Hi all!
I thought I’d give you an insight into a week in the life of a first year Psychology student here at York!
Some of you may be concerned that uni is more intense than your previous education… so i’m here to settle those worries!
So for first and second year, your work is split into 5 modules…
- Research Methods
- Development and Language
- Perception and Cognition
- Social, Personality, Abnormal
- Brain and Behaviour
Personally, my favourite module was Social, Personality and Abnormal because I really enjoy the criminal and clinical aspects of psychology. In this module you look at things such as schizophrenia, anxiety, gang crime and dementia.
I also really enjoyed Research Methods as I loved doing statistics and getting to analyse lots of data using a system called SPSS which is used by professional academics for research. But don’t worry about the statistical aspects of the degree – there are students on the course who really struggle with maths and so lectures strip right back to basics (mode, median, mean) and there’s also tonnes of extra support across the University.
You will have one lecture per module a week (so 5 lectures a week) and you will also do one practical per module over the year, as well as a tutorial per module every term.
Practicals provide you with an opportunity to carry out some research and analyse the data, and then write up your own report whilst tutorials allow for small group discussions of papers related to the subject area.
Above is a picture from the first practical I carried out in my degree. We had to wear these prism goggles that shifted our vision 30 degrees to the left, and look at how easily our brain adapts and calibrates to the shift in vision. It was great fun throwing tennis balls at lecturers when you couldn’t see straight!!
Having 10-15 contact hours per week means you have soooo much free time for yourself! Obviously some of this will be for reading and coursework, but much of it is for you to enjoy living in the beautiful city of York!
The University has 4 official club nights a week so you can enjoy a night out with your flat or coursemates…
Or you can go for a nice meal in one of the many gorgeous restaurants in York! We went for a Christmas meal at Pitcher and Piano…
There’s also plenty of free time to take up a placement or volunteering scheme half a day/one day a week. In my first year, I did a placement for a term in a school through YSIS (York Students in Schools) where I worked 1:1 with SEN pupils in a secondary school and found the experience really valuable.
I got to work with pupils who struggled with reading or maths and required extra support, and often supervised groups of pupils who were working on tasks in class. The experience was extremely rewarding and useful for me to analyse whether I was interested in a career in teaching or educational psychology. You can carry out one of these placements at any term throughout your degree.
I think the Psychology course here at York is a perfect balance of studying your passion and having enough free time to make the most of the amazing city you are living in.
I love York! I love Psychology! But most importantly, I love studying Psychology AT York!
Any questions, please comment!
Katie x
I’m interested in studying psychology next year in York. I wanted to clarify that you only have lectures Monday-Thursday?
Also what time so you usually start?
Thank you !
Hi Anny,
That’s fab to hear, it’s such an incredible course!
I did only have lectures Mon-Thurs but this can change each year for first years. This is just an example of a timetable and not exactly what you’ll have. They do tend to try and arrange lectures so that you have one week day without any, but it isn’t guaranteed.
In line with this, lecture times can be different each year too. But the earliest starts at 9am and you usually only have one of these in a week, and the latest is usually 3-5.
Tutorials and practicals can be at completely different times for different people each week as well.
Hope this helps and please feel free to ask anything else! 🙂 x
Hello – I really enjoyed reading your post. I’m considering applying for the course but it says 2 sciences are preferred at A level and I only do 1 (Psychology) so would you say the course is very biomedical sciences based and that’s why they ask for 2 sciences?
Thank you