Various ways to do psychology... (1 Viewer)

[Asheroth]

What are the differences between B Arts (Psych) and B Psych? I'll probably end up doing one or the other at UoW and I'd quite like to know which one would be better

Specifically, if I did B Arts (Psych) I'd do a double major, with the second major probably being a language. Is it possible from there to do the Honours course that B Psych students have to do in their fourth year? Would it take longer to get professional accreditation if I did the Arts course?

Thanks

 

[Serius]

simply put, there is no difference. To be more specific, there are very small differences that will never effect you in any way
Yes it is very possible to do honours, straight B Psych do not get any preference in the honours over the other psych courses
no it would technicaly not take longer, however to be accredited you need a 4th year of study, the only way of getting this is through honours and from what i hear, to get honours you need to pick certain subjects from psych department which the B psych people are required to do but arts arent

i would advice against doing a language degree, just pick language as an elective, and then in 2nd year when u need to pick a hevay amount of psych you can drop the language

 

[Asheroth]

Thanks a lot

 

[poloktim]

i would advice against doing a language degree

I completely disagree here on the basis that serius is probably using some bullshit reason as to why you shouldn't do language (something like the job market or how impractical it is or some bollocks like that, most likely). Therefore has no clue what he's talking about.

If possible double major with a language. It's a bit more work but the effort is rewarding. Language is also a great example of how to set your mind to be able to do different things at a time (think in different languages). You not only learn a skill useful in the modern world, but you also develop an understanding of a different culture, and because of the amount of presentations required, you quickly get over reservations about public speaking. When you talk to somebody who is a native speaker of the language you study, and you find you can communicate, you also get a high feeling that no drug can match.

So I disagree completely with serius here, and recommend you *do* study a language as well. I was able to add an arts degree to my programme even though a BCompSc/BArts doesn't exist, and I'm willing to put the effort in. You may never use your language skill in the workplace, but you'll find it's VERY useful for your development towards getting a job.

Go for it!

 

[Asheroth]

Yeah, I was gonna go for the language no matter what he said The only reason I didn't take a language for HSC was because German is ugly. I'd quite like to learn Italian, since I'm eligible for a passport.

 

[Serius]

pokotim, dont diss on me like that i dont like it. I understand you two obviously like language and i have nothing against it, yeah its useful, plenty of job opertunites yada yada

the thing you might have missed is that i do Psych and on thing you need to know is that if you are not doing B Psych, your chances of getting into the honours course are strictly dependant on a number of things[ and ofcourse you MUST get into honours if you ever want to be an accredited psychologist]

The B S Psych and B A Psych courses are considered more flexible because you are only specified a handful of the subjects that the B Psych people HAVE to do, and can still complete your degree if you do as an elective, a language on the side. The thing is though that to get into honours, you need to[when picking your subjects] mirror the B Psych subjects 2nd and 3rd year to be considered for honours, meaning you will be doing a VERY full on load.

I you wanted to do a language double degree, that suddenly makes you have a very heavy load and not many options [unless of course u get into the B Psych course]
thats why i suggested instead of a language "degree" you do language as a minor and if[i said when earlier because i think with the heavy load u will have to do to get into honours, its a certainty] the load gets to heavy for you, you can drop the language and focus on Psych

 

[Asheroth]

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

 

[poloktim]

pokotim, dont diss on me like that i dont like it. I understand you two obviously like language and i have nothing against it, yeah its useful, plenty of job opertunites yada yada

the thing you might have missed is that i do Psych and on thing you need to know is that if you are not doing B Psych, your chances of getting into the honours course are strictly dependant on a number of things[ and ofcourse you MUST get into honours if you ever want to be an accredited psychologist]

The B S Psych and B A Psych courses are considered more flexible because you are only specified a handful of the subjects that the B Psych people HAVE to do, and can still complete your degree if you do as an elective, a language on the side. The thing is though that to get into honours, you need to[when picking your subjects] mirror the B Psych subjects 2nd and 3rd year to be considered for honours, meaning you will be doing a VERY full on load.

I you wanted to do a language double degree, that suddenly makes you have a very heavy load and not many options [unless of course u get into the B Psych course]
thats why i suggested instead of a language "degree" you do language as a minor and if[i said when earlier because i think with the heavy load u will have to do to get into honours, its a certainty] the load gets to heavy for you, you can drop the language and focus on Psych

Agreed, it's far more desireable to do B S(Psych)/BA(Ital) than B A (Psych/Ital). However, you don't have to finish your degree in the specified three years. Especially doing a double major.

However, if caught doing a B A (Psych), that is course code 708, then you'll need to complete the psychology major and you will have the choice of doing an Italian major as well (since at least 90 credit points must be chosen from HBS and Arts). However, this will mean that your degree will take longer than expected to complete. But if you want to do both, you'll probably apply for a double degree after your first year anyway. I wouldn't worry too much about it now though. Basically you'll be fine for your first two years, the third year will need to be split over 1.5/2 years.

 

[Asheroth]

Is it possible to set up your own double degree after first year? What I was really after was B Psych/BA, so if and when I get bored of psychology I can go back, get a Dip Ed and head into teaching. But the only double degree with Psychology was B Comm, which is disgusting.

So after first year could I apply for a double of B Psych/B Arts?

/knows nothing about university system

 

[chinesefireball]

I wouldn't be suprised if it was possible - I know my sister did maths/physics before it was an advertised double degree, but this was 14 years ago.

Go and talk to the head of something - either the heads of the faculties you want to get in (so arts and whatever phychology is in) or find someone who deals with prospective students

 

[Serius]

yeah talk to head of Arts and head of Health & Behavioural Science [ Graham Waters or something like that] cause yours is a pretty unique situation. The only thing iam worried about is that you want to be a "psychologist" not just have a B Psych degree, which is a bit different, cause to be accredited as a Psychologist if you do a B Psych degree then you must do honours and pass it[ if you do straight B Psych you autommatically get a fourth year wether you make it into honours or not]

And iam pretty confused on what you need to do to get into honours for psych, but you need atleast a credit average, and [if you do B S Psych] you need to do a few extra subjects not stipulated for what you need to get your major.

Basically thats why you need to speak to the heads, so you can work out how to do a double degree when one of them[your Psych] will have very few or no electives from second year onwards

defintely possible though, and i might seeya next year!

goodluk

 

[poloktim]

Is it possible to set up your own double degree after first year? What I was really after was B Psych/BA, so if and when I get bored of psychology I can go back, get a Dip Ed and head into teaching. But the only double degree with Psychology was B Comm, which is disgusting.

So after first year could I apply for a double of B Psych/B Arts?

/knows nothing about university system

Have you not been paying attention? I said that's what I did (make my own double degree). If you do subjects in both faculties and show you're good enough to handle a double-degree structure, you can have it.

Talk to the subdeans of each faculty after the end of your first semester. It took eight months for my double to get created and I was on an HD average.

 

[Asheroth]

Have you not been paying attention? I said that's what I did (make my own double degree).

Hey, so you did. Oops.

Asheroth have you read up on the university site about the courses?

I have, but I'll go and have another poke around and see what I can find, and I'll send an email as well.

Thanks for all the info guys