Applied Psychology in UCC

GerardB

thinking about applying for applied psychology in UCC- doing my leaving cert this year. i think it looks pretty interesting, studying behaviour and figuring people out, but my parents aren't too keen on me doing it because they know people who know people who have done this course and then haven't found any work with it. my response right from the start when they tell me this has been "i don't intend to work just with applied psychology, if i do it i'll go post grad and specialise in a specific area". anyway...

how good is the applied psychology course in UCC (CK106)?

would i have to go post-grad?
if so...
how many different courses could i get into with a BA in applied psychology?
how good would my job prospects be with a post grad psychology degree?

any help will be much appreciated ^^

JuliusCaesar

I can't tell you how good it is; I presume it's accredited and so ok academically.

But I think you are right- study something that interests you. A degree is only a degree. For work purposes, you're always going to need a post-grad. And if you end up doing a post grad in a completely different subject, at least you'll have had 3 enjoyable years of doing a subject you love and will have gained a lot from it.

A psychology degree is useful for lots of occupations outside of actual psychology jobs.

I cannot foretell the future, so can't say what your job prospects will be with a psych post-grad. Anyway, there are a good few different post-grads - in Research, in Clinical, Counselling, Occupational, Educational etc. Look up the Psychological Society of Ireland and the British Psychological Society websites for more information.

GerardB

thanks Caesar, where did you study psychology and what area of psychology are you working in at the moment may i ask?

Odysseus

I know nothing of the course, but for anyone looking to be a psychotherapist I always recommend a psych degree, then do the post grad. I know lot of support workers in the addiction area that have a psych degree. On some of the psychotherapy courses I teach on there are often people with psych degrees.

The main thing as JC said is you are going for something you want to do. Another point is that having a degree in whatever shows employers that you are capable of doing the work required to obtain a degree. Take Philosophy for example, when was the last time you an employer looking for a philosopher!

As to your parents, maybe they are right, but I know of no course at the moment where you will walk right into a job as soon as you get your degree. I know of people whit psych degrees working in advertising, HR, journalism etc, areas where an understanding of the human mind is useful. I have seen people study areas they hated and it was a horrible experience for them, so if you can get a course you interested in, that is half the battle.

GerardB

Odysseus wrote: »

...but I know of no course at the moment where you will walk right into a job as soon as you get your degree. I know of people with psych degrees working in advertising, HR, journalism etc

delighted you mentioned that, journalism is another area i'm interested in and i've been told that its best to do journalism degree on top of another degree, i'm glad to see that psychology can lead to journalism this course is looking great at the moment ^^

Chamade

You may want to check out a few other things in relation to doing a degree in Psychology. As far as I am aware that degree in UCC is four years long while a lot of other Psych degrees are only 3 years. In addition, acquiring a Ist year place does not guarantee a 2nd year place, not sure if this is the case in UCC but it is in a lot of other universities. A certain number of places are given out for the highest leaving cert results and then everyone else is in a race for the other remaining places, people with the highest marks get the place. Others will then continue on doing an arts degree.
Don't let this put you off if this is what you want to do, go for it in my opinion.

Hope this helps

Odysseus

Chamade wrote: »

You may want to check out a few other things in relation to doing a degree in Psychology. As far as I am aware that degree in UCC is four years long while a lot of other Psych degrees are only 3 years. In addition, acquiring a Ist year place does not guarantee a 2nd year place, not sure if this is the case in UCC but it is in a lot of other universities. A certain number of places are given out for the highest leaving cert results and then everyone else is in a race for the other remaining places, people with the highest marks get the place. Others will then continue on doing an arts degree.
Don't let this put you off if this is what you want to do, go for it in my opinion.

Hope this helps

Is that not only the case where you do psychology through an Arts Degree? Whereas the applied couse is pure psych as oppossed to say doing psych and two other subjects during first year. I'm open to correction on this but I do think I'm right.

GerardB

Chamade wrote: »

As far as I am aware that degree in UCC is four years long while a lot of other Psych degrees are only 3 years.

the UCC one i'm talking about (CK106) is three years.

Chamade wrote: »

A certain number of places are given out for the highest leaving cert results and then everyone else is in a race for the other remaining places, people with the highest marks get the place. Others will then continue on doing an arts degree.

well that is how the cao works, applicants get places in order of merit (ie leaving cert points), but if i don't get it it doesn't mean i'll go on to do an arts degree, but i may be offered my next choice

as for the first year not guaranteeing a place in second year, i assumed that's how it is in most courses. i'll be talking to a third year applied psych student in UCC (who's changing course) soon anyway..

thanks for the feedback

Vaughn616

I'm currently doing the course, i'm in second year. its a very intense course but its classified as one of the best in Ireland, the course is currently undergoing some mnor changes and becoming a Bachelors of Science instead of a Bachelors of Arts. It has an intensive research element to it which means its a good undergrad to do if you want to get into postgrads as a lot of them specify experience with research methods. if you have any other questions about it let me know

Vaughn616

Chamade wrote: »

You may want to check out a few other things in relation to doing a degree in Psychology. As far as I am aware that degree in UCC is four years long while a lot of other Psych degrees are only 3 years. In addition, acquiring a Ist year place does not guarantee a 2nd year place, not sure if this is the case in UCC but it is in a lot of other universities. A certain number of places are given out for the highest leaving cert results and then everyone else is in a race for the other remaining places, people with the highest marks get the place. Others will then continue on doing an arts degree.
Don't let this put you off if this is what you want to do, go for it in my opinion.

Hope this helps

This course is only 3 years long, and the only way you wouldn't be getting into second year is if you failed the year and then you can repeat if necessary. Its quite hard to fail the year though as there are repeat exams

savina10

I did CK 106 ten years ago and never regretted it. I ended up working in education without an MA. It's a good course if you work hard and it will serve you well whatever path you take in life. You should think of doing psych and then an MA in Journalism if you are still interested. The two are interrelated.

The points are ridiculous, hope it works out for you.

marxcoo

I've also got a degree in Applied Psychology in UCC. It is a good course but try and keep in mind what you would like to do afterwards, there's not far you can go in the psychology field with just a degree, you would need to go onto postgraduate study. That's not to say that you can't go on and work in other areas with your degree, a psychology degree is really broad and can be a pathway to loads of careers- but it will take time and effort to mould out what you want to so be prepared for that- it's not a direct path into anything.

MissGal

I am only in secondary school but I would like to do psychology when I go to college. I am not sure what subjects I am doing for my leaving cert yet and I was wondering was there any specific subjects need to do Psychology in UCC?