sure there are psychology ones. But yeah, if you do a gap year, as other people have said - lots of relevant experience is a v good idea, and if you can combine this with travelling even better =D That's what I'll be doing next year between masters and phd, but for arch/heritage =)

Reply 31

RadioElectric

GodspeedGehenna

I consider my advice to be relevant and useful. Your complaints are not.

Reply 32

Mitothy

Well to be honest, I think with effort, dedication and especially relevant work experience, you should be able to get onto a masters somewhere. This is especially true if you're going for ones in neuroscience areas of psychology and neuroimaging as quite a few good quality institutions have recently introduced courses and new ones are easier to get onto than established ones.

But think about whether that's really what you want to be doing. If you do want to go on to neuropsychology, getting onto those later courses is going to be a hell of a lot more competitive than a masters, so if they're picking between you and someone who didn't need to do a Masters to "rebuke a 2.2", I'm afraid I don't see you coming out of that well.

I'm just saying that if you're looking to do a Masters as a path into something else, do the research on the other courses, email admissions tutors etc. to make sure that the masters will actually lead you where you want it to.

Reply 33

GodspeedGehenna

Taken from one of the links I have already previously posted, one of the forum members collated all of their replies from enquiring to universities about having a 2.2 and applying to the d.clin.psych.

UCL

Spoiler

Oxford

Spoiler

Surrey

Spoiler

Southampton

Spoiler

UEL

Spoiler

Exeter

Spoiler

Salomons

Spoiler

Bristol

Spoiler

So yeah, some good and some bad.

Reply 34

Mitothy

RadioElectric

I consider my advice to be relevant and useful. Your complaints are not.

Agreed!

If someone is asking how to get onto a postgraduate course in order to go onto do something else, then their reasons and the other factors affecting whether they are able to do a course are entirely relevant.

Reply 35

RadioElectric

Mitothy

The consensus I've heard from postgraduates is that masters courses are great moneyspinners for universities. Over the year you'll be putting a significant amount of money into the institution so you need to make sure you'll get that an appropriate amount of value back out of it.

(This is probably no less true for most undergraduate courses, but then you don't feel the sting of the expense quite so readily there.)

Reply 36

Mitothy

RadioElectric

Certainly true that a lot of masters courses are profitable for uni's but people tend to hear the word "moneyspinners" and have a knee jerk reaction, assuming that they must be useless and that they are just there to take advantage of mugs. This isn't the case for (the majority) of courses, they simply are expensive as we live in a world of supply and demand.

Also, the psychology masters fees I looked at back when I was applying were some of the lowest out of all the different subjects, so its certainly not a charge which sticks in the same way as it does to an MBA or other management courses.

Reply 37

RadioElectric

Mitothy

I agree totally, all I'm saying is that the Masters is a product that you're buying so you have the right to be demanding in what you get out of it.

Reply 38

Aethelred

kels488

Hi!
I have just graduated with a 2.2 in psychology and was hoping to do my masters this year- but most MAs are looking 2.1s :frown:

. My longterm goal is to become a neuropsychologist or something related, but i need to get onto a MA to rebuke my 2.2- but most MAs in Psychology are looking 2.1s- I find this bizzare! :mad:

Anyone been in the same position as me or give me advice on how i can go forward?
thanks

Have you considered the Open University? They do an MSc in Psychological Research Methods, for example.

Reply 39

epoch

Doing a Msc is entirely possible with a 2.2 however they are difficult to get on to and you will probably have to fund it yourself. Getting relative experience will help as well as good references and anything to add to your C.V.

One of my friends is currently awaiting to start an Msc with a 2.2 so it is not impossible