Because psychology is so diverse a subject, we require that every student take at least two courses from the social science point of view in psychology and at least two from the natural science point of view. For a list of which courses count as social science versus natural, click here.
This is possible in rare circumstances, but the decision to count a course outside the major will be decided on a case-by-case basis via petition to the DUS. To petition to count a course outside the psychology major, you will need to email the DUS with the following information:
(1) a copy of course syllabus
We strongly recommend that students take PSYC 200. However, because of time conflicts, we do sometimes allow other courses to count. We can count S&DS103 as fulfilling our statistics requirement, and you do not need to do anything to count this course.
No, only courses with a PSYC designation on OCI can count for the Social Science or Natural Science courses requirements for the major.
Core courses are survey courses that introduce students to major areas of psychology and provide additional background for more advanced courses. Only introductory level courses (100-level courses) that end in zero can count as core courses. These include. PSYC 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, & 190. Note that you must take two core course total. one from the Social Science side of psychology (formerly List A) and one from the Natural Science side of psychology (formerly List B). Also note that these courses are not necessarily offered every year, so you may need to plan ahead.
Sadly, there is no real way to determine which courses will need to be lotteried until shopping week. That said, there are certain important courses that are limited/lotteried nearly every year. For example, research methods courses are almost always limited (this is due to the need for computer and other facilities that only hold a limited number of students). For this reason, research methods courses often tend to be over-subscribed. We therefore strongly suggest that you plan to take one of these courses before your senior year.
Sadly, there is no real way to determine which courses will be offered next year before courses are posted on OCI during the summer. However, if you're hoping to take a specific course, it's a good idea to contact the professor that usually teaches that course to find out if they intend to teach it again, or whether they will be on sabbatical, etc.
Only two courses taken Credit/D/Fail may be applied toward the major. Note that no 200-level course taken Credit/D/Fail may be applied toward the major.
You can count up to three non-psychology courses towards psychology major credit. But again, as explained above, most petitions are not approved.
Yes, there is no deadline for a course petition. But again, as explained above most petitions are not approved, so be sure to plan wisely and petition early whenever possible.
