Student partraits: Bachelor Psychology

Can you tie in topics from Psychology with your Minor in Business Psychology?
The topics sit close to each other and yet I have the feeling that, in my Minor, it is mainly the economic perspective that comes into play. The first round of courses covers the basics – such as Business Administration and Marketing. That was very exciting because the Business Psychology lecturers often work with a disciplinary overlap and come, in part, from Business Studies. This generates additional input. I have covered a variety of topics in my Minor, from Consumer- and Market Research to Occupational- and Engineering Psychology. The Minor is an exciting addition and draws my focus to a different perspective.

What are your academic interests?
For example, I am enthusiastic about Social Psychology: It’s about the individual in different group contexts. This is also relevant for society. I also find Sustainability Psychology stimulating. Leuphana is known for its focus on sustainability. I find it hugely exciting to highlight sustainable aspects from a psychological perspective.

What has been your experience with the Bachelor’s programme at the College so far?
I think that the studies at the College are well-structured on balance. I especially like the split into a Major and Minor. This allows me to pursue my interests. In addition, I can exchange ideas in the Minor with students who have a different Major.
Complementary studies are very refreshing because I have a course every semester that is not a key focal point in my subjects. For example, I had the chance to take two complementary Spanish programmes. It was a great experience to write a term paper entirely in Spanish. That’s why I would definitely say that I quite like it overall, because it’s characterised by a good interplay of different parts.

How did you like the Leuphana Semester?
I found it enriching that I not only got to know people from my Major during the Leuphana Semester, but also many others. This afforded me an overview of everything that is offered at our university, and I got to know many fantastic students.

What do you think of the College admission process?
I think it’s extremely fair because it doesn’t just depend on the final grade, other criteria are also taken into account. In Psychology, I know some who got a place because they performed well in the selection test and showed a lot of commitment outside of school. I think it’s really great that the admissions process is not just about grade point average. Sure, the best will get in directly because of such a grade. I think that’s good too that they have an advantage. However, not only those who have an extremely high average mark are admitted.
It’s good when there are not only students with a great average mark in a study programme who are purely interested in achieving the top grades. I think Psychology is a choice of course that sees tremendous competition to get in at other universities. I have the feeling that this is not the case with us thanks to the selection process.

How did you experience the admission procedure? Did you take the admission test?
I was lucky. I slipped in thanks to my average mark. However, I also started with Political Science at that time, and that’s why I didn’t go through the selection process or take the test.

What happens after graduation? Do you have any plans in place already?
I’m going abroad now and then I’ll do a blend of internships and travel for another six months. During my internship, I would really like to look at a larger business enterprise or a consultancy that deals with leadership development. I might also go to a social welfare advisory centre.

What are the advantages / disadvantages of studying at Leuphana College?

One advantage is that the programme is in English, which gives you more opportunities once you are done with your Bachelor degree and makes the student body more diverse. Another advantage is the applied perspective, which makes university studies more educational, interesting, and graspable.

Leuphana College also has a disadvantage for people, who want to go in a clinical direction or are very interested in clinical psychology, because there is only one clinical psychology module. Thus, psychology students from Leuphana cannot qualify for clinical Masters programmes. However, by choosing the Psychology major and Psychology & Society minor, the admission criteria for all general Masters programmes in Psychology are met (because this combination is certified by the “Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie”).

Concerning the Complementary Studies at Leuphana, it is nice to have the opportunity to learn a lot about different topics, gaining a transdisciplinary perspective and meeting a lot of different people from different study programmes.

What is your take-away of the undergraduate programme at Leuphana College so far?

I really like the Bachelor programme because you can touch upon a lot of different topics. In the Leuphana Semester you can choose between many different courses. Throughout the major and minor programme and the Complementary Studies there are further opportunities to choose topics you are interested in.

 I also like that the Leuphana is not a big university, where everything is anonymous, so you are able to connect to your fellow students. Most professors are motivating us and design their lectures as fun and interesting as possible. Overall, I really enjoyed the classes, especially because I think the lecturers always try to take different perspectives and keep their course material up to date.

Why and whom would you recommend to study at the Leuphana College?

I would advise everyone who does not only want to study psychology but also likes to think outside the box to study at the Leuphana College. Leuphana is also the University for you if you are looking for a university that has familiar atmosphere, with a smaller student body.

If you are interested in an applied perspective to psychology and like to tie a lot of different topics together, this is the right university for you.

What do you think of the College admission process?

For me it was refreshing to see that not only grades were important, but also experiences abroad or social engagement play a role. I think this leads to a more diverse student body and it is nice to meet so many people with interesting stories at one place.

I am a bit partial about the admissions test though because I think it is in some way unfair, as some students had Psychology as a subject at school. The test can be a chance for some students, but can also be a challenge for others.

How did you experience the admission process?

For me the admission process was fairly easy because I applied in times of corona, I did not need to do the admissions test. I also already had certificates for my English capabilities which made it easier for me, I heard from a lot of other students that this was sometimes very stressful and hard to get.

Have you already completed internships during your studies?

No, but I plan do to one in my 5^th or 6^th semester. I think doing an internship is a great opportunity to get insights into the field of work. It is also fairly easy to integrate an internship into your studies at the Leuphana because you can do it as part of your complementary studies.

Do you work while you study?

Yes, I work as a student research assistant in the Institute of Psychology. I decided to work as a student research assistant, because I wanted to learn how psychological research is done in practice and it is also very compatible with my studies as I have very flexible working hours.

Do you volunteer besides your studies?

Yes, I am part of the student council for psychology and I am volunteering in the student initiatives Amnesty International and Sustainability & Psychology. I strongly recommend you to join some initiatives and councils to meet new people, have fun, and also change something on campus or in Lüneburg. But I would also make sure to not join too many initiatives, because it is also important to still have some time to relax.

How do you like Lüneburg as a place to study?

When I first applied for a study programme, I wanted to study in a big city, because I come from a small village and wanted to see how life is in a big city. But somehow, I landed here in Lüneburg and now I am really glad I am here.

Lüneburg is not only a beautiful city with a lot of surrounding nature in which you go for a hike, the Ilmenau and the Kreidebergsee in which you can go swimming in the summer, but also the city with the highest pub density in Europe after Madrid. If you want to go clubbing, Hamburg is just 35min away by train.

What happens after graduation? Do you have any plans in place already?

After I finish my studies here, I plan to go abroad to do my Masters

What are the advantages / disadvantages of studying at Leuphana College?

An advantage is the possibility to add almost any course you want to your timetable. It is possible to attend additional courses from other majors or minors (on a voluntary basis), so as an example, you could add law courses or teacher training courses to your actual psychology courses. This freedom in choice is a very valuable part of my studies at Leuphana. Additionally, I like the size of the university and of my major and minor courses. You know your professors and peers, not everyone by name, but it still feels close and familiar. The Leuphana Semester courses in the first semester basically force you to make friends from various different major programmes, so here in Lüneburg, you usually don’t just have friends in your own major programme. This is great, because as you progress through your degree and attend courses that are not part of your major but your minor and the Complementary Studies, you usually know at least a few people in every course that you take.

A potential obstacle of the study programme here is a limited freedom of choice for future Masters programmes. Due to the very comprehensive and broadly held Bachelor degree programme, and because the focus in Lüneburg is not on clinical psychology, it is sometimes not regarded as a sufficient basis for a Masters programme at some universities outside of Lüneburg. Therefore, to increase the chances in the master application process, it is good and sensible to go abroad and/or to do internships, choose a psychology-related minor and to attend courses in the Leuphana Semester and the Complementary Studies that match your major in Psychology.

What is your take-away of the undergraduate programme at Leuphana College so far?
Overall, I had a very good study experience here at Leuphana. I felt welcomed as a student by the university, administrative problems and also class schedule difficulties were usually solved very quick and the relationship to the professors is very friendly and sincere. Also, I liked the structure of my courses and how they built on each other regarding the consecutive semesters and the interaction of the Psychology major and Psychology and Society minor. Often, knowledge from past semesters was definitely helpful, but I also realised how knowledge of the Minor, Major and Complementary Studies interacted. Furthermore, I was very happy with the support of the International Office regarding a semester abroad. Also, the many initiatives and the opportunities to engage in projects were a special and important way to gain experiences outside the lecture halls.

Who would you recommend to study at Leuphana College? Why?
In my opinion, it is suitable for anyone who is curious beyond the corners of their own field of study. If you want to learn more than just the main topics of your Major and want to live in a small town where you know and are known by many people and classmates, then studying here is a very good choice for you.

What do you think of the College admission process?
I was positively surprised by the admission procedure. Other universities only used a central website as their way of admission and only considered the high school grades as a basis for the admission decision, but here at Leuphana I liked the second look on the applicants. I was invited to the study aptitude test, which also allowed me to visit the campus properly, and was really happy to receive an acceptance letter shortly afterwards.

How did you experience the admission process?
Aside from very warm temperatures in the lecture hall during the aptitude test in summer, it was well organised, and I felt directly welcomed at Leuphana.

Have you already completed internships during your studies?
Yes, I have done internships during my Bachelor studies. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions during the last semesters, I decided to pause my courses at the university to gain experiences in different fields of psychology via internships. This allowed me to gain insights into the area of market research, but also clinical psychology. Even tough this prolonged my Bachelor studies, it will definitely help me to decide on an area of psychology I want to pursue further.

Do you work while you study?
I work as a research assistant (SHK) at the institute for psychology here at Leuphana. This allows me to gain further insights into the area of research and psychological experiments and deepen theoretical input from lectures in practice.

Do you volunteer besides your studies?
At Leuphana, I am a member of the student initiative Enactus Lüneburg e.V., which has goal of solving social or ecological problems with the help of an entrepreneurial approach, i.e., being able to support itself independently in the long term. It is great to work with students from different disciplines and stages of studies, and to see what you can build and develop as a group.

How do you like Lüneburg as a place to study?
I like Lüneburg a lot. Because of the many students compared to the size of the city, Lüneburg is basically full of students. I personally really like it, you don't have long distances, you can be in Hamburg in almost half an hour by train, and the city itself is very beautiful. That's why, in my experience, friends, family, etc. also like to visit a lot.

What happens after graduation? Do you have any plans in place already?
I plan to start a Masters programme after my Bachelor degree in another city, maybe even abroad. I haven't decided on a specific direction in psychology yet, but I hope to know soon once I write my Bachelor dissertation.