Want to study psychology at university?

As a pre-university student, it's natural for your thoughts to quickly turn towards university and where your future path as a psychology student could take you.

Where do I want to study? What do I want to specialise in? What will university be like?

All these questions and more will come to the fore as you plan the next few years of your life.

We understand how daunting it can be when it comes to making the decision to go to university, so we've spoken to a handful of our student committee members and asked them to offer some insights into the things they wish they had known before embarking on their own psychology degrees.

Psychology and maths are more aligned than you think

My name is Junyan and I am a third-year psychology and international relations student at the University of St Andrews.

One thing I wish I had known before starting my psychology education was that statistics are the methodology used to test psychological hypotheses.

This approach can be very "unfriendly" for somebody like me who doesn't consider maths to be their strongest subject.

If I had known beforehand that psychology and mathematics overlap so heavily, then I would have definitely prepared mentally for this challenge.

Psychology is also a very broad subject with research across areas ranging from neuroscience and development, to comparative and social, so be ready to embrace the variety in order to find your specialism.

Access the support available to you

I'm Angel and I'm a second year MSci psychology student at University College London (UCL).

If I could step back in time and give myself some advice before starting my psychology degree, then I would tell myself that there is a lot of support available to students through universities and the BPS.

My advice to anyone starting out on a psychology degree would be to take some time to discover the resources available to you, because by accessing these, you can really give yourself a strong head start.

It's okay to change your mind

I'm Sim, and I am currently in the final year of my bachelor's degree. I work with children with special educational needs and I'm currently specialising in autism.

Something I wish I had known before starting my psychology education is that it is okay to change your mind.

When I first enrolled, it was originally for a BSc (honours) forensic psychology degree.

However, a month after starting, I had a change of heart and swapped to the BSc (honours) psychology degree.

I've been fascinated by forensics for as long as I can remember but after embarking on my educational journey, my interests and opinions changed.

After exploring and researching various pathways, I'm now on my journey towards working in educational psychology instead.

I'm honestly glad I did my research because I discovered how much I enjoy working with children and young adults. I'm now following my passion starting my second year within the education industry

It's okay to follow your instincts

My name is Kara and I'm a third-year psychology student studying at Goldsmiths University of London.

I am especially interested in clinical and developmental psychology and would love to undertake a clinical psychology doctorate in the future.

One thing I wish I had known before starting my psychology degree is that it's okay to follow your instincts and your passions when approaching assignments.

Although your whole cohort may be given the same question to answer for a piece of coursework, there is always more than one way of answering it.

I have always performed well and enjoyed my degree the most when I have approached an assignment in a way that I have found interesting.

Often, that's been achieved by widening my reading to spark an interest, which although is not always relevant, has broadened my understanding of a topic.

Statistics are an important part of psychology

My name is Lauren and I'm a third-year psychology and social policy undergraduate student at the University of Strathclyde.

Upon graduating, I wish to enrol on an MSc in psychology with a focus on mental health.

The past few years have taught me how valuable a good education is and how going through life without one can be detrimental to how you engage with society, while also affecting your own mental health.

My lived experience has made me feel very passionate about increasing the opportunities that are available for students from all backgrounds - particularly those who find themselves at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing higher education.

If there was one thing that I wish I had known before starting my psychology degree, it would be how heavily the discipline is involved with statistics.

Had I known that, then I would have started reading around the subject sooner in order to make myself more comfortable with statistics as part of my learning.

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Remember, there's plenty of support and resources available to help you throughout your psychology degree - both from your university and through the BPS.

Visit bps.org.uk/getting-started to assess the options available to you.