Do you have a question about majoring in psychology that is not answered here? Please e-mail your question to Susan Moore. Your question will be answered promptly and we may use it as a model for updates to this page.
Future UNH Students
The term "psychologist" assumes that you have a doctoral degree in psychology (Ph.D. or Psy.D. degree). Beyond the four years it takes to earn a Bachelor's degree, graduate training at the doctoral level takes an additional 4-6 years
Although psychology is one of the possible majors you could choose, you do not have to major in psychology in order to become a psychiatrist. A psychiatrist is an M.D. (Medical Doctor) with a specialty in treating psychological problems. (Just like a pediatrician is an M.D. with a specialty in childhood illnesses.) Future psychiatrists major in the sciences or liberal arts and complete the pre-med curriculum during their undergraduate years.
Perhaps the thing that psychology majors have in common more than anything else is their collective uncertainty about a career path. About 25% of our majors go into the human services field (counseling and other helping professions). The remainder enter as wide a variety of career fields as you can imagine. If you don't have specific career goals, the best major for you is one that you are excited and motivated about.
Not necessarily. It is possible to enter many career paths in the counseling field with a master's degree. There are several relevant degrees including Master's in Psychology, Master's in Education, and Master's in Social Work.
Actually the majority of psychology majors at UNH obtain jobs in business and industry. Most liberal arts majors including psychology are considered excellent preparation for the business field. Psychology is especially appropriate because of our emphasis on the "science" of psychology and on human behavior. Through both our statistics and research methods courses students learn valuable analytic skills.
Not at all true! Nationally less than 25% of all psychology majors go on to earn a graduate degree in psychology. Yet psychology is one of the largest majors in the country! What are all those other majors doing? Anything and everything-it really depends on your interests and what opportunities come your way!
Current UNH Students
No. If you have taken a statistics course other than Psychology 402, you must do one of two things (at your option): A: You may take the Psychology Department's statistics competency exam. If you pass the competency exam you do not have to take Psychology 402 but you must take another Psychology course to replace Psychology 402. If you do not pass the statistics competency exam you must take Psychology 402. B: You may take Psychology 402. If you are interested in taking the statistics competency exam, contact Susan Moore at susan.moore@unh.edu.
At the present time the psychology department admits all qualified students who apply to the major.
All Psychology majors are permitted to use Psychology 402 for the Discovery Quantitative Reasoning requirement and for the major.
That depends. If the course was a required core course (401, 402, or 502), then you must repeat the course and earn a grade that is acceptable for the major (C-). If it was not a required core course, then you have the option of either repeating the course or taking another psychology course in its place. This choice should include a consideration of why you got a D in the first place. If the reasons for the low grade are not likely to reoccur, then you could consider repeating the course. Keep in mind, though, that you can only earn credit for a course once and that only the most recent grade counts in your GPA (whether it is higher or lower than the original grade!)
Some students who go abroad or on exchange take fewer credits than a normal UNH course load (16 credits). In order to graduate on time those students must make up for such a credit deficit, unless they had a credit excess to begin with (see #8 below). If credits are a concern, it may be possible to take a 16 credit course load, even if the college has a three credit system.
The rule is as follows: if you are within 8 credits of graduating in May, you may attend graduation provided you file your intent to graduate for September or December by the May intent deadline.
You may graduate with only your first major, provided you file a change of program form (via webcat) dropping your second major. If, after graduation, you wish to complete an "additional" major, you may register as a special student through OE to complete the requirements of an "additional" major. These courses will be listed on a non-degree transcript. Upon completion, a notation will be added to your non-degree transcript: "Completed the requirements for a second major in _______".
Assuming there is no good reason why you should graduate with more than the required number of credits (128), you can use your credit excess in one or more of several ways: A. Take fewer credits during a semester abroad or on exchange, to have more time to travel and experience the culture. B. If you are in the honors program, take fewer credits during your senior year so you'll have more time to devote to your senior honors thesis. C. Build up sufficient additional credits to graduate early if there is good reason to do so. D. Breath a sigh of relief if you have to drop a course unexpectedly and your credit excess permits you to avoid a credit deficit.
No! Second major or minor courses may be used to fulfill Discovery requirements.
There are two types of programs that involve two majors: A. Double major program: 128 credits required. One major is designated for the degree (first major). Complete the requirements for a second major. One set of degree requirements determined by the first major. B. Dual degree program: 160 credits required. 2.5 minimum GPA required. Normally must be different degrees (B.A. and B.S.) but two B.S. degrees are possible if in different fields). Two B.A. degrees are not allowed. Two sets of degree requirements but may overlap courses that can be applied to either degree.
Transfer Students
No. The psychology department at UNH offers only the B.A. degree at the undergraduate level.
All psychology majors including those who transfer to UNH must complete a minimum of 44 credits. A three-credit course may fill a requirement in the major, but the transfer student will need to take extra credits in psychology to compensate for the credit deficit created by applying transfer courses to the major.
Any student in good academic standing may take up to five courses or 20 credits in any semester for the same tuition charge. However, students can take an extra psychology course in addition to their curriculum to get out of credit deficit, take the internship course, PSYC 793 for up to 8 credits or work with a professor to take an independent study, PSYC 795. You advisor can advise on these options.
