Psychology

[bagandcoat]

If your dc did psychology A-Level, did they enjoy it on the whole?

And if they studied Psychology at uni, did the course meet the expectations and what sort of profession or further study did they go onto?

Friend of DD’s did A level and then degree (so must have enjoyed it… not sure she loved it tho). She teaches primary now.

Psych A level is often given up tho as it’s not what ppl think, much more dull.

I did a psychology degree. Only one person from the course uses it, as far as I am aware but we are 20 years on. I saw something that it’s actually an incredibly difficult field to get into. The example was forensic psychology has only 600 job appointments across the uk but thousands of graduates a year. I left during the recession so there weren’t any jobs anywhere - don’t use me or my cohort as an example but it’s worth knowing and researching.

there are lots of jobs such as counselling and therapy that don’t need a degree in psychology. But rather have specific training.

I did psychology A level, as an adult.

Apart from the statistics, which I’d done elsewhere before, and the philosophy, I loved it and found it all fascinating. I asked my lecturers what were the major textbooks in the fields I was interested in, bought them and read them. They said I read round the subject at degree level.

I draw on what I learned every day. I don’t know how anyone can regard it as dull, apart from the statistics, which I never liked!

I'm just going from what DD fed back from her cohort – tho I have seen a similar view expressed by others on MN.

It’s great that you loved it but I think taking an A level as an adult is a bit different from starting it as a 16yo. Chances are you will do a bit more due diligence before spending valuable ££ and time. I think a lot of DD's peers thought they were going to learn to psychoanalyse people but actually they had to learn a load of case studies and yes, they found it dull.

Wrong thread!

A psychology degree (an accredited one that follows certain criteria) involves more maths than people realise. The A level less so.

Like a PP, not loads of the people from my degree directly use it in their job now. I know a reasonable number who’ve gone on to do PhDs and now work at universities, and one mental health nurse (obviously requires further qualifications) but I think that’s it. I’m an accountant.

So not psychology that is "'basic' compared to her other subjects"?

No, i wanted to start another thread and posted here by mistake. She says her A level psychology is basic compared to the others.

Dd has just graduated with an MSci (four year integrated masters) in Psychology. She has been interested in the subject, and in mental health generally, since around 14 and has wanted to be a clinical psychologist since then. Obviously it remains to be seen whether she achieve that but she’s got a job with Mind, starting imminently.

She didn’t love the A Level or even the degree, if we’re talking about how it’s studied and what’s required in terms of assessment (her strengths lie in essay writing but there’s lots of multiple choice, lab reports, stats etc) but she did still find the content itself interesting.

Going by the feedback on this thread it doesn't sound great. Not as academically rigorous at A-level and little carer opportunities after a degree. Dd is trying to chose between English Lit and Psychology. She isn't really interest in counselling or mental health but in the workings of the human mind.

In my view psychology is an excellent degree choice, as it combines essay writing/critical thinking and numeracy. Yes, the route through to become a clinical psychologist is highly competitive (and also not for everyone) but the degree is useful for non vocational paths as well. The reason it is considered a numerate degree, is because there is quite a lot of maths - so does that suit your DD? Also there are a number of joint English & psychology degrees, or in Scottish uni’s she’d be able to take both in 1st and 2nd year before she needed to decide.

Ah my DD got a first in Eng lit – truly her passion. The ultimate MN pointless degree I suspect.

Academically rigorous for sure. Not sure it leads to any career opps that are not opened by psych tho.

DD works in a library btw and is currently doing a masters in librarianship part-time. She enjoys it and we are really proud of her (she faces some challenges) but it's hardly the typical MN 6-figure graduate post. Mind you I am sceptical about those in any case.

I wouldn’t say limited career opportunities as such. I know loads of people who have jobs totally unrelated to their degree. I work at a big 4 and hardly anyone did an accountancy degree. I’d say most people don’t go on to work in psychology related fields, but I’d assume the same about an English lit degree.

Obviously people can have multiple skills, but English lit is very different to psychology. The degree has a lot of maths and biology. There’s essay writing, but nothing as long as in an English lit degree. If the degree is BPAS accredited it will have certain things it has to cover - I had to do two stats modules a year, biology modules that went into the detail of how neurons fire, the different cells of the eye, how muscles moved. It was ~15 yrs ago so the accreditation requirements have probably changed but I doubt they’ve become less biological.

I’d say Psychology is harder than your typical humanities degree (History, English) because it involves a wider variety of skills. Dd has certainly found it harder to get the highest grades consistently than ds has, who’s doing Politics at the same uni. However I think the stats, data stuff and science aspect gives you more transferable skills.

I agree with pp. I did a Classics degree and became an accountant (that’s why I had done the statistics). DH did geography and DS did history - both accountants. I only came across two accountancy graduates among our colleagues; all the rest did non relevant degrees such as French, physics, IT, transport planning….

When DH, as a partner was recruiting trainees, he was looking for bright people, able to do basic arithmetic and write good enough English for formal business letters and reports, as a starter. Being able to research, analyse and weigh up sources helps. Psychology should give people those skills, and understanding what makes clients tick is an asset.

Post uni, career can be limited. There are not many psychology related jobs in total compared to the large number of graduates.

My daughter has just completed year 13 and enjoyed psychology A-level, so much so that she is going to study it at degree as she's really interested in the workings of the brain and mind. There is quite a lot of science in it and as PPs have said, one of the 3 papers was very much maths and statistics. I helped her revise and if was genuinely interesting - the first paper was very much case studies and discussing results of experiments. I was worried before she started it that she'd never studied anything like this before, but she's done well as she has a genuine interest in it. It is more difficult than I think people realise it will be, but a bright student will do well in it. The knowledge gained from it of how people think and behave would be useful in lots of careers.

My dd did A-level psychology along with History, Maths and Further Maths. She really enjoyed it and went on to study it at University. Her maths studies helped with the stats content at degree level.

I was happy to see her study a subject she enjoyed BUT employment prospects with a psychology degree are not great. I read a recent study that they are among the lowest paid graduates along with those studying art. It is a popular degree and requires postgraduate study where competition for places to go on and train as a psychologist is intense and requires relevant paid work experience. She is currently working in a secondary school in the SEN team.

My DD has just finished Y1 of Pyschology (accredited degree) and did not do the A level previously. She has found biology parts quite challenging, and felt that having maths A level was essential because of the statistics. No idea what she will do afterwards, but given how much she has grown and thrived in the first year, right now we don't mind!

If she's interested in the workings of the mind from a more scientific perspective, maybe she'd be interested in a degree in neuroscience.
Perhaps look up the A levels that universities prefer for courses related to that. It's probably also seen as a more academic choice too.

my dd has just finished A level and has a place for Bath to study psychology in September. When we went to the open day and chatted to final year students it seemed that they seem to go in one of two directions- either into a psychology related field ie NHS work, or into a graduate job in something like HR. Those would be considered possibly the more lucrative roles. The girl we spoke to said that she had a job in HR with L’Oréal after graduating as a psych degree at a top uni is considered to be a good preparation for working in teams and doing leadership roles. My dd has loved psychology but do your research as to what it entails. It’s basically learning a lot of psychological studies on things like memory, language, child development etc and being able to scientifically evaluate and discuss those studies in depth, as well as understand the mathematical concepts in those studies. Concepts like statistical significance and reliability/validity will be terms that she has used regularly. There is only a little bit of clinical psychology in there in terms of learning about schizophrenia, ocd etc.

Thank you, all very helpful. I'm wondering if it would be a good basis for further study or work in PR as well. And of course teaching with further training.

Yes I think definitely a good preparation for those kind of roles. I’d just be aware that psychology is the most popular degree so each year there are tons of graduates looking for jobs. So I advised my dd to look at the top unis where it’s more competitive so that you have a slightly better chance at getting those jobs.

Might be worth checking the curriculum for the 1st year, as someone I know found it mainly repeated the A level so was bored and disillusioned for a year.
I did a Psychology degree 40 years ago, there were no jobs in the field then unless you carried on to get a phD.