Bachelor of Psychology (Honours)

[perpetual]

I'm looking to become a clinical psychologist, and so need to do four years of undergraduate study majoring in Psychology, then postgrad.
I've thought about the courses ANU has to offer in the way of Psychology for ages, but I can't decide what's best for me, because I'm into the arts a lot more than science. I'd like to be able to choose to study language alongside Psychology, but certain degrees, such as the 4 year BPsych (Honours) doesn't offer that option - it seems like I'd have to choose electives that are purely science based.

Am I better off choosing to study:
a straight BA majoring in Psych AND French or
BA/BSci (Psych) then attempting to get into honours or
BPsych (Hons)?

This is probably worded really badly and is quite confusing, but basically I want to know how I can study Psychology with as much flexibility to choose Arts subjects, and still be able to get into honours and postgrad study.

UoM offers a perfect model for me (BA in Psych and French then Hons) but I'm in love with the idea of moving to ANU.

Anyone have advice?

[paulsterio]

At Monash you can add a diploma of languages onto any course you do, so you can do the Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) and add a diploma of languages on top of that, it adds one years worth of time onto your degree, but if you plan it out and overload or take summer units then, you can finish it all in 4 years.

Not sure if ANU has this option - but any reason why you find ANU appealing?

[brenden]

At Monash you can add a diploma of languages onto any course you do, so you can do the Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) and add a diploma of languages on top of that, it adds one years worth of time onto your degree, but if you plan it out and overload or take summer units then, you can finish it all in 4 years.

Not sure if ANU has this option - but any reason why you find ANU appealing?

Pretty unrelated but, is it possible to 'overload' on a normal double degree. Eg, if I get my 1st pref. of Double in BA/BEd - takes 4 years... I think - could I reduce that time to 3 by having a heavier workload?

[paulsterio]

Ask TrueTears, he's overloading a double degree, I think

[brenden]

Think I might. Cheers for that.

[humph]

I'm looking to become a clinical psychologist, and so need to do four years of undergraduate study majoring in Psychology, then postgrad.
I've thought about the courses ANU has to offer in the way of Psychology for ages, but I can't decide what's best for me, because I'm into the arts a lot more than science. I'd like to be able to choose to study language alongside Psychology, but certain degrees, such as the 4 year BPsych (Honours) doesn't offer that option - it seems like I'd have to choose electives that are purely science based.

Am I better off choosing to study:
a straight BA majoring in Psych AND French or
BA/BSci (Psych) then attempting to get into honours or
BPsych (Hons)?

This is probably worded really badly and is quite confusing, but basically I want to know how I can study Psychology with as much flexibility to choose Arts subjects, and still be able to get into honours and postgrad study.

UoM offers a perfect model for me (BA in Psych and French then Hons) but I'm in love with the idea of moving to ANU.

Anyone have advice?

You can just do a straight BA with two majors, Psych and French, followed by Psych Honours (you'd probably need a Distinction average in your Psych classes to get into Honours, but that's not too difficult). That way you get to do plenty of French, but your degree is really in Psych (but the piece of paper that you get at the end of your degree would list both your majors, then say "with Honours in psychology").

If you'd rather obtain a degree that reflects your French achievement, then do the double degree: the main difference would be that it would take longer, but with the benefit of more qualifications.

If you just want to do some French courses on the side, then it should be possible to take them as electives even while doing a BPsych. I'm not sure exactly how many electives you're allowed to do from outside your discipline, but it's quite a few (but might not be enough to make you happy). Email the Psych department/person in charge of the BPsych degree and ask how many external electives would be allowed over the course of the degree.

[EvangelionZeta]

^^Or just check http://studyat.anu.edu.au/programs/4612HBPSY;study_options.html :p

You actually can choose up to 48 units' (8 subjects') worth of electives from outside of Science in the BPsych - the only problem is that in 2nd and 3rd year they expect you to do three psych courses a semester, ergo you can't do a major (only a minor).  If you're just interested in it for its own sake, then that's probably a decent option anyway, but if you're rather have more room to explore French or other Arts subjects, then it's probably better to go something else.

In terms of choosing between the straight BA and the double degree, it's really up to you: from the sounds of it, you'd enjoy the BA more, but having the BSc (Psych) means you get an extra qualification and some science subjects tied up in there (which is relevant to some extent).  The paradoxical thing is that the double degree actually allows you to do more Arts subjects as well though: you'd get to do 96 units, as opposed to the 72 units you'd have leftover from a normal BA after completing the Psych Honours entry requirements. 

Do you have anything you'd like to study in Arts apart from French?

At Monash you can add a diploma of languages onto any course you do, so you can do the Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) and add a diploma of languages on top of that, it adds one years worth of time onto your degree, but if you plan it out and overload or take summer units then, you can finish it all in 4 years.

Not sure if ANU has this option - but any reason why you find ANU appealing?

You can overload/take summer courses at ANY university basically - I'm a full semester ahead of where I'm supposed to be at at the moment, and could be a full year ahead at the end of this year (ergo graduating) if I really wanted.  And I imagine it's probably to do with the ANU lifestyle and its perks - that, and it's one of the best universities in the world for modern langauges (ranked #5 last time I checked?  My second/third year Japanese subject is the equivalent of Monash's Japanese 7...).