So, you’re thinking of studying psychology? Great! The degree is popular for many reasons, not just for those who want to become therapists. Psychology is one of those degrees that can help apply for just about any job (unless you’re going in for a very specialised career, of course!) as you learn so much about understanding yourself and other people! For this reason, it can be a great choice if you’re interested in the subject but not sure quite what sort of career you want in the future (me too, please stop asking me what I plan to do after graduation!).
However, you might be wondering what exactly a day in the life of a psychology student looks like. If you’re curious, read on to find out!
Before lectures
Unfortunately for me, many of my lectures are in the morning. My typical wake-up time is around 7-8 am (pray for me during these cold winter months!). I don’t tend to study before my lectures, so I usually spend my time procrastinating getting out of bed (repeatedly).
When I do get up, I just make myself breakfast and coffee. If my housemates are awake, we contemplate the choices that led us to this moment together, before splitting off to get ready. After breakfast, I get dressed and do some makeup before heading out the door (usually astronomically late!).
Lecture time!
I tend to arrive on campus around 9-10 am, spending the walk over mentally preparing myself for the day. I go straight to my lectures, as I’m not organised enough to leave enough time beforehand to study or get coffee!
What I learn
Psychology courses are very varied. Through seminars and lectures, we learn about the many different areas of psychology, from social to clinical and developmental psychology. Of course, there are the dreaded statistics lectures as well. I’m yet to meet someone who enjoys those.
It’s important to know that doing a psychology degree means you may not get much flexibility in what you study. This is because psychology degrees are usually accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS).
It’s important to take a BPS-accredited degree as many postgraduate courses and clinical psychology programmes require you to have studied a BPS-accredited course. However, don’t worry – you still get to study a wide range of things! You’ll study many different areas of psychology (like the fields I’ve mentioned above), but if you’re interested you can read more about BPS-accredited courses here.
My lectures are usually one to two hours long (although I have suffered through a fair few mammoth three-hour seminars in my time), so lectures take up most of my day. Luckily, I tend to have a break in between the chaos for lunch, which is spent eating, chatting with my friends, and telling myself I should really get started on that essay due next week. Maybe tomorrow.
Aside from lectures and coursework, psychology students often have a lot of other things to be getting on with. Some universities may require you to either be a participant in psychological studies or help to carry them out yourself! Many psychology students who want to go into research after they graduate will take on internships where they help to carry out psychological studies.
In your third year, you usually have to do a dissertation (as someone who’s halfway through their third year, wish me luck!), and so you’ll have commitments like dissertation meetings, data collection, and data analysis outside of your lectures and coursework.
After lectures
On campus
What I do after classes depends on how many deadlines I have coming up. My friends and I usually go to the library after class to study. This sounds very productive until you realise how much chatting we do instead of working.
As fun and interesting as a psychology degree is, we do have a lot of deadlines! Many universities assess psychology undergraduates using a mixture of essays and exams, so there’s almost always an essay to write or an exam to revise for!
Many of my modules also require me to read papers in preparation for seminar discussions. I always feel like I can get my reading done quickly but it takes so much time! Additionally, there’s always dissertation preparation to be done if you’re in your third year (seriously, help me).
Heading home!
After a long day of studying (and an awful lot of gossiping and chatting), I head home in the late afternoon or early evening. I debate getting a takeaway but tend to cook in an attempt to save some money.
I often chat with my housemates as we cook together. This sounds very domestic. In reality it often involves us fighting to get the prime hob on the stovetop before someone else.
What I do after dinner depends on my workload. As a general rule, I like to wrap up my work for the day before dinner so I can spend the evening relaxing and having fun. That is, unless I’m swamped, in which case I do end up doing a bit more studying.
In the evenings, I like to socialise with my friends, take some time for my hobbies, or go to a society event.
Most universities will have a psychology society, which is a really useful way to meet people on your course if you’ve been struggling to strike up conversations in lectures. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but university societies in general are a really good way to meet new people who share your interests.
Want to know what sort of societies to expect? You might want to check out our article about the weirdest, most wonderful university societies in the UK – Hummus Society, anyone?
There’s no doubt psychology is a busy degree, with a lot of time spent in lectures and studying. Despite this, I find it very interesting and rewarding to study!
If you’re still not sure whether you want to study psychology, or what university you want to study at, there are many other things you can do. Attending open days and looking at the course content at different universities are great ways of getting a feel for courses and universities.
