What Gaja says about the Master's programme in Psychology

Gaja from Slovenia

What do you think of your programme so far? 

"It is very nice, way better than I expected, to be honest! I’m in my second year and I have only positive things to say so far. I did my Bachelor’s in Slovenia, and I expected my Master’s to be really focused on one specific field. I didn’t know which field I wanted to specialise in, so I liked that Lund University offered this programme with many opportunities with different specialisations like neuroscience, work and organisational psychology, social, developmental and personality psychology. This is something I really like about the programme, and it helps me find my focus."  

Why did you choose Lund University?  

"First of all, I checked all the programmes around Europe. Lund University stood out because of its reputation as one of the top 100 universities in the world. The programme fit me very well and the support I got from the programme coordinators and current students that I talked to through Unibuddy, made me feel very safe coming to Lund University. This was the deciding point for me."

What is your actual day-to-day life like in your classroom?

"It really depends on what type of courses you are taking. For the first year, it was a lot of in-person classes where we had to do reading by ourselves and we had seminars where we had to present our knowledge. Then, in the second semester, it shifted to doing more homework, and self-directed work and we had empirical research projects. We learned about how research is done when we were doing those projects and currently I have courses in organisational psychology. It's been mostly classes and theories paired with empirical work that we do on our own. It varies from course to course."

What is your class cohort like?

"It is an international programme, so I have classmates from all over the world. I get to learn many new perspectives and we are all in the same boat. You have moved to a country where you don’t know anyone and we are always there for each other. I really like that about my class, that we always support each other. There are many social events that are arranged and it's very easy to meet people from your class. It doesn’t take a lot to get integrated."

What were you assuming about Lund, before you arrived, that has met your expectation?

"It definitely exceeded my expectations, especially with student life! Especially here in Lund, I don’t think you can imagine what student life is like until you live in a place like Lund. I will say, it was so easy to meet new people here in Lund. There are so many opportunities, for example, through the nations that help to provide opportunities to be a part of social life. Regarding academics, I expected it to be on a high level, but I didn’t expect that they would encourage this critical thinking. It’s very proper and it definitely exceeded my expectations.

What was student life like in Slovenia compared to Sweden?  

"On an academic level, the biggest difference is how you are treated as a student in Sweden. In Sweden, we call our professors by their first names, which is something we are not used to in Slovenia. You have to respect your professors by calling them by their titles. This was one of the biggest differences. Also, in Sweden, they really support critical thinking – where you question what you're reading and where you can critically analyse the literature. There is a little more individual work, like homework in Sweden. In Slovenia, there is a very strict curriculum where you read this, then do this, then have an exam on this. But here in Sweden and at Lund University, you have very hands-on experiences and the freedom to choose what you are really interested in and what you want to focus on. In student life, the biggest difference was in how many social events there were with the student organisations. Lund is a very big community!"  

Are you part of any extracurricular activities or organisations? 

"Yes, I recently joined the Social Sciences Committee, where I am helping to organise the social sciences ball. That is another great opportunity to meet other people from different faculties and get to know other people. I am also a Lund Student Ambassador, and it's been fun to meet new people there. Apart from school, I am also on the Swim Team which is only for students across all the faculties, not just social sciences. I can meet people from LTH (Faculty of Engineering) and other departments." 

What are you writing your Master’s thesis on?  

"In the HR field, it is essentially why certain people take on more responsibilities than others and then I can integrate a theoretical background into what I’ve learned. I can see things coming together which is such a great thing. After the Bachelor’s you don’t really know how you are going to use what you’ve learned. But now, I have the knowledge to move forward."

What do you want to do after your studies and how has the programme helped prepare you for that? 

"For me, I don’t want to continue and do any more studies like a PhD or something. The next step for me will be finding a job in Sweden. I would say that Lund University definitely helps to prepare you for the global job market, and this definitely helps you on your CV. In our programme, we don’t have mandatory internships, but we do have an opportunity for external collaboration for the Master’s thesis. This offers us a head start in our careers."

Do you have any advice to give to prospective Psychology students?

"Believe in yourself! Before coming to Lund, I wasn’t aware of how much knowledge I had. I didn’t feel that much support from professors. I still felt like a student that didn’t know that much. But here at Lund, you are a student, but I know things and I can actually share things and professors here will respect this. Just don’t be afraid to try to apply."