Within GetPsyched, members of our team have all completed various psychology degrees, and despite our great experiences, we have made a few mistakes along the way! In this post, we have compiled some of the biggest mistakes we made during our studies that we encourage any psychology student to be wary of in the future!
Starting assignments too late
A Psychology degree is different from many others in that the areas you research often have no clear answers. Most topics in understanding the human mind are heavily debated, leading to a lot of different articles and books discussing arguments and critiques.
This means that trying to understand these different viewpoints and forming your own opinion requires some extra work! The process of writing a psychology assignment requires a lot of self-refection, assessment on literature and creating a structure… and that is all before the writing begins! Starting a week before the deadline is far too late to begin your essay work. Some of the best essays can need months of work, and if you can we recommend starting your essay as soon as possible!
Not Engaging with extra classes and content
Whilst it is very tempting to spend all your free time doing anything but university work, investing some time into extra content may take your own work and interests in psychology to the next level. Many universities can offer extra support in critical writing, literature searching, and other topics that may add to your skill set when working on your degree!
It is easy to think they are simply extras and aren’t necessary, however actually attending these extra opportunities can make a huge difference in your focus and success. The Get-psyched Youtube channel also has a few videos regarding essay writing and studying, which we recommend if you are looking for some short tips and support for your studies!
Hoping for one type of question for your exams
As with most degrees, exams will make an appearance at some point, and naturally, you need to prepare! Sometimes, it can seem like the best way to do so is trying to predict the questions, and to memorise one answer. In psychology, this is definitely a mistake. The preparation for exams should be part of your learning process.
This means that you should do the reading and become familiar with the areas of study. By studying this way, you can be much more dynamic and fluid in your exam preparation. We recommend mind maps and creating charts to piece together concepts and articles, this will allow you to really reflect on the concepts, and feel more comfortable with answering any question the exam might have in store!
Not investing in learning Statistics
The word statistics can spark dread in the heart of many psychology students… but there is unfortunately no way around it. However, it does not need to be a threatening monster. While you are working on your psychology degree, we really recommend taking extra time to work on your statistics skills!
There are many psychology statistics books, videos and blogs out there…and if you ask the right people, you may be able to receive extra tuition! So when it comes to statistics, don’t hide your head under the sand. The need for statistics increases as you continue on your psychology journey and investing time now will pay off in the long run!
So there we have it, 4 of our biggest mistakes we hope you can stay aware of when doing a psychology degree. Do you think our tips are useful? Is there anything you would like to add? Let us know in the comments or send us a message, we would love to hear from you!