Advising

Welcome to Psychology!

We look forward to meeting you and learning how you envision the psychology major/minor helping you to achieve your professional and personal goals. The Office of Undergraduate Studies in Psychology will be your first stop for all your questions related to the program. The best way to reach us is via email at psychologyDUS@duke.edu.

Once declared, students will be assigned a faculty advisor by the Office of Undergraduate Studies. The assignments may be based on a student's interest in a particular area of psychology or a preference for a particular advisor. Students may indicate their preferences by filling out an Advisor Request Form, however some advisors may not be available due a full roster or sabbatical leave. New majors are encouraged to fill out an advisor request form in parallel with submitting their declaration. Advisor assignments may be changed on the student's request and may also change because of sabbatical leaves and other demands on faculty time. You can see the list of available advisors.

All psychology first majors (AB and BS) will have an assigned faculty advisor with whom they must meet at least once each semester in order to be cleared for enrollment. Second majors (AB2 and BS2) and minors will be advised through their first majors and not through psychology. However, all majors and minors are encouraged to reach out to us at psychologyDUS@duke.edu with any questions they have related to their degrees.

FAQs

A: We want the focus of your work with a faculty member in the major to be on mentoring. Mentoring conversations  help students reflect on the decisions they are making, identify potential goals (academic, personal, professional), and process whether students are choosing courses and extracurricular activities that support their desired goals. Students must meet with their assigned faculty advisor once a semester in order to remove the registration hold on DukeHub.

Support for the nuts and bolts of major requirements and other logistics, called transactional advising, is provided through the Office of Undergraduate Studies. This involves helping students understand specific requirements for degrees offered and logistics around course codes, course offerings, practical steps for applying for practica/independent study/Graduation with Distinction, processing course transfer requests, tracking progress in the major/minor, and connecting to relevant Campus resources. Students can reach out to our office at psychologyDUS@duke.edu.

A: All psychology majors and minors are required to take PSY 101 at Duke, which has been designed to provide a thorough and consistent foundation for students seeking a degree in psychology. Students with AP/IB credit report finding that PSY 101 strengthens their knowledge foundation and goes beyond what they learned in high school. AP or IB will count as PSY 11, which can be used toward Trinity total 34 credit requirement but not for a psychology degree. Read students comments about why taking PSY 101 at Duke makes a difference.

A: No. Although first-year seminars are a great way to explore your interest in psychology, PSY 101 is the official introductory course for majors.

A: Students can use ONE S/U credit towards the AB, BS, or minor degrees in psychology. Students must be aware of the fact that not all instructors will allow their course to be taken on an S/U basis. This will be noted on the Class Attributes section on DukeHub.

A: No. Students must take two separate courses to fulfill these two requirements.

A: No. In most cases, you will need to complete an additional course in statistics.

A: We do not recommend that students pair the psychology major with neuroscience because the fields are very closely related and, because only two courses may be double counted between majors, students will spend most of their time at Duke completing major requirements instead of broadening their education by exploring courses in other fields.

A: We do not recommend that students construct an interdisciplinary major between these closely aligned fields. Any attempt to do so nearly always results in a psychology major with more of a neuroscience focus, and we can’t approve an IDM that essentially comprises one of the two majors. Psychology majors who want to focus more on neuroscience have ample opportunity to take courses cross-listed with neuroscience, especially if they pursue the BS degree and focus on neuroscience courses as their electives.

A: You will find information following this link on our website, including information about funding and support. You can also set up an appointment with our program coordinator to answer specific questions you have. 

A: Yes. You can read some information on our website following this link. We also encourage you to talk to your faculty advisor about your plans. Our program coordinator is also available to help you get started in this process. 

A: Yes. We advertise new opportunities on a daily basis through this linkOur program coordinator is also available to help you think through this process.