Thoughts on Psych (Hons) & Com @ Macquarie (1 Viewer)

[naman19xx]

So i received early entry into Psych Honours and Commerce double degree at Macquarie, and i just have a few questions regarding this degree.

1. Would transferring into UNSW or USyd be a better option due to prestige? I want to pursue Organisational Psych and I heard UNSW has a really good psych faculty. If so, would it be better to do Psych honours and a post grad in organisational psych or Commerce & Advanced Science (Major in Psych)? I also heard that Usyd doesn't have a great psych faculty and they dont offer the double degree of comm and psych.

2. How difficult is it to get into honours program at Macquarie, UNSW & USyd? I know it's a 75 average but is that difficult to achieve? I've heard some people say its easy and others say its competitive and difficult, and I heard that Usyd also have a quota limit on their honours program. So how difficult is it to get into honours at Usyd and is it worth going to Usyd for psych? Is honours at Macquarie easier to get into than say UNSW or Usyd because of the lower atar cut off?

3. Would I be able to complete my masters from say UNSW if i completed my honours at Macquarie? How difficult will that be to achieve?

4. I am interested in studying psychology, but i am also interested in business and the corporate world, so would it be better job-wise to do a MBA as my masters after my undergrad or Organisational Psych and why?

5. This question is for a friend of mine, who got into the (i think new degree at macquarie?) Bachelor of Psychology, so how would she transfer into Psychology Honours and how difficult would it be?

Thanks!

 

[sida1049]

1. Would transferring into UNSW or USyd be a better option due to prestige?

In my personal opinion, yes. Because prestige attracts top-notch researchers. If you're interested in honours/postgrad psychology, I would recommend one of the two. If you're not interested in honours/postgrad psychology, then this matters much less.

If so, would it be better to do Psych honours and a post grad in organisational psych or Commerce & Advanced Science (Major in Psych)?

I don't know much about this, but it seems to me that organisational psychology is a branch of psychology, rather than a branch of human resources kind of thing. For this reason, chances are your psychology studies will be far more important than your commerce ones (if the commerce degree is even relevant at all).

I believe the pathway you're interested in is doing a psychology honours in organisational psychology, then doing a postgrad psychology degree on that topic. A commerce degree is unlikely to be too relevant, but you might be interested in commerce regardless.

I also heard that Usyd doesn't have a great psych faculty and they dont offer the double degree of comm and psych.

At USYD, the majors are the only thing that matters. So your options at USYD are:
- B. Commerce/B. Science (comm major + psych major)
- B. Commerce/B. Arts (comm major + psych major)
- B. Commerce/B. Advanced Studies (get psych major under Adv Studies)
- B. Science/B. Advanced Studies (get comm major under Adv Studies)
- B. Arts/B. Advanced Studies (get comm major under Adv Studies)

Moreover, USYD offers a psychology major under two streams: an arts stream, and a science stream. Not too different if I remember correctly, and you can do a psych honours regardless if your stream, but the science stream likely has more compulsory stats/maths units or something.

Also, on the topic of stats, make sure you study a good amount of it. It comes up in psychology research a lot (and therefore your theses).

2. How difficult is it to get into honours program at Macquarie, UNSW & USyd? I know it's a 75 average but is that difficult to achieve? I've heard some people say its easy and others say its competitive and difficult, and I heard that Usyd also have a quota limit on their honours program. So how difficult is it to get into honours at Usyd and is it worth going to Usyd for psych? Is honours at Macquarie easier to get into than say UNSW or Usyd because of the lower atar cut off?

A 75 wam isn't very hard as long as you keep up with your work.

3. Would I be able to complete my masters from say UNSW if i completed my honours at Macquarie? How difficult will that be to achieve?

Yes, as long as you reasonably well in your honours thesis (a mark of at least 85%).

4. I am interested in studying psychology, but i am also interested in business and the corporate world, so would it be better job-wise to do a MBA as my masters after my undergrad or Organisational Psych and why?

If you want to work in roles relevant to a MBA, then it would be worth it. This is really up to you, and likely not a decision you should be thinking about at this point in time, since you don't know whether you'll stay interested in commerce or psychology in the future.

5. This question is for a friend of mine, who got into the (i think new degree at macquarie?) Bachelor of Psychology, so how would she transfer into Psychology Honours and how difficult would it be?

Do you mean transfer as in transfering into another uni for psychology honours? Then the question would be "how difficult would it be for her to do well in psychology in Macquarie?" I'd imagine you'd probably need an HD average (or the equivalent of that at Macquarie), and that's a rather subjective question.

 

[naman19xx]

Thank you so much for your reply! Really cleared up alot of things for me!

Do you mean transfer as in transfering into another uni for psychology honours? Then the question would be "how difficult would it be for her to do well in psychology in Macquarie?" I'd imagine you'd probably need an HD average (or the equivalent of that at Macquarie), and that's a rather subjective question.

I meant transferring internally. MQ offers a new course which is just "Bachelor of Psychology" which isn't the Bachelor of Psychology Honours course but almost identical and to do honours youd have to transfer internally into "Bach. Psych Honours". So pretty much, how difficult is it from transferring into Psych honours from another degree internally