Academic Opportunities
Review the course offerings in "neighboring" departments that can provide added depth and perspective to what you cover in psychology courses. A partial list of related fields includes the following:
- The Sociology Department offers many courses that are related to psychology, especially in the areas of crime, the social definition of "deviance," women's issues, and many other areas closely allied with psychology.
- The Department of Slavic and Eastern Languages offers a wealth of courses in linguistics.
- The Biology Department offers several courses related to neuroscience and medicine.
- The School of Social Work offers a joint BA-MA (Masters Degree) program. PSYC2000 Introduction to Social Work is designed to provide an overview of this large field.
- The Lynch School of Education has a Department of Counseling Psychology that offers courses of interest.
Making the most of a major in Psychology or Neuroscience
Advising for Majors
Most students majoring in Psychology or Neuroscience are assigned a faculty member in the Psychology Department as an advisor. Some exceptions include freshmen and students for whom Psychology or Neuroscience is a second major. If you have not been assigned an advisor from Psychology, you should seek some form of departmental advising prior to registering for courses. You can obtain advising from any faculty member. You need only pick up your degree audit from your assigned advisor. Faculty advisors can be valuable as sources of opinion and guidance. However, it is unlikely that any one person will be able to answer all of your questions. Here are some suggestions:
- The Department holds informational sessions for students considering graduate work in clinical psychology.
- The main office has syllabi for almost all psychology courses. You can request that a syllabus be emailed to you.
Meeting Your Advisor
Keep in mind that the registration period is particularly busy. Each faculty member has many advisees who all need to pick up forms and receive advising during a brief period of time. To keep this process running smoothly, consider the following suggestions.
- Prepare your questions carefully ahead of time so that you get the answers you need.
- Read and know the specific requirements for the major before you meet with your advisor. These detailed requirements are listed in the course catalog. You must assume responsibility for knowing what you must take in order to graduate. Your advisor is there to offer advice and some perspective on larger issues rather than to repeat what is readily available in print or to tell you what to do.
- Make an appointment to talk to your advisor at some other time during the semester when things are not so hectic. Doing so will give you an opportunity to discuss the longer-term issues which are certainly relevant to your Boston College experience.
- If you are interested in some special programs, make an appointment to see the relevant advisor: pre-medical advisor Prof. Robert Wolff of the Biology Department in Higgins Hall, pre-law advisor Dean Joseph Burns in the Morrissey Associate Deans Office, Gasson 109B, junior year abroad advisor Prof. Jeff Flagg at the Foreign Study Office, etc. Again, it is best to make these appointments before the registration period starts.
Your Degree Audit
Your DeGRE (Degree and Graduation Requirements Evaluation) audit, which contains your access code number, is mailed to your advisor. (Seniors’ degree audits are sent to them directly.) You contact this person to pick up your audit form and access code and to review your course selections for the coming semester.
This document lists all courses that Student Services is counting towards your requirements for graduation. A completed requirement has *** in front of it. Once you have declared your major, there is a separate listing of the major requirements you have satisfied and those you have not. If you have a question about a requirement that is not completed, you should check with Student Services. If the question concerns the Psychology or Neuroscience major, you may be referred to the Director of Undergraduate Studies. It is a good idea to straighten out these problems as early as possible.
AP Credit
A student who has earned AP credit by scoring a four or five on an Advanced Placement exam may substitute the exam for a relevant course, according to the following list.
Psychology: Either PSYC1110 or PSYC1111. Students making this substitution are required to take an additional Psychology course. For Psychology B.A. and B.S. majors, this course must be a Psychology course numbered 2000 or higher. For Neuroscience majors, this course must be from the Cognitive Neuroscience, Systems Neuroscience, or Electives clusters.
Biology: BIOL2000 Molecules and Cells.
Calculus AB: MATH1100 Calculus I
Calculus BC: MATH1100 Calculus I and MATH1101 Calculus II
Statistics: We generally do not give major credit for the Statistics exam. A student can petition the Director of Undergraduate Studies for credit for PSYC1120.
Concentration in Clinical Psychology
Psychology Faculty Advisor: Karen Rosen
The Concentration in Clinical Psychology is designed for students with a particular interest in careers in clinical or counseling psychology or clinical social work. The concentration lays a solid foundation in coursework, research, and field experiences to help students decide whether they wish to apply to a graduate program and obtain licensure to practice in a clinical field.
Students must apply to the concentration during the junior year. The application may be accessed here. Submit the application (including your statement and degree audit) to the concentration's faculty advisor by March 15th. Students who are studying abroad during the spring semester of their junior year may submit an electronic version of this application. Your application will be reviewed and decisions will be emailed to applicants by April 1st in time for registration for fall semester courses.
Course Requirements
To complete the Clinical Concentration, students need to satisfy the Psychology B.A. or B.S. or Neuroscience B.S. major requirements, as well as specific requirements for the concentration. Some of the courses taken for the concentration may also satisfy major requirements; others may comprise additional coursework.
The courses required for the Clinical Concentration are:
- PSYC2234 Introduction to Psychopathology
- PSYC2260 Developmental Psychology
- PSYC3336 Clinical Psychology
- PSYC4436 Clinical Fieldwork in Psychology
- Two 3000-level elective courses selected from the following list. We recommend taking more than two, since each of these courses provides a foundation for understanding psychopathology or focuses on a topic or issue in Clinical Psychology.
- PSYC3328 Aggression, Anxiety, and ADHD
- PSYC3329 Psychophysiology of Stress
- PSYC3331 Developmental Psychopathology
- PSYC3332 Topics in Developmental Psychopathology
- PSYC3334 Interpersonal Violence
- PSYC3337 Culture and Mental Health
- PSYC3338 Topics in Psychopathology
- PSYC3339 Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder
- PSYC3364 Poverty and Neurodevelopment
- PSYC3366 Social and Emotional Development
- PSYC3379 Disorders of Language and Communication
- PSYC3380 Neuroscience of Psychopathology
- PSYC3386 Psychopharmacology
- PSYC3388 Neurobiology of Eating and Eating Disorders
- PSYC4039 Research Practicum in Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology
- PSYC4431 Seminar in Positive Psychology
- PSYC4433 Addiction, Choice, and Motivation
- PSYC4434 Psychology of Immigration
- PSYC4435 Images of Mental Illness in Film and Literature
- PSYC4437 Stress and Behavior
- PSYC5581 Neurobiology of Mental Illness
Research
We strongly recommend at least two semesters of research by arrangement with a faculty member in the Psychology Department. This research activity is essential for students who are planning to apply to graduate programs in clinical or counseling psychology. Students are encouraged to work as a volunteer in a research lab as soon as they identify a research area of interest to them. They may also enroll in:
- PSYC2205 Undergraduate Research
- PSYC2206 Independent Study
- PSYC4490 and 4491 Senior Thesis I and II
- PSYC4495 and 4496 Senior Honors Thesis I and II (as part of the Psychology Department Honors Program)
- Scholar of the College Project
Completion of the Concentration
Seniors will be contacted during the spring semester by the Clinical Concentration advisor, Karen Rosen, to verify that all requirements for the concentration have been fulfilled. Seniors will then bring their transcript to the Clinical Concentration advisor for review. Completion of the Clinical Concentration is noted on the student’s final transcript.
Fellowships & Grants
Psychology Faculty Advisor: Sean MacEvoy
Among the most prestigious honors an undergraduate can receive is a competitive fellowship. These include awards such as Fulbright Grants, Marshall Scholarships, Javits Fellowships, National Science Foundation Fellowships, Rhodes Scholarships, and Truman Scholarships.
These awards provide opportunities and financial support to further a student’s academic and personal growth. Depending on the fellowship, students compete for awards that support things such as advanced study in fields that interest them, graduate education, and study abroad, among others. Other fellowships support undergraduate study.
Psychology majors have been very successful in obtaining fellowships. However, early planning and preparation are important for any student to be a competitive applicant. For further information about the fellowships, please consult the University Fellowships Committee website. It’s a good idea to check this page regularly for announcements of new fellowship opportunities. If you are a strong student (GPA at least 3.5), you should see one of the faculty fellowship advisors in the Psychology Department towards the end of your sophomore year or early in your junior year.
When considering any fellowship, read each posting carefully to make sure that you meet the eligibility requirements. Similarly, when you prepare your application, make sure that you have read and followed the requirements for any personal statement. Make sure that you are answering the question asked. Triple check your statement for length, grammar, language usage and spelling. Small details matter!
Honors Program
The Psychology Department Honors Program offers students completing the Psychology or Neuroscience major an excellent opportunity to get involved in research. The program is for students with strong academic records who wish to devote a substantial amount of time in their senior year to a senior honors thesis.
Summary of Due Dates
Junior Year
November 1: Application to the Psychology Honors Program
April: Submit your thesis proposal to your advisor and second reader.
April (Registration for Fall): Submit a Syllabus/Contract Form for PSYC4495 and PSYC4496.
May 1: Honors Thesis Proposal Approval Form
Senior Year
April: Submit your thesis to your advisor and second reader.
May 1: Honors Thesis Approval Form
Frequently Asked Questions
One of the best ways to learn is through doing—joining the Psychology Department Honors Program will allow you to explore your interests in the field of psychology and learn the scientific method through hands-on experience. Joining the Honors Program helps many students discern their future career path. Some students get bitten by the “research bug,” others find out that they are more interested in counseling-based psychological careers, while still others decide that their passions lie in a completely different field. Students who have completed the Honors Program have gone on to careers in psychological research, medicine, teaching, counseling, and law, to name just a few. Participation in the Honors Program is an excellent distinction in general; it is a particularly noteworthy distinction for those students who wish to apply to graduate school (in psychology or otherwise). The Honors Program provides the opportunity to work closely with a faculty member outside of the traditional classroom setting. Participating in the Honors Program will teach you to think critically, to address and test questions systematically, and to communicate your thoughts and ideas to others.
The Psychology Department Honors Program is different from the College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program. Students are admitted into the College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program when they are admitted to Boston College, while students are invited into the Psychology Department Honors Program based on their academic record after the first two years at Boston College. Participation in both the A&S Honors Program and the Psychology Department Honors Program requires the completion of an Honors Thesis. Therefore, if you are already part of the A&S Honors program, the Psychology Honors Thesis will satisfy the requirements for both the Departmental and A&S Honors designations.
The Honors Program requires a GPA of 3.6 in Psychology and overall. Students who meet the GPA requirement at the end of their sophomore year will be invited to join the program. Students must also meet the GPA requirement at the time they graduate.
You will receive a letter from the Honors Program Director at the beginning of your junior year inviting you to apply to the Psychology Department Honors Program. If you are interested in applying, you would then identify a Psychology faculty member who is willing to supervise your work. You complete a preliminary application by November 1 of your junior year. On this application, you need only indicate the topic you plan to research and the name of your thesis advisor.
During the spring of your junior year, you develop a ten-page thesis proposal due May 1. It is recommended that you take an independent research course during second semester to work on the proposal. If you plan to study abroad this semester, you could instead work on the proposal during the fall of your junior year.
First, you should identify the area of psychology in which you are most interested. Faculty members at Boston College specialize in a range of sub-fields. Determine which area you are most interested in by exploring individual faculty members’ pages.
Once you have narrowed down the area in which you are most interested, you will need to choose an advisor (a faculty member or part-time faculty member in the department). If a faculty member suggests that you work with one of his or her graduate students as your thesis advisor, then you would meet mostly with the graduate student, but the faculty member would have ultimate responsibility and would be the primary reader on your thesis.
It might be clear to you from your exploration whose work is most interesting to you. If you are still unsure, you should contact one of the graduate student coordinators (see below) for advice. They would be happy to speak with you in person or communicate by email to help you figure out which faculty members’ work is most relevant to your interests.
Finally, you should contact the faculty member with whom you would like to work. You do not need to know yet exactly what you would like to study, but you should approach a potential advisor, state the general area in which you would like to do research, and ask whether he or she would be willing to supervise you in your Honors Thesis. Try to contact potential faculty advisors as soon as you can since faculty may be limited in how many new honors students they are able to supervise.
In most cases, the proposed research will be part of an ongoing project in the advisor’s research laboratory. Alternatively, students may conceive of a project independently and approach an appropriate advisor to serve as supervisor. The literature review, data collection, and data analysis must always be completed by the student alone, along with supervision from the thesis advisor.
You will work with your advisor to develop a specific and testable research question. You should set up an appointment to meet with your advisor to have a brainstorming session. The next step is to read, read, read about your topic of research. The more informed you are, the better questions you will ask.
Yes, we accommodate students studying abroad by allowing for some flexibility in meeting required deadlines. If you are planning to study abroad in the fall semester, you should contact the graduate student coordinators (see above) as soon as possible to identify a potential thesis topic and advisor. Then, before you go abroad, secure the approval of the faculty member with whom you are interested in working, and prepare your preliminary application. Alternatively, the preliminary application may be submitted via email to the Psychology Office anytime before the November 1st deadline. Students who are abroad in the spring of their junior year may work with their advisor over the summer (via email if necessary) to develop a proposal, which will be due to the Psychology Office on the first day of classes in the fall. We do expect that you will be ready to fully engage in your proposed research by the beginning of your senior year.
- On this site, read about faculty research interests and the different research laboratories in the Department.
- Contact one of the Honors Program Graduate Student Coordinators by email to discuss either through email or in person your research interests and identify a potential faculty advisor.
- Contact your potential advisor by email and request an appointment to discuss your ideas for your Honors Thesis and to determine whether this faculty member could serve as your advisor.
- Once you have an advisor, discuss with your advisor who might be a second reader for your thesis, and contact that person to ask him/her to serve.
- Print out and complete the preliminary Application to the Psychology Department Honors Program and submit it to the Psychology Office by November 1.
- During April of your junior year, submit your research proposal to your advisor and second reader.
- During registration for the fall semester of your senior year, submit a Syllabus/Contract Form for PSYC4495 Senior Honors Thesis I and PSYC4495 Senior Honors Thesis II. You will not need to submit a second contract during registration for the spring, but you will need to contact psychoffice@bc.edu and request to be registered for the second course.
- By May 1 of your junior year, submit a Honors Thesis Proposal Approval Form to the Psychology Department office. (We do not need a copy of your thesis proposal.)
Your proposal should be written in accordance with the following format:
I. Introduction
State your research question. (1 paragraph)
Review previous research carried out on this and related questions. (6 pages)
II. Methods
Participants: Describe your participants. Who will they be? How will you find them? Age? Sex? How many? (1 paragraph)
Procedure: Describe precisely what your participants will be asked to do and how long the procedure will take. (1-2 pages)
III. Hypotheses
What do you predict, and why? (1 paragraph)
IV. Data Analysis
How will you score or code your data? Will you have a second coder for inter-rater reliability? How will you analyze your data? (1/2 page)
V. Discussion
If your hypotheses are confirmed, what will you conclude? What will be the significance of these findings? What study could then be carried out next? (1 page)
Your proposal is reviewed by two faculty members and a decision is then made about whether to admit you to the Honors Program. If your advisor continues to support your proposal, and if your research ideas are clearly thought out, it is highly likely that you will then be admitted into the program. You will receive a letter approving your proposed research plan from the Honors Program Director.
In addition to the requirements of their Psychology or Neuroscience major, students in the Honors Program enroll in the following courses.
Junior Year (Optional)
- PSYC2205 Undergraduate Research (3 credits)
- PSYC2206 Independent Study (3 credits)
Senior Year
- PSYC4495 Senior Honors Thesis I (3 credits)*
- PSYC4496 Senior Honors Thesis II (3 credits)*
- One 5000-level PSYC course (3 credits)
*One semester may count as an elective to fulfill your major requirements.
Submit a copy of your thesis to your advisor and your second reader (a full- or part-time faculty member, postdoc, or doctoral graduate student chosen by you and your primary advisor) by mid-April of your senior year. The exact deadline is decided by your advisor.
When your advisor and second reader approve your thesis, submit an Honors Thesis Approval Form to the Psychology Office. This form is due May 1. Also submit an electronic copy of the thesis via email to psychoffice@bc.edu by this date.
Finally, you will present your thesis as a poster at the Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference in May of your senior year.
At the end of your senior year, you will receive a letter signed by the Director of the Honors Program and the Chairperson of the Psychology Department indicating that you have distinguished yourself by satisfying the requirements of the Psychology Honors Program. You should keep this letter and use it to provide documentation of your exemplary work to future graduate programs and/or employers.
There are other opportunities for students to be involved in research in the Psychology Department outside of the Psychology Department Honors Program, including the opportunity to write a senior thesis.
Further Information
For more information, contact the Director of the Psychology Department Honors Program, Karen Rosen.
2023-2024 Graduate Student Contacts:
Abigail McLaughlin (abigail.mclaughlin@bc.edu)
Alexandra Ng (alexandra.ng@bc.edu)
Library Thesis Submission
The BC Library encourages each student writing a thesis to submit it online. Instructions can be found on their website.
Registration
The University requires a written, signed syllabus/contract between the instructor and student for all non-scheduled undergraduate courses.
Syllabus/Contract for Individually Arranged and Non-scheduled Courses
The form should be completed and signed by both instructor and student, and then the student should bring it to the Director of Undergraduate Studies for approval. Because such courses require the instructor’s permission, students must register for these courses in the Psychology office. The signed syllabus/contract serves as permission of the instructor for the purpose of registering the student. The Psychology office will keep these signed contracts on file.
During registration for the fall, submit a syllabus/contract form for both parts of the thesis course. You do not need to submit a second contract during registration for the spring; however, you will need to contact psychoffice@bc.edu and request to be registered for the second course once your spring registration opens.
Restrictions
No Teaching Assistants
These courses cannot be used as compensation for teaching assistant duties.
Student Employees
If you are enrolled in Undergraduate Research, Independent Study, or a thesis course, you cannot be paid for the same work. Thus, you would not be hired as an employee for the same semester that you are enrolled in the course.
Put another way, if you are an employee in a lab and also enrolled in Undergraduate Research, Independent Study, or a thesis course in that lab, the work you are doing for pay must be entirely separate and unrelated to the work you are doing for credit.
If the two kinds of work are indeed separate, your advisor needs to email us to explain the differences between the work.
Interdisciplinary Study
Many students find that their interests are well served by one of the many interdisciplinary minors available in the College of Arts and Sciences. For example, students with interests in the psychology of women or feminism may pursue a Women's Studies Minor by taking approved courses in the Psychology, Sociology, and English departments. Interdisciplinary minors are described briefly in the Boston College Undergraduate Catalog. Additional information about a minor can be obtained by contacting its director.
Junior Year Abroad
Students planning to spend a semester or two studying abroad need to receive approval from their major department. This approval is obtained from your academic advisor. To prepare for this appointment, you need to complete your tentative schedule for your semester(s) abroad and for your remaining time on campus at Boston College. (In general, Psychology and Neuroscience majors do not fulfill many of their major requirements while studying abroad.) You should also obtain an up-to-date copy of your DeGRE audit to verify what Psychology and Neuroscience major requirements you have left outstanding. Review these materials on your own to see what you will need to take and when in order to accommodate your time abroad. Bring all these materials to your appointment with your academic advisor.
If you would like for one or several of the courses taken abroad to satisfy the requirements of the major, you should provide the Director of Undergraduate Studies with a course syllabus for each course, a current copy of your Boston College DeGRE audit or your social security number. The Director of Undergraduate Studies will decide if a meeting is necessary after reviewing the relevant material. You can set up an appointment by calling the Director of Undergraduate Studies directly.
Credit from study abroad must comply with the general rules about transfer credit.
The department allows students to take up to two Psychology courses outside of the department (with approval by the Director of Undergraduate Studies to meet the requirements of the major). This limit will not apply to the natural science courses associated with the Psychology B.S. and Neuroscience majors. Please remember that, in addition to courses taken at other universities, courses taken at other schools within Boston College (e.g., Lynch School of Education, College of Advancing Studies) are considered as outside of the department.
Major GPA
Psychology BA Major: All courses counting toward your major count for major GPA.
Psychology BS Major: Only courses with the PSYC prefix count for major GPA. This is subject to change.
Neuroscience Major: All courses counting toward your major (with or without a PSYC prefix) count for major GPA.
Major Requirements
The University Catalog contains the most up-to-date description of major requirements.
The Psychology Department does not offer a minor in Psychology or Neuroscience.
Premedical Students
Students applying to M.D. and D.O. programs in the United States file their applications through AMCAS (M.D.-American Medical College Application Service) or AACOMAS (D.O.-American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine). These services calculate a science GPA that includes all BCPM (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math) orientated courses.
Many of the courses offered within the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience predominantly discuss the use of Neuroscience or Statistical methods to elucidate Psychological processes. According to AMCAS, Neuroscience courses (a subset of Biology) and Statistics courses (a subset of Math) should be included within the BCPM GPA, and it is the belief of the Psychology faculty that, in accordance with the guidelines outlined by AMCAS, the courses listed below should be reported in your “BCPM” GPA when applying through AMCAS.
Nevertheless, when filing an application Premedical students should read the instructions on the AMCAS or AACOMAS application carefully, as policies may change.
PSYC courses in the BCPM GPA Math-Statistics subset
- PSYC1120 Introduction to Behavioral Statistics and Research I
- PSYC1121 Introduction to Behavioral Statistics and Research II
- PSYC3301 Statistics in Everyday Life
- PSYC4101 Research Practicum in Human and Artificial Intelligence
- PSYC5501 Experimental Design and Statistics
- PSYC5502 Multiple Regression
- PSYC6601 Structural Equation Modeling
- PSYC6605 Multivariate Statistics
PSYC courses in the BCPM GPA Biology-Neuroscience subset
- PSYC2274 Sensation and Perception
- PSYC2285 Behavioral Neuroscience
- PSYC2289 Comparative Psychology: Study of Animal Behavior
- PSYC3329 Psychophysiology of Stress
- PSYC3338 Topics in Psychopathology
- PSYC3364 Poverty and Neurodevelopment
- PSYC3371 Cognitive Neuroscience: Exploring Mind and Brain
- PSYC3372 Affective Neuroscience
- PSYC3373 Learning and Motivation
- PSYC3374 Psychology and Neuroscience of Cognitive Aging
- PSYC3375 Psychology and Neuroscience of Human Memory
- PSYC3376 Developmental Neuroscience
- PSYC3378 Vision
- PSYC3379 Disorders of Language and Communication
- PSYC3380 Neuroscience of Psychopathology
- PSYC3381 Neural Circuits for Emotional Memory
- PSYC3382 Neurobiology of Stress
- PSYC3383 Neurobiological Basis of Learning
- PSYC3384 Neurophysiology
- PSYC3385 Neurobiology of Motivation and Emotion
- PSYC3386 Psychopharmacology
- PSYC3387 Developmental Neuroscience and Behavior
- PSYC3388 Neurobiology of Eating and Eating Disorders
- PSYC3389 Motivated Behaviors and the Brain
- PSYC3390 Neurobiology of Psychiatric Disorders
- PSYC3391 Ethical Controversies in Psychology and Neuroscience
- PSYC3392 Neuroscience of Addiction
- PSYC3393 Neuroscience of Pain
- PSYC3397 Cognitive and Neural Bases of Person Knowledge
- PSYC4101 Research Practicum in Human and Artificial Intelligence
- PSYC4170 Research Practicum in Cognitive Psychology
- PSYC4173 Research Practicum in Judgment and Decision Making
- PSYC4174 Research Practicum in Sensory Psychology
- PSYC4177 Research Practicum in Cognitive Neuroscience
- PSYC4180 Research Practicum in Behavioral Neuroscience
- PSYC4446 Social Neuroscience
- PSYC4472 fMRI
- PSYC4473 Event-related Potentials
- PSYC5570 Advanced Topics in Cognitive Neuroscience
- PSYC5571 Controversies in Cognitive Neuroscience
- PSYC5574 Neuroscience of Sensation and Perception
- PSYC5575 Advanced Affective Neuroscience
- PSYC5576 Methods in Human Brain Mapping
- PSYC5577 The Hippocampus
- PSYC5580 Neural Systems and Stress
- PSYC5581 Neurobiology of Mental Illness
- PSYC5582 Advanced Topics in Behavioral Neuroscience
- PSYC5583 Molecular Basis of Learning and Memory
- PSYC5585 Brain Systems: Motivation and Emotion
- PSYC5587 Cellular Perspectives on Motivated Behavior
Neuroscience Courses for Predental, Preveterinary, and Other Health Careers
A number of other graduate health professions, including dental and veterinary schools, have centralized application services, AADSAS (Associated American Dental Schools Application Service) and VMCAS (Veterinary Medical College Application Service). While many schools may include neuroscience and statistics in their science GPA calculations, it is important to carefully research the application instructions for each profession, as policies may change.
Research
Take advantage of the different kinds of academic experiences the Department offers by becoming an active member of our intellectual community.
- Get to know the faculty. Our faculty is accessible to undergraduates, but you must seek them out. Doing so is worth the effort. Professors often serve as unofficial advisors and provide letters of recommendation for jobs or graduate programs.
- One of the best ways to get to know the faculty is get involved in one of our research labs early in your undergraduate career. Some labs have posted job openings on our undergraduate job board.
- Work with a faculty member as a research assistant, or take an independent study course.
- Get to know some of the graduate students, many of whom you will meet as Teaching Assistants or Teaching Fellows or by taking advanced courses. Graduate students can give you advice about applying to graduate school.
- Undergraduates are welcome at our colloquia; see the calendar on our home page.
Research Courses
The Department of Psychology and Neuroscience offers two courses in independent research. Both require permission of a faculty member and additional registration paperwork (see below).
PSYC2205 Undergraduate Research
Course Description: An opportunity to participate in research projects in the laboratory of a faculty member. Students are typically assigned to assist with a specific experiment contributing to the laboratory's overall goals. This is the most typical type of undergraduate research course experience in our department.
Students may work with researchers at other area universities and hospitals. The work must be relevant to psychology/neuroscience. While primary supervision of the research will be provided by the laboratory PI, a Boston College Department of Psychology and Neuroscience faculty member must agree to serve as the instructor of record for the course.
Students are encouraged to obtain permission of the instructor before they register for their other courses, so that they may keep open the time slot for the laboratory meetings associated with the laboratory.
PSYC2206 Independent Study
Course Description: This course offers students the opportunity to study a topic of personal interest, working independently under the supervision of a faculty member within the Psychology Department. A student may obtain the consent of a faculty member to serve as his or her instructor by contacting the faculty member directly. The instructor, working with the student, decides on the nature of readings and related activities involved as well as the precise form of scholarly work required.
Registration
The University requires a written, signed syllabus/contract between the instructor and student for all non-scheduled undergraduate courses.
Syllabus/Contract for Individually Arranged and Non-scheduled Courses
The form must be completed and signed by both instructor and student, and then the student should email it to the Director of Undergraduate Studies for approval. The Psychology and Neuroscience main office will register the student. The signed syllabus/contract serves as permission of the instructor for registration.
Restrictions
No Teaching Assistants
These courses cannot be used as compensation for teaching assistant duties.
Student Employees
If you are enrolled in Undergraduate Research, Independent Study, or a thesis course, you cannot be paid for the same work. Thus, you would not be hired as an employee for the same semester that you are enrolled in the course.
Put another way, if you are an employee in a lab and also enrolled in Undergraduate Research, Independent Study, or a thesis course in that lab, the work you are doing for pay must be entirely separate and unrelated to the work you are doing for credit.
If the two kinds of work are indeed separate, your advisor needs to email us to explain the differences between the work.
Scholar of the College
The Scholar of the College award is a designation awarded at Commencement to exceptional students who have excelled academically in their undergraduate studies and who have done substantial, independent work of the highest quality for a significant part of their senior year under the supervision of faculty scholars.
Senior Thesis
Students may choose to write a thesis during the senior year. In most cases, the thesis will involve original, empirical research, although theoretical papers will also be permitted. Students must obtain the consent of a faculty member to serve as their thesis advisor.
Junior Year
Those who are interested in writing a thesis are encouraged to participate in independent research with a prospective thesis advisor during the junior year to develop a thesis proposal. Before their senior year, students who plan to write a thesis are advised to complete PSYC1120 Introduction to Behavioral Statistics and Research I and either PSYC1121 Introduction to Behavioral Statistics and Research II or a Research Practicum.
Senior Year
Seniors who are engaged in writing a thesis may enroll in PSYC4490 Senior Thesis I in the fall and/or PSYC4491 Senior Thesis II in the spring. Only one semester may count as an elective to fulfill your major requirement. The thesis due date is determined by your advisor.
Distinction
Students whose theses are judged to be of exceptional merit will receive a letter that their Senior Thesis “approved with distinction.” This is recorded in the Psychology Department but not noted on transcripts. Download the Senior Thesis Approval Form for a thesis approved with distinction. The form is due to the Director of Undergraduate Studies by May 1.
Library Thesis Submission
The BC Library encourages each student writing a thesis to submit it online. Instructions can be found on their website.
Registration
The University requires a written, signed syllabus/contract between the instructor and student for all non-scheduled undergraduate courses.
Syllabus/Contract for Individually Arranged and Non-scheduled Courses
The form should be completed and signed by both instructor and student, and then the student should bring it to the Director of Undergraduate Studies for approval. Because such courses require the instructor’s permission, students must register for these courses in the Psychology office. The signed syllabus/contract serves as permission of the instructor for the purpose of registering the student. The Psychology office will keep these signed contracts on file.
During registration for the fall, submit a syllabus/contract form for both parts of the thesis course. You do not need to submit a second contract during registration for the spring; however, you will need to contact psychoffice@bc.edu and request to be registered for the second course once your spring registration opens.
Restrictions
No Teaching Assistants
These courses cannot be used as compensation for teaching assistant duties.
Student Employees
If you are enrolled in Undergraduate Research, Independent Study, or a thesis course, you cannot be paid for the same work. Thus, you would not be hired as an employee for the same semester that you are enrolled in the course.
Put another way, if you are an employee in a lab and also enrolled in Undergraduate Research, Independent Study, or a thesis course in that lab, the work you are doing for pay must be entirely separate and unrelated to the work you are doing for credit.
If the two kinds of work are indeed separate, your advisor needs to email us to explain the differences between the work.
Transfer Credit
If you are already a BC student and plan to take courses anywhere outside of the regular day school of BC's College of Arts and Sciences (perhaps in the Lynch School of Education, in the Woods College of Advancing Studies, during the summer session, or at an entirely different institution), you must have your course credits approved by the Psychology Department as counting towards your major.
For approval of courses taken elsewhere, you should provide the Director of Undergraduate Studies with information about each course, including the course syllabus. You should also provide a current copy of your BC degree audit.
If you anticipate taking courses somewhere other than the regular day school of the College of Arts and Sciences, then you should make every effort to obtain prior approval from the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Doing so will help insure you receive credit for the courses and, thus, will help avoid having your schedule disrupted at some later time.
Transfer Students
If you are a transfer student new to BC, you probably have taken courses at your previous institution that were accepted by Boston College, and that appear similar to our major requirements. If you would like these courses to be considered as fulfilling the requirements of the major, you should set up an appointment with the Director of Undergraduate Studies as soon as possible after your arrival at BC.
The Director of Undergraduate Studies will indicate which of your previous courses can count towards your major here at BC and which specific requirements they fulfill. You should bring to your meeting: a BC degree audit; a transcript from your former institution; and course information (syllabus, title and author of text, course description).
Please remember that:
- Most schools have only one Introduction to Psychology course, while here at BC we have two. The Director of Undergraduate Studies will determine how a course taken at another institution compares to BC's two introductory courses and may make other adjustments to the requirements in light of a student's previous coursework.
- Most psychology courses that list Introduction to Psychology as a prerequisite can be counted as psychology electives, as long as Boston College has granted you transfer credit for them. It is sometimes difficult to ascertain, however, whether courses taken at other institutions satisfy other, more specific requirements of our major.
Number of courses allowed
The department allows students to take up to three Psychology courses outside of the department (with approval by the Director of Undergraduate Studies to meet the requirements of the major). This limit will not apply to the natural science courses associated with the Psychology B.S. and Neuroscience majors. Please remember that, in addition to courses taken at other universities, courses taken at other schools within Boston College (e.g., Lynch School of Education, College of Advancing Studies) are considered as outside of the department.