Clinical Psychology B.A.

Psychology B.A. with a Specialization in Clinical Psychology (PC36), effective Fall 2026

Did you enroll at the university during or after Fall 2026? Students who were accepted to the university for Fall 2026 or later MUST adhere to the major requirements effective Fall 2026.

If you enrolled at the university before Fall 2026, you may either remain in the majors effective Fall 2018 or choose to switch to one of the new majors effective Fall 2026.

The Clinical Psychology specialization provides instruction in the psychological and physiological causes of and treatments for mental illness in children and adults.

Major Requirements

All courses taken for the major must be letter graded completed with a C- or better. Exceptions for PSYC 99, PSYC 195P, PSYC 199, and AIP 197 which are only offered on a P/NP grading option and major lower-division natural science, formal skills, computer programming, and research methods.
A course may only fulfill one major course requirement.
Excluded from credit towards the major are graduate seminars (2XX).
A maximum of three upper-division (UD) courses toward the major may be taken outside of UC San Diego.
A grade-point average of at least 2.0 in the upper-division (UD) major courses is required for graduation.

Lower-Division (LD) Requirements (24 units)

Experimental psychology uses scientific tools and concepts: knowledge of formal systems such as logic or calculus, probability theory, computer science, chemistry, biology, physics, and statistics. Accordingly, students in upper-division (UD) courses must have an adequate background in these topics.

Lower-division (LD) courses for the major should be completed by the end of the sophomore year. These requirements will guarantee an adequate background for the topics of the upper-division (UD) psychology courses.

2 Natural Science Courses (choose two of the following)

BILD 1, 2, 3, 10, 12**, 20, 26 (BILD 22 is NOT accepted)
CHEM 4*, 6A, 6B, 6C, 11*, 12, 13
COGS 17**
PHYS 1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, 2B, 2C, 10, 11
PSYC 2**

*Only one of CHEM 4 or 11 can be taken for credit.
**Only one of BILD 12, COGS 17, or PSYC 2 may be counted towards this requirement.

1 Formal Skills Course (choose one of the following)

MATH 10A or 20A
MATH 10B or 20B
MATH 18
PHIL 10
PHIL 12

1 Computer Programming Course (choose one of the following)

CSE 6R, 8A, 8B, 11, 12
COGS 18*
CSS 1*
DSC 10
ECE 15*
MAE 5, 8*
BILD 62^

*Students who plan to pursue research careers in Psychology or related fields will find these courses critical to their success.

^Students who take BILD 62 need to send a VAC message to Psych Advising to apply it to their degree audit.

1 Statistics Course (choose one of the following) - Statistics must be taken for a letter grade.

PSYC 60 (preferred)
BENG 100
BIEB 100
COGS 14B
ECON 120A
MATH 11, 181A, 183, 186

1 Research Methods Course (choose one of the following)

PSYC 70 (preferred)
COGS 14A

Upper-Division (UD) Requirements (48 units)

1 PSYC Core Specialization Course

PSYC 100

3 Additional PSYC Core Courses (choose three of the following)

PSYC 101, 102, 104, 105, 106, 108

3 PSYC Specialization Courses (choose three of the following)

PSYC 116, 124, 125, 127*, 132, 133, 134, 143*, 151, 154, 155*, 168, 172, 175*, 184, 188, 190

5 PSYC Elective Courses (choose five of the following)

PSYC 100-111, 122-193
PSYC 195P (one 4-unit course)

*Please send the Psychology Advising Office a Virtual Advising Center (VAC) message once a final grade has been posted for the course to apply an exception to your degree audit for the following items:

Starred (*) courses under the Clinical Specialization area are approved for the Clinical Psych BS major.

*Students may use one 4-unit AIP 197 toward the Upper-Division (UD) Psychology Elective requirement. Pre-approval from the Psychology Advising Office is required to count the course toward the Psychology Major.

4yr_ClinicalPSYCBA_plan

Additional Notes for Suggested 4-Year Plan:

Visit your College Advisor to add your remaining GE, college, and university requirements
If you have a double major and/or a minor, visit your other major/minor advisor to add your remaining double major/minor requirements
***If you plan on completing an approved MATH course for your LD Formal Skills requirement, please review the MathWays page for more information related to Math placement at UC San Diego. You may need to take the Math Placement Exam (MPE) to confirm whether you will need to complete Preparatory Math courses (MATH 2, MATH 3B, or MATH 3C).