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Department of Psychology Psychology
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  5. Clinical Psychology B.A.

Psychology B.A. with a Specialization in Clinical Psychology (PSYC-BA-004; 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-099, 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-001, BILD-002, BILD-003, BILD-010, BILD-012**, BILD-020, BILD-026 (BILD-022 is NOT accepted)
  • CHEM-004*, CHEM-006A, CHEM-006B, CHEM-006C, CHEM-011*, CHEM-012, CHEM-013
  • COGS-017**
  • PHYS-001A, PHYS-001B, PHYS-001C, PHYS-002A, PHYS-002B, PHYS-002C, PHYS-010, PHYS-011
  • PSYC-002**

*Only one of CHEM-004 or CHEM-011 can be taken for credit.
**Only one of BILD-012, COGS-017, or PSYC-002 may be counted towards this requirement.

1 Formal Skills Course (choose one of the following)

  • MATH-010A or MATH-020A
  • MATH-010B or MATH-020B
  • MATH-018
  • PHIL-010
  • PHIL-012

1 Computer Programming Course (choose one of the following)

  • CSE-006R, CSE-008A, CSE-008B, CSE-011, CSE-012
  • COGS-018*
  • CSS-001*
  • DSC-010
  • ECE-015*
  • MAE-005, MAE-008*
  • BILD-062^

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

^Students who take BILD-062 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-060 (preferred)
  • BENG-100
  • BIEB-100
  • COGS-014B
  • ECON-120A
  • MATH-011, MATH-181A, MATH-183, MATH-186

1 Research Methods Course (choose one of the following)

  • PSYC-070 (preferred)
  • COGS-014A

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, PSYC-102, PSYC-104, PSYC-105, PSYC-106, PSYC-108

3 PSYC Specialization Courses (choose three of the following)

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

5 PSYC Elective Courses (choose five of the following)

  • PSYC-100 through PSYC-111, PSYC-122 through PSYC-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).