Undergraduate Major FAQ

First, read through this FAQ page in detail. We’ve designed this page so that you can find the answers to many of the most common questions about the major here (Looking over this page first can also save you the hassle of emailing the DUS and the time it takes to wait for a reply). If you can’t find the answer to your general question on this webpage, then email the DUS or the neuroscience track advisor.

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

(2) a copy of the course reading lists.

Petitions that do not include these two pieces of information will be rejected. The DUS will then look these materials over on a case-by-case basis. Note that most courses outside the psychology major will not be approved for psychology major credit. To count for credit, a course must (a) focus directly on a specific psychological issue (e.g., mental illness, memory, etc.) and (b) have considerable psychological content (i.e., many readings that cover primary research published in psychological journals). Examples of courses that were not approved are listed here. If the DUS does approve your petition, make sure you obtain a written documentation (e-mail or official letter) and keep this information for your own record.

You can count up to three non-psychology courses towards psychology major credit. But again, as explained above, most petitions are not approved.

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. (They may have a firm sense of what they'll teach next year long before the official list appears.) Also, note that many 400-level seminars closely track faculty interests from year to year, and that many professors teach a particular seminar only once.

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.

For all other statistics course, the DUS will need to see the syllabus of that course for the current semester to make sure the proposed course covers all necessary concepts. Please note that most other stats classes offered at Yale (including Econometrics courses) do not cover the necessary material. In particular, if a proposed course does not cover two-way ANOVA, the DUS cannot approve it.

A student may substitute an examination arranged with the instructor of PSYC 200. Students may take the examination only one time, and an additional course in psychology should be taken if the examination substitutes for PSYC 200. Although one needs to only pass this exam to be waived, about half the students (including those who had taken Econometrics) failed in the past . We do not provide any study guidelines for this stat waiver exam, and the student should download a syllabus of PSYC 200 and study on her/his own. To arrange a stat waive exam, please contact the instructor of PSYC 200 of the current academic year.

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.

Also, please do not confuse this distinction with the Sc (Science) and So (Social Science) distribution requirements. For instance, some of the psychology courses that are counted as So are courses taking the natural science point of view.  

No, if you have already placed out of these courses, then you do not need to take BIOL101/102 or BIOL 103/104.

The senior requirement for the Neuroscience Track is the same as the senior requirement for the standard major, except that your 400-level courses should have neuroscience content. As with the standard major, students pursuing the B.S. degree in the track must carry out an empirical project as part of a directed research course (PSYC 498 or 499), but students in the Neuroscience Track must be supervised by a faculty member within the neuroscience area of the Psychology department (click here for a list). Students who wish to work with an affiliated faculty member studying neuroscience outside the department must obtain permission from the neuroscience track adviser. For a list of other faculty at Yale with neuroscience interests, click here.

There are many, many undergraduate research opportunities available to you! Most psychology laboratories at Yale have opportunities for undergraduates to get involved. Some labs take on undergraduates during the academic year either for academic credit, for pay (through work-study program, etc.) or on a volunteer basis. Some labs will also hire undergraduate research assistants (RAs) full-time over the summer break.

Unlike classes and other academic experiences, you usually need to do some work to seek out research opportunities. No matter what type of position you're looking for (course credit, summer, paid, volunteer, etc.), the process is basically the same. Your first step will be to figure out which professors are doing work that you find especially interesting. To help start this search at Yale, get to know what the professors in the Psychology department do and what research questions they're working on. The best way to learn more is to google different professors, read about their work, and think about what you would find interesting. Once you've learned more, you can simply email the professors you want to work with to ask if they have any research opportunities available. Note, however, that professors get lots of emails from interested students. This means that you're much more likely to actually be accepted for a research opportunity if you can demonstrate that you are truly informed about the work being done in the lab. Before contacting professors out of the blue, take some time to find out what they are working on, and read several of their recent papers. By taking the time and effort to find out about some of the details of the work, you'll demonstrate that you are committed to the relevant area of study and that you're not desperately mass-emailing professors (which, as you've probably guessed, most professors don't like very much).

First, you have to find a faculty member who is willing to supervise such a course for you. After that you must do two things. You must fill out the online tutorial enrollment survey here.  Also you must add the course to your course sheet, being sure to request instructor permission. Note that some of the information you will need to complete the survey will require discussing the topic of your research and what you will do as a research assistant. Keep in mind that the workload for this course must be equivalent to other courses offered at Yale. You and your faculty member should also agree upon the basis of your evaluation (i.e., what you will be graded on). Once you two agree on the plans, fill out the survey and add the course as described above.

No. Only students seeking Distinction in the major are required to submit a senior essay to be graded by a second reader. For more details, see Senior Requirement Information.

Yes, you can fulfill one or both of senior requirements using senior seminars, unless you are pursuing BS degree. (Note that we can pre-register you for only one seminar and preregistration for senior seminars takes place at the end of the Junior year.) Possible 400-level senior requirement courses include senior seminars (PSYC 490-489), senior requirement directed research courses (PSYC 493 or 495, which is a half credit), and senior requirement directed research courses (PSYC 499).

There are no restrictions in research format for students seeking a BA. For a BA degree with Distinction, the senior essay can be a literature review or empirical study.

In consultation with the DUS, you can select courses that have a substantial amount of Psychology content. In order to receive official approval from the DUS to count those courses toward your psychology credits, you will need to submit the syllabi, which include reading lists and requirements. In most cases, however, those materials are not available when you apply for study abroad programs. Thus, we can make initial selections based on the brief course descriptions, but if you want to make sure that those courses would count towards your Psychology credit, you should email the DUS those materials when you register for the courses.

Fill out the Psychology Major Worksheet (downloadable here) and email or bring it to the DUS. We also STRONGLY recommend that you take statistics (Psych 200) and a research methods course (PSYC 201-299) BEFORE you study abroad because you need to take these courses before you start your senior year if you are doing a BS degree. Also, these courses are rarely offered in other foreign institutions. Furthermore, even if you study abroad for only one semester, there is no guarantee that these courses will be offered during the semester that you are back at Yale. PSYC 200 and research methods courses are offered either in the Fall or Spring, depending on the availability of the instructors. Please remember that you cannot count on last year’s schedule to predict which semester these courses will be offered. Therefore, the safest thing to do is to take these courses before you study abroad. If this is not feasible, talk to the DUS.

Well, the short answer is that you can do pretty much anything with a Psychology degree. For more specifics, check out the APA webpage on psychology careers.

Students are chosen for induction into Yale's Chapter of Psi Chi during their junior year based on academic excellence and promise in the major. If you qualify, you will receive an email about induction some time during your junior or senior years.