B psychology at USYD -> clinical psych? (1 Viewer)

[chickencoop]

Hey guys,

just a quick question about the path to becoming a clinical psychologist (I hope to one day work at a hospital):

1 . is the overall duration spent at university to becoming a clinical/neuropsychologist 6 years at minimum? i know that the B. Psych itself is a 4 year course (considering you dont get booted on the final year for failing), but to become a registered clinical psych, would this involve an additional 2 years of masters or a doctorate degree? (or are they the same - sry, treat me like im 12)

2. is the honours a year in itself and is it necessary/compulsory for me if i want to pursue a career as stated above? i am getting a vibe that the 4th year of the psych degree is the honours but im not sure about this.

3. Does Psychology lean towards a more essay based degree or quantitative/mathematical/sciencey degree? and how hard is it to maintain a D avg for a STEM/numeracy student like myself? (i didnt particularly like economics in high school nor the plaintext memorising of content)

Thanks <3

 

[chickencoop]

oh and what electives should i study? any recommendations to benefit my pursuit of clinical psych or is it more of a "do whatever will get u the best marks" kind of decision?

 

[buriza]

Preface: I don't go to USyd, but I'm starting my Honours year in Psychology, and requirements to become a clinical psychologist are standardised across Australia so I can mostly answer these questions.

1. Yes, 6 years minimum. You have to do Masters after Honours. Doctorate degree is also known as PhD, I believe, which is separate from Masters. You can do Masters combined with PhD (more intensive) or do PhD after Masters. PhD is not necessary however.

2. The Honours year is necessary.

3. There are a lot of essays, but you'll find yourself doing required units in statistics, which isn't that mathematical. It depends on your electives, but I wouldn't consider psychology to be that sciencey in the undergraduate period. I didn't do any science units in high school, as well as only Mathematics General, and I didn't really have any problems.

It isn't that difficult to maintain a distinction average as long as you keep up with the workload. I would recommend that you go to lectures at the very least all the time because it will really make your time easier. Doing the readings also actually helps.

4. As for the electives, it doesn't really matter. I would advise that you do what you're interested in because that will probably maximise your marks, or at least in my case, it certainly did. Postgraduate is more for doing what will directly benefit your career path.

 

[chickencoop]

Preface: I don't go to USyd, but I'm starting my Honours year in Psychology, and requirements to become a clinical psychologist are standardised across Australia so I can mostly answer these questions.

1. Yes, 6 years minimum. You have to do Masters after Honours. Doctorate degree is also known as PhD, I believe, which is separate from Masters. You can do Masters combined with PhD (more intensive) or do PhD after Masters. PhD is not necessary however.

2. The Honours year is necessary.

3. There are a lot of essays, but you'll find yourself doing required units in statistics, which isn't that mathematical. It depends on your electives, but I wouldn't consider psychology to be that sciencey in the undergraduate period. I didn't do any science units in high school, as well as only Mathematics General, and I didn't really have any problems.

It isn't that difficult to maintain a distinction average as long as you keep up with the workload. I would recommend that you go to lectures at the very least all the time because it will really make your time easier. Doing the readings also actually helps.

4. As for the electives, it doesn't really matter. I would advise that you do what you're interested in because that will probably maximise your marks, or at least in my case, it certainly did. Postgraduate is more for doing what will directly benefit your career path.

Thank you so much for your input! If u have time, i have a few more fast questions, i promise!

I have heard numerous comments being directed towards me whenever i usher that i plan on taking a B of Psychology, mainly in the form of something along the lines of "its too hard...the workload is too heavy...there are no jobs...psychology is too wishy washy". Do u have any comments on this?

I feel like with these comments surrounding me IRL, its really just setting me up for failure, and igniting that spark of doubt that maybe the course is not right for someone who doesnt enjoy tonnes of english style essay writing or memorising statistics.. ie -> me.

LAST ONE (i swear!): What is the closest HSC subject or descriptive summary that you would use to describe the course up to where you have completed it to someone who has no experience in it and is contemplating whether or not to do it?

Thank you <3

 

[clementinez]

Thank you so much for your input! If u have time, i have a few more fast questions, i promise!

I have heard numerous comments being directed towards me whenever i usher that i plan on taking a B of Psychology, mainly in the form of something along the lines of "its too hard...the workload is too heavy...there are no jobs...psychology is too wishy washy". Do u have any comments on this?

I feel like with these comments surrounding me IRL, its really just setting me up for failure, and igniting that spark of doubt that maybe the course is not right for someone who doesnt enjoy tonnes of english style essay writing or memorising statistics.. ie -> me.

LAST ONE (i swear!): What is the closest HSC subject or descriptive summary that you would use to describe the course up to where you have completed it to someone who has no experience in it and is contemplating whether or not to do it?

Thank you <3

I haven't done psychology but I know people that do and it's not considered as difficult as the medical and pure sciences. As for being wishy washy, it is if you don't continue on to Masters but not because the program is bad but rather because you really do need a masters degree to practice sports/clinical/organisational psychology. You're not qualified for much with a psych major on its own.

Also, it's not an arts degree so the essays will probably be more scientific. Have you considered doing a B Science and double majoring in Psychology & Neuroscience or Psychology & Biochemistry (something more molecular based)? You can still do honours and a masters in clinical but you'd retain the option to go into neuro and molecular research which is a more analytical branch.

 

[buriza]

Thank you so much for your input! If u have time, i have a few more fast questions, i promise!

I have heard numerous comments being directed towards me whenever i usher that i plan on taking a B of Psychology, mainly in the form of something along the lines of "its too hard...the workload is too heavy...there are no jobs...psychology is too wishy washy". Do u have any comments on this?

I feel like with these comments surrounding me IRL, its really just setting me up for failure, and igniting that spark of doubt that maybe the course is not right for someone who doesnt enjoy tonnes of english style essay writing or memorising statistics.. ie -> me.

LAST ONE (i swear!): What is the closest HSC subject or descriptive summary that you would use to describe the course up to where you have completed it to someone who has no experience in it and is contemplating whether or not to do it?

Thank you <3

I will tell you this: if you want to be a clinical psychologist in the future, you will need some measure of commitment. But by no means is it "too hard" or the "workload is too heavy." Honestly, I wouldn't consider myself much of a workaholic, giving gaming and procrastinating are two of my natural hobbies. I'm not trying to say you can be lazy and put things off forever and get through the degree, it's trying to show that as long as you reasonably keep up the work, you will be fine.

I also can't help but to wonder the people who were telling you these things are people who actually have experience in the area. Psychology has a lot of branches into other careers - you'll find people will say this "there are no jobs" business for a lot of degrees because they tend to stereotype/pigeon hole what can come out of it. I don't know what 'wishy washy' is supposed to mean - when you get further into psychology, subdisciplines are pretty specific into what you can specialise in.

Writing in psychology isn't anything like writing in english. I did five units of english in high school, so I would know. It isn't about being flowery in language and pushing your subjective interpretation about things. It's about being succinct, coming up with a logical argument, and backing it up with a lot of evidence (i.e. journal articles). Having said that, the only way psychology is like english in its structure, but the basic structure of thesis, followed by body paragraphs, and conclusion is a pretty standardised structure.

There isn't really anything much in high school that I did that resembled psychology much. All I can really use to describe it is to say there's a fair bit of theory, a lot of reading, some statistics, and a batch of practical examples here and there. You won't have to be "memorising statistics" - usually in stats exams for psychology you will get a formula sheet.

 

[chickencoop]

Thanks for the additional info!

 

[chickencoop]

I will tell you this: if you want to be a clinical psychologist in the future, you will need some measure of commitment. But by no means is it "too hard" or the "workload is too heavy." Honestly, I wouldn't consider myself much of a workaholic, giving gaming and procrastinating are two of my natural hobbies. I'm not trying to say you can be lazy and put things off forever and get through the degree, it's trying to show that as long as you reasonably keep up the work, you will be fine.

I also can't help but to wonder the people who were telling you these things are people who actually have experience in the area. Psychology has a lot of branches into other careers - you'll find people will say this "there are no jobs" business for a lot of degrees because they tend to stereotype/pigeon hole what can come out of it. I don't know what 'wishy washy' is supposed to mean - when you get further into psychology, subdisciplines are pretty specific into what you can specialise in.

Writing in psychology isn't anything like writing in english. I did five units of english in high school, so I would know. It isn't about being flowery in language and pushing your subjective interpretation about things. It's about being succinct, coming up with a logical argument, and backing it up with a lot of evidence (i.e. journal articles). Having said that, the only way psychology is like english in its structure, but the basic structure of thesis, followed by body paragraphs, and conclusion is a pretty standardised structure.

There isn't really anything much in high school that I did that resembled psychology much. All I can really use to describe it is to say there's a fair bit of theory, a lot of reading, some statistics, and a batch of practical examples here and there. You won't have to be "memorising statistics" - usually in stats exams for psychology you will get a formula sheet.

This is what i was hoping to hear. Thanks for answering these questions. I will most likely pursue psychology regardless of what the comments were going to be, but i think your advice really consolidated my initial presumptions on the degree. I wish you the best of luck in your honours year and the future and who knows, maybe ill meet u IRL someday

 

[Ollie01]

I'm a HSC student and am interested in psych next year. I was just wondering how difficult it is to get into honours if I do psych through science (i dont think im getting a 96 atar hahaha). Are there any alternative pathways into becoming a registered clinical psych if I don't meet the requirements for honours? Thanks

 

[sida1049]

As long as you do reasonably okay in undergrad psychology (75 average for senior psychology units), then you'll get into psychology honours (regardless of your actual degree, e.g. B Psych, B Sci or B Arts, doesn't matter at all). Otherwise, a masters in psychology could be an alternate pathway (requires 65 WAM? not too sure).

Uni isn't actually hard to do well in as long as you have a good routine and stay on top of assessments.

 

[Ollie01]

a masters in psychology

Thanks! What's the difference in getting into psychology honours compared to masters? Can you only do clinical psych if you get into honours?

 

[sida1049]

Thanks! What's the difference in getting into psychology honours compared to masters? Can you only do clinical psych if you get into honours?

Actually, now that I've looked it up, it seems like you have to do an honours year in psychology (or a 4th year equivalent graduate diploma in psychology), and you have to do a masters.

So technically, you have to do a masters in psychology to be registered as a psychologist, but an honours isn't the only way to get into a masters program.