(Educational Psych) Postgraduate Funding - Psychology Students?

psydiffer

Hi everybody. I would like to know if and how psychology graduates in Ireland who want (and NEED) to pursue postgraduate studies in psychology can feasibly do this? Are you simply not going to pursue PG studies because of the cessation of maintenance grants for PG students? I would particularly like to hear from students who are not from the city and that would have to potentially relocate to a city.

I am in a predicament; I cannot find work. I have a M.Sc and B.Sc (Hons) in psychology, with my M.Sc being typically facilitating towards PhD study. But PhD study is no longer the road I want to pursue. Rather, a Masters in Educational Psych.

1. Does anybody know where the best area in Ireland is for finding work in research in psychology?

2. I want to pursue a MA in educational psychology now. This entails obtaining a HELL of a lot of work experience, whilst miraculously finding the money to survive (let's presume I could get the most of my fees paid; these are e9,000 at UCD)?

3. What are your stories on finance / pursuing PG courses / work experience in Ireland in 2012?


Training psychologists NEED postgraduate training because we are in limbo without it - will it ever happen for us in this country?

Thanks for all responses.

bearhugs

Hey there,
Just wanted to reply to tell you that you're not alone! I'm in the same boat although I'm only nearing the end of my studies now having gone back to do a Psych degree. I'm hoping eventually to do educational psych but its a long hard path apparently, if you can manage to get onto a course in the first place. I'm looking into the courses in the UK at the moment and have just realised that over there with the exception of Scotland you have to do a 3 year doctorate for ed psych. This is freaking me out bigtime! Three years in college and fees and all the rest to pay. Wonder how the UCD one compares, would it enable you to work abroad? Anyway, not much hope at all for funding as far as I can see, hope you get some answers

psydiffer

bearhugs wrote: »

Hey there,
Just wanted to reply to tell you that you're not alone! I'm in the same boat although I'm only nearing the end of my studies now having gone back to do a Psych degree. I'm hoping eventually to do educational psych but its a long hard path apparently, if you can manage to get onto a course in the first place. I'm looking into the courses in the UK at the moment and have just realised that over there with the exception of Scotland you have to do a 3 year doctorate for ed psych. This is freaking me out bigtime! Three years in college and fees and all the rest to pay. Wonder how the UCD one compares, would it enable you to work abroad? Anyway, not much hope at all for funding as far as I can see, hope you get some answers

Hey, thank you for the reply. The future is extremely bleak in Ireland. In Scotland you can do a two-year masters degree in educational psychology and a subsequent year of probationary work with an ed psych to gain chartership in Scotland. Which is great. However, the masters programmes in Scotland run every two years. So that is something to monitor if you were thinking of applying. I recommend studying in Scotland, it is superb there. They have some of the best universities in Europe.

The problem with wanting to study in the UK as an Irish citizen is that we are not entitled to get one bit of funding from Ireland anymore. But what is great is that if you get yourself to the level of potentially getting accepted onto the doctorate in Ed Psych at Queens in Belfast, then your place on that course will be fully funded. Getting to this level is easier said than done when you consider that in the majority of cases warrant a lot of work experience and postgraduate course/s to get on the doctorate. The future is really miserable in Ireland as a postgraduate student. Some people may be entitled to get a portion of their fees paid, but unless their family live in the same location as the university, the majority of cases could never afford to live there (i.e., Dublin, Scotland).

I'm currently job less in Ireland and seriously considering moving to the UK towards the summer time if things remain as they are.

Good luck to you too