The world is nigh!

Person_one

Have a look at this:

http://www.bps.org.uk/careers-education-training/how-become-psychologist/how-become-psychologist

A medical degree isn't the way to go about becoming a clinical psychologist, she'll need at least a 2:1 in a psychology degree and then a substantial amount of postgraduate study.

The entry requirements for psychology are nowhere near as daunting as for medicine, but she'll have to really excel on the course if she wants to distinguish herself from the many many other people who graduate in the subject each year.

Dunroamin

stebiz wrote: »

Chick Chick, she was looking at becoming a Charted Psychologist. Would you show me where you got that information from because that would change our train of thought. Three Uni's I spoke to on Friday didn't even mention this.

Please don't take this the wrong way but, if your daughter thinks that a degree in Medicine is the way to a career as a Psychologist, she's really got herself into a muddle and I'd suggest an urgent appointment with a Careers Adviser.

The universities you've spoken to - was that about Medicine or Psychology? What A levels wil she actually be doing now?
Why does she need to study locally?

Apologies for all the questions but some more information would help.

stebiz

Maybe I'm the confused one.

I have been trying locally for an appointment for her to get a Careers Advisor Appt. but other than a quick '5 minutes' after many phone calls, when she popped into her school, they are worse than useless. My local Education Authority is Liverpool. So they can be named and shamed.

Maybe medicine is the wrong word.I automatically assumed that somebody who wanted to be a Chartered Clinical Psychologist would have to pursue some kind of medical course, after her initial Degree. The courses I have been speaking about are Psychological Degrees and there are plenty of them in the North West and would save her the expense of moving further afield.

After Degree level ie Postgraduate I'm unsure what courses she's need to follow.

Person_one

stebiz wrote: »

Maybe I'm the confused one.

I have been trying locally for an appointment for her to get a Careers Advisor Appt. but other than a quick '5 minutes' after many phone calls, when she popped into her school, they are worse than useless. My local Education Authority is Liverpool. So they can be named and shamed.

Maybe medicine is the wrong word.I automatically assumed that somebody who wanted to be a Chartered Clinical Psychologist would have to pursue some kind of medical course, after her initial Degree. The courses I have been speaking about are Psychological Degrees and there are plenty of them in the North West and would save her the expense of moving further afield.

After Degree level ie Postgraduate I'm unsure what courses she's need to follow.

You and her should both have a good read of the site I linked to.

Dunroamin

stebiz wrote: »

Maybe I'm the confused one.

I have been trying locally for an appointment for her to get a Careers Advisor Appt. but other than a quick '5 minutes' after many phone calls, when she popped into her school, they are worse than useless. My local Education Authority is Liverpool. So they can be named and shamed.

Maybe medicine is the wrong word.I automatically assumed that somebody who wanted to be a Chartered Clinical Psychologist would have to pursue some kind of medical course, after her initial Degree. The courses I have been speaking about are Psychological Degrees and there are plenty of them in the North West and would save her the expense of moving further afield.

After Degree level ie Postgraduate I'm unsure what courses she's need to follow.

What harm we did when we disbanded the Careers Service!:(

Connexions in Liverpool seem to have a chat service and online chat which she might find helpful.

http://www.connexionslive.com/YoungPeople/Learning/ChoicesAt16/Default.aspx

If she spoke to the Careers Tutor in school, then she may well have not received much help as many of them have no quaifications in this area. The information posted by Person_one should be helpful to you both and get you thinking along the right lines.

Good luck.

Nat1990

I am in my third year doing Psychology and I am aiming to be a clinical psychologist (which by the sounds of it is what your daughter wants). In order to go down this route, you need to study at a BPS accredited institution (I would always pick somewhere high up for research). Usually after this your daughter really should do a masters in clinical psychology. These are very difficult to get funding for (student loans do not pay for this) so factor this in the decision. After masters, she should get at least 2 years experience working with people with mental health disorders (ideally as an assistant psychologist). She will then need to apply for a 3 year clinical doctorate (these are really hard to get on and require a first class degree, not a 2.1, and the mean age of acceptance is 33!).

As you can see, it's very competitive and usually students change their minds when they discover this. However, a psych degree is a fantastic degree to have and you can go into anything with it. Just bear in mind that she will need to get a first in this degree if she wants to go down this route. It is possible though, after being very lazy in my Alevels I only managed to get ABBC, but I'm on track for a first in my degree. Even if she does mess these Alevels up, it is still possible.

The other alternative is that she wants to be a psychiatrist - this is where you go down the medicine route and choose to specialise. It can be done after a psych degree, which often looks good, but it will take a lot of time and money.

I hope this has been of some help. Psychology is a great degree and will leave her with a lot of doors open if she does ever change a career plan!

Best wishes and good luck!

Nat1990

Also just to add, the degree would be BSc Psychology that she needs (make sure it's not BA) and although the masters is not funded, the clinical doctorates are (the last time I looked you got paid around £20,000 a year).

stebiz

Thanks all. She is looking to be a Psychologist and wants obviously to take Psychology at Degree level. The site above is excellent. Thanks for the link.

A more general question. She can get on a few courses with ABB and some also take General Studies. If she drops one of her 5 AS levels now to concentrate on the other 4, will this go against her? Also if she never got offered a place and had to apply next year with her actual results would Universities look less favourably on her?

Sorry for all the questions.

Voyager2002

stebiz wrote: »

Thanks all. She is looking to be a Psychologist and wants obviously to take Psychology at Degree level. The site above is excellent. Thanks for the link.

A more general question. She can get on a few courses with ABB and some also take General Studies. If she drops one of her 5 AS levels now to concentrate on the other 4, will this go against her? Also if she never got offered a place and had to apply next year with her actual results would Universities look less favourably on her?

Sorry for all the questions.

I think that General Studies is pretty irrelevant so dropping that would not make much difference. If she drops an academic subject she needs to be very sure that it is not something needed for the course she wants. And in any case, the university will probably neither know nor care that she took another subject but did not take the exam.

It is helpful for universities if someone applies when they already know their results. Admissions tutors are under a lot of pressure to recruit exactly the right number of students for each course, and if they are guessing what results the person will get that makes getting the numbers right even more difficult. OTOH someone who is predicted to get good grades is in a stronger position than someone with mediocre ones.

Nat1990

She should focus on 3/4 alevels without a doubt - general studies is not advisable - my school even disposed of general studies because uni's do not accept it. Uni's won't generally focus too much on AS Levels from my own experience (I got accepted by redbricks asking for AAA despite getting BBBB at AS) she just needs to try to pick up her grades for Alevel. Also, bear in mind for psychology they are not that picky on subjects - but aim for at least one science and one humanities to show a variety. For all uni's the big thing is the predicted grades given by teachers, references from teachers, and most importantly the personal statement. Make sure the personal statement is passionate - far too many times lecturers read "i want to do psychology to be a clinical psychologist". Instead she should focus on an interesting observation she has learnt so far using psychology about why we behave (my example in mine was conformity in class), what you feel you can get from the subject, and what you feel you can give the department.