June 1, 2011

SUPPLEMENTARY COURSE SEQUENCE INFORMATION
FOR HONOURS PSYCHOLOGY

Please review the supplementary courses sequence information
in the second section below in conjunction with the
appropriate degree requirement check list for your academic plan in Psychology.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS (for information)

References are made to the following courses in the supplementary course sequence information in the next section. For the course descriptions and course outlines (note the school term for availability before searching), click here for details:

COURSE	TITLE	TERM OFFERED
Psych 291	Basic Research Methods	Fall only
Psych 292	Basic Data Analysis	Winter only
Psych 391	Advanced Data Analysis	Fall only
Psych 393, 395, 397, 399	Social Science Research Methods Courses	Fall only
Psych 392, 394, 396, 398	Natural Science Research Methods Courses	Winter term for those in the Regular Stream. 1-2 offered in the Spring term with priority enrolment given to those in the Co-op stream of study.
Psych 420, 453-463	Honours Seminars	2-4 seminars offered in each Fall and Winter. Typically only 1 offering in the Spring with priority enrolment given to those in the Co-op stream of study.
Psych 480-486	Directed Studies Courses	Available each term. Individuals responsible for finding a course supervisor.
Psych 499A/B/C	Honours Thesis	Available each term. Individuals responsible for finding a course supervisor.

ENTERING HONOURS PSYCHOLOGY BEYOND THE 2A TERM LEVEL: How this Affects the Sequence for Taking the Required Psychology Courses

(the links in this section are the navigation for this webpage)

Which of context 1-7 best describes your situation?

Admitted to General Psych in Year 2 but transferring to Honours Psych in Year 3 or 4 - click here
Admitted to Honours Psychology in Year 3 from a discipline other than Psychology and have not previously passed a Research Methods Course and a Statistics course that is equivalent or antirequisite to Psych 291 and Psych 292 - click here

[The details in this section also applies to those Honours Psychology Majors who are taking Psych 291 (Fall) and Psych 292 (Winter only; prereq Psych 291) in year 3 instead of year 2 because they delayed their application to the Psychology Major from the Fall term of year 2 (missed taking Psych 291) to the Winter term of year 2.] - click here

[The details in this section also applies to those students who are a Psychology Major in year 2 but failed Psych 291 in year 2 and must repeat Psych 291 in the Fall term of year 3. For these students, Psych 292 (Winter only; prereq Psych 291) is delayed from year 2 to year 3. For those in Honours Psychology, Psych 391 and the 2 Advanced Research Methods courses are delayed from year 3 to year 4.] - click here
Admitted to Honours Psychology in Year 3 from a discipline other than Psychology but previously passed an approved equivalent to Psych 292 (e.g., transfer students)
- click here
Admitted to Honours Psychology in Year 4 from a discipline other than Psychology but previously passed an approved equivalent to Psych 292 (e.g., transfer students) - click here
Admitted to Honours Psychology from a Psychology Major at another university - click here
Admitted to Joint Honours Psychology in Year 3 or 4, the other Major does not require a research methods or statistics course, and I have not previously passed a research methods or statistics course that is equivalent or antirequisite to either Psych 291 or Psych 292 - click here
Admitted to Joint Honours Psychology (or Combination Honours Psychology) in Year 3 or 4 but previously passed an approved equivalent to Psych 292 (e.g., the combination of Stat 230/231) - click here

Additional Information:

8. Requests to take Psych 291/391/39X concurrently in the Fall term - click here

9. Potential Impact of Late Admission (Year 4) to Honours Psychology on Graduate School Application - click here

1. Admitted to General Psych in Year 2 but Transferring to Honours Psych in Year 3 or 4

Ideally, those wanting admission to Honours Psychology (Regular stream) will be admitted to Honours no later than the 3A (Fall) school term and will take the following core courses in the terms indicated:

Fall (2A) - Psych 291
Winter (2B) - Psych 292.

NOTE: At least 3 (preferably 4) of the 5 required Discipline Core Courses (Psych 207, 211, 253, 257, 261) must be completed before proceeding to Psych 391 in the Fall. All of the Discipline Core Courses are offered Fall/Winter and a few are offering in the Spring term.
Fall (3A) - Psych 391 and one of the Social Science Research Methods Courses (i.e., one of Psych 393, 395, 397, 399, 484)
Winter (3B) - one of the Natural Science Research Methods Courses (i.e., one of Psych 392, 394, 396, 398, 483)
the Honours Seminar (i.e., one of Psych 420, 453-463, 485) can be taken concurrently with Psych 391 or in a later term.
Fall/Winter (4A/4B) - Psych 499A/B/C (optional course - see the Honours Thesis Handbook for further details)

However, if admitted to Honours Psych in fourth year, the sequence for the above courses is altered as indicated below:

Fall (2A or 3A depending on the point of admission to the Psych Major) - Psych 291
Winter (2B or 3B depending on the point of admission to the Psych Major) - Psych 292.

NOTE: At least 3 (preferably 4) of the 5 required Discipline Courses (Psych 207, 211, 253, 257, 261) must be completed before proceeding to Psych 391 in the Fall. All of the Discipline Core Courses are offered Fall/Winter and a few are offering in the Spring term.
Fall (4A) - Psych 391 and one of the Social Science Research Methods Courses (i.e,. one of Psych 393, 395, 397, 399, 484). Note: For those who plan to do an Honours Thesis (Psych 499A/B/C), enrol in Psych 499A after this term.
Winter (4B)- one of the Natural Science Research Methods Courses (i.e., one of Psych 392, 394, 396, 398, 483)

the Honours Seminar (one of Psych 420, 453-463, 485) can be taken concurrently with Psych 391 or in a later term.
Winter plus Spring or Fall (4B/4C) - Psych 499A/B/C (optional course - see the Honours Thesis Handbook for further details)

Note in particular that the second group of students will require an extra school term (4C) if they choose to do an Honours Thesis.

In either case, please do the following each term when developing your course enrolment plan:

print off the appropriate degree requirement check list for both General Psychology and Honours Psychology (you can stop using the General Psych check list after you are admitted to Honours Psych).
fill in the courses that you have successfully completed so far onto both check lists (use a pen for courses successfully completed).
identify the remaining required courses for both academic plans.
compare the similarities and differences of the remaining requirements for both academic plans.
draft a term-by-term course enrolment plan for your remaining courses paying particular attention to the placement of the core courses for Honours Psych based on the suggestions above.
map the courses from the course enrolment plan onto the check lists (use pencil for the courses not completed yet) so that you can ensure that all the courses that you have chosen are appropriate for Honours Psychology (the target) as well as General Psychology (the back up plan)
when drafting the overall course enrolment plan, take into consideration availability of the courses (several of the core Psych courses are only offered once per year) as well as the prerequisites required for enrolment in the courses (see the course descriptions in the UG Calendar).

Admission to the Coop stream of study beyond the 2B (Winter) level will not be possible.

See 'Potential Impact of Late admission to Honours Psych on Graduate School Applications' below.

2. Admitted to Honours Psychology in Year 3 From a Discipline Other Than Psychology and Have Not Previously Passed a Research Methods Course and a Statistics Course that is Equivalent or Antirequisite to Psych 291 and Psych 292

[The details in this section also applies to those Honours Psychology Majors who are taking Psych 291 (Fall) and Psych 292 (Winter only; prereq Psych 291) in year 3 instead of year 2 because they delayed their application to the Psychology Major from the Fall term of year 2 (missed taking Psych 291) to the Winter term of year 2.]

[The details in this section also applies to those students who are a Psychology Major in year 2 but failed Psych 291 in year 2 and must repeat Psych 291 in the Fall term of year 3. For these students, Psych 292 (Winter only; prereq Psych 291) is delayed from year 2 to year 3. For those in Honours Psychology, Psych 391 and the 2 Advanced Research Methods courses are delayed from year 3 to year 4.]

-------

Please take the following core courses in the terms indicated:

Fall (3A) - Psych 291
Winter (3B) - Psych 292

NOTE: At least 3 (preferably 4) of the 5 required Discipline Core Courses (Psych 207, 211, 253, 257, 261) must be completed before proceeding to Psych 391 in the Fall. All of the Discipline Core Courses are offered Fall/Winter and a few are offering in the Spring term.
Fall (4A) - Psych 391 and one of the Social Science Research Methods Courses (i.e,. one of Psych 393, 395, 397, 399, 484). Note: For those who plan to do an Honours Thesis (Psych 499A/B/C), enrol in Psych 499A after this term.
Winter (4B)- one of the Natural Science Research Methods Courses (i.e., one of Psych 392, 394, 396, 398, 483)

the Honours Seminar (one of Psych 420, 453-463, 485) can be taken concurrently with Psych 391 or in a later term.

Winter plus Spring or Fall (4B/4C) - Psych 499A/B/C (optional course - see the Honours Thesis Handbook for further details)

Please see above for suggestions for developing your course enrolment plan.

Admission to the Coop stream beyond the 2B (Winter) level will not be possible.

See 'Potential Impact of Late admission to Honours Psych on Graduate School Applications' below.

3. Admitted to Honours Psychology in Year 3 From a Discipline Other Than Psychology but Previously Passed an Approved Equivalent to Psych 292 (e.g., transfer students)

Those who previously passed a statistics course will be required to submit a copy of the course outline (i.e., detailed list of the topics covered the title/author of the textbook used) to the Psychology Undergraduate Advisor (PAS 4006) for evaluation*. If the Advisor deems that you have taken an equivalent to Psych 292, please take the following core courses in the terms indicated:

At least 3 (preferably 4) of the 5 required Discipline Core Courses (Psych 207, 211, 253, 257, 261) must be completed before proceeding to Psych 391 in the Fall. All of the Discipline Core Courses are offered Fall/Winter and a few are offering in the Spring term.
Fall (3A) - Psych 291, Psych 391 and one of the Social Science Research Methods Courses (i.e,. one of Psych 393, 395, 397, 399, 484)
Winter (3B) - one of the Natural Science Research Methods Courses (i.e., one of Psych 392, 394, 396, 398, 483)

the Honours Seminar (one of Psych 420, 453-463, 485) can be taken concurrently with Psych 391 or in a later term.
Fall/Winter (4A/4B) - Psych 499A/B/C (optional course - see the Honours Thesis Handbook for further details)

*If you previously passed a research methods course, similar information will be required to determine whether or not Psych 291 is required.

Click here for details regarding taking Psych 291/391 concurrently.

If the grade for your basic statistics course was less than 70% and/or the course was taken more than 3 terms ago, we strongly recommend that you review that course material or the course material for Psych 292 (click here for the Winter 2010 course outline) before Psych 391 (Advanced Data Analysis) begins in September.

Please see above for suggestions for developing your course enrolment plan.

See 'Potential Impact of Late admission to Honours Psych on Graduate School Applications' below.

4. Admitted to Honours Psychology in Year 4 From a Discipline Other Than Psychology but Previously Passed an Approved Equivalent to Psych 292 (e.g., transfer students)

At least 3 (preferably 4) of the 5 required Discipline Core Courses (Psych 207, 211, 253, 257, 261) must be completed before proceeding to Psych 391 in the Fall. All of the Discipline Core Courses are offered Fall/Winter and a few are offering in the Spring term.
Fall (4A) - Psych 291, Psych 391 and one of the Social Science Research Methods Courses (i.e,. one of Psych 393, 395, 397, 399, 484). For those who plan to do an Honours Thesis (Psych 499A/B/C), enrol in Psych 499A after this term.
Winter (4B) - one of the Natural Science Research Methods Courses (i.e., one of Psych 392, 394, 396, 398, 483)

the Honours Seminar (one of Psych 420, 453-463, 485) can be taken concurrently with Psych 391 or in a later term.
Winter plus Spring or Fall (4B/4C) - Psych 499A/B/C (optional course - see the Honours Thesis Handbook for further details)

*If you previously passed a research methods course, similar information will be required to determine whether or not Psych 291 is required.

Note that students who do an Honours Thesis will require an extra school term in order to complete the degree.

Click here for details regarding taking Psych 291/391 concurrently.

Please see above for suggestions for developing your course enrolment plan.

See 'Potential Impact of Late admission to Honours Psych on Graduate School Applications' below.

5. Admitted to Honours Psychology From a Psychology Major at Another University

If you are entering year 2 and you have not previously passed a research methods or statistics course, follow the course sequence information on the degree requirement check list.

If you entering year 3:

and you have not previously passed a research methods or statistics course previously, follow the instructions in section 2.
those who previously passed a statistics course will be required to submit a copy of the course outline (i.e., detailed list of the topics covered the title/author of the textbook used) to the Psychology Undergraduate Advisor (PAS 4006) for evaluation*. If the Advisor deems that you have taken an equivalent to Psych 292, follow the instructions in section 3.

*If you previously passed a research methods course, similar information will be required to determine whether or not Psych 291 is required.

6. Admitted to Joint Honours Psychology in Year 3 or 4, the Other Major Does Not Require a Research Methods or Statistics Course, and I Have Not Previously Passed a Research Methods or Statistics Course That is Equivalent or Antirequisite to Either Psych 291 or Psych 292

If you are in Year 3, follow the instructions in section 2.

7. Admitted to Joint Honours Psychology (or Combination Honours Psychology) in Year 3 or 4 But Previously Passed an Approved Equivalent to Psych 292 (e.g., Stat 202 or the Combination of Stat 230/231)

If you are in Year 3, follow the instructions in section 3.

If you are in Year 4, follow the instructions in section 4.

8. Taking Psych 291, 391, and Social Scienc Research Methods Course Concurrently (all offered Fall only)

Students who have been notified by the Psychology Undergraduate Advisor (PAS 4006) that they have been exempt from taking Psych 292 for a statistics course previously taken (e.g., a second year statistics course from another university or in a different discipline at UW) will be allowed to take Psych 291 and 391 concurrently (offered Fall only).

Whether or not those who are taking Psych 291/391 concurrently will also be permitted to take an Advanced Research Methods Course concurrently in the Fall term (note the Social Science choices - Psych 393, 395, 397, 399 - are offered Fall only),
will be determined on an individual basis in consultation with the Psychology Undergraduate Advisor (PAS 4006) and in some cases the instructor also. Enrolment in the Advanced Research Methods Course will be subject to priority enrolment and space availability per usual.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

FAQ 8 NOTE 1:

Those who have taken an equivalent of Psych 292 will require 'course overrides' from the Psychology Academic Advisor (PAS 4006) for enrolment in any of Psych 391-399, 453-463, 485. At the time of enrolment, contact the Psychology Advisor (PAS 4006) for assistance. For enrolment beyond the 'preenrolment' window, include the date/time of your enrolment appointment for the term with your course request. If specific sections are required for a course, include that information also.
FAQ 8 NOTE 2:

We typically expect students to have successfully completed at least 3 (preferably 4) of the discipline core courses (i.e., Psych 207, 211, 253, 257, 261) before taking any of Psych 391-399, 453-463, 485.

All 5 of the discipline core courses are offered Fall and Winter. In the Spring term we offer Psych 211 online and typically 1 of Psych 207 or 261 on-campus plus 1 of Psych 211, 253, or 257 on-campus. If you have difficulty enrolling in any of the discipline core courses, contact the Psychology Undergraduate Advisor.
FAQ 8 NOTE 3:

Psych 291 is one of the prerequisites for taking any of Psych 391, 393-399, and 453-463. Please read the Psych 291 textbook before the term begins if you are taking one or more of Psych 391-463 concurrently with Psych 291!! This is very important because the instructors for Psych 391-463 assume and expect that students in these courses have already successfully completed the Psych 291 material. Be prepared to spend extra time during the Fall term to master the course material in these courses.

CAUTION: There will be no variations in your course requirements, deadlines for course work, or grading based on the approval to take Psych 291 concurrently with any of the Psych 391-463 courses. Further, the instructor and/or teaching assistant(s) are not expected to provide additional assistance to those who don’t have the Psych 291 prerequisite.
FAQ 8 NOTE 4

If planning to do do an Honours Thesis in Psychology and/or applying to graduate school in Psychology, please read section 9 below.
FAQ 8 NOTE 5:

For those who have exemption for Psych 292, are you prepared to proceed to Psych 391?

If your final grade for your basic statistics course was 60-70% and/or the course was taken more than 3 terms ago, we strongly recommend that you review that course material for the introductory statistics course that you took or the course material for Psych 292 (click here for the Winter 2011 course outline) before proceeding to Psych 391 (Advanced Statistics). Tips for mastering Psych 391 are similar to those provided for Psych 292 (see FAQ 32).

For those whose final grade in the basic statistics course was 50-59%, we normally recommend (decision is yours to make) that you take Psych 292 before proceeding to Psych 391 (Advanced Statistics). Permission to take Psych 292 would be granted in these cases. However, note the following:
- A) For those who choose to take Psych 292 before proceeding to Psych 391, note that Psych 292 will be useful background for taking Psych 391 but that Psych 292 will be flagged on your record as an 'antirequiste' and as such Psych 292 will not count towards the 'cumulative passed units' for the degree requirements. See FAQ 21 for strategies for improving your grades as well as FAQ 30, 31, and 32 for further details regarding repeating course content.
- B) For those who choose not to take Psych 292 before proceeding to Psych 391, note the following recommendations:
  - please review the course material for the introductory statistics course that you took or the course material for Psych 292 (click here for the Winter 2011 course outline) before proceeding to Psych 391.
  - a private tutor for Psych 391 would be advisable depending on your circumstances (e.g., reasons for the low passing grade in the basic statistics course, retention of course material, etc.).
  - See FAQ 21 for strategies for improving your grades as well as FAQ 32 for tips for mastering Psych 391 (tips for mastering Psych 391 are similar to those for mastering Psych 292).

9. POTENTIAL IMPACT OF LATE ADMISSION (YEAR 4) TO HONOURS PSYCHOLOGY ON GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICATIONS

Psych 391 is normally taken in year 3.

If you are a fourth year student and taking Psych 391 Fall 2011 and hoping to go to graduate school in Psychology Fall 2012, there could be disadvantages. For example:

An Honours Thesis in Psychology is typically required for admission to graduate school in Psychology. Psych 499A/B/C is worth 1.5 units and must be spread over 2 terms. You must successfully complete Psych 391 and at least 1 of Psych 393-399, 483, 484 before enrolling in Psych 499A. Thus, if taking Psych 391/39X Fall 2011, your enrolment for Psych 499A/B/C could be spread over Winter/Spring 2012 and the target for graduation could be October 2012 (not June 2012) if you completed your degree requirements by posted deadlines for Fall convocation.
You will not have completed the required third year psychology courses by the time you take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). Therefore, extra effort will be required in order to do well on the GRE. Click here for further details about the GRE and preparing to take the exam.
You might have greater difficulty obtaining quality letters of recommendation (typically at least 2 or 3 required) for applications for graduate school as well as for graduate school scholarships because you are less well known by faculty members in our department. Click here for tips on obtaining letters of recommendation.

Please refer to Graduate Studies in Psychology for further details about applying to graduate school. Note in particular the 'overview' on the top of that website.

Depending on your course work, grades, and level of relevant background 'experience' for the desired program (e.g., is research experience and/or volunteer/community experience needed?), delaying the application to graduate school by 1 full year (e.g., Psych 391 Fall 2011 and graduate school Fall 2013 instead of Fall 2012) might be advisable. For some people that strategy could increase their chances of being accepted to graduate school because:

there would be more courses on the transcript (e.g., Psych 499 completed rather than listed as 'in progress) when admission decisions are made for graduate school,
possibly the overall and psychology average will be higher when admission decisions are made because of additional courses on the transcript,|
you would have additional time to gain relevant field experiences before applying to graduate school,
and faculty members will know you for a longer period of time before writing you a letter of recommendation.