Approved Barnard Courses

For students completing the old major or concentration:  The old Columbia Psychology Major (for students who entered Columbia prior to Fall 2020) requires the completion of at least 30 points, including one course in each of categories 1 – 7 below. You may complete up to 9 points toward the old Psychology Major (or 5 points toward the old Psychology Concentration) with a combination of approved Barnard or transfer credits.

For students completing the new major or concentration: The new Columbia Psychology Major (for students who entered Columbia Fall 2020 or later) requires the completion of at least 11 courses, including one in each of categories 1-8 below.  You may complete up to 5 of these courses outside of the Columbia Psychology dept.  Barnard courses are considered to be outside of the Columbia Psychology Department.  For the new Psychology Concentration which requires 7 courses, 3 can be taken outside of the Columbia Psychology dept.

You will not receive credit for courses that overlap substantially with other courses you have taken in our department. Please refer to the table of Overlapping Courses for a partial list of Barnard courses known to overlap with our courses.

The table below lists the eight requirements of the new Columbia Psychology Major (the first seven also apply to the old major).  Under each you will find a list of all Barnard courses pre-­­approved as meeting that requirement. The same courses may be used for the comparable requirements of the concentration. Barnard courses listed as elective courses may only be applied toward the total point requirements of the major or concentration, not toward any of the specific requirements.  All Barnard PSYC and NSBV courses are approved as Columbia Psychology Dept electives for the major or concentration, even if they do not appear on the list below.

1. The Science of Psychology: PSYC UN1001, S1001, or BC1001.

2. Statistics: PSYC UN1610 (recommended), or STAT UN1001, UN1101, or UN1201.

3. Laboratory: Any course numbered in the UN1400's.

**Beginning Fall 2019, Barnard Lab courses will not count towards the Research Methods requirement of the Psychology Major or Concentration.**

If you took a Barnard Lab course prior to Fall 2019 and were planning to use it toward the Laboratory requirement of the Psychology Major, please consult with your Major advisor.

4. Group I. Perception & Cognition: 2200's, 3200's, or 4200's. Also UN1420, UN1480, or UN1490.

Barnard has update some of their course numbers from 1000 level courses to 2000 level courses. They are the same courses but with updated course numbers. We have included both the old course numbers and the new course numbers in the list below. 

5. Group II. Psychobiology & Neuroscience: 2400's, 3400's, or 4400's. Also UN1010.

Barnard has update some of their course numbers from 1000 level courses to 2000 level courses. They are the same courses but with updated course numbers. We have included both the old course numbers and the new course numbers in the list below. 

6. Group III. Social, Personality, & Abnormal: 2600's, 3600's, or 4600's. Also UN1450 or UN1455.

Barnard has update some of their course numbers from 1000 level courses to 2000 level courses. They are the same courses but with updated course numbers. We have included both the old course numbers and the new course numbers in the list below. 

7. Seminar Requirement: 3000-­­ or 4000-­­level seminar of at least 3 credits. (Not UN3910, UN3920, or UN3950)

8. Special Elective Courses: 

For students entering Columbia in Fall 2020 or later, one course must be taken to fulfill the integrative/applied Special Elective.

The Special Elective encompasses a wide range of courses: those that cut across and connect different sub-disciplines within psychology; those that integrate psychology with other disciplines; those that apply psychology to real-world problems; those that dig deeper into advanced statistics and methods topics; and those that offer hands-on experience with psychology research.

9. Elective Courses: The following courses may be applied toward the 30-­­point requirement of the major, but have not been approved for any of the above specific requirements. For the new major requirements, these courses may be used to reach the 11 course requirement. 

All Barnard PSYC and NSBV courses can count as an elective for the PSYC concentration or major (up to each program's limits on Barnard/transfer courses). If you are interested in taking a new Barnard course that is not yet on this list and you would like it reviewed to see which requirements (if any) it might count toward, please send a syllabus to your DUS for review before enrolling in the course

No more than 4 points of Supervised individual research (PSYC UN3950, UN3920 and UN3910) may be taken in any one term, and no more than 8 points total of research and field work courses (including PSYC UN3950, UN3920, UN3910, BC3466, BC3473, BC3592 and BC3599) may be applied toward the major. Under the new 11-course major, research courses must be taken for 3 or 4 points in order to count toward the major; a maximum of 2 such courses may be applied toward the major.

*Courses marked with (*) overlap with courses within the Columbia Psychology Department. Credit towards the major cannot be received for any courses that overlaps with a course previously taken. Please refer to the table of overlapping courses here.