Undergraduate Courses

Adding a Course that Requires Approval

Some of our courses require special approval due to enforced prerequisites, instructor approval, and/or department approval to enroll. To identify special approval courses, look for a "D" or "O" next to the course number on TritonLink.

• "D" =  Department Approval: Students must obtain clearance from the department using the EASy system.
• "O" = Major students only: The course is restricted to Major students only.

EASy System

Please allow 7 business days to process EASy requests. We do not rush EASy processing due to a student's enrollment appointment. Our office processes EASy requests as they are received in the system.

The following courses have additional steps to enroll in:

• PSYC 111A/B: These courses permit those students who have applied and been accepted into the Psychology Honors Program priority to enroll. Students who are accepted into the program will be given authorization to enroll in the course the first week of the WI23 quarter by the Psychology Honors Staff Advisor. EASy requests will not be approved. Students who are not part of the Psychology Honors Program but are interested in PSYC 111A will need to email the instructor (and Cc: ug-advisor-psyc-g@ucsd.edu) on the first day of WI23 classes detailing their Statistics background and reason for wanting to take the class. All individual EASy requests prior to the first day of WI23 classes will be denied.
• PSYC 115A: The 2022 Winter PSYC 115A Application deadline has passed and the application is now closed.
• PSYC 115B: This class is part of a course sequence. No students will be allowed to join the sequence during Spring quarter. If you have not completed all prerequisites for this course (PSYC 115A), please do not request authorization to enroll as it will not be approved.
• PSYC 116A/B/C: Students will need to obtain clearance from the instructor after an application and interview process. The 2023-2024 PSYC 116 A/B/C Cohort application has closed. If you submitted an application and have any questions about the application process and timeline, please reach out to Dr. Ariel Lang at ajlang@ucsd.edu.
• PSYC 117: Students will need to obtain clearance from the instructor after an application and interview process. Please visit the PSYC 117 course website for more information. Note: It is common for students not to get authorized for this class until the first week of classes.
• PSYC 118: Students will need to obtain clearance from the department using the EASy system. PREREQUISITES: upper-division standing, at least C in PSYC 60 (or equivalent).
• PSYC 193 (lecture-based): See "(Quarter) PSYC 193/193L and Other Prerequisites" drawer below. 
• PSYC 193L (research course): See "(Quarter) PSYC 193/193L and Other Prerequisites" drawer below.
• PSYC 195, or AIP 197): Check the appropriate pages on our website before enrolling, and/or discuss their plans with the Advising Office first.
• PSYC 196: Students will need to obtain clearance from a faculty research mentor and the department using the EASy system before enrolling in the course.

For students who are interested in the above courses, our office encourages students to enroll in a full load of courses (12+ units) during their 1st and 2nd pass. IF the student is authorized for one of these courses, students can change their class schedule at that time.

Important Information About Research Labs: 

• PSYC 71 does not require an EASy request and students can enroll in the course as long as they meet the major code and pre-requisite. 
• Students interested in enrolling in PSYC 193L must submit an EASy Request to obtain department approval. You must meet the major code restriction, the prerequisite (see below), and must be a Senior or a Junior to be considered. Department approval is not guaranteed. 
• Due to the limited number of seats, our office will only be authorizing students for one research lab course. Any additional EASy requests for labs will automatically be denied. 
  
  • Note: If the course you have requested authorization for is full, you may submit an additional EASy request during your second pass. 
• In your PSYC 193L EASy request, you must specify which section of PSYC 193L you want to enroll in. If this information is not included, your request will be considered incomplete and will be returned to you.

How Psych Research Lab EASy requests will be processed for Fall 2023:

• Tuesday, May 23: Graduating FA23 Seniors/WI24 Seniors Psych majors' Psych Research lab EASy requests will begin being processed and continue to be through the first day of classes.
  
• Monday, June 5: Non-graduating PSYC Seniors and Juniors Psych Research lab EASy requests will begin being processed and continue to be through the first day of classes.

Research Lab Courses

PSYC 71: Laboratory in Psychological Research Methods: This course provides hands-on research experience. Lecture topics will include experimental and nonexperimental designs, research ethics, data analysis, and causal inference. Students will design original research projects, collect and analyze data, and write a full APA-style report, including a brief literature review relevant to their design. This course builds on PSYC 70 by applying design principles to students’ own research questions and ideas. PREREQUISITES: upper-division standing, COGS 14B or PSYC 60, and PSYC 70 or COGS 14A. Open to the following Psychology majors only: PC26*, PC28, PC29, PC30, PC31, PC32, PC33, PC34, CG32.

PSYC 193L Research Lab-based Courses: 

PSYC 193L (A00): Cognition Lab (Lowe): The goal of this course is to give you a structured research experience in the field of cognitive psychology. You will learn a deeper understanding of some major theories across a variety of cognitive topics, and with a small group of classmates you will conduct an experiment that tests and/or expands upon one of these theories. Over the course of the quarter, you will review the relevant literature, design and implement an experiment, analyze your results, and present your findings in both a poster and full APA paper. PREREQUISITES: upper-division standing, previous completion of PSYC 105 or instructor approval. Open to the following Department of Psychology majors only: PC26*, PC28, PC29, PC30, PC31, PC32, PC33, PC34, CG32. An EASy request is required. 

PSYC 193L (B00): Clinical Psychology Lab (Lacefield): In this lab course, students will design and interpret analysis for a bivariate correlational study with variables related to psychological disorders, from an established dataset. Students will write an APA-style research paper and create a research poster to share with their fellow labmates. PREREQUISITES: upper-division standing, at least one Research Methods course, and PSYC 100, or PSYC 116, or PSYC 124, or PSYC 125, or PSYC 151, or PSYC 154, or PSYC 155, or PSYC 168, or PSYC 179, or PSYC 184, or PSYC 188, or PSYC 193 (Trauma), or PSYC 193 (Clinical Concept. Personality). Open to the following Department of Psychology majors only: PC26*, PC28, PC29, PC30, PC31, PC32, PC33, PC34, CG32. An EASy request is required. 

PSYC 193L (C00): Environmental Psychology Lab (Lindsay): Environmental psychologists conduct research to explain how humans interact with their environment in many different ways. From understanding what predicts conservation behavior and attitudes towards climate change, to how the built environment people work or live in affects their well-being, to how one's identity can overlap with the natural world. In this lab, students will learn the key theories and methods used to investigate these sorts of questions. Students will develop an individual research proposal which they will then conduct and analyze the results. The final project will result in an APA research paper. PREREQUISITES: upper-division standing and at least one Stats/Research Methods course. Open to the following Department of Psychology majors only: PC26*, PC28, PC29, PC30, PC31, PC32, PC33, PC34, CG32. An EASy request is required.

* The Psychology minor also uses the PC26 code, but it is to signify the student’s minor code. Psych minor students are not eligible for Psychology research lab courses as they are for Psych majors only.

Important Information About Research Labs: 

• Students interested in enrolling in PSYC 193L must submit an EASy Request to obtain department approval. You must meet the major code restriction, the prerequisite (see below), and must be a Senior or a Junior to be considered. Department approval is not guaranteed. 
• Due to the limited number of seats, our office will only be authorizing students for one research lab course. Any additional EASy requests for labs will automatically be denied. 
  
  • Note: If the course you have requested authorization for is full, you may submit an additional EASy request. 
• In your PSYC 193L EASy request, you must specify which section of PSYC 193L you want to enroll in. If this information is not included, your request will be considered incomplete and will be returned to you.
• PSYC 114 does not require an EASy request and students can enroll in the course as long as they meet the major code and pre-requisite. 

• Wednesday, April 12: Graduating SU23 Seniors/FA23 Seniors Psych majors' Psych Research lab EASy requests will begin being processed and continue to be through the first day of classes.
  
• Monday, April 24: Non-graduating PSYC Seniors and Juniors Psych Research lab EASy requests will begin being processed and continue to be through the first day of classes.

Summer Session 1 Courses:

Research Lab Courses

PSYC 193L (A01): Intro to R for Social Sciences Lab (STAFF): In this introductory course to the R programming language you will learn foundational R skills, including how to import data, develop cleaning and manipulation pipelines, create publication-ready visualizations, and do so in literate programming documents. These skills will be applied to answering an original research question and preparing an APA-formatted written report. PREREQUISITES: upper-division standing. Open to the following Department of Psychology majors only: PC26*, PC28, PC29, PC30, PC31, PC32, PC33, PC34, CG32. An EASy request is required. 

PSYC 193L (C01): Social Cognition Lab (Winkielman): This course offers a lab in social cognition, a key field which investigates mental mechanisms involved in social situations. We will learn main methods in social cognition - including web experiments -- and then apply these methods to develop individual research questions and design our own studies. PREREQUISITES: upper-division standing. Open to the following Department of Psychology majors only: PC26*, PC28, PC29, PC30, PC31, PC32, PC33, PC34, CG32. An EASy request is required. 

PSYC 114. Psychophysiological Perspectives on the Social Mind Laboratory (4)
This course provides an overview and training in the use of psychophysiological methods to investigate the cognitive and emotional process involved in understanding and reacting to other people. Students will develop individual research questions and actively participate in designing and conducting the experiments. Open to the following majors only: PC26, PC28, PC29, PC30, PC31, PC32, PC33, PC34, CG32. Prerequisites: upper-division standing, PSYC 60 or COGS 14B and PSYC 70 or COGS 14A. An EASy Request is NOT required. 

Summer Session 2 Courses:

PSYC 193 Lecture-based Courses

PSYC 193 (A00): Clinical Concept. Personality (Chapman): CANCELLED. Please do not submit EASy requests. 

Research Lab Courses

PSYC 193L (A01): Cognition Lab (Lowe): In this course we will examine and discuss the literature on a variety of cognitive topics, including attention, perception, memory, and decision-making, focusing on theories and computational models designed to explain these phenomena. Students will complete an original research project that tests and/or expands upon a theory or model in the field of cognition, including a poster presentation and an APA-style paper. PREREQUISITES: upper-division standing, completion of PSYC 105, or instructor approval. Open to the following Department of Psychology majors only: PC26*, PC28, PC29, PC30, PC31, PC32, PC33, PC34, CG32. An EASy request is required. 

PSYC 193L (B01): Intro to R for Social Sciences Lab (STAFF): In this introductory course to the R programming language you will learn foundational R skills, including how to import data, develop cleaning and manipulation pipelines, create publication-ready visualizations, and do so in literate programming documents. These skills will be applied to answering an original research question and preparing an APA-formatted written report. PREREQUISITES: upper-division standing. Open to the following Department of Psychology majors only: PC26*, PC28, PC29, PC30, PC31, PC32, PC33, PC34, CG32. An EASy request is required. 

PSYC 114. Psychophysiological Perspectives on the Social Mind Laboratory (4)
This course provides an overview and training in the use of psychophysiological methods to investigate the cognitive and emotional process involved in understanding and reacting to other people. Students will develop individual research questions and actively participate in designing and conducting the experiments. Open to the following majors only: PC26, PC28, PC29, PC30, PC31, PC32, PC33, PC34, CG32. Prerequisites: upper-division standing, PSYC 60 or COGS 14B and PSYC 70 or COGS 14A. An EASy Request is NOT required. 

Psychology/CBN Majors: Important Enrollment Information for Spring 2023

This communication contains a vast amount of useful information for the upcoming Spring 2023 enrollment period. Please read the entirety of this message carefully, as it will answer many of your questions about Psychology courses, prerequisites, EASy requests, and enrollment processes.

Reminder: All upper-division (UD) courses for the Psychology and CBN majors must be taken for a letter grade (except PSYC 195, 199) (for Business Psychology majors, this includes MGT 52 if taken for research). Be sure to check your Psychology major webpage for the most up-to-date list of major requirement course options.

If you need to be a full-time student (minimum 12 units) and/or need to fulfill certain areas of your psychology majors (i.e., Core, Research, Electives, etc.), you should focus on finding courses that have open seats before adding yourself to waitlists. You should make these courses a priority during 1st and 2nd passes. This may mean that you enroll in courses that are not your first choice.

Once you enroll in 12 units, you could consider adding yourself to waitlists (TritonLink waitlists information). IF you are able to get off the waitlist, you can revise your class schedule at that time. 

Our office is commonly asked about holding seats for seniors or other unique circumstances. Please note we do not hold or guarantee seats for students, nor do we "jump" students higher on the waitlist. The waitlist # students obtain during their registration appointment is what they have, regardless of class standing or graduation term. There is no need to send a VAC message or come to drop-in advising to ask if we will let you into a course or move you up the waitlist, as we will not.

All PSYC research lab courses require students to have upper-division (UD) standing (90 or more units). If you need a Psychology research lab and are a graduating senior, we highly recommend using your 1st pass to enroll in a seat as well as using your 2nd pass to waitlist for any additional research course seats you may need. If you are a non-graduating senior or junior, it will be difficult for you to enroll in a research lab course, so please have other course options ready for your enrollment time. If you are interested in an SP23 PSYC 193L course, be sure to read all the information on our website. Another option is taking a research lab course in a summer session. 

PSYC EASy requests: 1) They will be processed in the order they are received; 2) Processing takes 4-5 business days but could be longer during busy periods such as enrollment; 3) To check the status of your request or reason for placement on “Hold” or “Denial”: Go to the EASy system -> Log in using your UCSD credentials -> Click on "Status History." If you submit your EASy request less than 4 business days of your enrollment appointment, we will not expedite your request, regardless of class standing or graduation term. We will not process your PSYC EASy request during drop-in advising hours.

The Psychology Department is watching our enrollments closely and will continue to do what we can through the first week of classes. There are many factors to consider - physical seats in a classroom, instructor and TAs capacity, departmental scheduling, and financial concerns. We appreciate your understanding.

Ultimately, students are responsible for their enrollment, checking their enrollment appointment, and using their 1st and 2nd passes to enroll in actual courses (not waitlists). A failure to enroll during your assigned enrollment appointment time can be quite disruptive in your course schedule for the upcoming quarter, so please pay close attention to all enrollment notices, deadlines, and appointment times. Again, our office will not move your spot on a waitlist or “jump” you over other students if an enrollment time is missed or you do not enroll in courses with open seats. 

Note, if you send a VAC message or come to drop-in psychology advising to ask if we will let you into a PSYC course, move you up on a PSYC waitlist, process your PSYC EASy request immediately, the answer will be “No,” and we will refer you back to this message.

We understand that the enrollment period can be confusing and stressful. We hope this message will help provide useful information as you navigate the enrollment process.

Best, Psychology Undergraduate Advising Team 

Adding a Course without Listed Prerequisites

• If you are a PSYC 1st-year student* and have 0-65 completed^ units:
  • The department cannot clear you to enroll in ANY upper-division (UD) PSYC courses.
  • You should be enrolling in lower-division major requirements, college requirements, and university electives.

• If you are a PSYC 2nd-year student**, have 65-84.9 completed^ units, and in good academic standing:
  • The department cannot clear you for ANY upper-division (UD) PSYC courses.

• If you are a PSYC 2nd-year student**, have 85-89.9 completed^ units, and in good academic standing:
  • The department may authorize you for two Psych Core courses (PSYC 100-108). 
  • Please submit an EASy request after second pass for our office to review up to two EASy requests for PSYC Core courses. 
  • EASy requests will be automatically denied for the following reasons:
    • If you submit a request prior to second pass.
    • If you have below 84.9 completed units.
    • If you are not in good academic standing (cumulative 2.0 GPA).
    • If have already been authorized for two psychology cores. 
    • If you are requesting authorization for psychology elective courses. 

• If you are a PSYC Transfer student and have at least 90 completed^ units:
  • If you are not able to enroll in a PSYC course on your own through WebReb, and you meet all the course prerequisites, submit an EASy request. Be sure to include why you are having trouble enrolling in the course and upload your unofficial transfer institution transcript.

• If you are an Upper-Division student, have at least 90 units completed^, but are not a Psychology/CBN Major and would like to add a course without a required major code:
  • The department cannot clear you for the course as it is closed to major students only.

• If you are an Upper-Division student, have at least 90 units completed^, are a Psych Minor (PC26), and would like to add a class without a required Major code (e.g., PC25, PC28, PC32, etc.):
  • The department cannot clear you for the course as it is closed to major students only. The PC26 code is for both the Psych Major and Psych Minor. If you see a notation that a PSYC course is only open to the following major codes and it lists PC26, it refers to the PC26 Psych BS major only. PC26 Psych minors are not included.

• If you are a PSYC Upper-Division student, have at least 90 units completed^, and would like to add a class without a required prerequisite course (e.g., PSYC 60, PSYC 70, PSYC 100, etc.):
  • You must have the instructor's permission and upload the correspondence into your EASy request. Instructor permission does not guarantee a seat in the course.
  • If the instructor is not listed yet for the class, you will need to wait until the instructor is posted in WebReg.

• If you are a Graduate Student, requesting to enroll in undergraduate level psychology courses: 
  • Please submit an EASy request after second pass. 
  • Any requests submitted prior to second pass will automatically be denied. 

EASy System - please allow 7 business days to process EASy requests. We do not rush EASy processing due to a student's enrollment appointment. Our office processes EASy requests as they are received in the system.

^Completed units: a student's unit count from courses they have already completed (AP, transfer, UCSD) and received a final grade. In-progress or planned courses do not count toward this total.

*1st-year student: a student in their first full year of college, regardless of units from transfer courses, AP/IB credit, and completed UCSD courses.

**2nd-year student: a student in their second year of college.

• Enrollment Appointment Times
• 1st and 2nd Pass and unit enrollment limitations per pass
• Removing a "Hold" on your account
  • The Psychology Department will not provide a seat or "jump" the waitlist for a student due to a "Hold" on their account or its late removal.
• Enrollment and Registration Calendars
• Enrollment Help

Our office does not hold or guarantee seats to students nor do we "jump" students higher on a course waitlist. The seat/waitlist # students obtain during their registration appointment is what they have, regardless of class standing or graduation term.

There is no need to send a VAC message or come to drop-in Psychology Advising to ask if we will let you into a course or move you up the waitlist, as we will not.

If you need a specific PSYC course and/or a Psych Research lab, our office highly recommends using your 1st pass to enroll in the course. If there is not an open seat, you should consider adding yourself to the waitlist (TritonLink waitlist information).

• Students are not able to add themselves to a course waitlist until 2nd pass.
• Waitlists are automatically managed by the Registrar's office, and the department does not have the ability to override the list for any reason.
• As of the second pass you can be enrolled in and waitlisted for a total of 19.5 units.
• If adding a student to a class would increase the student's number of units to 22 or more, the automatic waitlist will bypass the student.
• Students may only waitlist for a single section of any course at one time.
• Students who drop or are administratively dropped from full classes must add themselves to the end of the waitlist. 
• Students who are on the waitlist for a course are encouraged to attend the course from the first day in case a spot in the course becomes available. In this case, the student should be as prepared as the students who are enrolled in the course.
• If you've been added to a course from the waitlist, allow 24 hours to be added to the course's Canvas page. If, after 24 hours you still do not have access, let the instructor know to ask ACMS to give you access to the course.

After the waitlists have stopped running automatically, students may be added to the class as space becomes available on a first come-first served basis using the EASy system Late Add request. TritonLink will not continue to update after Thursday night of the second week, so course waitlists may be inaccurate. 

To add a course after Friday of week 2, the course needs to have an open seat and you must have the instructor's permission. Students will use the EASy system to request a Late Add, instructor permission must be uploaded to the justification section. If a seat becomes available, our office approves enrollment on a first come-first served basis.

Prior to enrolling in a course late, please speak with the course instructor about whether you have missed too much course work. It is the student's responsibility to catch up on missed course material on their own; instructors are under no obligation to help students learn what they have missed. In addition, instructors are not obligated to allow students to submit homework nor take quizzes/exams that have already been due.

Please note, many instructors do not allow students to audit their courses.

The instructor must give permission for a student to audit a course. If permission is given, there must be an open seat in the course (course may not be full or have a waitlist). The instructor is not obligated or expected to provide any assistance, resources, or time outside the classroom to a student auditing a course. This includes but not limited to office hours (both instructor and TA), grading, or providing feedback on assignments. Students auditing a course are not allowed to be present on quiz or exam days to ensure the security and academic integrity of the quiz or exam. University policy on auditing a course.

Students may be able to petition courses taken elsewhere for Psychology major/minor credit. Please see our Petitions webpage for more information. This includes courses from other 4-year American and Study Abroad institutions. 

If this is in regard to a California Community College course, please review Assist.org first, as you may not need to submit a petition if the course has already been evaluated for transfer articulation.

If you were accused of academic misconduct, please visit the Academic Integrity website for detailed information on the process and support you can receive as a student.

• Report suspected academic misconduct
• If I'm accused of Academic Misconduct, what happens next?
• If I cheat what happens to my course grade and GPA?
• If I am caught cheating, will other people find out?
• Academic Senate Policy on Integrity of Scholarship

A student acting in the capacity of an instructional assistant (IA), including but not limited to teaching assistants (UGIA/TA), readers, and tutors, has a special responsibility to safeguard the integrity of scholarship. In these roles, the student functions as an apprentice instructor, under the tutelage of the responsible instructor. An IA shall equitably grade student work in the manner agreed upon with the course instructor. An IA shall not make any unauthorized material related to tests, exams, homework, etc. available to any student.