Is a degree from Trinity "worth more"?

Rustyred

My daughter wants to do Psychology next year and we're just looking at the possible places she could do it. On her current CAO her top 2 are the Psychology BA in UCD and the Psychology BA in NUIG. I'm wondering however if she'd be better off going to TCD even if simply for its name recognition - Would Trinity look better on her CV? Is there an unwritten rule type of thing where she would be in a more advantaged position by going to Trinity over the other two?

Any feedback would be much appreciated

ballsymchugh

no. back when i was doing the LC, our careers tutor informed us that university of limerick had the best graduate employment rate. it may have changed again, but trinity's name isn't what it was at all.

Rodin

psychology?
hardly matters where you do that.

wayhey

Really interesting thread, I'll be following it!! Isn't Trinity the only university in Ireland ranked in the top world rankings? 52nd or something like that? I'm thinking Galway anyway, turned down an offer from Trinity this year :pac:

johnmcdnl

I won't even bother looking at college rankings at all... Trinity has 500 years of history behind it so obviously there's going to be more papers and citations and such given to Trinity and this is very important when they compile the ranking tables so it's not a level playing field - if it was I'd question if Trinity would still rank the highest but that's for another thread...

most other universities are far younger so they just haven't got as many papers written and so can't get to when Trinity is on the ranking tables because of this...

DCU apparently has one of the highest employment rates after college because a lot of courses there have an INTRA program which basically puts students on a 6 months work placement during 3rd year... it mightn't have such a good reputation or rank as high as Trinity but it gets the job done if you get a job out of it doesn't it...

I don't know much about psychology courses so I can't comment on it but Trinity has that aura about it but that just comes from the history and length of time it's been around for... for some courses it'll be better, for others it'll be ****e... just look at what you'll be studying and just try to talk to people doing psychology courses in other colleges

but don't just pick Trinity because "it's Trinity sur - it'll defo be good because it's Trinity" and because you want to be able to say "yeah I'm in Trinity - look at me I'm really smart"

just do your research into the course you want and forget Trinity's reputation for a bit... to the people who don't know much about higher level education saying you went to Trinity will sound great but that doesn't matter if the field your entering doesn't rate Trinity's course at all... you want to get the best course and best recognised course in psychology in your case... don't be blinded by just wanting to go to Trinity because a degree from Trinity isn't automatically better in the eyes of the professionals in your field - only from the people who don't know any better...

(note - for all I know Trinity could have the best psychology course in the world - just do the research and find out is it the best option for you or is there a better course elsewhere)

Turtyturd

Think this is a really old thought that is still ingrained into some people. Had a person argue with me last year that I should go to trinity because it has better degrees, hence most of their degrees being 4 years. Personally I think it's rubbish and any person doing psychology will need at least a Masters to work in the field so wherever they do their undergraduate degree should not be too much concern.

It doesn't really matter. Sure, personal preference of whoever's reading the CV might come into it, but if they're professional in what they do they won't judge the degree on where it comes from, once it's from a recognised university. Anyway, the personal preference I mentioned works both ways: A past trinity student might subconsciously have a preference to trinity students, but a UCD past student might look on a trinity student with that age old hatred that the UCD/TCD feud has ingrained on us all :rolleyes:

As a trinity student myself, the only difference I find is that when my aunties ask where I'm studying they go "ooooh!". Other than that it's made no difference to my life other than it's closer to my house than any other college. I'm looking for summer work at the moment and I'm finding it just as difficult as any leaving cert student. Also, the points for trinity psychology are in a whole other league (well, they were the year I did the LC). They're pretty ridiculous IIRC. They were like 550 the year I did it or something like that. Not that that should change anything but I'd say it might cause some stress.

CG328

Pick the college which is best for your course, not their reputation

jaysonmoran

having the same problem myself. have an interview in trinity this tues and applied to ucd as mature student also. have got much better Msap results and improved my academic cv no end (access course, intro to psychol course) and was put on reserve last year in ucd so i'm hopeful of gettin offered a place in one or the other this year. trying to figure out the difference between the two courses but apart from the obvious i.e ucd's a year shorter, can't figure out the difference?there both accredited by the PSI and both colleges are well respected. any ideas on how to go about differentiating them?

Corinne

Hi RustyRed,

I would recommend looking at

1. The extra subjects your daughter can take in first year, like English, History, etc. Different institutions have different combinations, for instance, NUIG has 4 subjects in first year, Psych + 3 others, and some places have only 2 others, which might swing it. She might benefit later from having particular subjects on her CV along with Psych. For instance, Irish for primary teaching, etc.

2. The Erasmus programme: If she wants to go away for a year, check if there if the B.A. International is open to the Psychology class. It is a great way of building experience before final year, and she will probably get a better final year project and maybe a publication completed with that extra experience.

3. Check the core modules and elective modules. If she is interested in sport, a module in sport psych might be an option, but UCD has that and NUIG does not. She doesn't need to know what she wants to do, but she might know what she likes the sound of.

I wouldn't worry about which uni for undergrad Arts, she will almost certainly go on to Masters/PhD if she is sticking with psych in the long-term, and she will inevitably be more selective then when it is more important.

D-Generate

I went to UCC but live in London and the only college in Ireland that is recognised in my line of work (banking) is Trinity...

evercloserunion

D-Generate wrote: »

I went to UCC but live in London and the only college in Ireland that is recognised in my line of work (banking) is Trinity...

Trinity has a better international reputation than other Irish universities, simple as. And that *does* matter if you want to work abroad after you graduate. However, if you want to work in Ireland reputation doesn't mean as much at all.

Gilldog

evercloserunion wrote: »

Trinity has a better international reputation than other Irish universities, simple as. And that *does* matter if you want to work abroad after you graduate. However, if you want to work in Ireland reputation doesn't mean as much at all.

Just wanted to second this...if your daughter wants to become a psychologist its likely she will look to the UK for postgraduate training and Trinity is well recognised over there. Also, i know that the Psychology Degree in TRinity is recognised by the PSI and the BPS...not sure how many other Irish courses are...