Really regretting college...

[tnttran]

i was really excited about doing my psychology degree, but when i started it got really dull. seems like i've always done what my parents want...

 

i did chemistry, physics, biology and DOUBLE maths in highschool, REALLY hated it. but i did it because my brothers and sister did it. and so it was kinda expected of me, especially since i'm the "smartest" one in my family.

 

so i finally escaped it and got to do something i want, psychology. But now somehow i'm stuck doing chemistry and mathematics course again... i really hate it, the lectures are so dull and there is so much to do and the lecturers don't exactly help at all... since there are 400-500 students per course. i used to be able to grind on boring subjects, been doing it since highschool... but now i can't seem to do it anymore and its too late to change ...

 

i've already barely passed my first maths test, and i'm afraid i'm going to fail... i've never failed in my life and my family will be... yea... but i really cant cope atm. math and chemistry are so demanding and BORING they get in the way of psycholgy. i don't know wat to do.

[rocio]

Why are you doing chem and math if your major is psychology?

[tnttran]

Why are you doing chem and math if your major is psychology?

 

i'm in australia. (college = university there)

i dont understand the system, but i had to do 3 science courses. and the advisor selected those for me.

[rocio]

Okay so you're almost finished. After you get these out of the way you'll feel better and can concentrate on the courses you like better.

 

Also, I find university gets more fun as you get into your 3rd and 4th year. In the beginning, you're just taking these boring intro courses. By 4th year you're totally an expert in your feild and you learn really cool stuff that's actually interesting. Hang in there.

[Maverick32x]

agree with Hazey..... my first 2 years here at school were HORRIBLE, I was a bio major and just hated taking classes.. and choose the major the same reason you did.. my parents wanted that....

 

Well I finally started making my own decision and went into psychology and I couldn't be happier.... I LOVE going to lectures (man i sound like a nerd) and I go to stuff outside of class that deals with psychology all the time... I never had that drive in any other subject..

 

so my protip is to simply get through those boring classes and know that soon you'll reach the promised land!!!!

[BellaDonna]

Most colleges will require you to take general education courses (science, math, literature, history, writing etc.) besides just the courses for your major.

 

My guess is that these science courses are required for all the studnets at your college- regardless of major- as a graduation requirement- and that's why the class size is so big,

 

When I was an undergrad, I was a psychology major too and still had to take all that other stuff. Just do the best you can do and keep in mind that it will get better once you get those general requirements out of the way and can focus more on your area of interest.

 

BellaDonna

[Aleadragonhawk]

Yeah, core classes can be frustrating. If they are prereqs for the classes in your major though, what you can try is taking a year off from the core and concentrating on the classes you need to take specifically for your major. That's what my fiancee did - next year is his last year, and it's going to be mostly core with maybe 1-2 engineering courses.

[CaptainPlanet]

You should learn maths even tho it is boring maths is the most important subject there is. Without maths we have no science or engineering it is important that all students should do mathematics. I really do not understand why it is not made compulsary into third year.

[herenow]

I can understand how it may seem that chemistry and math have nothing to do with psychology at first glance.

 

But a psychology major can really benefit immensely from understanding chemistry. If you want to understand what a person is experiencing and how he/she is reacting to his/her experiences, the biochemistry of the brain is a very important factor to consider. Brain chemistry plays a huge role in stress reactions, everyday moods, addictions, PMS, depression, mania, hormonal effects in adolescence, hormonal changes surrounding pregnancy and post-partum mood shifts, pain reactions, medication side effects (whether for mental illness or for physical illnesses)...you name it. We have the ability to affect our own brain chemistry in a self-accentuating feedback loop through positive actions such as exercise and meditation and relaxation, as well as through negative actions such as ruminating on negative events. If you want to understand human beings in a holistic manner, you can't separate the mental from the physical. They are very interconnected.

 

Math, especially statistics, is extremely helpful in order to 1) conduct any psychology studies yourself or 2) understand studies that others have conducted. It's all well and good to read that "researchers have discovered that XXXX..." but if you pay attention and read a lot, you will find that sometimes "scientific results" in the field of psychology differ from researcher to researcher--especially if you follow certain topics over the course of several years. Conventional wisdom is something that changes from generation to generation. What, then, is "truth"? Understanding the math of how studies are designed and how the results are analyzed will help you to stand on your own two feet as an independent thinker and to draw your own conclusions, rather than blindly believing what someone tells you.

 

If you have a choice about what math courses to take, I would strongly suggest becoming strong in statistics. Even if you end up leaving psychology and going into a field like business or marketing (areas that benefit from an understanding of human psychology), my and my husband's philosophy is that sophistication in those fields in these increasingly competitive times requires a proficiency with numbers. My husband has an MBA from a top-ranked school and the part of the program that most of his classmates found most difficult--but that the program insisted was VERY important--was the math part.

 

Hope this helps at least a little bit!