Arts Academic Plans

The Three-Year General BA in Psychology provides students with a general overview of the field of Psychology.

Please refer to the Applying for a Psychology Major section.

Continuation in this academic plan requires a cumulative overall average of 60% and a cumulative Psychology average of 65%. Conditional standing may be granted for one academic term to students whose averages fall below these criteria.

Eligibility for graduation in the Three-Year General Psychology academic plan includes successful fulfillment of the following requirements:

1. Appropriate Program-level requirements. See Bachelor of Arts.
2. Psychology Plan-level requirements:
   • at least five academic course units (ten courses) in Psychology with a minimum cumulative Psychology average of 65%, including:
     • PSYCH 101
     • PSYCH 291, 292 (must be completed in year two)
     • three of the following Discipline Core:
       PSYCH 207, 211, 253, 257, 261 including at least one of PSYCH 207, 261  (Normally, these courses are completed by the end of year two.)
     • two PSYCH courses from the following: PSYCH 304 through 380 (excluding PSYCH 323R), 420, 439, 481, 482 
     • two additional PSYCH courses at any level

Notes:

1. Please refer to the Psychology undergraduate website for course sequence information and class enrolment instructions.
2. Students who have not successfully completed an OAC Math course, 4U Math, Grade 12 Math in a province other than Ontario, or an approved equivalent will be required to take MATH 103 as a corequisite to PSYCH 291. For those required to take MATH 103, MATH 103 counts as an "unspecified elective" towards the degree requirements.
3. Regarding the "Social Science" courses for the Faculty of Arts Breadth requirements, Psychology Majors only require 1.0 academic course unit from this area in a discipline(s) other than Psychology.
4. Residency Requirements:
   Students enrolled in academic plans in Psychology must successfully complete at least half of the total number of academic course units required in Psychology for their academic plan from University of Waterloo with numerical grades. Please refer to the Residency Requirement section for the Faculty of Arts as well as the Psychology Undergraduate Student Handbook for further details regarding the residency requirements.
5. Double Counting Rules: No more than three of the PSYCH courses for the Psychology Major can be used to satisfy course requirements in another individual academic plan (e.g., Major, Minor, or Option). Under no circumstances can an individual PSYCH course satisfy course requirements in more than two academic plans.