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Home Department of Psychology Graduate MSGP Courses

MSGP Courses

Students are involved in one of the following programs of study: cognitive psychology, clinical psychology, or behavioral neuroscience. See below for sample course plans.

Notes about course work

The number of specific course requirements in this program has been kept to a minimum, to maximize the amount of flexibility students have in adapting the program to their interests and goals. All Courses are ON GROUND, DAYTIME classes.

Students must complete a total approved program of 33 credit hours if they elect to do a thesis or 36 credit hours if they choose a Specialty Review Paper.

Students may take any number of credits they want each semester. However, students who have been given a graduate assistantship must be full-time.

  • Students must maintain a B average to remain in the program. 
  • There are two required research and statistics courses all program members must pass. 
  • Actual classes offered and seats available to MSGP students vary based on department and faculty availability.

Admission to the MSGP program does not require students to take any minimum number of credits per semester. The only constraint upon the pace at which the student pursues the degree is that credits more than six years old may not be counted toward the degree. 

Required Courses

Research Methods and Statistics

Students are required to take the following statistics courses. It is recommended that students take these in the first year of the program.

  • 7301 Research Methods (3 hrs)
  • 7302 Advanced Statistics I (3 hrs)

Breadth Courses

Students must take at least two "breadth courses." Options include:

  • 7207 Developmental Psychology (3 hrs)
  • 7217 Social Psychology (3 hrs)
  • 7219 Social and Personality Development (3 hrs)
  • 7222 Human Memory (3 hrs)
  • 7303 Advanced Statistics II
  • 7407 Cognition and Emotion (3 hrs)
  • 7412 Psychopathology (3 hrs)
  • 7416 Child Psychopathology (3 hrs)
  • 7701 Behavioral Neuroscience I (3 hrs)
  • 7705 Neuropsychopharmacology (3 hrs)
  • 7800 Introduction to School Psychology (3 hrs)

*Note: There are other options for breadth courses, including those in other departments. Course availability varies by semester. Priority may be given to more advanced students. Students can search the graduate catalog for more details about offered courses. 

Thesis

  • PSYC 7996 Thesis Hours
    • Students are required to take 3 hours of thesis credits during the semester they plan to graduate. It is required that students take at least 1 thesis credit per semester until they complete the program.

Specialty Review Paper

  • PSYC 7997 SRP Hours
    • Students who opt to complete an SRP instead of a thesis, need to take 3 hours of SRP credits in the semester in which they plan to graduate. It is required that students take at least 1 SRP credit per semester until they complete the program.

Additional course options

  • PSYC 7621 Research Practicum: First Year Colloquium
    • Required for all incoming PhD students. Offered once each year in the fall and may be useful to MSGP students in their second year. More info coming soon!
  • PSYC 7621 Research Practicum: Professional Development
    • This is a new course that was designed with first year MSGP students in mind! It covers topics like the transition from undergrad to grad, academic writing, networking, building a professional identity, and more. It is highly recommended (likely to be required soon). Click here for more details about the course content. 
  • PSYC 7601; 7603; 7606 Research practicum
    • Students are encouraged to discuss enrolling in these research practicum or research hours under their major professor. These are hours that will count toward your overall credit requirement and can be used to work on research in your lab or research relevant to your thesis project. 

The proposed program of courses for each student must be approved by the MSGP Program Director & the student's faculty advisor. Courses which fit these goals and objectives may be in Psychology or other departments in the university.

Each semester student grades will be reviewed and added to the student record. At the end of each year, students will be required to turn in a progress form, signed by their faculty advisor, stating their accomplishments and intentions for the following year.

The following evaluation procedures will be employed:

  1. It is expected that the student will have demonstrated a satisfactory level of performance as specified in the Graduate Student Handbook provided by the Department of Psychology. Students who are not in good academic standing must institute an appeal with supporting letters to the Program Director for consideration of continuance in the program. The program director will consult with the MSGP committee and cases will be considered on an individual basis.
  2. Students with grades below a B resulting in a GPA  below a 3.00 will be put on academic probation. Students are given two semesters to raise their GPA. (Please see the psychology graduate student handbook for more information.)

Other Requirements

  1. During the first year in the program, it is expected that the student will, in consultation with the program director or major professor, have decided on goals and objectives for the remainder of the course of study. Courses that fit these goals and objectives may be in Psychology or other departments in the university. Students who are not in good academic standing at this time must institute an appeal with supporting letters to the program director and the MS in General Psychology committee for consideration of continuance in the program. Such cases will be considered on an individual basis. Also, for both semesters in the first year, all MS in General Psychology students must attend weekly colloquium series to acquaint them with issues of research and professional ethics and professional opportunities in the department and in the discipline.
  2. A total approved program of 33 credit hours if the student elects to do a thesis, or 36 credit hours with a Specialty Review Paper. Students electing to write a thesis should familiarize themselves with the Thesis/Dissertation Preparation Guide before beginning to write. Students electing to write a specialty review paper should familiarize themselves with the guidelines for this paper, available in the Psychology graduate handbook.
  3. For students not conducting a thesis, a specialty review paper covering the student's area(s) of focus will be completed during the last semester in the program.