Chloe Seikus is a fourth year student studying at UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences.
1. Why did you choose your degree?
I studied both English language and psychology at college. From these subjects I became fascinated in various aspects of human behaviour, including our ability to learn and use languages, so this degree was a perfect combination of my interests.
2. Why did you apply to study at UCL?
I really wanted to live and study in London. UCL, as well as being one of the top universities, was one of the few that offered this degree; I really liked the emphasis on both psychology and language. On the open day, everyone was very friendly and it had more of a campus feel than other universities I had visited in London.
3. What do you enjoy most about your degree?
My year cohort was under 40, so it was small enough to get to know everyone. The staff are very approachable and supportive. I really enjoyed the breadth of material that was covered over the four years, from learning about how children develop language to psychological disorders and stereotypes of social groups.
4. Has there been an element of your degree programme that has impressed you or been particularly valuable?
In second year, we completed a placement in a nursery, where we worked with children and used standardised tests to measure their cognitive and language development. This was particularly valuable as it applied the theory from lectures to a real-life context.
In third and fourth year you can specialise more in your particular interests: I was given the opportunity to work in the Language Learning Lab, at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and at the Anna Freud Centre. From this, I realised that I wanted a career in research, and it taught me various skills, including experimental design, data collection and data analysis.
Also, in first year, we held a human brain and identified some key regions that we had learned about in lectures which was an amazing experience!
5. Do you think studying at UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences is a good investment?
Yes!
6. What are your plans once you’ve completed your current programme of study?
At the moment I am gaining as much research experience as possible, both part-time research assistant and volunteer work. My aim for the next couple of years is to apply for research assistant and assistant psychologist jobs to further develop my skills and insight into the field I want to pursue, before applying for a PhD. I also hope to do some travelling!