Psychology, Bachelor of Science (accelerated masters degree option)
VCU
The Bachelor of Science in Psychology curriculum reflects the discipline’s major functions- scientific research, teaching, acting as a healing profession and raising philosophical questions about the assumptions, values, and ideals of human beings and their societies, which reflects psychology’s origin in philosophy. Through a core set of requirements, the student systematically develops understanding and skill in scientific methods of inquiry, focusing on the human mind and behavior. To fulfill degree requirements, students may pursue the standard curriculum by selecting courses from four content areas that introduce students to the healing and philosophical sides of psychology and provide a broad understanding of the field as a whole; or the student may apply to one of several more focused concentrations that draw upon the special strengths of the VCU Department of Psychology.
Some students may choose to study psychology because they enjoy the subject and wish to pursue careers requiring “any major.” In this scenario, it is critical to develop desirable skills through internships, part-time or summer jobs, or volunteer experiences. Some skills valued most by employers include communication, interpersonal leadership, teamwork, and computer skills. Other students may major in psychology because they want to work in a related field.
Many entry-level helping positions are available, however the amount of direct client contact is limited for those who only have a bachelor’s degree. Students may wish to pursue graduate education in psychology, social work, counseling, college student personnel, or other fields to increase opportunities and earning potential. Graduates can also find work with programs such as Americorps, PeaceCorps, Fulbright Student Program, or City Year.
- Adult Learning and Instruction
- Human Resources Specialist
- Market Research Analyst
- Marketing Specialist
- Public Relations Specialist
- Recruiter
- Sales Representative
- Social and Human Services Assistant
- Social Science Research Assistant
- Training and Development Specialist
- Attorney
- Counselor
- Higher Education Administrator
- Psychologist
- Researcher
- Therapist
Telephone: (804) 827-1349
Email: transferinfo@vcu.edu
VCCS Transfer Planning Checklist
Telephone: (804) 828-1222 or (800) 841-3638
Email: ugrad@vcu.edu
Apply Here.
Completion of associate degree
Minimum GPA of 2.5
All courses must be completed with a grade of "C" or better
- STAT 210
- Natural Sciences requirement only
- Yes
- No
- 2.0+ cumulative GPA, 2.0+ major GPA
Psychology, Bachelor of Science (accelerated masters degree option)
Germanna Community College (Associate of Arts and Sciences: General Studies, Psychology Specialization)
MAXIMIZE COURSE AND DEGREE PLANNING | GET CONNECTED WITH YOUR COMMUNITY | DEVELOP CULTURAL AGILITY | EXPLORE CAREERS AND DEVELOP ESSENTIAL SKILLS | PREPARING FOR LIFE AFTER COLLEGE | ||
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Explore | Year 1 |
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Experience | Year 2 |
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MAXIMIZE COURSE AND DEGREE PLANNING
GET CONNECTED WITH YOUR COMMUNITY
- Get involved with student clubs and organizations.
- Volunteer for service learning or community service projects.
- Learn about the transfer admission process for VCU.
- Explore the Psychology department website.
DEVELOP CULTURAL AGILITY
- Attend diversity-focused events on campus.
- Identify a mentor in a diversity organization.
EXPLORE CAREERS AND DEVELOP ESSENTIAL SKILLS
- Get involved with a professional or student organization.
- Visit career services to begin cultivating your own virtual brand across all social media profiles.
- Browse careers related to psychology through the career coach.
- Explore the community college’s iGrad’s Job Genius Search Engine to look into building a career and financial future.
- Create Linkedln profile.
PREPARING FOR LIFE AFTER COLLEGE
- Use SDV 100 to create a weekly and monthly budget.
- Develop personal and career goals and create SMART steps for 2-3 "dream jobs."
- Work with career services to build resume.
- Take a career assessment through the career coach.
- Assess your preparation for a career by completing a Gap Analysis.
MAXIMIZE COURSE AND DEGREE PLANNING
- Be prepared for academic challenges in your classes. Use tutoring resources to get ahead.
- Research scholarship opportunities and explore your eligibility for the Two-Year College Transfer Grant.
- Use Navigate to remain on your pathway.
- Visit the VCU Psychology department website to become familiar with upcoming course offerings, syllabi, and professors.
- Explore the accelerated BS to MEd in Counselor Education program.
- Review the concentrations of the BS degree.
GET CONNECTED WITH YOUR COMMUNITY
- Visit the VCU campus and attend a transfer admission session.
- Research housing for next year.
- Join a professional organization related to psychology: American Psychological Association, Association for Psychological Science.
- Attend a talk or other event sponsored by the VCU Psychology department, consider joining a VCU club, or meeting with VCU students to make professional and personal connections.
DEVELOP CULTURAL AGILITY
- Consider learning a foreign language to open doors to international organizations and future study.
- Learn about short-term, semester and year-long study abroad options.
- Get involved with service-learning opportunities.
- Attend VCU cultural events, including the monthly Global Café, VCU Diversity Scholars in Research week, or Psychology department-related events.
- Become familiar with OMSA at VCU.
EXPLORE CAREERS AND DEVELOP ESSENTIAL SKILLS
- Find out about VCU REAL and learn about REAL graduation requirement.
- Attend Career & Internship Fairs throughout the year.
- Acquire career related experience (e.g., job, internship, organization involvement).
- Run for leadership in your student organization.
- If your GPA is 3.5 or higher, consider applying for the VCU Honors College.
PREPARING FOR LIFE AFTER COLLEGE
- Consider who you would like to have serve as professional and academic references for future letters of recommendation.
- Conduct informational interviews or shadow someone in a field of career interest.
- Use the cost calculator to estimate your tuition/fees as an upperclassman at VCU.
- Take advantage of free Financial Aid counseling.
- Using LinkedIn, connect to at least 10 people. Check out the VCU alumni page in My Network.
- Explore the types of aid available at VCU.
Psychology, Bachelor of Science (accelerated masters degree option)
Germanna Community College (Associate of Arts and Sciences: General Studies, Psychology Specialization)
Course | Title | Equivalent course | Credits | Requirements |
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SDV 100 | College Success Skills | UNIV 101 | 1 | Elective |
ENG 111 | College Composition I Note: students with credit for AP English Language and Composition will only receive credit for UNIV 111 at VCU and should take ENG 112 to fulfill the VCU composition requirement. | UNIV 111-112 | 3 | General education |
MTH 154 | Quantitative Reasoning | MATH 131 | 3 | General education |
PSY 200 | Principles of Psychology | PSYC 101 | 3 | Major |
BIO 101 | General Biology I | BIOL/Z 151 | 4 | Major (Ancillary) |
ENG 112 | College Composition II | UNIV 200 | 3 | General education |
PSY 230 | Developmental Psychology (fulfills developmental psychology requirement for major) | PSYC 304 | 3 | Major |
MTH 245 | Statistics I | STAT 210 | 3 | Major (Ancillary) |
BIO 102 | General Biology II | BIOL/Z 152 | 4 | Major (Ancillary) |
PSY | Psychology elective (select 1): PSY 216, 225 (fulfills social/personality psychology requirement) | PSYC | 3 | Major |
PSY elective | PSY 215 Abnormal Psychology (fulfills self-development/applied psychology requirement) | PSYC 407 | 3 | Major |
Social science | Social science elective (select 1): ECO 201, ECO 202, PLS 211, PLS 241, SOC 200 | VCU equivalent | 3 | General education |
Humanities | Humanities elective (select 1): ART 101, 102, 106, HUM 100, REL | VCU Equivalent | 3 | General education |
ENG | Literature elective (select 1): ENG 241, 242, 243, 244, 251, 252 | ENGL | 3 | General education |
HIS | History elective (select 1): HIS 101, 102, 111, 112, 121, 122 | HIST | 3 | General education |
ITE 115 | Introduction to Computer Applications and Concepts | INFO 160, 161, 162 | 3 | Elective |
PSY | Psychology elective | PSYC | 3 | Elective |
Humanities/Fine Arts | Humanities/Fine Arts elective (select 1): ART 101, 102, ENG 241, 242, 243, 244, 251, 252, HUM 100, MUS 121, PHI 101, 220, REL | VCU equivalent | 3 | General education |
Social science | Social science elective (select 1): ECO 201, ECO 202, HIS 101, HIS 102, HIS 121, HIS 122, PLS 211, PLS 241 | VCU Equivalent | 3 | General education |
HIS | History elective (select 1): HIS 101, 102, 111, 112, 121, 122 | HIST | 3 | General education |
Germanna credits transferred to VCU | 60 |
Course | Title | Credits | Requirements |
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Foreign language through the 102 level. (This requirement can be fulfilled by means of completion of the 102-level of a language or waived if the student completed up through the third level of a foreign language in high school. Additionally, language waiver and placement testing options are available for native or heritage speakers of a non-english language.) | 0 to 8 | General education (not waived by associate degree) | |
PSYC 214 | Applications of Statistics | 3 | Major |
PSYC 317 | Experimental Methods | 3 | Major |
PSYC 451 | History of Psychology | 3 | Major |
PSYC | Physiological/learning psychology requirement (select 1): PSYC 401, PSYC 406, or PSYC 410 | 3 | Major |
PSYC | Psychology upper-level elective(300- or 400-level courses) | 3 | Major |
PSYC | Psychology upper-level elective(300- or 400-level courses) | 3 | Major |
PSYC | Psychology upper-level elective(300- or 400-level courses) | 3 | Major |
Upper-level electives (300- or 400-level courses): consider a minor or a second major Note: Students must complete a minimum of 45 upper-level credits to graduate from VCU. | 18 | Elective | |
Open electives | 21 | Elective | |
Credits completed at VCU | 60 | ||
Bachelor's degree total | 120 |