Majors & Minors and Course Planning

Degree programs and course selections should closely relate to a student's long-term plans for his or her degree. Some students intend to pursue graduate study in psychology or related fields, while others plan to enter the workforce upon completion of their Bachelor's degree. 

Advising helps students decide which degree program and courses would be most appropriate for the student's academic and career goals. Advisors also help students with course planning to ensure that all prerequisite and required courses are met for the student's major, minor, and general education requirements. See the Advising Information page for more information about working with an academic advisor to chart a course.

Preparation for graduate study can be accomplished through either the traditional B.A./B.S. Psychology major or via one of our Graduate Preparation Emphases (see below). In either case, those bound for graduate programs should plan to begin exploring research and/or fieldwork courses in their junior year.

Required Courses in the psychology major

No matter what degree program students choose, all psychology majors complete the one-unit Introduction to the Major (Psych 101) and Introductory Psychology (Psych 211). Ideally, these courses and any mathematics prerequisites for the basic statistics course should be completed in the freshman year.

All psychology majors are also required to take Basic Statistical Methods (Psych 215) and Research Methods (Psych 216), ideally in the sophomore year.  These four courses are one of the requirements for admission to the optional Graduate Preparation Emphases in the major. 

All majors will also choose courses from the main content areas of psychology (e.g. abnormal psychology, cognitive psychology, learning, development, physiological bases of behavior, social bases of behavior). 

To see how the psychology courses rotate from semester to semester, please see a pdf to the course rotation schedule.  To read more about the psychology courses UW-Whitewater offers, please see Course Descriptions.  For a schedule of current course offerings, please see the course catalog.

All major and minor checklists and 4 year plans may be found here. 

All major and minor checklists and 4 year plans may be found here

For more information about psychology majors and minors, please click here.

B.S. or B.A.?

Points to consider in deciding whether a BA or BS degree is right for the individual student include whether the student's strengths lie in math and science or writing, composition and foreign languages.  Contact your psychology academic advisor to discuss which degree would be best for you.

Which students should choose a Graduate School Preparation Emphasis?

The graduate school preparation emphases streamline a student's ability to design a curriculum that is geared toward their graduate school goals in consultation with a faculty advisor.  Students who should consider a graduate school preparation emphasis include:

• Students interested in working as psychotherapists or counselors

• Students planning to teach psychology at the college level

• Students who want to conduct psychological research

• Students interested in becoming school psychologists or guidance counselors

• Students who want to be professors