Thank you for joining me today for our Psychology
Major Information Session. I’m Maria Hartwig,
an Undergraduate Academic Advisor in the Department
of Psychology. I’m one of 4 advisors for
the Department, which also includes Valerie
Johnson, Kari Maas, and Stephanie Osborn.
Today I’ll talk about the department, curriculum,
and experiences in and outside of the department
you can take advantage of during your undergraduate
time at UW-Madison.
Our department and faculty research interests
are grouped into these following 5 categories:
Biological, Social/Personality, Developmental,
Clinical, and Cognitive/Perceptual. I mention
this to demonstrate the range of topics students
can study during their time in the major.
I’ll also reference these groupings in a
few moments when I talk more about the curriculum.
To give you a little more information about
the department - we have over 1300 students
in the major, we have over 30 faculty, and
we have 4 academic advisors devoted to assisting
students while they are navigating their academic,
personal, and professional goals at UW.
The following photos are examples of some
of the world-renowned research being conducted
in the department. We have researchers focusing
on topics ranging from studying mindfulness
and attention, to Jenny Saffran’s Infant
research lab where children’s language development
is being studied, to Professor Shawn Green
whose research focuses on the effects of videogames
on attention and learning. (He was even featured
on a Netflix episode with Bill Nye the Science
Guy!) Those are just a few examples of the
types of research being conducted and the
areas of study students can learn from and
be involved in.
This leads into talking about our courses
and our curriculum, which is often a main
topic incoming students want to learn more
about.
The Psychology major requirements are divided
into 4 main categories of classes. Foundation,
Breadth, Depth, and Capstone classes. Students
must also take Psychology elective courses
to meet the requirement of completing 33 credits
within the Psychology department.
More detailed information about our major,
including required courses and course descriptions,
can be found on the GUIDE which serves as
the official catalog for the University. I’ll
walk you through screenshots of information
related to our course requirements, and I
welcome you to follow along. You can go to
guide.wisc.edu, click the Undergraduate tab,
select the College of Letters and Science,
then select Psychology. Choose either the
Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science
(BS) options. We’ll only be reviewing the
major requirements today, and those are exactly
the same whether you pursue a BA or BS degree.
If you click the “REQUIREMENTS” link on
the right side of the page, and scroll down,
you’ll find the listing of Psych major required
courses.
We’ll start by talking about our foundation
classes. These include Intro Psych, Statistics,
Research Methods, and 5 credits of Introductory
Biology. These classes will give you a foundation
of knowledge, with a strong focus on science
and research, that will serve you as you study
the discipline of Psychology. Students must
earn a grade of C or higher in each of these
foundation classes.
Intro Psych is a large lecture course that
will introduce you to the broad topics of
Psychology largely focusing on the study of
human behavior.
Statistics is required in the major as well.
We accept the following Stats courses: Psych
210, or STAT 302, 324, or 371. (Please note:
STAT 301 earned via AP test credit is NOT
accepted for the major.) By taking this class,
you will learn foundational concepts in stats,
learning about different types of statistical
analysis that will serve as prerequisite knowledge
before you take Research Methods.
PSYCH 225, Research Methods, is a core class
within our department. Completion of your
Communications A requirement and Statistics
is required before taking Psych 225. This
class will teach you about the fundamental
concepts of research from what makes good
research and what types of research design
exist. You’ll read various research articles,
learn about the different components of writing
about research (what is an abstract, methodology,
discussion section, and more), and incorporate
your knowledge of stats to learn how to apply
different statistical analyses to different
research methods. This is a Communications
B course, which means it is writing intensive.
You also need to complete 5 credits of Intro
Bio as a part of the Psych major foundation
requirements. The majority of our students
complete these 5 credits by taking Bio 101
(a 3 credit large lecture class) and Bio 102
(a 2 credit lab). BIO 151 is also accepted
for this requirement. Students who earn credit
for Bio 151 through AP or IB exams (or equivalent
transfer credits) have met the Bio requirement
for the major. Bio 151 is typically taken
by students who are looking at pre-health
pathways or students who double major and
are required to take Bio 151 for that second
major. A third option is Biocore which is
an honors curriculum that is focused on biology
that students must apply to and be accepted
to in order to pursue.
The next category of classes required in the
major are Psychology Breadth courses. Students
are required to take at least 3 different
Breadth classes from 3 different subgroup
areas. The subgroups are: Biological, Clinical,
Cognitive/Perceptual, Developmental, and Social/Personality.
If you click the plus sign symbol next to
the subcategories, you’ll see an expanded
list of classes within these subgroups.
These classes will introduce you to more specific
topic areas in Psychology from Abnormal Psych,
to Human Sexuality, to Animal Behavior, and
more. These are large lecture courses that
are typically mainly graded on the basis of
exams. After students have completed Intro
Psych, we often recommend they then take a
Psych breadth course as a next step in the
major to learn more about our department and
a specific interest area in Psychology!
Next, students are required to complete 2
Psychology Depth courses. These are often
taken during Junior or Senior year and are
4 credits each. These consist of a large lecture
plus a small discussion section. The class
is often graded on exams, but also discussion
participation and projects or papers. These
classes begin to delve more deeply into topics
within Psych, and they have pre-requisite
classes based on related Psych breadth coursework.
For example, Psych 510 - Child Psychopathology
- is a Depth course that requires students
to have first completed Psych breadth coursework
in either Abnormal Psych or Child Psych. So,
as you look to complete your Psych Depth classes,
it’s a good practice to be looking to take
related Psych Breadth courses ahead of time.
Finally, students must complete 1 Psych capstone
during their Senior year. This is a small
25 person seminar class that is typically
based more heavily on reading original research,
having advanced discussion in class with peers,
and writing. These are often the classes students
find to be their favorite, as they are taught
on very specific topics. Most students will
take Psych 601 for their capstone. This is
a ‘topics’ course meaning, that the content
of the class changes from semester to semester
based on which instructors are teaching and
what classes they want to offer. Some example
class titles include Gestures and Communication,
The Fundamentals of Clinical Psych, Mood Disorders,
and more.
In addition to all the specific Psych classes
I just mentioned, students must complete Psych
elective credits to reach the requirement
of completing 33 credits of coursework within
the Department of Psychology. This typically
means students take 1-2 Psych ‘elective’
credits. Most often, students will complete
these electives by taking additional Psych
Breadth or Depth courses.
Now that you’ve heard about the classes
involved in completing a Psychology major
at UW-Madison, let’s cover the process of
how you can declare the major. The following
chart illustrates the path a student can take
to declare. First, students apply to UW-Madison.
Once you are admitted, you enter UW as a student
within one of our schools or colleges. Many
enter as students in the College of Letters
and Science. After you’re admitted, you
then attend SOAR (Student Orientation Advising
and Registration), where you are oriented
to UW Madison, meet with an academic advisor,
and enroll in your next semester courses at
UW.
For some students, you will be signing up
for Intro Psychology, PSYCH 202, during your
first semester if you haven’t already completed
the course. For other students, you might
have already taken Intro Psych through another
institution or earned equivalent Psych 202
credit by taking AP or IB exams. If you earn
a 4 or higher on either the AP or IB exams,
you will earn credit for Psych 202 and do
not need to take it again at UW. (More information
about AP/IB test credits is found at the following
link on the slide).
After students complete Intro Psych with a
grade of C or higher (or equivalent test or
transfer credit), they can then declare the
Psychology major - either by meeting with
a Psych major advisor or by completing an
online declaration form. Students cannot declare
their Psych major until after the start of
their first semester.
But your major is just one part of your overall
degree. You also take classes to complete
degree requirements such as Ethnic Studies
courses, Quantitative Reasoning and Communications
courses, and classes across three different
breadth areas - Natural Science, Social Science
and Humanities. Additionally, students have
room to take many elective courses and explore
other interest areas outside of major and
degree requirements. This is a space where
you can explore individual interests, or meet
other goals, such as completing a second major,
completing a certificate, or taking pre-req
classes for interests in areas like Pre-health
or Pre-Law.
Many of our Psychology students, about half
in fact, double major. This slide includes
some of the most common double majors, as
well as certificates, that our students pursue.
These include majors like Neurobiology, World
Languages such as Spanish, Human Development
and Family Studies and more. Additionally,
our students frequently complete certificates
(which are commonly referred to as ‘minors’
at other institutions), for about 12-18 credits
in areas like Criminal Justice, Gender and
Women's Studies, Business, Global Health and
the list goes on. Hopefully, this can give
you a sense of the flexibility of the Psychology
major and how your other interests can easily
be incorporated into your academic plans along
with a major.
But just as your major is one part of your
academic degree, your academic experience
and coursework is just one part of your overall
Wisconsin Experience! There are many other
opportunities to take advantage of and explore
both within the Psychology Department as well
as the larger University and local community
from internships to study abroad, and more.
There are many ways to get involved on campus.
In fact, research shows that students who
get involved and make connections on campus
are often more engaged and successful in their
academics. Within the Department, we have
2 Student Orgs which you can join. Psychology
Club is a relatively large group that is open
to any student on campus. They aim to get
students connected to the department and with
each other. They often host social events,
such as movie nights, volunteer in the community,
and provide a space on campus for Psych majors
or students interested in Psychology to connect.
Psi Chi is our second Department sponsored
student org. It is an Honors organization
which students can apply to be a part of starting
during their sophomore year at UW. This group
focuses on connecting high achieving students
in the department with one another as well
as faculty members. They host monthly brown
bag meetings where students hear from faculty
in the department who speak about their research
interests. This is a great way to connect
with fellow students as well as faculty and
learn more about the field of Psychology.
There are also many ways to get involved on
campus. The Morgridge Center is the volunteer
hub on campus for student opportunities. Many
of our majors volunteer with community organizations
through the Morgridge Center, or programs
they run, such as Badger Bridge, doing things
like tutoring in local elementary schools,
volunteering at …..
And the University also offers Community Based
Learning Courses. These are classes where
students tie in both the academic and practical
experience of volunteering in a community
based setting. Classes typically consist of
2 parts - one is a session in a classroom
where they learn about theory, and talk about
their experiences volunteering. And the second
part consists of going into the community
to volunteer at different types of sites and
facilities.
Volunteering, joining student orgs, and getting
involved on campus are great ways to enhance
your academic experience while at UW.
The Psych Department is also here to support
your personal and professional development
through various events. We have hosted a variety
of events ranging from Faculty panels where
students can have a chance to have Q&A time
with members from our department to career
focused events such as panels on Careers in
Mental Health. We also host an event where
students can connect with alumni from our
department to learn more about their professional
careers after they graduated from our department.
Those are just a few examples of the types
of events the department hosts to support
our undergraduates.
Students can also get involved in research,
working as research assistants in labs. This
can be a very valuable experience, especially
if you’re thinking of pursuing graduate
study in the future.
Students can perform a range of tasks, depending
on the needs of the lab. This can include
everything from contacting participants to
join a study, setting up and running a participant
through a task, collecting and/or analyzing
data, and more.
You can also earn academic credit working
as a research assistant. Typically, students
take about 3 research credits which equates
to working about 10 hours per week in the
lab.
For students who are especially passionate
about research, they can pursue Honors in
the Major within the department. This includes
taking 3 of your Psych breadth or depth classes
for Honors credit, taking a 1 credit Honors
seminar in your Fall semester of Junior year,
and conducting a year long Senior Honors Thesis
research project under the guidance and mentorship
of a faculty member. Typically, students who
have worked in a lab for a year or more will
ask if they can pursue their own research
project within the scope of the larger lab’s
work. They then conduct their research over
the course of their Senior year and write
a final thesis paper based on that work. Students
often look into this and apply for Honors
in the Major sometime in their sophomore year.
More information is on our website.
Gaining research experience teaches invaluable
skills from communication to team work. But
it also provides an opportunity to connect
with a faculty member and see research in
action.
Another experience that many Psych majors
take advantage of, is going on a study abroad
program. Many students are able to fit in
studying abroad into their academic plan,
most commonly studying abroad during their
Sophomore or Junior year. Italy, Spain, and
England have been the top 3 sites in the past
5 years for not only Psych majors, but all
students on campus.
These are, of course, not the only places
students can go. Many students visit the other
commonly visited countries listed here, but
almost anywhere else in the world, our students
have traveled!
If you’re considering studying abroad, your
Psychology Academic Advisor can help you as
you plan when and where you may want to go
in a future semester.
Internships are another valuable experience
we encourage students to seek out. What an
‘internship’ is for a Psych major can
really vary based on their personal interests
and career goals. The student you see here
is Katie Fan. She completed a summer internship
as an HR Intern for Under Armour. In her internship,
she developed training modules to onboard
new staff. This process involved conducting
interviews with current employees’ on their
training experiences and needs, developing
the content, and implementing it for new employees.
This is just one example of an internship
for a Psych major. Others could be tutoring
at a local elementary school or working at
a summer camp. This could be an invaluable
experience for someone who wants to work as
a therapist or with children one day. Or,
conducting research and working in various
labs could be an ‘internship’ experience
that would be immensely helpful for a student
interested in pursuing a PhD in a research
focused field.
Really, an ‘internship’ can be anything
where you’re gaining skills that you hope
to use in a future profession.
·
With that in mind - this slide lists just
a few examples of where our students go in
their careers after they complete their undergraduate
education. You can see there are a variety
of job titles from Recruiting Manager, to
Information Specialist, to Physical Therapist,
and Psychologists.
Some of these careers may require additional
education. However, many students are able
to enter the workforce immediately after graduation.
Which career route you pursue and how you
get there can depend a lot on your undergraduate
experiences, which is why we encourage students
to test out different career paths, get involved,
and learn more about themselves and explore
their academic interests to determine where
they want to go after graduation.
And there are many resources on campus to
help you figure out these steps along the
way. There are several career focused centers
on campus to help students explore their career
interests.
The CEC is the Career Exploration Center.
They are focused on helping students who may
have very little idea about what they are
interested in career-wise, to students who
are interested in many different career avenues.
They meet with students in one hour appointments
to discuss your interests, values, goals,
and skills and how those may align with majors
or careers.
SuccessWorks is a career advising center for
students in the College of Letters and Science.
They help students with things like resume
reviews, interview preparation, internship/job
searching, and even through selecting a final
job offer.
Lastly, we have two very specific centers
on campus - the Center for Pre Health Advising
and the Center for Pre Law Advising - that
assist students on these specialized career
paths. They help students prepare by planning
out prerequisite required courses, help students
with applications and interview preparation,
and other needs that arise for students on
these pre-professional paths.
I’ll end on this last quote from a recent
Psychology graduate…
“I feel as though I gained a lot more knowledge
about myself … that I would not gain through
any other major.”
I think this demonstrates the unique aspects
of pursuing a Psych major at UW Madison. The
Psych major is a meaningful academic path
to learn not only about the field and your
future career, but yourself as well.
Thank you for attending this virtual information
session. Please connect with us on facebook,
twitter, and instagram. And check out our
website for more information about the department
and our major! psych.wisc.edu/undergraduate-program
