Feeling so lost at uni

[silkysmoothparanoia]

I'm currently coming to the end of my first year studying psychology at uni. I had doubts before starting the degree and I still have them now, I'm already dreading second year. Most days I question why I'm doing it.

I've not enjoyed the majority of the course content, my department is heavily neuroscience based and I'm more interested in the social side. I regret my choice of degree, I felt pressured to choose any degree for the sake of doing one. I don't have much of a career path in mind, maybe something creative. My A-Levels limit my options, I have: A in Psychology, A in Sociology and B in Art. I started off with more facilitating A-Levels but had to drop them since my mental health was at rock bottom at the time. I wish I could study something like Architecture or English Literature but that would be complicated and time consuming due to my A-Levels.

I also worry that this degree is too big of an investment to give up. It cost me so much stress and effort to survive this year and my parents have helped me financially. I'm also doing alright in coursework, getting 65-80 in all my essays. I've struggled with exams and only got in the 50s with 65 in one module.

Other factors have definitely made this year very difficult. My relationship with my boyfriend going long distance, not making any friends, living with a bully of a housemate. So maybe that's more of the problem than the course itself?

I have no idea what to do. I've talked to my academic supervisor, boyfriend, parents etc. But they haven't been much help and in the end it's my own decision. I feel like I need to decide soon if I want to do a different degree or else I won't get SFE funding for the full degree. The anxiety of the decision is eating me up and making me feel physically ill. I just wish I had a clear path and feel like what I'm doing is worth it.

Thanks for reading, any advice is really appreciated :)

What are the alternatives for degree options?

Will you be living with the same group /bully in sept- Is this something that won't be as much of an issue ?
Can you stop this course and change to a foundation year for art?
I'd say uni is far too expensive to carry on if you are hating it ( yr course) that much.
It's ok to change your mind

Thank you :) If I do choose to stay I have a house lined up without the bully. I don't really know the housemates but they seem nice enough. I don't think my current uni offers art or foundation years

Is there anyway of swapping pathway to a joint honours with something else that may attract your interest? I myself started with a single honours but swapped to joint honours with another programme. Admittedly I swapped much sooner than after the first year ended, but my modules would have actually been the same so it was allowed. Maybe something similar with an option to pick up an extra module if needed next year? It might be worth a chat with your personal tutor maybe or someone similar of your options?

The two I have thought about are English Literature and Architecture. For English Literature I'd have to take at least a year out to do A-Level English. For Architecture I'd have to take a year out to make a portfolio and maybe do A-Level maths depending on what uni I wanted to apply to.

I guess my biggest worries are how time consuming it would be and the cost. I think I'd have to do distance learning for A-Levels and probably work at least part time at the same time. Also there's not enough room for me to move back in with my parents so I'd most likely have to move in with my boyfriend.

It could be better to change course now- than give it up in your second or third year and loose even more money and time. Could you chat with your lecturers and find out the course content for the second and third years to see if they are more suited to you? If not then there’s not much point in doing a course your not interested in, in a place you’re not comfortable in.
I’d give it a chance if next year sounds more interesting. I didn’t much enjoy the academics of my first year- but the second and third year gave me more opportunity to do more self directed
stuff I was interested in.

Oh I feel for you, university can be crap! I absolutely hated my first year, desperately, but did stay on. It was a while ago and I know a lot has changed but could you swap courses or select modules from other departments at all, more in line with your interests? Do you have a pastoral lead you can speak to? Or maybe approach the English department and see what you may be able to do with them? My sister is an English lecturer and they are always keen on students who want to study English.

What's your ultimate goal, career wise? I mean I didn't have one (still don't at 42!!) But if there's a goal, try to work towards that. And good luck, I think the housing and boyfriend stuff will probably have impacted on you more than you think, so make sure you have a lovely summer. If it helps my second and third year were much, much better than my first.

Thanks for the reply :) Unfortunately my uni does not offer psychology as a joint honours degree. One option I have explored with my personal tutor is Psychology in Education at the same uni, with more focus on developmental psych and psych applied to am education context. Due to the similarities between the courses I could go straight into second year of that course in September. It's more coursework based which I prefer. I'm not sure I'm that interested in education though so it's difficult

Also look at the way the modules are assessed - dd was able to choose modules which had offsite exams (ie the exam questions were issued and then she had 24 hours to submit her response) rather than on-site in person exams. She found she worked better this way. Others of her friends went for the on-site exam modules.

Are there any related courses which you could switch to now for the second year rather than taking time out to do an A level, if you prefer to keep going?

I will give you the same advice as my own, do not continue or start any uni course if it makes you unhappy and is not a passion or something you are driven to do. I also think it's important not to be miserable too long. So, priority should be making choices that you are happy with and education is expensive so choose wisely, do not feel the need to rush and do anything. Work experience has value and being careful about investments is something to learn young, education is one of the biggest expenses of your life. I hate thinking of any young person unhappy at uni, one of mine was and worried w helped them and would be cross but we were not and would rather they were happy :) good luck

Honestly, if you are not enjoying either the course or the uni experience, I'd drop it now. You can take a year out, earn some money to save up for the short fall in funding if you return to another course later. You could maybe do the Eng Lit A level too, or an access course equivalent. Read lots of novels, plays, poetry and learn how to analyse them at an in-depth level.

Take your time. People - teachers, parents, peers, often pressure school leavers into jumping into uni or sticking something out but you have your whole life ahead of you. If you are doing something you don't want to do, stop now. Don't get entrenched in it.

FWIW, a friend's daughter dropped out three times from different courses at different unis - hating them all and deeply unhappy every time. Then she found a fourth course, vocational and far more academic than the arty things she'd done before, and came out with a first! Still in her twenties and genuinely loving her career.

What do you really want to do? If all the other issues went away what is it you really want to study?
Then think of ways to make that work.
Year out to get relevant qualifications/portfolios whilst earning. Look at rel work experience/ apprenticeships. Ditch uni entirely. Etc etc
There is no point staying there if you don't like the course. The other issues can be resolved but if feels to me like the wrong course for you.
When you leave school everything feels a rush. It honestly isn't. You have time.
And if I was your parent I would commend you for taking a tough but correct decision.
Go with your gut

This !

Go and sit in on some lectures of the new course now, and see if they seem more interesting!

Op, the perfect thing is not going to drop into your lap. This is life! It's how it is - anyone happy on their courses is going to have the same experience with doubts etc when they finish - you're just going through it earlier.

Whatever you do, don't drop out without finishing the year - this will mean that you get the credits which will take some time off another course, if you make a drastic change.

Another thing to ask your uni is if you can take a year off - go home, get a job, feel how boring it is, think about what courses you might like, or maybe enjoy work so much you don't go back and just keep working. Purposely give yourself a year to faff about. Sometimes we need that. Life isn't a race, it's not 'better' to graduate first.

Is it a 3 or 4 year course? I'm not 100% sure, but I think in my area you can get student finance for 4 years. If you left now for an alternative course for 3 years, maybe you'd be okay finance wise? Just something to look into, please take this with a pinch of salt as I'm sure someone has said this to me at some point but I've never had to look into it!

I would have thought you would be fine to switch to English Literature as an intelligent native speaker with great academic results in science in your first year. Have you asked the Department if there is space?

This would open up jobs in Education Psychology which are very much needing more people these days - those jobs might allow a good fit further down the line if you have a family, so don't discount this. Working with children is always nice too - being able to actually make a difference.

Can you switch from Psychology to Sociology if you prefer the social side?

Have you considered (social) anthropology? Psychology, sociology and art would probably be fine for most uni courses in that and there's a lot of overlap with psychology in some areas

Thank you, everyone, your replies have given me a lot to think about. I think I do need a change whether that's transferring to Psychology in Education or taking time out to work and re-evaluate. I don't want to be miserable for the rest of my uni experience. I just have to get over my fear of making the wrong decision.

@ThickSkinnedSoWhat Yeah, to my understanding SFE offers one bonus year of funding on top of the length of your undergrad. So if I chose to leave my current degree after completing first year, I would still get funding for another 3 year course