LOWER DIVISION REQUIREMENTS

The first two years are a time for laying the groundwork for later coursework at the upper division level. Besides the four required lower division psychology courses, students are advised to complete most of the General Education requirements during this time. The required lower division psychology courses are listed below.

• Psychology 100 General Psychology (3 units)
• Psychology 200 Research Methods (4 units)
• Psychology 210 Introductory Statistics (4 units)
• This course requires successful completion of the GE Math requirements as a prerequisite.
• Psychology 141 Psychobiology (3 units)

Some students who choose psychology as a major wonder what courses about statistics and research methods have to do with psychology and, thus, why they are required to take them. While it is true that they have little coverage of the content of the discipline, they both represent important tools used by psychologists in their study of behavior and we feel it is essential that our majors gain an appreciation for the process of inquiry and for the methods of evaluating the results of their experiences. In addition, we believe that these skills have a more general utility for people who will, as citizens, be bombarded by claims and information that need evaluation and who need to be intelligent judges and consumers of the same.

Transfer Student Information.

Many of our majors transfer to CSULB from local community colleges. At most such colleges, it is possible to complete at least some of the lower division requirements of our department by taking courses which we have determined to be equivalent to our lower division courses. To the best of our knowledge, the list we've compiled under Community College Course Equivalents of CSULB Courses, shows which courses are equivalent to our required courses at each of the community colleges in the area. If you have attended college out-of-state or at another four-year college or university and believe that you have completed equivalent courses, please seek a referral to the Undergraduate Advisor for approval.

Because of the difficulty of enrolling in some of the required courses here at CSULB, some of our majors regularly elect to go to a local community college to take equivalent courses while maintaining their enrollment status at CSULB. To do so, a student must fill out a Request for Concurrent Enrollment form which can be obtained from Enrollment Services.

Before planning a complete program, a transfer student must have received an Analysis of Academic Progress (evaluation) from Enrollment Services.

Unfortunately, on entering CSULB, a transfer student must often register without this evaluation. Students should register the first semester in those courses which they know they have not taken. Such courses are often upper division general education courses or courses in the major.

In general, there are two criteria that apply to a transfer student's prior work and these are transferability and equivalency.

Transferability of course credit is determined by the Office of Enrollment Services and is recorded on the Analysis of Academic Progress sent to transfer students. Transferability means that the credits are applicable towards a baccalaureate or masters degree, i.e., they are from an accredited educational institution and are at the baccalaureate or masters level (not high school, remedial, or vocational-technical level).

Equivalency is determined by these criteria:

• 1.Is course level the same (e.g., both upper division)? You may not receive upper division credit for any course taken at a junior college;
• 2.Is course title and course description the same at CSULB and at the college from which the course is transferred?