Some questions about Psychology

The Lovely Muffin

Hi,

Can anyone anyone answer any of the following questions please?

1) What subjects would I need to study through 3rd year (Junior Cert), 4th year and 5th year (leaving Cert) to study Psychology in uni?

2) What exactly is involved in studying Psychology? I've read on a few websites that during the 2nd year, you have to cut up dead peoples' brains, is this true?

3) How difficult is it exactly? I've had a few people telling me "it's very difficult" - I know it's very difficult, I don't need to be told that.

4) I was interested in "counseling psychology". Has anyone here done this? What is it like exactly?

I'm asking these questions, because I am going back to eduction this September, and I was thinking of going on to do Psychology in 3rd level after my Leaving Cert, but I'm not 100% sure it's what I want.

I'm not exactly brainy, but I know if I put the work, effort and time into it, I could do it.

Thanks for any help.

Doghouse

-Orlaith- wrote: »

Hi,

Can anyone anyone answer any of the following questions please?

1) What subjects would I need to study through 3rd year (Junior Cert), 4th year and 5th year (leaving Cert) to study Psychology in uni?

Don't think there's any LC subject requirements for psychology, apart from the standard university entry criteria for wherever it is you're applying to. However, it's a long time since I did the LC. Someone else might know better.

-Orlaith- wrote: »

2) What exactly is involved in studying Psychology? I've read on a few websites that during the 2nd year, you have to cut up dead peoples' brains, is this true?

Er, not in Ireland anyway. We had lab practicals but they involved things like computer-based cognitive tests and creating/validating questionnaires - no disections, no animal work. It's mostly lectures, tutorials, assignments, presentations etc. The kind of subjects you'll do include things like social psychology, history of psychology, neuropsychology (you might see photos of brain slices but that's about it), psychopharmacology, clinical/abnormal psychology, stats, stats, more stats, psychology of language acquisition, developmental psychology, learning and memory, cognitive systems, artificial intelligence, sports psychology etc.

-Orlaith- wrote: »

3) How difficult is it exactly? I've had a few people telling me "it's very difficult" - I know it's very difficult, I don't need to be told that.

I found there to be a very heavy workload or maybe that was just lack of organisation in the college (a lot of deadlines fell together). As I mentioned above there are a lot of diverse aspects to psychology so it involves learning and reading articles from many different sources, not all of which I would have had an interest in, which sometimes made it harder. I'd say the most important thing while studying psychology is to be able to think critically and analytically and to be able to distill large amounts of information into coherent essays and presentations.Same as with most courses I suppose.

-Orlaith- wrote: »

4) I was interested in "counseling psychology". Has anyone here done this? What is it like exactly?

I've no experience of this, sorry.

-Orlaith- wrote: »

I'm asking these questions, because I am going back to eduction this September, and I was thinking of going on to do Psychology in 3rd level after my Leaving Cert, but I'm not 100% sure it's what I want.

I'm not exactly brainy, but I know if I put the work, effort and time into it, I could do it.

Thanks for any help.

Best of luck if you decide to do it. It might be a good idea to buy some sort of basic 'intro to psychology' book in order to see what kind of things you'd be studying.

krankykitty

-Orlaith- wrote: »

4) I was interested in "counseling psychology". Has anyone here done this? What is it like exactly?

Hi Orlaith,

Good luck with whatever course you decide on

On the matter of counselling psychology, AFAIK this would be something you would specialise in after doing your primary degree in Psychology - ie, a Masters. I'm not sure how much counselling, if any, is in the general Psychology degree. I believe places on the Masters courses following the primary degree are quite competitive..

I'm sure like any other course worth doing it is difficult, but I reckon if you have an interest in the area that will be a big help. As the previous poster mentioned, half of the battle is organising your workload and keeping on top of assignments and study.

The Black Oil

TCD's counselling course is now a 3 year doctorate, http://www.psychology.tcd.ie/postgraduate/msc-counselling/ many of the popular postgrad training courses are pretty competitive to get into.

Might be worth reading some of the slides on here http://www.psihq.ie/members_studentNews.asp

DMMK

Hi Orlaith,

1) What subjects would I need to study through 3rd year (Junior Cert), 4th year and 5th year (leaving Cert) to study Psychology in uni?

To study in an Irish university you do not need to study specific subject, you can study arts majoring in psychology of you can study science majoring in psychology (NUIM) or you can study applied psychology, entry to these courses are based on points so the best way to find out the points requirements is to go the the CAO web site. The points to study applied psychology are about 520, doing it through arts or science is much more accessible, however, you will then need to finish in the top percentage of your your class to major. On the other hand, in leaving cert I applied through UCAS to study psychology in Edinburgh, where I needed English, Biology, and Maths, my individual grades were taken into account.

2) What exactly is involved in studying Psychology? I've read on a few websites that during the 2nd year, you have to cut up dead peoples' brains, is this true?

No, I cant say I have ever cut up a brain! Psychology is a very broad field so particularly in 1st and 2nd year, you will study a range of modules which will, at the end, lead to an understanding of where theories are derived from, such as the biology, research methods, sociology, and social policy. 3rd and 4th year are much more specific and will give you an insight into applied psychology, you will study developmental psychology, atypical development, cognitive psychology, cognitive neuropsychology, social psychology etc not forgetting research methods ( very very very important, it is a science after all). If you google any of those terms there will be sites that can tell you much more than I have a hope of explaining in this msg.

3) How difficult is it exactly? I've had a few people telling me "it's very difficult" - I know it's very difficult, I don't need to be told that.

I know you really don't want to hear it but again just to reiterate, it is very difficult, you really need to be sure this is what you want to do because you will spend 4years of your life as an undergrad with your head stuck in some sort of journal. Career progress will be hindered if you graduate with less than a 2.1 (meaning you will need a 'B' average) as it is a seriously competitive, and notoriously difficult field to break into. I know this is abit down the line but you will, most likely, need to take a year (at least) after you finish your undergraduate degree to do work experience/placements, alot of this will be voluntary too, but you need to do it to show you have experience and are motivated.

4) I was interested in "counseling psychology". Has anyone here done this? What is it like exactly?

www.ncii.ie this is the website for the national counselling institute of Ireland, it runs both under and post graduate courses, or have a look at the UCC or the Trinity website for information on postgrad courses. I'm not sure what the age limit is but when you are old enough think about volunteering, with the Samaritans for example.

I prob sound alittle negative but I'm just being honest, having said that, I was in your shoes a few years ago, and now I am passionate about psychology, I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else, its good you have started thinking about it so early too.

The Lovely Muffin

Thank you all so much for your answers/help.

I'm 99.9% sure it's what I want, but I'll look through other career options first and see.

I'm 18, btw,

Thanks again for your help, appreciate it.