course choices for psychology

[miggybear]

i want to study psychology here in the netherlands. i am currently in mp5 and need help deciding which classes are best for the universities. my biggest problem is that my school doesnt offer an ib psychology course. people recommend two science courses (bio HL and Chem sl) but i have never taken chemistry before. my current choices are Eng'lish language and literature HL, Spanish A2 sl, History HL, Bio HL, Math SL, and Economics SL. i also struggle in maths, and would do much better in studies. my fear is taking studies and not being accepted due to that. i believe my spanish A level will help me since it would make me relieve a bilingual diploma. if anyone could help i would be so grateful! thank you

[blindpet]

School doesn't offer psychology

This is ok, while it's definitely advantageous to do IB psychology before going to uni, most unis assume you have no background knowledge and start from scratch in the first year. You can study psychology on your own when you have free time. Scientific American Mind and New Scientist have good articles relating to psychology as well as BPS Research Digest.

Useful courses

Biology and chemistry can both be useful though I think HL might be overkill. Biology has helped me a bit when understanding neuro stuff at uni, I'm sure chemistry might have helped a bit as well. I don't think either is really going to give you a significant boost for psychology at uni just little tidbits that might help here and there for areas relating to neuroscience.

I think that the biology includes some additional statistical tests which can be helpful for uni psychology but again it's a minor benefit. I've heard both HL chem and bio are tough as well.

Math

How your math level might affect getting into a psychology program chances depends on how the university teaches statistics to undergraduates. Some universities might go into the math and require you to do calculations by hand/calculator (this was done in my university but is being phased out because they feel it's more important to focus on how the test works and when to use it). If you are set on studying in the Netherlands then you should talk to some people who do psychology there and see how stats is.

Plenty of people at my uni hate statistics and aren't fond of math but manage to get through statistics anyway. It's one of those things you just have to deal with if you want to do undergrad psychology.