Suggested Preparation for Psychology Courses

To be successful in psychology courses you must have, or quickly develop, college-level reading and writing skills and effective strategies for studying. At a minimum, you need to have placed into college-level writing, English 101, prior to registering for psychology courses. It is highly recommended that you already have college-level reading skills in place. We strongly urge all students to enroll in and complete a Reading and Study Skills course prior to taking Psychology 100. The reading and study skills classes are designed to teach college-level study strategies that will be useful over a person’s entire academic and professional career. The benefit of taking and completing these courses cannot be understated. Your strong reading, writing, and critical thinking skills are essential for maximizing your success during your total academic adventure.

If you are new to the college experience or if you have not taken previous college-level writing courses (English 101 or 102), you may want to consider enrolling in a learning community. Our learning communities usually combine a psychology course, typically Psychology 100, with a related English composition course, to allow you the benefit of developing your writing skills within the field of psychology. This type of course will be particularly beneficial if you are considering psychology or any social science or a field of science as a major course of study.

As a psychology major, you are advised to complete a basic course of study in biology or chemistry and complete further study in research methods and statistics. Typically a psychology major will also complete math requirements up to and beyond the first quarter of calculus. World languages skills may be useful, or in some cases required, depending on your final university destination or academic plan. 

Please be sure to consult an academic advisor.