Psychology (1 Viewer)

[pt1]

Hey I was wondering about the aspects of a psychology degree in learning (e.g. focus on essay writing or somewhat)
Is it really challenging to maintain the minimum grades to proceed into the following year?

 

[Blue Suede]

You do have to write an essay or report each semester, but the main focus is generally on the final exam. If you can rote learn well, you should be fine for that. The essays and reports require more analysis and interpretation, but they should teach you how to do that.

A lot of people find first year is fine, but it (generally) gets harder as the years go on. Not difficult to get a pass, which allows you to go onto the next year, but if you intend to do honours, you generally need a D average (at least at Sydney)

 

[pt1]

Do you know what are the averages are for the honours courses at USYD and UNSW? and what is more known for its psych courses? I just know that UNSW cutoff is 98 and USYD is 97

 

[Survivor39]

The Honours year generally consists of 2 semesters of research under the supervision of an academic. In most cases you don't do any 'courses' (although in some universities you have to). It's hard to say what the 'averages' are for honours. Most students will graduate either with Honours Class I (marks ranged from 85-100% in UNSW, 80-100% for Syd) or with Honours Class II division 1 (75-84 at UNSW, 75-79 at USyd).

 

[pt1]

Is it worth doing Comm/Sci(psychology) then if its practically the same as b.psychology as you can still make it into honours because i want something to fall back on if it doesnt work out

 

[Survivor39]

There are risks involved in doing a single degree and there are risks involveddoing a double degree.

Let's think this way, if you do Comm/Sci(psychology) and you don't do well in psychology, you will only have "something to fall back on" if you actually excel in commerce (D/HD average). If you don't, you would be in the same situation. If you do well in Psychology in Comm/Sci(psychology), then you can continue your Honours year in Psychology but because you are doing a double degree, you will be at least a year behind compared to those doing a straight Psychology degree. In the combined degree, I think you do less psychology units compared to those doing a single degree because half of your units would be taken up by commerce. I guess you learn "less" than your cohorts who are doing a single commerce or psychology degree in their respective areas.

You have to weight up the pros and cons and make an informed decision. I now it's not easy but in the end, there is no such thing as the "right" choice.