LC STUDENTS - PYSCHOLOGY?

biohaiid

Just wondering if anyone is thinking of doing pyschology next year, and what courses youv'e put down, what ones are best etc etc ..
Oh, and has anyone heard of any backdoors if you dont get the points?
Need to figure this out before the change of mind on May 1st

SureYWouldntYa

its spelled psychology

i have it down as 3 and 4 because i probabley wont get the points for UCD (505 last year) or TCD (530 last year). i myself am looking at 470+ so i wont get it.

change of mind opens start of may no? not close at start?

biohaiid

If you really want it you should put it first, what everyone reccomends anyways.
I think I have UCD as first and TCD as second.

Not a clue tbh
My careers teacher is useless!

Togepi

You can do Psychology through Arts, that'd be a handy backup.

biohaiid

Togepi wrote: »

You can do Psychology through Arts, that'd be a handy backup.

Oh yeah I heard about that one.
Meant to be really competitive but I'd do it if I had to!hah
Thanks

Togepi

biohaiid wrote: »

Oh yeah I heard about that one.
Meant to be really competitive but I'd do it if I had to!hah
Thanks

Yeah there's enormous competition to get into second year psychology, I probably should've mentioned that!

UL has Psychology and Sociology (or something like that) for around 480 points if that'd interest you? The points are slightly lower than for straight Psychology, so again, it's a nice backup.

biohaiid

Togepi wrote: »

Yeah there's enormous competition to get into second year psychology, I probably should've mentioned that!

UL has Psychology and Sociology (or something like that) for around 480 points if that'd interest you? The points are slightly lower than for straight Psychology, so again, it's a nice backup.

If it came to it I'd just have to work my ass off for a year I guess!hah
Yeah I have that done somewhere along the list I think
Sounds alright actually

toodleytoo

Bear in mind that the straight psychology course in UL hasn't been accredited yet as there's only been three years of it so far. The psych and sociology course has been. As a second year psychology student on the course I wish somebody had let me know!

biohaiid

toodleytoo wrote: »

Bear in mind that the straight psychology course in UL hasn't been accredited yet as there's only been three years of it so far. The psych and sociology course has been. As a second year psychology student on the course I wish somebody had let me know!

Yeah, I saw that when I was looking at courses, thought it was a bit strange!?
I didnt put down the straight psych.
So if it isnt accredited before you graduate what will happen?

EDIT: I just remembered I emailed them at UL once about that, and this was the reply:

PSI accreditation works such that a new course (ie BSc Psychology) seeks accreditation when its first cohort reaches their final year (2012-13). We will be completing our accreditation process then and there is no reason to assume that we will not receive accreditation. This is particularly the case as the BSc shares the majority of its courses with the BA Psychology and Sociology which is already accredited.

You probably know all that already but just nicase

toodleytoo

Yeah I think they're fairly certain that we will be accredited. There's a year ahead of me too so if it doesn't get accredited they're thinking of having our year doing the same fourth year as the psych and sociology course and then we'd graduate with a BA in Psychology and Sociology as opposed to a BSc in Psychology. We've had pretty much all the same modules so far anyway!
One thing I will say is that if you have psychology and sociology down on the CAO try to make sure that you will actually enjoy sociology. A good few of the people doing that course in my year hate their sociology modules. So if you can, try to have a look at an introductory textbook on sociology or something along those lines.. Feel free to PM me if your looking for any more info on either course!

CiaranMT

4th year Psych and Soc here, be happy to answer any questions you might have on the course.

Musefan

Final year Psych student in UCD here. Just a word of warning, if you are interested in becoming a psychologist and want to study in UCD, you MUST do the single honours BA in Psychology, not psychology through arts (it is not accredited). Check http://www.psihq.ie/accred_UnderGradList.asp to see what undergraduate courses are accredited. You must complete an accredited undergraduate course to progress to a doctorate like clinical psychology, educational psychology etc.

If you choose to take a non-accredited psych course, you must then return to study an accredited course as a Hdip student.

biohaiid

CiaranMT wrote: »

4th year Psych and Soc here, be happy to answer any questions you might have on the course.

Cheers!
What exactly does the sociology side involve?
Do you like it?
And at the end of the four years can you go start on to a post grad or do you need to do a conversion like you do for arts?

biohaiid

Musefan wrote: »

Final year Psych student in UCD here. Just a word of warning, if you are interested in becoming a psychologist and want to study in UCD, you MUST do the single honours BA in Psychology, not psychology through arts (it is not accredited). Check http://www.psihq.ie/accred_UnderGradList.asp to see what undergraduate courses are accredited. You must complete an accredited undergraduate course to progress to a doctorate like clinical psychology, educational psychology etc.

If you choose to take a non-accredited psych course, you must then return to study an accredited course as a Hdip student.

Thanks!
I noticed before that DCU wasnt accredited so I emailed them and they assured me that there is no reason they shouldnt get accredition as they are currently seeking.
So I have it as like 4th or th choice, is that wise?
Should I put it lower, or take it off completley?

CiaranMT

biohaiid wrote: »

Cheers!
What exactly does the sociology side involve?
Do you like it?
And at the end of the four years can you go start on to a post grad or do you need to do a conversion like you do for arts?

I did enjoy the course, though that's more to do with the group I will be graduating with, got lucky we had a great group of friends.

You'll study classical and contemporary sociological theories. Google heads like Durkheim, Foucault, Comte, Marx, someone who I enjoyed in particular was Mead (along with Blumer)... You'll also have a module on Women's studies and be taught about post-modernism etc...

Theories such as structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism are covered, along with plenty more.

Personally, I've done better in sociological modules than in psychological ones, but unless you find that you're into academia, there isn't that much scope for a career in sociology.

If you find the above topics interesting, then you'll enjoy the course. The workload is relatively light, compared to most courses.

What postgrad are you looking at doing? Psych and Soc is more or less a Psych degree, you wouldn't have to convert for Psych masters.

paky

i heard this to be a very popular course. i wonder where the demand for all these psychologists is gona be

biohaiid

CiaranMT wrote: »

I did enjoy the course, though that's more to do with the group I will be graduating with, got lucky we had a great group of friends.

You'll study classical and contemporary sociological theories. Google heads like Durkheim, Foucault, Comte, Marx, someone who I enjoyed in particular was Mead (along with Blumer)... You'll also have a module on Women's studies and be taught about post-modernism etc...

Theories such as structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism are covered, along with plenty more.

Personally, I've done better in sociological modules than in psychological ones, but unless you find that you're into academia, there isn't that much scope for a career in sociology.

If you find the above topics interesting, then you'll enjoy the course. The workload is relatively light, compared to most courses.

What postgrad are you looking at doing? Psych and Soc is more or less a Psych degree, you wouldn't have to convert for Psych masters.

Tbh I didnt understand any of those words, but I will look into them hah

It might be worth a go I think, especially since its so lower in points than other courses, and I've gotten around the 48o mark in all my exams so far.

Im not too sure, maybe clinical, counselling or criminology but that could all change.

Thanks for your help

biohaiid

paky wrote: »

i heard this to be a very popular course. i wonder where the demand for all these psychologists is gona be

I think there is a bigger demand for psychologists now more than ever.

biohaiid

Sorry, one more question.
If I dont plan on working/living in Ireland in the future, would it matter if my course is accredied or not?

paky

biohaiid wrote: »

I think there is a bigger demand for psychologists now more than ever.

not if people cant afford them

biohaiid

paky wrote: »

not if people cant afford them

Well I spose theres that aspect to every job at the mo but pyschology can lead into so many different things.
And the course can take up to 7 years, im sure itl have picked up by them

CiaranMT

biohaiid wrote: »

Tbh I didnt understand any of those words, but I will look into them hah

It might be worth a go I think, especially since its so lower in points than other courses, and I've gotten around the 48o mark in all my exams so far.

Im not too sure, maybe clinical, counselling or criminology but that could all change.

Thanks for your help

Do. Sociology makes up half the course, after all

The straight Psych BSc in UL has most of the Sociology modules that Psych and Soc has, but has a few more Psych modules.

My course was up around the 500-510 mark before they introduced the new course

biohaiid wrote: »

Sorry, one more question.
If I dont plan on working/living in Ireland in the future, would it matter if my course is accredied or not?

It's accredited with the PSI, which would be recognised on the same level as the British equivalent... I'd assume it'd be the same elsewhere.

Lucario

Has anyone done/is doing Psychology in NUIG? How did you find the course?

dambarude

The NUIG course is a very well respected one, but I haven't done it so couldn't say any more than that.

No.5

Lucario wrote: »

Has anyone done/is doing Psychology in NUIG? How did you find the course?

Hey
I didn't apply for psychology in NUIG on the CAO I applied for Arts. Once I attended lectures, I really did love the content. In first year we studied, cognitive psychology, personality psychology, developmental psychology, psychology of learning, biological psychology and social psychology along with a research methods module. In first year we had two essays, two exams , a lab report and a kind of question and answer type assignment. There were marks given for attendance at tutorials and you also had to be guinea pigs for some of the final year students :P All of these made up your final grade at the end of the year
It was a lot more work than expected (considering it was just one of my 4 subjects and even people who are on the denominated psychology programme have to do 3 other subjects in first year), but it was very interesting and most of the lecturers are friendly and approachable. I was lucky enough to get the top 15 though so will progress into second year denominated psychology next year. It was highly highly competitive though.

Lucario

No.5 wrote: »

Hey
I didn't apply for psychology in NUIG on the CAO I applied for Arts. Once I attended lectures, I really did love the content. In first year we studied, cognitive psychology, personality psychology, developmental psychology, psychology of learning, biological psychology and social psychology along with a research methods module. In first year we had two essays, two exams , a lab report and a kind of question and answer type assignment. There were marks given for attendance at tutorials and you also had to be guinea pigs for some of the final year students :P All of these made up your final grade at the end of the year
It was a lot more work than expected (considering it was just one of my 4 subjects and even people who are on the denominated psychology programme have to do 3 other subjects in first year), but it was very interesting and most of the lecturers are friendly and approachable. I was lucky enough to get the top 15 though so will progress into second year denominated psychology next year. It was highly highly competitive though.

Great, thanks for that! What other subjects did you do? And what were your hours like? Did you think it was difficult? And also what are the exams like - question and answer, essay-style or what? Sorry for all the questions, I just want to know as much as possible about the course

No.5

Lucario wrote: »

Great, thanks for that! What other subjects did you do? And what were your hours like? Did you think it was difficult? And also what are the exams like - question and answer, essay-style or what? Sorry for all the questions, I just want to know as much as possible about the course

No bother
I did Soc and Pol, Geography and Italian with it
If you have any questions about those ask away

I couldn't tell you offhand what my hours were like, I know I had a Thursday off and only two lectures on a Friday. I had a lot of extra hours because of the language. As for psychology, 4 lectures a week plus a tutorial
I didn't find psychology difficult, because it was just so intersting. The research methods module was a bit of a bore, although tbh I attended barely any of those and managed to pass so dont' sweat it too much.
The exam was a multiple choice exam, tick the box a, b,c or d. Sounds easy but it's not, it's fairly intense 120 questions in 120 minutes.

No bother with the questions ask away
Hope this is of some help

biohaiid

No.5 wrote: »

No bother
I did Soc and Pol, Geography and Italian with it
If you have any questions about those ask away

I couldn't tell you offhand what my hours were like, I know I had a Thursday off and only two lectures on a Friday. I had a lot of extra hours because of the language. As for psychology, 4 lectures a week plus a tutorial
I didn't find psychology difficult, because it was just so intersting. The research methods module was a bit of a bore, although tbh I attended barely any of those and managed to pass so dont' sweat it too much.
The exam was a multiple choice exam, tick the box a, b,c or d. Sounds easy but it's not, it's fairly intense 120 questions in 120 minutes.

No bother with the questions ask away
Hope this is of some help

Sorry to intrude, but just wondering did you speak Italian before 3rd level or was it a new thing?
I'd love to leanr but know literally nothing.

No.5

biohaiid wrote: »

Sorry to intrude, but just wondering did you speak Italian before 3rd level or was it a new thing?
I'd love to leanr but know literally nothing.

It was a new thing.
Entirely new, but it was new for everyone who took it. It's taught at beginners level in NUIG
Regretted picking it to be honest (although it was great for making friends since it was a small class compared to the large Arts lectures), I thought I'd enjoy it but I really didn't. I loved French in secondary school, thought Italian would be pretty easy to pick up but nooope!
Don't let me sway you though, there were a few die-hards in the class who really did and embrace and love it.

mariecxx

so basically im going into 6th year and already stressed about the leaving !! really want to do pyschology in ucd however have heard its almost impossible to become an actual pyschologist due to the average 8 years it takes to become one?!?! i dont want to be 28 and still studying for a phd !! i love the idea of the course but the maths is putting me off!! i HATE maths! is there a lot of it?!?!

biohaiid

So .. looks like Psych and Soc in UL after all. Not sure how to feel about it atm.