A
male
age
30-35,
*uperstitionainttheway
writes:hi, ive just finished my A-Levels and am waiting for my results.i have predictions of:A for psychologyC business studiesE music technologyi do have a mixed bag of grades but i have a great passion and have over 90% average exam performance in it.however due to the lacking business and music ive only applied for chester rather than one of the better universities.my ambition is to be a clinical psychologist.ive researched how hard it is to get into this occupation but am very very commited.would a first class honours from chester, a low ranking uni which doesnot specialise in clinical psychology be enough to advance?
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female
reader, anonymous, writes (4 July 2010): Too many people are doing psychology. I know of at least two people who finished their degrees two years ago and neither of them are working in psychology (one got a first and the other 2:1) one works at the co-op which is a job they have had since being 16 and the other has been doing temp jobs (like Argos etc) - she can't get a job in psychology because she doesn't have a driving license.
Psychology is one of those wooly subjects which everyone likes to do. It might be worthwhile getting some voluntary experience in the chosen field that you want to do once your degree is complete (I.e counselling/NHS or in a school).
A
male
reader, superstitionainttheway +, writes (3 July 2010):
superstitionainttheway is verified as being by the original poster of the question all this information is absolute gold guys much appreciated :). and as for the advise to preaper for essay writing, that is going to my priority for summer! once i get my head into something i become OCD on achieveing it.
is there any other snippets of advise that could be of use too me? or mistakes you made in your degree which could help me to avoiding myself?
are lecturers/tutours able to give extra work/oppourtunities to those that are willing to put in the extra time/effort?
also, what sort of volluntary work/additional can i be doing while at university to help equip myself to getting on a cinical phd course?
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reader, anonymous, writes (3 July 2010): why don't you re-sit in a levels you'd enjoy?? you'd get better grades i'm sure.
anyway i know one of my parents friends got like 3 C's but anded up with a first at an average university and then did a masters and PhD @ cambridge and is now on of the specialists in his field (rich)
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A
female
reader, celtic_tiger +, writes (3 July 2010):
 I work at a University, and to go into a clinical field, you would probably have to do an MA or further study after your Undergrad degree, regardless of getting a First or not.
A first would help you get onto further courses more easily, so it is something to work for, but I would like to warn you that these are very few and far between. University Depts have guidelines we have to follow, and only a small percentage are awarded 1sts each year. In our Dept only 3 of our current graduates got this grade.
We are not allowed to give out 1st class degrees like sweeties because it devalues the grades. There are very stringent rules. We have had to change our marking policies and increase the difficulty of certain exams in order to cut the number getting the higher grades - there has to be a spread from 3rd class, 2:2, 2:1 and 1st to reflect the quality of the work.
As someone who regularly teaches undergraduates, I would say you do not have many core academic subjects in your A levels. No English, or science? A good grounding in how to prepare and present academic style work, assignments and essays is ESSENTIAL to getting a 1st.
I see lots of students who supposedly got straight A's at A2 Level - and they cannot even write an essay. They do not know about structure, punctuation, spelling, grammar. Referencing is non existant. Basic core skills, which considering their A level grades, they should have, but they dont.
If I can give you any advice, it is to make sure you have those writing skills. Being able to write 3 essay style exam questions in 3 hrs. (Uni exams are long). Being able to put across a structured and well thought out arguement, and back up with evidence. All good core skills.
But as with everything, once you move up the next stage of the ladder the previous rungs dont matter as much.
Once you have done A levels, no one cares about GCSE's....once you have done a degree, no one asks about A levels.
If you can get a solid 2:1, or a 1st, it wont matter if you only got an ACE.
I got B in English, C in Art and a D in Chemistry. I now have a BA (Hons) 2:1, a Masters Degree with Distinction, and now a PhD.
It is all about working hard. If you put the effort in, you can achieve anything you want.
Good Luck with your studies and I hope you achieve all your dreams.
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reader, Boonridge McPhalify +, writes (3 July 2010):
 what i meant was both a first and a 2:1 can lead to a masters, though the floodgates seem to be opening up to masters these days...
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reader, Boonridge McPhalify +, writes (3 July 2010):
a first (2:1) will allow you to get a masters, and then to go further. getting a first is very difficult.
i have a 2:2 in psychology and have found getting work related to it to be difficult. there are simply too many people with that degree (uk). i am now going back to uni to train to become a nurse at the nhs's expense. while i loved doing my degree i think psychology is a subject where its popularity far exceeds the number of viable positions to be found in the workplace. in other words it might not lead you into a psychology based career.
just my two cents- plus i know loads of other people who have psychology degree's and only one of them (out of about 30) seemed to end up getting work in a hospital (in head trauma unit) and she was a mega hard worker who put her all into her studying. one other one is doing a phd, so i'll see how that turns out for him.
if you are going to do it get your head down- cos if you party or piss about it shows in your degree in a big way. partying being the only fun to have at uni though!
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reader, anonymous, writes (3 July 2010): Hi!
You would probably have to do a masters degree at least afterwards to go far in your field, but that is the same from any university. So if you dont want to re-sit your worse A-levels and improve your grades to go to a better university next year, the best thing to do probably would be go to Chester, and then do post graduate work.Once you have a good Uni degree, A-level grades become less important! :) Hope this helps! :) message me if you want to chat more about this!
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