Q: What are the Psychology Major Requirements?

A: The Psychology Department offers a BA degree in psychology, which requires a minimum of 126 credit hours. You must complete a minimum of 35 hours in designated courses in psychology, a 24 hour minor, the general education requirements of the University, and four semesters of foreign language. A paper copy of the major checksheet with all of the requirements is available from me or in the Psychology Department office. You can also download a copy of the checksheet here.

Q: Can I "specialize" in a field of psychology while I work on a BA degree?

A: Not really. While you can choose some courses in specialty areas of psychology, the psychology major at ECU is meant to give you a broad background in all of the areas of psychology. You therefore get to experience a number of different areas in psychology, and are prepared for the entrance requirements for most graduate programs. You then specialize in graduate school.

Q: What psychology elective courses should I choose?

A: You should select your psychology electives to provide coursework in areas related to your personal interests, graduate school admission requirements, or your career goals. By all means try to pick courses for electives that you are interested in. If you are interested in religion, take psychology of religion, for instance. The undergraduate curriculum here at ECU will fulfill most graduate school admissions requirements. But check where you are interested in applying. Most applied programs (clinical, counseling or school psychology) require psychological testing and personality courses as prerequisites, for instance. Suggestions for career readiness might include:

For Human Services careers: Abnormal, Personality, Psychological Testing, Educational, Exceptional Child, Developmental, Contingency Management, Introduction to Programming for Mentally Retarded, Gerontology, Directed Readings in the area you are interested in, and Field Experiences.

For Business/Industry/Sales careers: Social, Personality, Industrial and Personnel, Human Measurement, Organizational Behavior, Directed Readings in the area you are interested in, and Field Experiences.

For Research Related careers: Psychological Testing, Human Measurement, Psychological Research I & II; Laboratory Methods in Physiological Psychology; Behavioral Pharmacology; Directed Readings in areas that you are interested in, and Field Experiences.

Q: What other advice can you give about taking courses in psychology?

A: Take PSYC 2101 (statistics) and PSYC 2210 (experimental methods) as early in your career here as possible. Don't put them off because you do not like the content or you have heard they are hard courses. They are a prerequisite for many upper level courses, and you will be behind if you put them off until your senior year!

Q: What order should I take classes in?

A: There is not true "set order" in which to take classes, except where there are prerequisite courses that must be taken first. In general, I think you should use your first two years to work toward completing your General Education requirements. This allows you some time to explore different courses that might be interesting to you, and gives you more confidence in selecting psychology as your major. You should take PSYC 1000 and your MATH classes in your freshman year, and try to take PSYC 2101 (statistics) and PSYC 2110 (experimental methods) in your sophmore year (they usually fill up fast, but are prerequisites to higher level courses). A sample format for taking classes might be:
 

FRESHMAN YEAR   Fall Semester Spring Semester

ENGL 1100	3	ENGL 1200	3
MATH 1065	3	Social Science	3
Hum/Fine Arts	2-3	Foreign Language	3
Foreign Language	3	EXSS 1000	1
PSYC 1000	3	HLTH 1000	2
	14/15	Science	4
			16

SOPHOMORE YEAR

PSYC 2101	4	PSYC 2210	4
Foreign Language	3	Foreign Language	3
Social Science	3	Social Science	3
Hum/Fine Arts	2/3	Hum/Fine Arts	2/3
Science	4	PSYC Elective	3
	16/17		15/16

JUNIOR YEAR

PSYC 3225 or 3226	3	PSYC 3310 or 3311	3
Hum/Fine Arts	2/3	Minor	6
Social Science	3	Elective	3
PSYC Elective  Minor	3  3	Psyc General Course (3206,3221,3300,4375, 5311 or 5325)	3
	14/15		15

SENIOR YEAR

Psyc General Course (3206, 3221, 3300 4375,5311 or 5325)	3	Psyc Capstone Course 4000, or 4280, (4401&4402) (4601&4602)	3
Psyc Elective	3	Minor	9
Minor	6	Elective	4
Elective	4
	16		16

Q: Are there any restrictions to the courses I can take?

A: Yes. You ordinarily cannot take a class that it numbered more than one level higher than your class standing (so if you are a sophomore you cannot take 4000 or 5000 level classes). You need permission of the Department Chair to take 5000 level classes as these are technically graduate classes.

Q: May I take 5000 level courses?

A: Yes. Five thousand level courses are advanced undergraduate/beginning graduate level classes, and you may take them with permission of the Department Chair. You should, however, be a senior when you take the class.

Q: What are prerequisites?

A: Some courses have a requirement that you take certain courses before you can take the more advanced course. These are called prerequisite courses. If you don't have the prerequisite you may not be allowed to register during preregistration or drop-add; if you are allowed to register for the course the professor may enforce the prerequisites and make you drop the course if you don't have them.

Q: What is considered a full-time courseload?

A: The minimum is twelve semester hours during the academic year, and five hours during a summer session.

Q: How many hours should I take in a semester?

A: If you want to graduate within four years you should take 15-17 hours each semester. If you are working more than twenty hours per week, it will be difficult to take a full course load and have enough time and energy to do well. So, you should take this into consideration when you choose you course schedule.

Q: Should I take all of my liberal arts foundations (general education) courses in the first two years? If so, I won't be taking much psychology during that time.

A: In general, I think that it is advisable to take your liberal arts foundations (general education) courses during your first two years if possible. First, I think it serves as a good exploratory activity before you decide for sure you want to be a psychology major. Second, I think that you want to take mostly upper level courses in your junior and senior years. This is so you are academically challenged and so it doesn't seem to grduate schools as if you are trying to "pad" your grades by taking 1000 level courses in your junior and senior years. And, frankly, we don't offer too many freshman and sophomore level psychology courses anyway. You should take PSYC 1000 during your freshman year, and, if you can, take PSYC 2101 (statistics) and PSYC 2210 (experimental methods) during your sophomore year. That will put you in good shape to take your upper level courses.

Q: Must I take a foreign language?

A: Yes! You must have foreign language through level 1004 for a BA in psychology. There is no other option available.

Q: What if I had foreign language in high school?

A: You still have to take the equivalent of four semesters here at ECU. If you have a knowledge of a foreign language, you can take the foreign language placement test, which is given once or twice a semester by the Department of Foreign Languages. You can place out of some of the early courses in a language, and get credit for them when you complete the next highest level. So, you could place out of FREN 1001 and 1002, and when you pass FREN 1003 get credit for nine hours of French (FREN 1001, 1002, and 1003). I think this is worth doing if you have some knowlege of the language you are taking. It is like free tuition for those hours you place out of!

Q: Can I use psychology courses to meet the general education social sciences requirement?

A: NO! The idea of general education requirements is for you to become aquainted with knowledge in fields outside of your own major. So, psychology majors must take social sciences hours outside of psychology (as must other social sciences majors). This is usually only a problem if you transferred into psychology from another major and used, say, PSYC 1000 to meet your general education requirements in your other major. You must replace any psychology course with another course to meet the general education requirement.

Q: How should I go about choosing liberal arts foundations (general education) courses?

A: Think about your undergraduate degree as a liberal arts education--a chance to learn more about things that you don't already know. That means that you want to choose courses that will help you understand how the world works, appreciate the diverse ideas and cultures of others, and learn to think, reason, solve problems, and find out information. So choose courses that help you become familiar with things you don't know already. Choose courses from a wide variety of areas so you develop some breadth of knowledge. Don't pick a class based on whether it is easy or difficult, but how well it meets your goals of a broad education.

Q: Can I "double count" minor coursework toward liberal arts foundations (general education) requirement?

A: Yes and no! You can use the same coursework that is used to fulfill the coursework requirements for both the minor and general education. For example, if your minor is sociology, you could count SOCI 2110 and 2111 toward both the minor and the general education requirements. But, while the courses meet the coursework equirements, they do not count for "double" credit hours toward graduation. You would meet the coursework requirements for both, but get six hours of credit toward graduation, not twelve.

Q:  Do I have to have a minor? How do I choose a minor?

A:  You are required to have a minor to get a BA in psychology.

Q:  How do I choose a minor?

There are a wide variety of minors available in the academic disciplines and professional schools at ECU, and several interdisciplinary minors. You can also create your own composite minor if you absolutely cannot find a minor that meets your needs here at ECU. I think that you should pick a minor for one of three reasons: It is something that will help you with your future career (such as a minor in biology or child development and family relations); it is something that will further an interest you have (such as the interdisciplinary minor in religion or womens studies); or it is something that will be enjoyable for you or "round you out", (such as a minor in dance or EXSS). Some suggestions for minors that may have usefulness from a career perspective (both working with a BA and going to graduate school) include:

For Mental Health/Human Services/Developmental Disabilities careers: Alcohol and Drug Studies (Rehabilitation); Child Development and Family Relations; Community Health; Gerontology; and Recreation and Leisure Studies.

For Business/Industry/Sales careers: Business Administration; Communications; International Studies; Foreign Language; Computer Science (Math); Hospitality Management; or Merchandising.

For Research Related careers: Math; Statistics; Any of the Physical Sciences; Composite Sciences; Composite Marketing/Communications; Technical Writing (English); Environmental Health; Computer Science (Math); Information Processing; and Urban/Regional Planning.

Q:  What is a composite minor?

A: The Psychology Department recognizes three composite minors, which combine coursework from two or three areas to meet needs that an already existing minor program will not. Usually this is where you are using a psychology undergraduate degree to go to a professional school in a medical field, or you want a science or information processing background for graduate school or a job.  The composite minors include premedical/predental studies (two years of chemistry, one year of physics, one year of biology), composite science (24 hours of specified science courses), and applied information processing (a combination of computer science, business administration and information management courses). I have a brochure with more complete information about the Composite Minor available in my office or you can consult your advisor.

Q:  What is a multidisciplinary minor?

The multidisciplinary minor is available through the College of Arts and Sciences and is designed for students whose interests are not met by existing minors. It is a theme-focused minor that combines three to five disciplines that does not duplicate an already existing minor. If you are interested in a multidisciplinary minor you should start planning for it after you have taken 30 hours, but it must be developed before you complete 80 semester hours. Your multidisciplinary minor must have a minimum of 24 semester hours, and you must have the minor approved by your advisor and the Coordinator of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Psychology. Full details are available by clicking here.

Q: Can I "double count" minor coursework toward general education requirements?

A: Yes and no! You can use the same coursework that is used to fulfill the coursework requirements for both the minor and general education. For example, if your minor is sociology, you could count SOCI 2110 and 2111 toward both the minor and the general education requirements. But, while the courses meet the coursework requirements, they do not count for "double" credit hours toward graduation. You would meet the coursework requirements for both, but get six hours of credit toward graduation, not twelve.

Q: What GPA must I have to graduate in psychology?

A: You must have an overall 2.0 GPA in all of your coursework here at ECU, and a 2.0 in all of your psychology coursework here at ECU.

Q: Does that mean that I must get a C or above in all of my psychology classes?

A: No. A "D" is counted as passing a class. You must get an average of C or better in all of your psychology coursework. Of course, I hope you don't settle for a D in any psychology class. And, if you are planning on applying to graduate school, you should get a grade replacement or grade raise on any D in psychology (and probably in any course outside of psychology, too).

Q: What is the difference between grade replacement and grade raise?

A: Grade replacement can be used up to three times for 1000 and 2000 level courses that you got a D or F in, as long as you did not complete a higher level course in that field before you did your grade replacement. While your original grade of D or F remains on your transcript, only your new grade is used in calculating your GPA.

Grade raise is when you choose to repeat a course in which you got a D or an F which does not meet the requirements for a grade replacement. Both your first grade and your raised grade appear on your transcript, and so they are averaged together when calculating your GPA.

To use either option you must complete a form from the Academic Advising and Support Center (Brewster A-113) or download it from here. When you get the form completed you must take it to to the Registrar (Whichard 105) before the end of the drop add period in the semester in which you are taking the replacement course. 

Q: Which catalog may I use to determine my specific graduation requirements?

A: You can use any catalog starting with the catalog in force during your initial registration at ECU that is not more than five years old at the time of your graduation. However, if you change majors after the initial declaration of major, you will be held to the requirements of the catalog in effect when you change majors.

Q: Which catalog should I use?

A: In general, I think you should use the newest catalog available to you. The course numbers are likely to be more representative of what you will see in the registration books. You will also have available to you any "improvements" that have been made in the coursework. But you should look carefully at the requirements of each catalog that you are eligible for and choose the one that best meets your academic needs. Before you change a catalog be sure to check the requirements for the major, the minor and general education coursework.

Q: Where can I get a University catalog?

A: Catalogs are on sale at the Student Stores for a nominal price. Click here to go to the on-line version of the Undergraduate Catalog.

If you have a specific question that is not addressed here, click here  to send it by e-mail . I'll answer you by e-mail (or phone if you send your phone number with your message).

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