Academic Opportunities

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: 
  • For the class of 2029 and prior: 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.
  • For the class of 2030 and onwards: PSYC1111. Psychology B.A. and B.S. majors making this substitution are required to take an additional Psychology course numbered 2000 or higher. Neuroscience majors cannot count their AP Psychology credit toward the major.
• 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.

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 Child Developmental Psychology or PSYC2268 Lifespan Development
• 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.
  • PSYC3323 Introduction to Drama Therapy
    
  • PSYC3328 Aggression, Anxiety, and ADHD
  • PSYC3329 Psychophysiology of Stress
  • PSYC3331 Developmental Psychopathology
  • PSYC3333 Attachment and Developmental Trauma: Understanding Early Relationships and Their Lifelong Impact
  • PSYC3334 Interpersonal Violence
  • PSYC3338 From Madness to Psychopathology
  • PSYC3357 Emerging Adulthood(s): Development from the Late Teens Through the Twenties
  • PSYC3364 Poverty and Neurodevelopment
  • PSYC3366 Social and Emotional Development
  • PSYC3386 Psychopharmacology
  • PSYC3387 Behavioral Neuroendocrinology: Sex, Love, and Aggression
  • PSYC3388 Neurobiology of Eating and Eating Disorders
  • PSYC3390 Neurobiology of Psychiatric Disorders
  • PSYC4039 Research Practicum in Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology
  • PSYC4433 Addiction, Choice, and Motivation

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. Completion of the Clinical Concentration is noted on the student’s final transcript.

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.

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.

Applicants to M.D, D.O., and DDS/DMD programs in the United States file their applications through centralized application services. Medical school applicants apply through the AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service, for M.D.) and/or AACOMAS (American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service, for D.O.) application services. Applicants to dental school programs apply using AADSAS (Associated American Dental Schools Application Service). A critical metric for all three systems is a candidate's "science GPA." However, it is important to note that each service calculates the science GPA differently.

Applicants to M.D. Programs: The AMCAS science GPA includes all BCPM (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math) courses. However, applicants may "reclassify" courses in other departments if 50% or more of the material in the course could reasonably be identified as BCPM content. Many of the courses offered within the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience predominantly focus on Neuroscience or Statistical methods to elucidate Psychological processes, and likely meet that 50% threshold to be reclassified. P&N faculty and the PreHealth staff feel that the courses listed below meet that threshold and could be reported in your "BCPM" GPA when applying to MD programs through AMCAS. These courses are included in the "Pre-Med" GPA found on Eagle Apps and used by the PreHealth program in their Committee Letter process.

Applicants to D.O. Programs: Although the AMCAS and AACOMAS systems are fairly similar, AACOMAS calculates a separate "Behavioral Sciences" GPA, which is where PSYC classes are classified by default. However, as with the AMCAS system, D.O. applicants using the AACOMAS system may attempt to reclassify courses into the "Science GPA." *It is important to note that reclassification is more restrictive in AACOMAS than in AMCAS.* For example, AACOMAS instructions explicitly list Psychopharmacology and Brain & Behavior courses as ones that must be classified in Behavioral Sciences, not in the Science category. Thus, PSYC3386 and PSYC1110 cannot be reclassified. Generally, AACOMAS classification focuses heavily on the department and course title. The keywords they look for to accept a course for reclassification are "neuroscience," "neurobiology," and "neural mechanisms." So, courses like PSYC2285 and PSYC3383 should reclassify readily. However, fewer courses will successfully reclassify than in AMCAS, which means that applicants to both services who majored in PSYC or NEUR will very likely see two different science GPAs in the respective application systems. As a final note, the AACOMAS system also does not include Math courses in their science GPA, so the science GPA calculation will almost surely look different than the AMCAS BCPM GPA for applicants applying to both services.

Applicants to Dental Programs: Like the AACOMAS system, the AADSAS dental application includes a separate Behavioral Science category GPA. (Please read the "Applicants to D.O. Programs" paragraph above.) The AADSAS system is even more restrictive than AACOMAS. The only PSYC courses applicants have been able to reclassify in recent years were statistics courses (i.e., PSYC1120 and PSYC1121). For this reason, we have created a "Pre-Dent" GPA in Eagle Apps, using these more restrictive rules, which excludes all PSYC classes except the stats sequence above.

Final Note to All Applicants: Course categorization policies in these three systems are constantly changing, so all applicants to graduate school programs in the health fields are advised to refer closely to the instructions for the specific application system they are using.

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
• PSYC5595 Mathematics and Computation for Research in Psychology and Neuroscience
• PSYC6601 Structural Equation Modeling
• PSYC6605 Multivariate Statistics

PSYC courses in the BCPM GPA Biology-Neuroscience subset

• PSYC1110 Brain, Mind, and Behavior
• 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 Building Brains: Topics in Developmental Neuroscience
• PSYC3377 Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
• PSYC3378 Vision
• PSYC3379 Disorders of Language and Communication
• PSYC3380 Neuroscience of Psychopathology
• PSYC3381 Psychobiology of Fear Learning
• PSYC3382 Neurobiology of Stress
• PSYC3383 Neurobiological Basis of Learning
• PSYC3384 Neurophysiology
• PSYC3385 Neurobiology of Motivation and Emotion
• PSYC3386 Psychopharmacology
• PSYC3387 Behavioral Neuroendocrinology: Sex, Love, and Aggression
• 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
• PSYC3395 Novel Technologies in Neuroscience
• PSYC3396 Sleep and Circadian Rhythms
• 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 Sensation and Perception
• PSYC4177 Research Practicum in Cognitive Neuroscience
• PSYC4180 Research Practicum in Behavioral Neuroscience
• PSYC4446 Social Neuroscience
• PSYC4472 fMRI
• PSYC4473 Event-related Potentials
• PSYC5571 Controversies in Cognitive Neuroscience
• PSYC5574 Neuroscience of Sensation and Perception
• PSYC5575 Advanced Affective Neuroscience
• PSYC5576 Methods in Human Brain Mapping
• PSYC5577 The Hippocampus
• PSYC5578 Cognitive Neuroscience of Attention
• 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
• PSYC5588 Behavioral Neuroimmunology: Immune Modulation of Brain & Behavior

Neuroscience Courses for Pre-Veterinary, Pre-Physician Assistant, and Other Health Careers

A number of other graduate health professions, including Veterinary and Physician Assistant schools, also have centralized application services (e.g., VMCAS, or 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.

The University requires a written, signed syllabus/contract between the instructor and student for all non-scheduled undergraduate courses. These courses include PSYC2205 Undergraduate Research, PSYC2206 Independent Study, PSYC4490 Senior Thesis I, PSYC4491 Senior Thesis II, PSYC4495 Senior Honors Thesis I, and PSYC4496 Senior Honors Thesis II.

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 the thesis courses require the instructor’s permission, students must submit a signed course syllabus/contract for the Director of Undergraduate Studies to review. Students can submit their course syllabus/contract through this Google Form. Once approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies, you will be registered for the course. This form must be submitted before the end of add/drop.

For Senior Honors Thesis and Senior Thesis courses: 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. You will be automatically registered for the second half of your thesis course after your pick time for spring registration has passed. If you do not wish to be registered, please email psych-dus@bc.edu.

For PSYC2205 Undergraduate Research and PSYC2206 Independent Study: During registration for either fall or spring semester, submit a syllabus/contract form for one semester of either PSYC2205 or PSYC2206.

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 psychoffice@bc.edu and psych-dus@bc.edu to explain the differences between the work.

Undergraduate research is any hands-on, faculty-mentored experience where you actively contribute to the process of generating new knowledge. This can take many forms depending on the field and lab. In Psychology and Neuroscience, it often includes tasks like collecting and analyzing data, running participants in experiments, conducting literature reviews, coding behavior, working with biological samples, or assisting with ongoing experiments. Research is not limited to working in a traditional lab. It can also include clinical research, computational work, survey-based studies, or interdisciplinary projects in fields like biology, computer science, sociology, or public health. As you gain experience, your role may grow to include designing your own study, presenting findings, or completing a senior thesis.

When is the best time to start looking for undergraduate research opportunities?

You can start looking at any time, but earlier is always better. Research positions tend to fill quickly, and it can take one to two semesters to secure a spot in a lab. We recommend beginning your search during your sophomore year, with the goal of joining a lab by junior year. This timeline gives you enough time to gain meaningful experience and, if you choose, complete a thesis during your senior year. Keep in mind that every lab operates differently. Some labs require students to volunteer for a semester before becoming eligible for course credit or taking on larger responsibilities like an honors thesis.

Why should you participate in undergraduate research?

Getting involved in research is one of the most valuable experiences you can have as an undergraduate, especially if you are considering careers in healthcare, academia, or research-related fields. Undergraduate research allows you to apply what you learn in the classroom to real-world questions. Concepts from your courses become more meaningful when you see how they are used in ongoing research. Research helps you build important skills such as critical thinking, data analysis, problem-solving, and scientific communication. These skills are valuable across many career paths. Performing research may also help you clarify your interests. You may discover what areas of psychology or neuroscience you enjoy—or, just as importantly, what you don’t enjoy. Research experience is often expected (or strongly recommended) for graduate school, medical school, and many competitive jobs. Undergraduate research also gives you the opportunity to build relationships with faculty mentors who can write strong letters of recommendation.

There are several ways to get involved in research at Boston College. These options vary in structure, time commitment, and whether you receive course credit or compensation. Within the department there are eighteen faculty members who regularly supervise undergraduate thesis students. These include Gorica Petrovich (Neurobiology of Feeding Behavior Lab), Scott Slotnick (Memory, Attention, and Perception Lab), Michael Mcdannald (Mcdannald Lab), Andrea Heberlein (Mind Perception Lab), Elizabeth Kensinger (Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience Lab), Katie McAuliffe (Cooperation Lab), John Christianson (Christianson lab), Regan Bernhard (Bernhard Lab), Jaclyn Ford (Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience Lab), Kengthsagn Louis (Self, Health, Identity, and Culture Lab), Diane-Jo Bart-Plange (Deconstructing Intergroup Social Cognition lab), Gregg Sparkman (Social Influence and Social Change Lab), Liane Young (Morality Lab), Angie Johnston (Canine Cognition Lab), Stefano Anzellotti (Social and Cognitive Computational Neuroscience Lab), Caroline Smith (Smith Lab), Deeya Mitra (Emerging Adulthood lab) and Sara Cordes (Infant and Child Cognition Lab). Note that some other faculty members (e.g., Brooke Magnus, Sean MacEvoy, and Mattitiyahu Zimbler) also occasionally advise theses if a student has a specific interest related to their research.

These faculty members typically work with one to five thesis students per year (including both honors thesis students and non-honors thesis students).

Some students have also completed theses with advisors outside of the department of Psychology and Neuroscience. These advisors can be faculty members in other BC schools and departments (previous schools and departments include the Lynch School of Human Development and Applied Psychology or School of Social Work, or the Physics Department within MCAS) or can be based at other institutions in the Boston Area (previous institutions include McLean Hopsital and Boston Children’s Hospital). However, all students must still have an instructor of record within the department.

Should you secure a research opportunity at a laboratory outside of the department, you will need an instructor of record from our department. An instructor of record is a full time faculty member. Adjunct Professors, Adjunct Instructors, and Visiting Lecturers cannot serve as an instructor of record. You can ask a faculty member whom you already know from a previous course, or your major/academic advisor.

Types of roles in undergraduate research:

Volunteer Research Assistant

Many students begin by volunteering in a lab. This is often the most accessible way to get started, especially if you do not yet have prior research experience. As a volunteer, you may help with tasks like data collection, participant interaction, literature reviews, or general lab support. Although these positions are typically unpaid, they provide valuable experience and can lead to greater responsibilities over time. Requirements for hours/week vary by lab, but can be as low as 4-5 hours per week.

Research for Course Credit 

Boston College offers formal opportunities to earn academic credit for research through PSYC2205 Undergraduate Research and PSYC2206 Independent Study. These courses allow you to work in a research lab for approximately 8-10 hours per week and earn up to 3 credits. These courses do not function like traditional classes as you will not attend lectures. Instead, your time is spent actively working in a lab. You cannot register for these courses independently. You must first secure a research position, then complete a syllabus/course contract and obtain approval from your faculty mentor or principal investigator. You may complete this research either with a Boston College faculty member or with researchers at other universities or hospitals in the area, as long as the work is relevant to psychology or neuroscience.

Course Descriptions

PSYC2205 Undergraduate Research: 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.

PSYC2206 Independent Study: 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. These are typically reading/writing focused courses, not lab courses.

Paid Research Positions

Some labs offer paid research positions. In some labs, paid roles are given to students based on prior experience, but this is not necessarily the case. Faculty members are generally sensitive to students’ financial need when discussing paid vs. volunteer positions, but not all faculty members have funding to pay more than 1-2 students at a given time.

You cannot get paid and receive course credit for the same hours of research. 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 psychoffice@bc.edu and psych-dus@bc.edu to explain the differences between the work.

A step by guide for how to find undergraduate research opportunities can be found here. Additionally our departmental jobs board with postings can be found here, and occasionally the main office will send out postings.

What is an honors thesis/senior thesis? How is that related to undergraduate research?

A thesis is a major, independent research project completed during your senior year under the guidance of a faculty advisor. In most cases, a thesis involves conducting original, empirical research, although theoretical projects may also be permitted. Students working on a thesis perform experiments, conduct data analysis, and write a thesis document. All students must obtain permission from a faculty member who agrees to serve as their thesis advisor.

Who should consider an honors/senior thesis?

An honors or senior thesis is a significant commitment and is best suited for students who are genuinely passionate about research and want an immersive, independent project experience. If you are considering a Ph.D. or a research-intensive graduate program, completing a thesis is highly recommended. It allows you to develop critical skills in experimental design, data analysis, scientific writing, and independent thinking. Thesis students typically enroll in PSYC4490/4495 in the fall and/or PSYC4491/4496 in the spring. For an honors thesis, we also strongly recommend enrolling in PSYC2205 during your junior year (typically spring, unless you will be abroad) to develop a proposal with your faculty advisor; this is a good idea for a senior thesis as well.

If your goals include medical school or a Master’s program, participating in undergraduate research is still very important. However, completing an honors or senior thesis is not required and does not inherently make you a more competitive applicant. Completing an honors thesis will not necessarily make you more competitive for medical school. Admissions committees value meaningful engagement in research (contributing to a lab, learning techniques, thinking critically about data, and building strong relationships with mentors) over the completion of a formal thesis. We often see students pursue a thesis primarily because they believe it will strengthen their applications. In reality, the quality of your research experience matters far more than the format it takes. A sustained, engaged research experience where you take ownership of your work and can speak thoughtfully about it is more impactful than completing a thesis without genuine interest or capacity to commit to the process.

Why this matters for research involvement

Thesis proposals are due in April of your junior year, so it is essential to plan ahead! You should aim to join a research lab no later than your junior year so that you have at least one semester of experience in a lab before beginning your thesis. Many labs require this initial training period before students are ready to take on an independent project. For this reason, students who are considering a senior or honors thesis are strongly encouraged to start looking for research opportunities as early as sophomore year.

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. A maximum of one semester of the thesis course may count toward your major requirements. (It counts differently depending on whether your major is Psychology B.A., Psychology B.S., or Neuroscience.) 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 the thesis courses require the instructor’s permission, students must register through the department main office (psychoffice@bc.edu) with a fully signed syllabus/contract. 

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.

In cooperation with the School of Social Work, the Psychology Department offers a joint five-year Master's Degree program for those students who have decided upon a career in social work. This program is open only to Psychology B.A. majors.

Students in this program complete their undergraduate requirements including those for the Psychology Major during their first four years. In addition, during their junior year students begin to take Social Work courses. Upon successful completion of all undergraduate requirements during their senior year, students receive the B.A., at which time they are formally enrolled in the Graduate School of Social Work. Upon successful completion of all graduate requirements at the end of the fifth year students are awarded the M.S.W. (Students' applications will be re-evaluated for acceptance into the MSW Program after their senior year.)

Students apply for admission to the five-year program during their sophomore year. For further information about this program, contact the School of Social Work.

Program Requirements

Psychology majors fulfill all requirements for the major. The School of Social Work lists additional requirements and a recommended schedule of courses.

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.

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.