Honors Program

Prerequisite

Overall UCSD GPA of 3.3 (3.5 transfer GPA for first year transfer students).
Grade of B- or better in Psyc 60 (or its equivalent).
Completion of all lower division prerequisites for major. Contact Psychology Student Affairs Office if work is not complete.

Applying to Program

Deadline is October 30, 2009
Application can be downloaded or a hard copy can be picked up from the Psychology Student Affairs Office. Students must submit application, one (1) letter of recommendation, and personal statement.

The letter of recommendation should be from someone who can speak of students academic ability. Faculty, past instructors, teaching assistants, or lab researchers are good candidates.
Personal Statement should describe student's interest in psychology and possible research topics or areas of interest.

Applications will be reviewed by the undergradute advisors and Honors Coordinator. Students will be contacted before the end of Fall quarter with final decision. Students should not wait to register in Winter courses. If admitted into program students can change their schedule to enroll in Honors courses.

Overview of Program

Junior year
Winter quarter courses: Psyc 110. Junior Honors Research Seminar
Psyc 111A. Advanced Statistics and Research Methods
Spring quarter course: Psyc 111B. Advanced Statistics and Research Methods

Senior year
A year-long independent research project (Psychology 196A-B-C) under the mentorship of a faculty advisor. This research culminates in an thesis and a poster presentaton during the Spring quarter. Students will be eligible to apply for the M.A. program during the Spring quarter.

During the Junior/Senior Year
a. For the B.A. with Honors
At least one laboratory course (Psychology 107, 109, 114, 115, 118A, 118B, 119, 121, 127, 140) or, upon petitioning, two Psychology 199 Independent Study culminating in a paper that has been approved by the advisor (199s, however, do not count as upper division credit towards the major). After approval, the paper has to be submitted to the Psychology Student Affairs Office.

b. For the B.S. with Honors
Because the B.S. degree already requires two research experiences, there is no additional laboratory requirement to participate in the honors program. The 194ABC series fulfills one of the two requirement.

Successful completion of the honors program requires a grade of at least an A- in Psychology 194 and a minimum GPA of 3.5 in the upper division courses taken for the major. The honors program is strongly recommended for all students interested in graduate school.

Link B.S./M.A. Program requirements click here.

Honors Seminar, Psychology 110

This is a series of lectures where faculty members present their research. Students in Psych 110 prepare themselves for each lecture by reading articles published by the various faculty members. These articles are made available in the form of a reader. The course will allow personal contact with faculty and enable students to discuss the future senior thesis project with potential supervisors. The grade for Psych 110 is based on participation and several short papers.

Honors Thesis Courses, Psychology 194 ABC

It is important to identify a thesis advisor during or after Psych 110. It is possible to do the project outside UCSD, i.e., in the VA or Children Hospital, etc. The sponsor in this case would be the program coordinator. In the introductory meeting, the program coordinator will give guidance regarding the whole procedure of Psych 194 A,B,C. Briefly: the first quarter is reserved for setting up the research project and writing of the research proposal. The proposal must be handed in at the end of the quarter and will be graded with a letter grade. The second quarter is dedicated to data collection and analysis. The grade for this course will be IP (in progress). It will change to a letter grade upon completion of the project at the end of the third quarter. The thesis will be read by student's advisor, an outside faculty member in student's area of research, and the program coordinator. He will assist students with setting up the poster-session at the end of the quarter, to which students' instructors, friends, and families are invited. At this session students will answer questions regarding their research project.

The Psychology Student Affairs Office carries copies of Honors theses from past years. Students are welcome to study what other honors students have worked on and what methods they employed for research and written presentation.