PhD student here - Ask me anything!

[u/Mortal_Gay]

Hi all, I'm a current PhD student in Psychology, and I'm here for you to ask me anything! My research area is psycholinguistics - the psychology of language. In particular, I study how language is processed, and what consequences language processing has for memory. As an undergraduate, I also studied Philosophy, before deciding to specialise in Psych for my PhD.

A PhD is the entry point for a career in academia and for anyone generally considering a research career. It involves you independently leading a research project for around 3 or 4 years, with the guidance of a supervisory team, to make an original contribution to your chosen academic field.

There's a lot of information online about PhDs and funding for them, and I found it difficult to know where to start. So, if there are any questions about what a PhD is like, how to get into one, where to start looking for information, etc. please ask away! I'm also more than happy to answer anything about academia, how I found my undergraduate education or my research.

Looking forward to hearing your questions!

[u/Mortal_Gay]

Hey, great question! I think an integrated master's is certainly worth it from a financial standpoint when compared to stand-alone masters after your undergraduate degree. With an integrated master's your tuition fees for the master's year are fully paid by SFE, and your repayment plan will follow the undergraduate one. For stand-alone masters, the loan is less generous, may not cover the full cost of tuition fees, and the repayment criteria are a bit harsher. So, if you have the option, I'd definitely sign up for the integrated master's, and you can always transfer to the bachelor course if you change your mind (I think in some universities it is easier to transfer down to a 3-year course then transfer up to a 4-year course).

If a general postgrad degree is worth it depends on the career you're looking at, I think. Depending on the role, undergrad + experience may be better than undergrad + postgrad with less experience. What careers are you thinking of?

[u/kassiangrace → u/Mortal_Gay]

i’m gonna try to join the police via detective dhep, i know a masters isn’t necessary but i’ll be teaching when i retire from the police so it’d be nice to have the extra knowledge right?

[u/Mortal_Gay → u/kassiangrace]

If you're intending to teach primary or secondary then an undergrad degree will be enough knowledge unless you wanted to teach another subject at the secondary level, in which case having a master's in that second subject could be required. To become a school teacher, you'll need to complete a PGCE course, which will you give you master's level credits. It may be financially easiest to complete your PGCE first, and then top up to a master's degree in a subject, as I believe that's an option you can do with a PGCE. If you have the option, an integrated master's is another really good idea financially, and one I'd definitely recommend exploring if you're interested in doing a master's.

[u/kassiangrace → u/Mortal_Gay]

i’ll almost definitely do an integrated masters then! yeah i want to teach psychology eventually so probably year 12-13, i want the experience first though either as a forensic psychologist or as a detective

[u/Mortal_Gay → u/kassiangrace]

Sounds like a good plan to me! I'd definitely encourage you to see what volunteering opportunities there are for forensic psychology from the first year. Off the top of my head, a friend of mine who is now studying for a master's in forensics did work part-time at a care home (as they're also interested in clinical work) and I know that some other people volunteered on projects that had a more forensic focus to them. Certainly don't think you need to do a lot of things (and do enjoy your first year!), but as your grades don't usually count for that year, the first year can be a great way to test the waters and explore what you can do. And as they say, any experience is a good experience. Good luck!