The Department of Psychology welcomes students with a range of interests.
The Psychology concentration (Princeton's term for major), within the Division of Natural Sciences, provides foundational and advanced undergraduate courses on sensation, perception, movement, language, reasoning, decision making, and social interaction.
Majoring in Psychology
The Psychology concentration requires graded completion (without PDF) of at least eight courses within the department in addition to the three prerequisite courses. Psychology concentrators must also successfully pass the junior and senior independent work, and a senior exam that takes the form of an oral thesis defense.
Students declare for their concentrations at the end of their Sophomore year. If you plan to major in Psychology, you must meet with the Psychology Undergraduate Program Manager, who will guide you through the process.
Undergraduate students do not need to wait for Junior or Senior independent work to get involved in research in the Department of Psychology. Starting early allows you to gain lab skills and become familiar with a research topic — experience that can translate into higher quality independent work. This path is especially useful for students who are interested in a career in science.
When you declare Psychology as your major at the end of your Sophomore year, you will meet with the department Undergraduate Program Manager, who will provide you with orientation information including about finding an advisor. You will also receive e-mail messages early in your Junior year reminding you to search for an advisor.
As a Psychology concentrator, you will have access to relevant materials in the Lewis Science Library and the Psychology librarian, Meghan Testerman. The Department also offers ongoing statistical consultations tutoring, as well as other statistics-related help and resources.
Contacts
Career Paths
Psychology is a unique science because it is applicable to such a large range of career paths. Students who graduate from the Department of Psychology follow more career options than students from any other science department.