Undergraduate Academic Advising

In order to graduate, you are required to complete a specific number of Psychology credits and outside electives. Outside electives are courses offered in other programs outside of Psychology. You also must ensure you have completed any missing profile courses. To check your progress in our program, and track to make sure you are going to be able to graduate, use the program checksheets.

If you are still uncertain after having completed the program check sheet, you can make an appointment to see an academic advisor. Always bring the completed program checksheets with you when seeing an academic advisor

This depends on your degree, the number of credits you need to graduate (90, 108, 120), the number of credits taken per semester, and if you also take summer courses. For example, if you are a full-time student taking 12 credits per semester, you can complete 90 credits in 4 years. If you take 15 credits per semester, it will take you three years to complete 90 credits.

To be a full-time student in Quebec, you must take a minimum of 12 credits per semester (usually 4 courses). The maximum load is 15 credits per semester (usually 5 courses). If you are worried about the workload that university courses require, we recommend you start out with 12 credits (i.e., 4 courses) in the first semester. If you can handle the workload, then go to 15 credits in subsequent semesters. If you are thinking of applying to Medicine, Law, or Graduate Degrees, then please check with the schools you plan to apply to for the degree requirements (some schools expect you to take a 15-credit to demonstrate that you can handle the workload).

Profile courses are pre-requisite courses that most Quebec students take at Cégep before enrolling at Concordia, and thus do not need to take while in the program. For BA students, these include Introductory Psychology (PSYC 200), 200-level Math, and BIOL 201 (with lab) or BIOL 202. For BSc students, these include Introductory Psychology (PSYC 200), MATH 203 & 205, CHEM 205 & 206, BIOL 201 (with lab), and PHYS 204, 205, 206, 224, 225, 226.

Students without these requirements will see deficiencies noted in their Advisement Report, and must complete these within the program. These courses count as non-psychology electives, but do count towards your GPA. Specifically for PSYC-200, this does not count towards your PSYC requirements, and is taken as an elective course. For honours students PSYC-200 will have to be taken as an "extra" class.

These refer to different types of courses requirements in your Psychology program. You can find more information by downloading the appropriate form.

Psychology courses tend to demand more work from the student than other general elective courses. This is especially the case for courses that have a laboratory component (i.e., PSYC310, PSYC315, PSYC311, PSYC316). While it is possible to take a full Psychology course load per semester, it is not recommended. Instead, taking 2-3 psychology courses, in addition to 1-2 general electives is recommended.

Some Psychology coures are offered every semester, others once per year, and others only occasionally. Courses come and go. If a course is not currently being offered, it is not possible to know when it might be offered the next time. Search the Concordia class schedule to see our current offerings.

Students will sometimes think they should stay in a course even though they are doing poorly, as they have heard that a DISC looks bad on their transcript. It is ok to have a DISC on your transcript – this happens from time to time as students like the initial idea of a course, but find it different when taking it.  Also, as DISC is better than receiving an F for a course: a poor grade affects your GPA but a DISC does not count towards your GPA. However, try to not make a habit of having too many DISCs.

Students can repeat a course at any point, without making an advising appointment. The exception is if you are trying to repeat a course which is a prerequisite for another course you are or have taken.

Students should think of the following before repeating a course:

1)     While re-taking a course can improve your GPA this will only happen if you do better than you did the first time. If you end up with a lower grade in the re-take, then this will lower your GPA. The last taken grade is what counts towards the GPA.

2)     The earlier grade will remain on your transcript, and will not disappear.

3)     How have things changes since the first time you took the course? Have you improved your work load or study habits to give yourself a better opportunity for improving your grade? Concordia's Student Success Centre can help you build your study skills and habits.

This is a common question from students that are either attempting to graduate, are thinking of applying to graduate school, or are in academic jeopardy (e.g., conditional standing, failed standing) the best way to answer this question is to try out different course and grade scenarios to see how these may impact your GPA. We have made available a simple Excel spreadsheet for this purpose.

These programs differ in the number of Psychology credits that students take, and whether they have the opportunity to complete an undergraduate thesis (required for honour students, optional for specialization students). Additional information on these program options is available here. Students wishing to switch from one program or another should complete the appropriate form.

Many psychology students choose to volunteer in a research lab during their studies. Voluntering can be valuable to students' psychology education in many different ways: it can give you your first real taste of research, help you to decide if you would like to puruse an undergraduate thesis in general or in a particular lab, provide opportunities to work closely with graduate students and faculty, and give you research experience in different labs and areas of psychology. Some labs give priority their own volunteers when admitting honours/specialization thesis students and hiring research assistants.

Labs differ widely in terms of what they expect from volunteers: commitments vary in terms of hours per week, the flexibilty of  schedules, and the length of commitment (e.g., number of semesters that you commit to volunteering the lab).  You may perform different tasks depending on the lab and your own skill set, for example assisting with preparing research studies, programming an experiment, recruiting or testing participants, or entering data.

To find opportunities, browse our list of faculty or our list of research labs.  Compose a polite e-mail with information about your background, availability, and why you are interested in working in that particular lab. If labs have an application process for volunteers (this will be indicated on their website), be sure to follow any instructions.

Remember that volunteering is an important and often large commitment, and you should keep in mind your school and work commitments before applying to volunteer.

A degree in Psychology is a great foundation for many different careers. Concordia Career Counselling and Educational Transitions offers career counseling, workshops, a careers library, and more, including information specificially geared to Psychology students. Many professors are happy to give you their prospective - don't hesitate to use those office hours.

As a rule of thumb, plan to devote three hours of study time for each hour of class time. At times, and in particular courses, this will need to be increased.  Students who work and/or volunteer part-time more than 15 hours/per week are likely to struggle with a full course load of 4-5 courses/semester.

If you run into trouble, seek help as soon as possible! If you are having academic difficulty, you can start by talking to your professor or to a Psychology advisor. Concordia also has a range of services to help you succeed. The Student Success Centre offers services including one-on-one tutors, study groups and workshops, student advocacy, and skills development.  Counseling and Psychological Services are available for students experiencing stress, anxiety, relationship, or other problems. The Access Centre for Students with Disabilities supports students with a variety of disability conditions. The Concordia University Student Parents Centre offers resources for students who are studying while raising a family.

PSYC 485 is an optional course for students in the specialization program who wish to have the opportunity to conduct research. Students enrolled in PSYC 485 have the opportunity to complete a specialization thesis. You would apply to take this course in the summer before your final year after you have received your grades from the winter term. You must have a minimum GPA of 3.2, and a thesis supervisor to be admitted. Students must submit a completed application form and a supervisor-student-contract with their application.  Note that PSYC 311 (Research Methods II) and PSYC 316 (Statistical Analysis II) are pre-requisites for PSYC 485.

PSYC 485 is a six-credit course that begins in the Fall term and ends in the Winter. If you plan to take the course in the 2024-2025 academic year, here is the course schedule so that you can plan your other courses accordingly.

Honours students and specialization students (only those wishing to complete the optional specialization research experience course) must complete these two courses BEFORE you can get permission to register for PSYC 485 (optional specialization research project) or PSYC 495 (honours research project). You will not be able to do PSYC 311 or PSYC 316 concurrently with PSYC 485/495. Keep in mind that PSYC 485/495 is a full year course, so PSYC 311 and PSYC 316 must be completed the year prior (usually in your second year). Also be aware that neither of these courses is offered during the summer. It is best to complete PSYC 316 and PSYC 311 (in that sequence) in separate semesters, as they both carry a heavy workload.

The Honours Seminars (PSYC 490, 491) and Honours Thesis Seminar (PSYC 495) are taken in the final year of the Honours program. To be able to register for these classes, you must satisfy the GPA requirements outlined in section 31.250 of the undergraduate calendar for the year that you entered the Honours concentration.

It is your responsibility to contact faculty members and ask if they would be willing to act as your thesis supervisor. Not all faculty members take on a student each year and those that do take on a limited number. Prior to contacting a faculty member, students should consult the faculty profiles on the department website to find a research area that interests them. Be aware that there are a limited number of spots so register early! 

After you submit the Undergraduate Student and Faculty Research Agreement form, you will be assigned to a section of each course and notified by email so that you can enroll

No. Students are assigned to a thesis / seminar section by the honours advisor. This procedure provides an even distribution of the number of thesis students and research topics across all sections.