Psychology, Bachelor of Science (B.S.) with a concentration in pre-graduate school

The Bachelor of Science in Psychology curriculum reflects the discipline’s major functions — scientific research, teaching, acting as a healing profession and raising philosophical questions about the assumptions, values and ideals of human beings and their societies, which reflects psychology’s origin in philosophy. Through a core set of requirements the student systematically develops understanding and skill in scientific methods of inquiry, focusing on the human mind and behavior. To fulfill the degree requirements, students may pursue the standard curriculum by selecting courses from four content areas that introduce students to the healing and philosophical sides of psychology and provide a broad understanding of the field as a whole; or the student may apply to one of several more focused concentrations that draw upon the special strengths of the VCU Department of Psychology.

Program outcomes

Upon completing this program, students will know and know how to do the following:

• Understanding of content domain
  The curriculum of the B.S. in Psychology is designed to provide students with an accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of psychological concepts, principles and findings in the key domains of the field, including developmental processes, social processes, physiological and behavioral processes, and mental health and well-being.
• Development of intellectual domain
  The curriculum of the B.S. in Psychology fosters the development of the intellectual skills required to generate theories, do research, communicate ideas and information to others, evaluate conclusions statistically and locate the information needed for these intellectual pursuits. Students will learn to think scientifically, understand the relationships between theories, observations and conclusions, and skillfully evaluate the empirical support for various theories and findings.
• Development of affective and interpersonal domain
  Students seeking the B.S. in Psychology learn a number of practical, applied life skills pertaining to personal adjustment, relations with others and cross-cultural awareness.

Student learning outcomes

I. Communication and professional development

• Effective communication skills: Students will be able to communicate psychological theory and research to a range of audiences in oral and written formats in the capstone course.

II. Development of intellectual domain

• Critical evaluation skills: Students will be proficient in evaluating psychological theory and research methods; thinking scientifically about behavior and mental processes; and basing judgments on psychological theory and research.

• Empirical research skills: Students will demonstrate proficiency in applying methodological knowledge in measurement, experimental design and analysis of psychological data.

III. Ethical responsibility in a diverse world

• Ethical practices: Students will demonstrate an understanding of ethical issues in psychological research and practice.

Special requirements

The Bachelor of Science in Psychology curriculum requires a minimum of 120 credits, with at least 30 credits in psychology courses. A maximum of 40 credits in psychology (this limit does not apply to PSYC courses numbered 490 and above) can be presented for the degree. At least 15 of the 30 minimum-required credits must be completed at VCU. All students must complete the following:

Course	Title	Hours
Psychology standard requirements
PSYC 101 Play course video for Introduction to Psychology	Introduction to Psychology	4
PSYC 214	Applications of Statistics	3
PSYC 317	Experimental Methods	3
Ancillary requirements
BIOL 101 & BIOZ 101	Biological Concepts and Biological Concepts Laboratory	4
Select one of the following:		3
BIOL 103	Global Environmental Biology
BIOL 201	Human Biology
Or an approved biology course
STAT 210	Basic Practice of Statistics	3

This information outlines the requirements for students who are admitted and pursuing the pre-graduate school concentration. To be admitted, continue and graduate with this concentration, students must achieve a minimum cumulative VCU GPA of 3.25 and also achieve a minimum GPA of 3.25 in the major. This concentration requires 30 credit hours in the major.

Standard psychology courses must be taken sequentially and ideally should be completed by the end of the junior year. These courses are PSYC 101 with a minimum grade of C; PSYC 214 with a minimum grade of C (PSYC 214 also has the prerequisite requirement of STAT 210 or its equivalent with a minimum grade of C); and PSYC 317 with a minimum grade of C (PSYC 317 also has the prerequisite requirement of PSYC 214 or its equivalent with a minimum grade of C).

PSYC 451 is the capstone course and must be taken in the senior year.

Degree requirements for Psychology, Bachelor of Science (B.S.) with a concentration in pre-graduate school

Course	Title	Hours
General education
Select 30 credits of general education courses in consultation with an adviser.		30
Major requirements
• Major core requirements
PSYC 214	Applications of Statistics	3
PSYC 317	Experimental Methods	3
PSYC 451	History of Psychology	3
• Concentration requirements
PSYC 304	Life Span Developmental Psychology	3
PSYC 318	Principles of Psychological Tests and Measurements	3
PSYC 321	Social Psychology	3
PSYC 401	Physiological Psychology	3
PSYC 407	Psychology of the Abnormal	3
PSYC 410	Principles of Learning and Cognition	3
PSYC 492	Independent Study	3
or PSYC 493	Fieldwork: Human Services
or PSYC 494	Research Internship in Psychology
Ancillary requirements
BIOL 101	Biological Concepts (satisfies general education BOK for natural sciences and AOI for scientific and logical reasoning)	3
BIOL 103	Global Environmental Biology 1	3
or BIOL 201	Human Biology
BIOZ 101	Biological Concepts Laboratory	1
HUMS 202	Choices in a Consumer Society	1
PSYC 101 Play course video for Introduction to Psychology	Introduction to Psychology (satisfies general education BOK for social/behavioral sciences and AOI for diversities in the human )	4
STAT 210	Basic Practice of Statistics (satisfies general education quantitative foundations)	3
Electives (upper level)		18
Experiential fine arts 2		1-3
Foreign language through the 102 level (by course or placement)		0-6
Open electives
Select any course.		26-35
Total Hours		120

¹

BIOL 103 satisfies general education AOI for scientific and logical reasoning. Students who chose this course will take additional electives to fulfill degree requirements.

²

Course offered by the School of the Arts

The minimum number of credit hours required for this degree is 120.