Recommended Sequence of Courses for the Undergraduate Major
Majors are required to complete 36 hours of psychology as detailed in the catalog.
After you have completed PSYC 101 Introduction to Psychology, it is recommended that you take PSYC 268 Statistics and PSYC 269 Experimental Psychology as soon as possible to better equip you for your remaining course work, much of which requires PSYC 268 and PSYC 269.
Early in your major, you may also wish to take some courses which have no requirements or only require PSYC 101. Courses with no pre-requisite include PSYC 317 Developmental Psychology, PSYC 241 Social Psychology, PSYC 235 Cross-Cultural Psychology, and NEUR 241 Neuroscience. Courses that only require PSYC 101 include PSYC 348 Intro to Psychopathology and PSYC 268 Statistics.
- If you intend to pursue graduate work in psychology, it is advised that you take more than the 36 required credits. You may wish to select those extra courses from your personal area area of interest.
- If you are contemplating graduate work at the PhD level, we recommend coursework in biology and computer applications.
- PSYC 494 Psychology Senior Capstone is the senior capstone course to be taken in your senior year.
After you have taken 20 credits of Psychology coursework, it is a good time to select an Advanced Topic. These courses begin with PSYC 471 and go through PSYC 495, including courses such as PSYC 482 Theories and Methods of Integration or PSYC 483 Advanced Topics in Psychopathology.
You may take up to 8 hours of internship. Four hours will count toward the 36 required hours. The other 4 hours will count as general elective hours. Internships are a powerful way to better explore what sub-fields or sector of psychology you prefer in a career or vocational context.
See all courses available for the Psychology Major.
Selecting Your Course Trajectory
Psychology is a very large and complex field with more than 100 sub-fields. Any two students might need or wish to take slightly different coursework to constitute their major. To help you choose a path most relevant for you and your future plans from our course offerings, we suggest you look at the examples below based on some common some areas of interest. Speak with your advisor or other faculty members to identify which courses would best prepare you for your particular future plans.
Learn more about the courses you might choose for each area>
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Clinical or Counseling Psychology
- Neuroscience