Undergraduate Advising

New Transfer Students

New transfer students will have their major declared and classes scheduled during Monarch Orientation. Those opting not to attend Monarch Orientation should follow the process below for declaring a major.

Main Campus Students

To declare your major in Psychology you MUST:

• Complete 6 credits of Written Communication (ENGL 110C + another composition course) with a C or better;
• Complete Psychology 201S and Math 102M or 103M (or higher Math), all with a grade of C or better;
• Currently have and maintain an overall GPA and Psychology GPA of 2.0; and
• Complete 30 earned credit hours.

Until you complete these requirements, you should be advised by the College of Sciences advising team, located in the Advising Suite in MGB 236.

After having completed these requirements, you can declare a Psychology major. To do this, follow the process below for declaring a major. Once declared, you will be advised by main campus declared psychology advisors.

There are four required courses for Psychology majors: PSYC 201S Introduction to Psychology, PSYC 316 Scientific Reasoning in Psychology, PSYC 317 Quantitative Methods and PSYC 318W Research Methods.

PSYC 201S Introduction to Psychology is a pre-requisite for all required and elective courses within the Psychology major.

PSYC 316 Scientific Reasoning in Psychology requires that a student has successfully completed:

• MATH 102M or 103M (or a higher Math)

PSYC 317 Quantitative Methods requires that a student has successfully completed:

• PSYC 201S,
• MATH 102M or 103M (or a higher Math),
• PSYC 316, and
• has officially declared their major in Psychology

PSYC 318 Research Methods requires that a student has successfully completed:

• Writing Sample Placement Test (WSPT) (waived if ENGL 110C is transferred in)
• two Written Communication courses (ENGL 110C and 211C, 221C or 231C)
• PSYC 317

Note: All required courses must be passed with a grade of C or better to fulfill the requirement.

Current, Non-Freshman or Transfer Students:

In order to declare your major in Psychology, you MUST have already completed 6 credits of Written Communication (ENGL 110C + another composition course), Psychology 201S, and Math 102M or higher, , all with a grade of C or better, and you must have already earned 30 credit hours. Students must have a 2.0 major and overall GPA to declare.

If you have not yet met these requirements, you should be advised by the College of Sciences advising team, located in the Advising Suite in MGB 236.

After having completed these requirements, you can declare a Psychology major.. Please email psychadvising@odu.edu for instructions on how to declare.

Incoming (First Semester at ODU) Transfer Students:

If you meet current departmental requirements and are transferring at least 30 credit hours from a previous institution to ODU, you can either attend Transfer Orientation or declare your major by emailing psychadvising@odu.edu.

To declare a minor in Psychology, please email psychadvising@odu.edu for instructions on how to declare. Please be sure to include your name and UIN in all correspondences.

Students should have completed PSYC 201 Introduction to Psychology with a grade of C or better before declaring a minor.

Please review the requirements for the Psychology Minor in the university catalog.

The semester prior to your graduating semester, it is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED that you meet with an advisor for graduation advising. Advisors will review a graduation checklist with you to make sure that you are on track to graduate during your intended semester. Please refer to the advising schedule above to schedule your graduation advising meeting.

Students will receive an email with the instructions about when and how to complete the Psychology Assessment. This email is sent out to graduating students approximately one month prior to graduation. If it is late in your graduating semester and you feel that you should have received this email, please contact psychadvising@odu.edu.