Hi guys,

Maybe someone has a similar expirience and can give an advice.
I will start soon a bachelors degree with Open University. The plan after graduating is to apply for a Masters degree in psychology at Zurich University.
I have been sending a lot of emails to Zurich University but they refuse to advice unless I have already a diploma.
They say the diploma should be acredited in UK. For psychology I am not sure if they mean the generic accreditation: https://www.gov.uk/check-a-universit.../listed-bodies
or the accreditation with the British Psychological Association:
http://www.bps.org.uk/careers-educat...raining-progra

This would make a big difference because I could chose a BA with a minor in Psychology and transfer all the credits for the major from a previous degree.

Has anybody been in a similar situation?
Also, for a MA or MS in psychoogy with the Zurich University does it make a difference if psychology was studied as a minor or major?I know they ask for 90 credits in psychology.

Thanks!

I would do the straight BSc Psychology degree, that is accredited, then you'll have no problems.

http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/qualif...ns/q07#careers

Just to give an update:
- zurich university doesnt require bps accreditation but just the british governamental recognition
- they said they would accept 90 credits in psychology(i got the other 90 credits transfered from a previous study)

As for Open university, even though not all degrees in psychology offer bps accreditation, almost all are restricted by bps because they hope to get accreditation in the future.because of that, none of them would allow transfering 90 credits from a previous degree.
I had to go with an open degree, the only downside beings its not a named degree.

What do you want to do with your Master degree? In what area of psychology do you wish to work and most importantly, where do you wish to work?

BPS accreditation only is important if you ever want to work in the UK. These courses have been shown to ensure that the core subjects of psychology are taught. This is why they will not allow transfer of credit, as you simply would not have enough psychological basics covered to be competent as a psychologist. More importantly without certain modules, you would not be able to go on and do the accredited MScs. This would impact on your employability as a psychologist post masters, and so something you should not take lightly.

__________________
Career advice? http://www.englishforum.ch/commercia...st-zurich.html

Hello Galatea,

You have made a couple of points i want to comment on:
- bps - like i said is only needed if i want to work in uk but it wad confusing since zurich university asked for an accredited decree in uk. I needed to find out which kind of accreditation they need
- the second point about them not allowing to transfer credits because they want to make sure your are doing core subjects is not correct.
The bachelor with bps accreditation requires you to do 180 in psychology.
The bachelor in psychology and computer science does not give you bps accreditation because it is still trying to obtain accreditation.
In this case i would study:
First year 30 cs and 30 psy
Second year 30 cs and 30 psy
Third year 30cs and 30 psy

If i transfer all 90 cs, i would have left 90 in psychology. That means i wouldnt miss any core modules and it would be enough for a masters at zurich university since a bachelor there can be monostudy but also have a major and a minor.

The reason that is not possible is because they can only transfer all the credits for level 1 and then some level 2. that wozldnt work because bps requires that you study your modules in a certain order. Thats why i chose the non bos accredited open degree.

Of course, i will know for sure when i apply for the masters at zurich uni.

I want to work as a clinical psychologyst in my own practice and for that i need a masters and a further education program.
I am not sure that a bachelor is that important. I just need to get into the masters program.

Hi c_ralu


I was just wondering if your plan worked out in the end. I am also looking into this. It seems like the best option to be able to work as a psychologist in Switzerland is to get a BS in Psychology in Switzerland. But I already have a degree from the UK, and am thinking if it is possible to study for example Psychology and Economics in the UK and then get on the MSc Psychology in Switzerland that would be easier and quicker, as I could transfer the Economics modules.


Would be great to hear from you! Thanks.

Hi

It worked out in the end but it almost didnt. What i did at OU was an open degree, half credits in psy and the rest i transfered my engineering credits from romania.
All uni in switzerland equivalated the same, as missing 76 credits. Only Basel uni allowed me to make up the missing credits.the rest said i need to redo the whole degree. Once i did the missing credits, i equivalated again credits from romania in engineering.

Someone that did the full Ou degree got also rejected from masters at zurich uni. She did get accepted at ZHAw.

If i were you, i would definetly do it in switzerland.anyway with your economics you can equivalate i think 20 credits.20 in bachelor and 20 in masters. The problem with uk is that the credits dont match 1-1. If i wouldve done it in Romania, it wouldve not been a problem

Options:
You can do for example Fernuni which is long distance in seitzerkand and that is recognised but with corona they are all long distance
2. Zurich uni is not that nice...
3. Uni basel is the nicest uni in switzerland: nice professors, nice dekanat. But!!! Swiss unis have autonomy are different from each other. Not sure if zurich uni has it. Basel uni has 6 exams called Klausuren. You have to pass them all, you only have to tries and if you fail you cant study there anymore.i had to do 2 of them. My first one was neuroscience, 400 pages in german . I had no idea. I was lucky as we went in quarantine and we took it online....you can ask other unis if they have that
4.do it at other unies

Ive been doing this since 1 year i think while working full time.it has been an amaizing expirience.ive met some great colleagues, lots of support from students and dekanat. I can do any job interview in german now.

I managed this partially by luck. So dont know what do advice.but definetly dont be afraid of german or working in the same time.

If i were you, i would try to get in this summer and take advantage of online exams.seminars are very easy. In basel uni you can sign up for as many exams and failing has no consequence. Except for the klausuren...

My "EF favorite post" medal goes to c-ralu today - for taking care and answering a noobie question of today 6 years after the thread started (keeping an eye on new contributions), for sharing a personal journey that helps others and for passing Klausuren while working, and in a foreign language! Bravo! (We had Klauzury where I studied too and they are honestly nightmares, written and orals).

Let us know how your hard work paid off. Share your joy



Luobo, we are rootin' for ya too, no matter what you decide to go for.

__________________
"L'homme ne peut pas remplacer son coeur avec sa tete, ni sa tete avec ses mains." J.H. Pestalozzi

“The only difference between a rut and a grave is a matter of depth.” S.P. Cadman

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." A. Einstein

Thanks a lot for the nice words

Such a lovely update to this thread. Do you still intend to work in your own practice as a clinical psychologist?

Hi 😊
Definetly! I have to finish masters, jung institite for four years and 2 years mental hospital internship.

But the last two can be done in parallel😊. Also at jung institute you work with clients under supervision in the last two years so its all great.

These are the steps to work in private practice. But anyway with masters you can work in a clinic.

What have you loved about studying psychology so far, out of curiosity? Anything you don't like? Anything taken you by surprise? What have you changed your mind about? How engaged did you find the other students to be? Is your course full-time or part-time? I am wondering how you're finding juggling it with work alongside it



People have often moaned to me about having to study statistics, and I know of 2 people who changed degrees, as they couldn't stomach statistics

I really liked OU because there you write essays, you compare and contrast different ideas.
What i like at Basel Uni is the professors who are psychotherapists. They have nice seminars.
As for psychology in general, i havent changed my mind about anything. I discovered I liked Phenomenology. But besides that I still like depth psychology and thats not really taught in either unis. I had one professor who refused to teach one hour on freud. . I wish i had some philosophy classes...
What I didnt like...there are some awfuk classes that i avoided like Risk in economics. Psychology wise its hard to say as it has different areas:clinical, cognitive, organisational, neuroscience...i dont like economics.i failed that one and then equivalated..

The students are very serious ...i think the uni has mostly swiss and german so when they write in german, they really try to make it perfect. Even though they dont work, they have the same worries and stress like the rest of us.
I did learn from them how to be pragmatic

As for working, i did my missing credits working full time. Basel uni lets you take as many credits as you can and failing has no consequence. Generally there are no repeats so you take the same thing next year or something easier in its place (for example a class in the same module).
Is more than manageable.it is 4 times harder than ou but still...you can progess with part time study.
For example i just signed up for masters stuff and realised besides kolocvium and masterprojekt (which you can do in english and some professors offer flexible hours), you only need to do one seminar. I signed up for one that was 3 days intensive and you would be done with it. So its possible..

Keep in mind that before corona you had no way of recording classes..but now its much easier. Some professors upload lectures, some give self study....

Thanks for taking the time to explain. It's really lovely and inspirational to have a tiny window into your journey. So glad you came back with such a charming update, and looking forward to more news.

Thank you for asking

Just checking on you. How are you feeling about the upcoming academic year?


You've had an interesting vantage point into both the "going to the place of study for classes" model and the "everything's virtual because of Corona" model. I was thinking how many people will be embarking upon a degree right now, which will likely, at least, start virtually, and wondering if you've found any ways to make the best of the situation.


Obviously, it's ideal to be face-to-face when studying something requiring a lot of discussion and debate like psychology.



A law student I know mentioned she's asking fewer questions, and less inclined to comment generally, because of the hesitancy she feels to join the queue to make a comment, then to unmute, perhaps to have some audio or video issues, and it's a bit too formal for her in general (she's feeling under pressure to say more than she previously would have, when she might just have said something akin to "ahhhhh I see").


What has your experience been like?

I did my entire degree virtually (also in psychology), as I was based in the UK but my university was in Australia. I think a lot of how you deal with it depends on your personality. I'm quite introverted and likely would not have participated too much in a classroom. But the virtual journey was wonderful - we had a chatroom, a bit like this forum, where everyone could share their ideas and questions. Our lectures were all pre-recorded so you couldn't ask questions on the spot, however all the lecturers were on the forum too, so you didn't miss anything.

I am considering doing my masters virtually also. It really gives you a lot of freedom, i.e. I can watch the lectures at a time that suits me (often in the middle of the night) rather than have to stick to a schedule.

Obviously my journey is one-sided because I've never experienced the classroom environment, so I'd be very keen to hear from the OP as well, just on how it compares and any pros / cons.

Hi

Difficult to answer as it depends on age. I think the advantage of in person is the break time. People do mingle, exchange for numbers.

But the same happened online.in every single seminar people contacted me and sent me their phone number. For example i just started the masters. The first week they dont start seminars/classes.they use the first week for intensive seminars.so i did a one week seminar in neuroscience, 9-6 m-sat. The professor emailed us before and grouped us.the girl reached out to me and we chated the whole week before.so professors try to do that.

I am also an introvert.i do know someone with social anxiety. Lots of professors are on the side of "you dont have to talk, you dont have to ask questions". In the big group they dont make people talk.then they organise people in subchats and there peolle talk between each other.
Yesterday i had the bachelor arbeit meeting. Its suppose to be written in english. Poor professor was keep switching between english and german.
Some professors are not that nice.i noticed the ones scared of covid are a bit more stressed. They want people back in classes but only vaccinated ones.so thrre is so conflict going on now.
Not sure if i answered your question. I think rearly you are made to speak but it can happen.

I think in the end its all about which professor you chose even for the same seminar....

I think both posts are really great. Itsjess' is a lovely surprise. Hope you'll keep posting, when you can, itsjess, so we can follow your adventure, too. Are you working alongside any studies you undertake?



c_ralu you did. Everyone's vantage point will differ, so hearing about your perspective is interesting, and it seems you've adapted really well. Are you still working alongside your course? How often have technical bumps arisen with your virtual classes? Can you go to the classroom, should you wish? Are they offering both virtual and being in the classroom?

Happy to help. I have been working full time and thats been the nice surprise because before everyone told me, the maximum i can work is 20%. Im switching to 80% next year.

I had no technical issues.i had one time the problem i closed the exam window and they failed me . I complained and they said these are the rules. Then i said:"at least implement a pop up that says "are you sure you want to close this window?". There is a standard for online studies like you should continue where you left off but they didnt bother implementing this😂.

Like i said, right now you can only go to classes in person if you have a certificate .the rectorat position was "we only have obligation towards vaccinated students". Students raised 12 000 signatures and sent open letter to government because they will niot be able to pay for rapid tests and that the principle of "education without barriers" is violated. Some professors only wabt to teach to vaccinated students.so there are complaints both sides

Anyway lots of seminars were online anyway and they upload the recorded lectures more and more. Now even the in person seminars are moving online.they were never in person but the professors hoped..it changes from week to week. Mine are all online-i chose them that way.