Student review [#32311] for Applied Psychology
at SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities

I enrolled in the Psychology in English Bachelor’s program during the pandemic in 2020. The pandemic situation was not clear, so the information regarding the format of the study was changing. Unfortunately, the first year was fully online, and I neither met most of my colleagues nor I studied in the building. It is hard to assess the quality of the program during this period; however, my overall perception was rather positive than negative. Most of the subjects were very interesting and some teachers met the “golden standard”. They were engaged in the process and tried to encourage us. It was obvious that they were knowledgeable and interested in the subject they taught. On the other hand, since this program is in English and the teachers are Poles, a couple of them were not enough proficient in spoken English to provide us with information in a clear way. I consider it as a huge drawback because one of them was teaching Neurobiology subject which is quite challenging by itself and with language problems from the teacher’s side it was almost impossible to stay focused and motivated during these lectures.
The second year was brightened up by the fact that we were finally able to visit the building for some of our classes, although the minority of them. The building was right after the repairments, we witnessed modern and comfy classes with all the technical equipment that we might need. There are also a few cafes and a cafeteria with fair prices. All the pros and cons which I mentioned above moved to the second year, however, I noticed something more. From my point of view, the program is too easy. I realized that I do not have to spend too much time and effort to receive straight 5 points. On the one hand, it is good, since I have a lot of spare time and I can work. On the other hand, I see that after 2 years of studying I do not have the level of knowledge I expected to gain. I reckon the problem exists due to the two factors. First, a small number of graded assignments and a lack of truly challenging tasks. Second, lack of negative (fair) feedback. Psychologists are aware of the importance of feedback; therefore, we receive a lot of it, however, It is usually positive or neutral even in the cases when It should have been negative. That leads to a situation in which students do not actually know about their mistakes and will continue to make them in the future. Also, it gives the feeling that it is possible to cheat and do not put much effort into tasks, because the work will be marked as good or excellent either way. I was able to meet a couple of students from the psychology program in the Polish language and according to their stories, I concluded that the program in English is more theoretical and easier than in Polish.
The second year has also shown several pros of the University regarding communication between University authorities and the student community. In case of any reasonable desire of changes in the studying process, it was possible to contact the University, write a petition, collect signatures and achieve the results. The University seems to care about students’ opinions and satisfaction with the study process.
In addition, the offline study format opened opportunities to participate in scientific and other activities. The University has several student scientific clubs and some professors offer an opportunity to assist in conducting research, however, that is very limited and not as interesting as I expected.
I wish I’d started my education here after the pandemic to see how the University actually functions, whether there is a student’s life and whether it is worth its price.

To summarize:
Pros:
– Some of the teachers are very passionate and knowledgeable about their subject;
– Good communication and attitude between the University and students;
– Comfy classes with modern technical equipment;
– Some opportunities to do scientific work.

Cons:
– Low level of spoken English of some teachers;
– Easy/not very challenging program (lack of fair feedback and challenging tasks);
– Increasing price without apparent reasons.