Started a degree and hate it, please offer advice :(

the_devil_made_me_do_it

I started a degree programme Oct 2007 and I hate it. What are my options? (other quitting doing a degree altogether). I'm completely unsure of what i can do.

Can you also advise on where I would stand financially.

Thanks in advance.

melancholly

first of all, what do you hate? is it everything about the course or just the topics you're doing? is it the city? is it where you're living? narrow down what the key part of the problem is!

students often find that the first semester is really dull - everyone comes in with different qualifications (and even with the same qualfication, different exam boards), so they get everyone up to the same standard with the basics.

could you change to a different course - it might still be early enough to do this and stay in this academic year?

have you taken up concerns with your personal tutor? they should be able to address specific issues with the course.....

the_devil_made_me_do_it

The campus is great, situated on a river bank.

i guess I'm finding the mathematics side of this very difficult and am frightened of making a fool of myself. There is another module I dislike too, but I can stomach it if push came to shove.

I just feel, overall, I'm doing the wrong course.

I am a mature student living out.

zfrl

You can sometimes change courses - my friend changed from law to maths. There should be an advice team at the uni who can help you.

melancholly

well only you can decide if it's a few modules that you can stomach and get out of the way, or whether it's all too much!

have you taken advantage of the office hours of lecturers to get extra help with the maths? it can be a very good way of doing things. i find that most undergrads don't really care about looking foolish (based on some of the questions they ask via email, often in textspeak!). ask for the help rather than struggling.

what course is it and what are the 'bad' modules. someone on here may be able to point you in the direction of some extra help.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Lecturers are proving a nitemare to contact amongst other things.

It's a Bsc Applied Psychology degree.

I think it's all going to get to much in the end, just unsure of where I stand and what can be done.

melancholly

ok, well stats for psychologists in their first year is always a nightmare. in reality all you need to know is when to do what test, and to pass a stats exam!!

if the lecturers aren't replying to emails, contact your student rep or the head of undergraduate affairs - that can be fixed (and they should be able to do that!). if you are having difficulty making appointments with them, trap them at the end of a lecture or find out their office hours.

i've taught on undergrad psychology courses and a lot of people are overwhelmed in the first semester - you do boring stuff and only get to the more interesting topics later. i'd suggest you speak to your tutor (you must have some form of tutorial?) about it all. psychology is a very mixed bag and there are lots of topics that i personally don't enjoy. once you're able to choose topics, most students find that things improve a lot.

for statistics, have a google of andy field and find his website where he has all his handouts (he's a lecturer in sussex who a lot of people find explains things well). i'd give it til the end of the year and see how you feel - particularly if it's psychology as i know how rubbish it can be to start with!

if you want to PM with anything more specific about where you are and what topics are a real problem, i'll do what i can to answer.

bestpud

I agree with melancholly, you really need to speak to someone about this and a tutor may be your best option.

How do you get on with your personal tutor? I would definitely arrange an appt with him/her.

When you email tutors, do you ask a specific question? I find this tends to get a better response. However, if I don't get a reply within a week, I email again and ask if they got my first email. I've always found they thank me for reminding them as emails can quickly disappear down their inbox!

I don't know if this will be helpful or not but I changed from psychology to sociology over xmas in my first year. I have never regretted it! I was told it gets better in the second year when things get more focused and you start applying the boring stuff. That was def the case with sociology - it does get easier - don;t know about psychology as I didn't stick it out!

However, I know you will not be the only psychology student who struggles with stats - it is the number one groan in my experience. I was speaking to one student the other week who spoke to the tutor after a seminar and she told her to go over to her office at lunchtime. She then spent over an hour going through stats one to one and this student said it is the best thing she could have done. Maybe you could try speaking to the lecturer in person and say you could do with a bit of help?

Alternatively, do they put tutorial hours and slots in their doors at your uni. At ours, we can just go along and put our name down for tutorials with pretty much any tutor.

It really isn't too late to change your course though, if you really think you won't get to like it. You would need to speak with the relevant people - registry usually.

Good luck with whatever you decide though!

the_devil_made_me_do_it

No tutorials, no timetables on lecturer office doors, no nothing basically; it's an absolute nitemare.

My personal tutor I've met once; he's like a ghost in the night; god knows why he was assigned to the job.

Getting to speak to anyone is a struggle, let alone getting them to help with areas of weakness. Seriously, it's a pain in the rear end. You could spend all your time at uni trying to get to see someone and you'd still get nowhere.

I did start a course at the very beginning of the yr, and realized straight away it wasn't for me, so transferred to Applied Psychology (out of desparation i guess). The first course I started was Human Sciences. I accepted a place on it because it was offered as an alternative to the teaching degree I'd applied to do and failed to get on.

I've never had this happen before; I usually start something and see it out till the end. It's all new to me and I don't know how to handle it or what to do ect...

I'm not usually this useless honest

melancholly

i think it's time you escalated your problems to the head of undergraduate affairs or head of department. if you have no way of contacting staff, that is completely unreasonable! i know some lecturers only offer a couple of hours a week to see students, but they have to do a minimum of that..... if it's that bad trying to get help, then it's not you being useless - it's them! don't worry about making a fuss - the people in charge need to know that the student contact time isn't happening. as long as you compose a relatively friendly email stating that you are having major trouble contacting person X and suggest that perhaps you are contacting the wrong person or doing hte wrong thing, you should get a good response (i'm not in any way suggesting that you're doing the wrong thing, but you have to phrase things carefully to get the best response possible!!)

kle87

I too hated my course when I first started it 3 years ago and im still not keen.

My reason for hating it was similar to you, the maths side of it. I stuck at it passed my maths module and now next year I will graduate!

Do what makes you happy but if its possible to stick with it then do it because long term its the best option!