Frequently Asked Questions

The requirements for a degree in Psychology consist of two parts, those set by the College Humanities and Social Sciences and those set by the Department of Psychology. Students must complete at least 120 hours of course work; 30 of these hours must be in psychology classes. The psychology classes students take are outlined in the LSU General Catalog or click here to view the requirements.

All psychology students must complete these basic courses listed below. In addition, the courses needed to fulfill the College of Humanities and Social Sciences requirements are listed in the LSU General Catalog.

• PSYC 2000 Introduction to Psychology
• PSYC 2016* Statistics for Behavioral Science 
• PSYC 2017* Experimental (requires a 2.5 GPA for enrollment)
• PSYC 4008 History of Psychology (requires a 2.5 GPA for enrollment)
• PSYC 4005 Psychology Capstone (requires a 2.5 GPA for enrollment)

* PSYC 2016 and PSYC 2017 must be taken sequentially. Therefore, it is desirable to complete PSYC 2016 early in the undergraduate program, but students have until their sixth semester at LSU to complete the course.

The American Psychological Association web site provides some useful information on this topic in their newsletters (click here for a recent example). In addition, here are some suggestions which will help:

1. Maintain a high GPA. One of the important deciding factors in graduate program selection is GPA. How high your GPA needs to be depends on the school you are applying to and the specialty area you select.
2. Do well on the GRE. GRE scores are critically important. Again, standards vary from program to program. You might consider purchasing one of the numerous GRE preparation manuals or enrolling in a GRE prep course.
3. Get research experience. Graduate schools value hands-on experience, which is why many look to see if the student has participated in some form of research outside the standard classroom. At LSU, students may enroll in 2999 or 4999 courses to obtain research experience with the professor of their choice.
4. Letters of recommendation are important. The better a professor knows you, the more personalized their letter can be. Working with professors through 2999 or 4999 courses is a good way for professors to get to know you personally.

The Board of Regents determines the credits needed for transfer of courses. Specifically, to earn credit for PSYC 2000 at LSU if you have taken Introduction to Psychology at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL), you must have taken both PSYC 110+210; for LA Tech, PSYC 202; for Southeastern (SLU) PSYC 101 + 102; and for SLCC PSYC 1010 + 1020.

For additional transfer equivalencies, students are encouraged to consult the Tiger Transfer Tables to determine how coursework from other institutions transfers to LSU.