Help needed please - should DD change uni course? (Psychology to Philosophy)

[cryinglightning]

Hello,

DD is tying herself in knots over this. She is a fresher at Sheffield Uni and 2.5 weeks into a Psychology course which she is not finding nearly as engaging or interesting as she had previously hoped. Took Psychology and Philosophy at A Level, loved both and got A*s in both.

In her heart I think she always knew she preferred Philosophy but was always set on Psychology as it seemed a stronger degree choice - it is a BSc rather than a BA and she was keen to go down the route of psychologist. Psychology seemed more employable. However now she is realising that postgrad psychology is extremely competitive and the reality is that most psych grads don't/can't go down that route. Effectively, having chosen Psychology because the job prospects were better, she is slowly realising that it just isn't top of the employability heap and the employability differences between Psych and Phil are probably marginal. Additionally, Psychology has been a lot more science and maths based than she had expected and she is stronger at essay writing.

With this in mind, can any of you give insight into whether or not she should switch to Philosophy, a course she would almost certainly prefer? Or should she stick to her initial guns and continue with Psychology, while hoping it gets more interesting?

So sorry this has been so long! Thanks in advance.

She needs to get in touch with student support ASAP but it is quite common for students to change courses.

I'm not sure any degree is very interesting in the first few weeks.

My first undergrad degree was a bizarre hotpotch of psychology, philosophy, criminology, sociology and social policy (20% each subject). They were all equally dull in the first few months.

If she thinks she'd like philosophy more then sure. But what would she do with a philosophy degree? She could use it as a general degree for graduate schemes but then she could with psychology with the added attractions that she might be one of the lucky ones for postgrad.

A friend of dd's has a psychology degree, didn't get onto any postgrad courses. So did a certificate in CBT and has set herself up as a self employed counselor charging £60 an hour and can't keep up with the work she has. So there are some other options.

She has written to student support.

@JacobReesMogadishu the bonuses you mention of the added attractions of Psychology are what drew her to it in the first place. However, she is now questioning whether those really outweigh how much more engaging she would find a Philosophy degree.

I did a psychology degree aeons ago, before it really took off as a subject. I hated the first term or so.

Can your daughter decipher how much of of her dissatisfaction is about the subject and how much (perhaps) is about the transition to university, being away from home (I assume) for the first time etc? If she's sure it's about the degree - and if she's sure she doesn't want to aim at (say) clinical psychology - then perhaps she should try to transfer onto another course. The downside of the explosion in undergraduate psychology numbers, I think, is that so many undergraduates now stand little chance of getting onto a postgrad course, not because they lack ability but because the numbers are against them.

Quick look at the online prospectus suggests that your daughter might be interested in following the philosophy of psychology options offered by the philosophy department. Dual honours might be a possibility. Worth checking if dual honours give her the chance for GBR later, if she changed her mind back again?
The maths and research methods modules are a bit of a shock to many undergraduates but assuming she has GCSE maths and a science or two it won't be beyond her if she decides to stick with psychology and the option of postgraduate training. Yes it is competitive but she's at a good school.
Definitely one to discuss with her department sooner rather than later.