Post date: Oct 05, 2017 10:20:16 AM
Hi, I’m Jasmine and I have recently begun a BSc Psychology course at the University Of Plymouth.
When I was in sixth form, the amount of information and opinions I could find regarding studying Psychology at university was limited, I didn’t know anyone who had chosen the same course, this made it somewhat difficult to be confident that the course was going to be the right fit for me.
I studied English Literature, Business & Economics and Psychology at Alevel whilst at Budehaven, I truly enjoyed all three of these subjects, I adored literature and I was thoroughly interested in the topics that we covered in psychology. I wasn’t entirely confident on what I wanted to study at university until the end of year 12, beginning of year 13 , expect your decisions and thoughts to change continuously, it took me ages to decide between Literature and Psychology!
I decided that I wanted to study Psychology at university once I began to recognise how diverse the subject is and the widespread impacts that research, theories and understandings can have on society and individuals.
Choosing a university - Originally I was set on moving away from home, from Cornwall and going to Bristol, Bath or London, somewhere with new scenery, new experiences , new opportunities. I believed that moving far away was something expected of you and something everyone did. However, after considering my options I chose to look deeper in to the university courses themselves because I wanted to study the breadth of psychology that would allow me to keep my career options open. I recognised that the University Of Plymouth offered a BPS accredited degree that covered a wide variety of modules, in addition to this they also had some incredible research facilities available – such as the ‘BabyLab’ , brain imagery , virtual reality lab and social labs. This meant that whichever route I choose to take when I come to my dissertation there would be excellent facilities available for me to use.
It’s also important to explore the area where the university you are interested in is based. Before choosing to study at the University of Plymouth I had only ever visited the city to go shopping, I had never been to the coastline (The Hoe, Royal William Yard, etc) which is beautiful. Being lucky enough to have a great course and an incredible location can be very persuasive in the decision process when choosing where to study.
I won’t sugar coat it – starting university is incredibly daunting and it can be difficult to get in to the new routine, the workload and the expectations, but with time I’m confident that it will all work out as it should. I am still trying to adapt to it myself! During the first week at university you will of course have freshers but there will also be induction events, talks, etc which introduce you to the course, other students and the staff, there will also be information provided regarding opportunities that will be available to you either throughout the year or throughout the entire course. Following this week, lectures begin and they can be very challenging as the environment is different to being in a classroom. However, if you realise that you don’t understand something you have been told, feel confident enough to simply ask the professor at the end of the lecture if he/she can explain this to you, after all they are specialists in their area!
I have only been at the university for around 3 weeks but I am already thoroughly enjoying it and how discovered many opportunities that are available for me to get involved with, ones that can benefit you personally but also ones that can benefit your study and career prospects. The lectures can be challenging due to the content and expectations, however there is always help available and plenty of students in the same position! Being genuinely interested in the subject will make a very important contribution to your satisfaction with the course and will help encourage your interest even more!
If any of you think that you could be interested in studying Psychology at university then talk to Mr Kavanagh or feel free to ask him for my email address and I would be more than happy to help you in any way I can, whether that be comparing the different courses, what university is like, how intense the course is, the workload, assessment, career options, etc. I know that during sixth form you will probably have a few different courses in mind and it can be difficult to decide which option may be best for you and so it could be useful for you to talk to someone who is pursuing this route.