The courses in Psychological and Brain Sciences have four purposes:
All classes taken for the major (including those for Honors) must be taken for a grade and be completed with a C- or better. Courses taken at another institution that are not directly equivalent to a JHU course may not apply towards the major without permission of the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Please note that not all courses offered by the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences (AS.200.XXX) will fulfill the requirements of the Psychology major/minor (ex. AS.200.162 Childhood Disorders & Treatments ). Consult with Academic Advising and your psychology major advisor to ensure appropriate progress toward degree completion.
The 300-400 level seminar course must have a maximum enrollment of 19 students and these can be identified by the POS-Tag PSYC-SEM. Courses used to fulfill the five upper-level course requirements may not be used to satisfy this requirement. Students may take 1-3 credits of independent work (AS.200.5xx) in any given semester to fulfill this requirement. All students are required to discuss their plans with their faculty advisor before Pre-Graduation Check.
All courses must be AS.200.xxx or cross-listed with Psychological & Brain Sciences, except for up to one upper level course in Cognitive Science (AS.050.3xx-4xx). Research, independent study, and internships may not be used to satisfy these course requirements.
First Year | |||
---|---|---|---|
First Semester | Credits | Second Semester | Credits |
Required 100-level Psychology course | 3 | Required 100-level Psychology course | 3 |
3 | 3 | ||
Second Year | |||
First Semester | Credits | Second Semester | Credits |
AS.200.200 | 4 | AS.200.300 | 4 |
Required 100-level Psychology course | 3 | 200- through 400-level Psychology course | 3 |
7 | 7 | ||
Third Year | |||
First Semester | Credits | Second Semester | Credits |
Small Group Experience or Independent Academic Work | 3 | 300- through 400-level Psychology course | 3 |
200- through 400-level Psychology course | 3 | ||
6 | 3 | ||
Fourth Year | |||
First Semester | Credits | Second Semester | Credits |
300- or 400-level Psychology course | 3 | 300- or 400-level Psychology course | 3 |
3 | 3 | ||
Total Credits 35 |
No courses through the School of Education and the Carey Business School may be counted toward the requirements for the major in Psychological and Brain Sciences (although a limited number of such courses may be counted toward the 120 credits required for graduation). As most Intersession courses are graded S/U or are less than 3 credits, they do not apply towards major requirements. Some courses offered by Psychological & Brain Sciences taught in the summer at Hopkins do not count toward the Psychology major or minor as they do not fit into the requirements of the major. You may make an appointment with Dr. Stephen Drigotas, Director of Undergraduate Advising for Psychological & Brain Sciences, to ensure that your enrollments will be considered toward your academic progress in the manner you intend.
The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences provides preparation for graduate training in all areas of psychology, including clinical and counseling. Virtually all psychology graduate programs, including those that provide training in clinical or counseling psychology, expect students to have a strong background in scientific psychology, including statistics. The department encourages students to obtain additional practical experiences outside the classroom, including research in a laboratory and/or an internship in a mental health care setting. These additional experiences are particularly salient to graduate school admission committees.
The B.A. degree with honors provides recognition for outstanding achievement in formal course work and research. Students considering applying for honors should begin discussing possible research topics with a faculty sponsor (and research mentor, if different from the sponsor) in the fall semester of their junior year. The requirements for a degree with honors include those for the regular B.A. degree, plus the following:
Please see the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences website for the application process details.
The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences offers two undergraduate academic awards.