Seniors
If you are a senior scheduled to graduate in May or August, please check degree navigator to see if you are on track to graduate. Check with Psych Advising if there is any doubt about your status. Here are 5 pitfalls that snare seniors:
- Overall GPA in courses counting for the major/minor must be 2.0.
- A maximum of 2 lower level courses (numbered below 300) can be used for the psych elective requirement.
- Under the old psych major, the math requirement is 640:103 or above (or an equivalent transfer course); there is no math course requirement under the new psych major.
- Grades in 101, 200 (or equivalent), and lecture/lab must be C or above.
- Under the old major a maximum of 3 credits of non-classroom courses can be applied to the major/minor elective requirement; under the new major the maximum is 6 credits. Non-classroom courses include all fieldwork and research in psych courses (380/381, 382/383, 388/389, 391/392, 493, 495/496).
See Psych Advising for psych questions; SAS advising for SAS core questions...
Every semester there are a handful of students who “have been told by another advisor” that a certain course could be used as an elective, that a course could be counted twice, that the GPA did not matter, etc. Your best advice for the psychology major or minor comes directly from the Psychology Advising Office; second best is Degree Navigator (which might occasionally fail to pick up something but to my knowledge has never misled a student by claiming something was complete when it was not); advisors from other departments run a distant third no matter how well-intentioned they may be.
Special Permission Numbers
Requests for special permission numbers will not be considered until your window for registration has opened. In general, there will be no SP#s given except for seniors. When our courses are filled, they are filled and your best strategy is to enroll in an alternative course before other students have filled it as well.
If you have a legitimate scheduling problem, please do not request a single course section--send us all the possible solutions to your problem so that we will more likely be able to help.
Lab Courses
Although the lab is no longer a pre requisite for declaration, it is still required to complete the major. Because lab enrollment is limited, you should attempt to complete your lab as soon as possible. With the exception of the 4-credit 830:323 (Research Methods in Social Psychology), all labs require the associated lecture course as a pre- or co-requisite. Do NOT wait for your "favorite lab" or you may find yourself delaying your expected graduation date.
With the exception of 830:314 Physiological Psychology Lab, all special requests for labs are handled via email to
Degree Navigator lists all of the lecture/lab combinations. By default, it lists the first lecture course that the program encounters, but of course, you may complete this requirement via any of the lecture lab combinations or 323.
400-level Courses
All of our 400-level courses are designated for Majors Only, Junior or Senior status. .
Prof. David Wilder
Director of Advising