Program: Psychology, Pre-graduate School Concentration, B.S. - Middle Tennessee State University

Mar 03, 2025

2020-21 Undergraduate Catalog

Psychology
615-898-5451
Michelle Boyer-Pennington, program coordinator
Michelle.Boyer-Pennington@mtsu.edu

Students who apply for the major in Psychology with a Pre-graduate School concentration should be those who will be competitive applicants for Ph.D. or competitive master’s programs. GPA is an important consideration for admission to these programs. A subcommittee of the Undergraduate Studies Committee will screen students applying for the concentration, and students will be admitted to the program only upon approval of their application.

The following are required for admission to this concentration: (a) a minimum 3.25 overall GPA; (b) a 3.50 GPA for the last 30 hours; (c) a 3.50 major GPA.

To graduate with this concentration, students must achieve an overall GPA of 3.25. It is recommended that students apply for admission to this concentration between the completion of 45 and 60 hours.

Students may only apply for this concentration once they have successfully achieved candidacy to the Psychology major. A minimum of 9 hours from the set of “Required Core Courses” and at last 6 other psychology hours must be taken at MTSU.

NOTE: Students do not have to pursue the Pre-graduate School concentration to attend graduate school.

Admission to Candidacy

All students are required to be admitted to candidacy for the Psychology major. To apply for candidacy, a student must have

completed at least 30 hours of coursework (not to include learning support courses);
completed the following General Education requirements: ENGL 1010; ENGL 1020; MATH 1530, MATH 1710, MATH 1730, or higher; and a science course (preferably a biology course) with a minimum 2.00 GPA;
completed the following psychology courses: PSY 1410, PSY 2000, and PSY 2210 or PSY 2300 with a minimum 2.00 GPA. (A grade of C- or better is required in PSY 1410, PSY 2210, and PSY 2300.)

Students will have required advising every semester until they have successfully completed admission to candidacy.

The application for admission to candidacy is an online application.

NOTE: Students should follow the recommended sequence of courses for the freshman year on the academic map.

Academic Map

Following is a printable, suggested four-year schedule of courses:

Psychology, Pre-graduate School, B.S., Academic Map

Degree Requirements

General Education	41 hours
Major Requirements	41 hours*
Supporting Course	3-4 hours*
Minor	15-18 hours
Electives	16-23 hours
TOTAL	120 hours

*This program requires courses that can also fulfill requirements of the General Education curriculum. If program requirements are also used to fulfill General Education requirements, the number of elective hours will increase.

General Education (41 hours)

General Education requirements include Communication, History, Humanities and/or Fine Arts, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Social/Behavioral Sciences categories.

The following courses required by the program meet General Education requirement:

PSY 1410 (Soc/Beh Sci)
MATH 1530 , MATH 1710 , MATH 1730 , or higher (Math)

Major Requirements (41 hours)

A grade of of B- or better must be earned in PSY 3020, 3070, and 4070 and a C- or better in all other core courses. PSY 4080 requires a grade of B- or better in PSY 3070 and PSY 4070.

PSY 1410 - General Psychology 3 credit hours (may be counted in General Education)
PSY 2000 - Seminar on Careers in Psychology 1 credit hour
PSY 2210 - Psychology of Social Behavior 3 credit hours
PSY 2300 - Developmental Psychology 3 credit hours
PSY 3020 - Basic Statistics for Behavioral Science 3 credit hours
PSY 3070 - Research Methods 3 credit hours AND
PSY 3071 - Research Methods Lab 1 credit hour
PSY 4070 - Advanced Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences 3 credit hours
PSY 4080 - Advanced Research Methods 3 credit hours
PSY 3230 - Abnormal Psychology 3 credit hours OR
PSY 3590 - Personality 3 credit hours
PSY 4030 - Psychology of Sensation and Perception 3 credit hours OR
PSY 4240 - Behavioral Neuroscience 3 credit hours
PSY 4040 - Introduction to Cognitive Psychology 3 credit hours OR
PSY 4480 - Learning Theories 3 credit hours
Upper-division Psychology electives 6 credit hours
Psychology elective 3 credit hours

Supporting Course (3-4 hours)

(may be counted in General Education)
MATH 1530 - Applied Statistics 3 credit hours OR
MATH 1710 - College Algebra 3 credit hours OR
MATH 1730 - Pre-Calculus 4 credit hours OR
higher-level math

Minor (15-18 hours)

Selected from outside the Department of Psychology.

Electives (16-23 hours)

Curriculum: Psychology, Pre-graduate School

Curricular listings include General Education requirements in Communication, History, Humanities and/or Fine Arts, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Social/Behavioral Sciences categories.

Freshman

First Semester

ENGL 1010 - Expository Writing 3 credit hours (Comm)
Natural Sciences 4 credit hours
MATH 1530 - Applied Statistics 3 credit hours (Math) OR
MATH 1710 - College Algebra 3 credit hours (Math) OR
MATH 1730 - Pre-Calculus 4 credit hours (Math) OR
Math course higher than MATH 1730
PSY 1410 - General Psychology 3 credit hours (Soc/Beh Sci)
Humanities and/or Fine Arts 3 credit hours

Subtotal: 16 Hours

Second Semester

ENGL 1020 - Research and Argumentative Writing 3 credit hours (Comm)
Humanities and/or Fine Arts 3 credit hours
PSY 2000 - Seminar on Careers in Psychology 1 credit hour
PSY 2210 - Psychology of Social Behavior 3 credit hours
PSY 2300 - Developmental Psychology 3 credit hours
HIST 2010 - Survey of United States History I 3 credit hours OR
HIST 2020 - Survey of United States History II 3 credit hours OR
HIST 2030 - Tennessee History 3 credit hours

Subtotal: 16 Hours

Sophomore Year

COMM 2200 - Fundamentals of Communication 3 credit hours (Comm)
Natural Sciences 4 credit hours
ENGL 2020 - Themes in Literature and Culture 3 credit hours (Hum/FA) OR
ENGL 2030 - The Experience of Literature 3 credit hours (Hum/FA) OR
HUM 2610 - Foreign Literature in Translation 3 credit hours (Hum/FA)
Social/Behavioral Sciences 3 credit hours
Minor courses 6 credit hours
PSY 3020 - Basic Statistics for Behavioral Science 3 credit hours
PSY required core class 3 credit hours
PSY 3070 - Research Methods 3 credit hours AND
PSY 3071 - Research Methods Lab 1 credit hour
HIST 2010 - Survey of United States History I 3 credit hours OR
HIST 2020 - Survey of United States History II 3 credit hours OR
HIST 2030 - Tennessee History 3 credit hours

Subtotal: 32 Hours

Junior Year

PSY 4070 - Advanced Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences 3 credit hours
PSY 4080 - Advanced Research Methods 3 credit hours
Minor 6 credit hours
PSY required core class 3 credit hours
PSY electives 6 credit hours
PSY 3990 - Research in Psychology 1 to 3 credit hours AND/OR general electives 7-9 credit hours

Subtotal: 28-30 Hours

Senior Year

PSY required core class 3 credit hours
Minor 3 credit hours
PSY electives and general electives 19-24 credit hours (at least 3 credit hours must be PSY credit hours)

Psychology, Pre-graduate School Concentration, B.S.

Admission to Candidacy

Academic Map

Degree Requirements

General Education (41 hours)

Major Requirements (41 hours)

Supporting Course (3-4 hours)

Minor (15-18 hours)

Electives (16-23 hours)

Curriculum: Psychology, Pre-graduate School

Freshman

First Semester

Subtotal: 16 Hours

Second Semester

Subtotal: 16 Hours

Sophomore Year

Subtotal: 32 Hours

Junior Year

Subtotal: 28-30 Hours

Senior Year

Subtotal: 25-30 Hours