Information

Office Location:

Life Sciences North Room 105

Looking to become a peer advisor? Please refer to the following page for more information.

If you are a prospective student, please email your questions to psychology.advising.sdsu@sdsu.edu.

Topics That Can Be Handled Through Appointments:

• Class Scheduling. We can review your DARS and provide a checklist that outlines the Psychology major/minor requirements that you have left. We can also review courses that are in your schedule planner on WebPortal and determine how they fit into your Psychology requirements.
  • Incoming transfer students: If you would like to plan courses for the upcoming semester(s), please ensure that you have electronic copies of your unofficial transcript(s) as this is what we will use to gauge which Psychology courses are likely to meet our prep and major requirements when SDSU reviews your records. We recommend having these ready and downloaded on your computer for easy access.
• Declaration forms for the major, emphasis or a minor. We can review your records, provide information on requirements, and complete declaration forms if appropriate. Note: Transfer students cannot declare the major until impaction criteria are completed. However, we can still assist with planning classes.

Topics That Can Be Handled Through Email:

• Course Eligibility questions. During early registration, course eligibility is not checked. If you sign up for a course and receive a “Contingency” warning, we can check what prerequisite you may not have. Similarly, if you are a transfer student who is trying to meet impaction criteria to declare the Psychology major and have difficulty signing up for upper division courses, we may be able to help. We can also answer any general questions you may have regarding the completion of pre-requisite courses and other Psychology requirements.
  • Use subject heading: Course Eligibility, provide student rank (e.g., junior, senior).
  • Include this information: Course number and section (if applicable).
• A petition/RAAR is used when you want to see if a course taken at another institution can be equivalent to an SDSU psychology major/minor requirement.
  • Use subject heading: Petitions, provide student rank (e.g., junior, senior).
  • Include this information: The course number from SDSU and the course number, course name, college name, and a syllabus from the other institution. If you do not still have your syllabus, try contacting your former professor or department offering the course before contacting us.
• IS3D course approvals/petitions. Most IS3D forms can be addressed without an appointment. Scan and attach paperwork in an email to us.
  • Use subject heading: IS3D, provide student rank (e.g., junior, senior).
  • Include this information: Attach form.

For all email questions, be sure to include your first, middle and last name and your rank (e.g., junior, senior, etc.) along with any information requested above. If you have multiple questions, they can go in one email but please adjust the subject heading accordingly. If you have other questions not addressed above, you can email us as well. We can then advise you on whether or not an appointment is needed.

Information for Incoming Freshmen & Transfer Students

Welcome to Psychology!

Explore SDSU – Department of Psychology

If you are considering joining us in the psychology department at SDSU, you may want to first view the department overview video as well as Psychology-related Clubs and Organizations that may be of interest to you. If you are considering adding a minor, this document has popular Complementary Minors for Psychology.

Psychology Major Requirements

See the SDSU Online Course Catalog for major requirements for each of the psychology pathways:

Psychology B.A. Liberal Arts & Sciences

Psychology, Emphasis in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, B.A. in Liberal Arts & Sciences

Psychology, Emphasis in Neuroscience, B.A. in Liberal Arts & Sciences

Psychology B.A. Applied Arts & Sciences (for ADT students only, assuming applied/admitted under this path)

Note that to be advanced into the upper-division major, students must complete (1) prep for the major courses with particular grades (listed on the pages linked above) as well as maintain (2) an overall GPA of 2.5 (most paths) or 3.0 (Emphasis in Neuroscience).

Psychology Course Offerings

Link to a full list of Psychology Courses with Prerequisites

Courses by Career Path 

Relevant Experiences (PSY 490s classes) 

Scheduling Classes

We are often asked by incoming students if they can make an appointment with us before summer orientation. It is best to wait to meet with us until after your official SDSU degree evaluation is not only available, but most if not all of your transfer courses have been processed to see if they are equivalent to specific SDSU courses and/or meet general graduation requirements. The university strives to have degree evaluations processed before Orientation, usually a couple of weeks beforehand (e.g., in early July for transfer students). 

Orientation Video. Please make sure to watch the psychology video prepared for your psychology orientation (Freshmen video, Transfer video). It contains information about courses that you have taken and what to do if they do not show up as transferring in to meet a psychology requirement. In addition, the SDSU Transfer Admission Planner (TAP) allows you to see if there was an articulation agreement between SDSU and your school in the particular term that you took a psychology course that you hope will transfer. 

Course Lists. SDSU has transitioned the system through which registration will take place.  The course lists by the college is listed at course lists by College of which courses are offered (it is possible that some course offerings will change). 

My Major Academic Plan (MyMAP). A 2-year and 4-year plan laying out when to take all major and graduation/general education requirements can be found through SDSU MyMap. The 2022 year map can be used as an estimate for incoming students for Fall 2023. Note that there are different maps for each major degree pathway (if you are on the Psychology Liberal Arts & Sciences, make sure to choose “Psychology – BA” as the “Psychology” MAP is for the Applied/ADT pathway).

Course Planner. We also have a Psychology Course Planner that combines the requirements of the MyMap with a semester scheduler (please note, right now the Planner is for the Psychology Liberal and Applied paths, not for the Emphases). Please make both an ideal plan (Plan A) and a backup plan (Plan B). On the first page of the planner, requirements are listed per year (rather than each semester) to stay on track with the MyMap recommendations. 

If you have questions, please see below for information on how to contact us!

619-594-5412

psychology.advising.sdsu@sdsu.edu

Canvas Psychology Major Homeroom (link for prospective students)

Follow us on Instagram: @sdsupsychology