Honours Psychology (BSc)

Admission Requirements

Students are initially admitted to Life Sciences where their first year is tailored towards building a foundation in Science and Psychology through completion of the Honours Psychology (BSc) admission requirements.

Once these admission requirements are completed, students will declare their Honours Psychology (BSc), Regular or Co-op major. More information on how to declare the Honours Psychology (BSc) major will be provided in late February/early March of the 1B Winter term. Please connect with the Psychology - Science advisor for any questions.

The admission requirements for Honours Psychology (BSc) are as listed: 

• minimum 60% cumulative Overall average, minimum 60% cumulative Science average, and minimum 75% cumulative Psychology average

• PSYCH101/PSYCH101R
• One of PSYCH207, PSYCH211, PSYCH238, PSYCH253/PSYCH253R, PSYCH257/PSYCH257R, PSYCH261
• MATH127, MATH128
• CHEM120 , CHEM120L, CHEM123 , CHEM123L
• BIOL130, BIOL130L and one 0.5 BIOL unit at 100- or 200-level (exclusive of BIOL225 and BIOL280)

The Honours Psychology (BSc), Co-op major has an additional admission requirement:

• successful completion of 5.5 to 7.0 academic units and the above admission requirements by Fall 2A term

Please note that admission to Honours Psychology (BSc), Co-op from a regular (non-co-op) program is not possible after the beginning of the Fall 2A term. For students in level 2A or above, only those who move from another co-op program are eligible for Honours Psychology (BSc), Co-op.

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Psychology Courses

After taking PSYCH 101 and a second Psychology course in their first year, students will complete their remaining Psychology course requirements during their Honours Psychology (BSc) program. Please refer to the Undergraduate Calendar to find out more about the PSYCH courses required for a specific calendar year. 

As this program is co-advised, Honours Psychology (BSc) students can connect with the Psychology - Arts advisor to review their Psychology course requirements. 

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Once admitted to the Honours Psychology (BSc) program, students can choose between BIOL, CHEM, EARTH, MNS, PHYS, and SCI to count towards their Science elective credits.

When choosing courses, we advise students to consider if they are working towards meeting the requirements for a professional school, aiming to take specific upper year courses which have prerequisites or if they are looking to take courses for interest. 

Once students determine their goals, they can decide which courses are more appropriate for any given term based on pre-requisites and when courses are typically offered. 

As this program is co-advised, Honours Psychology (BSc) students can connect with the Psychology - Science advisor to review their Science electives.

The visual course maps* are available for five Science subjects of study. These course maps provide an overview of which courses may be appropriate to take based on areas of interest. 

• Biology Course Map 
• Chemistry Course Map 
• Earth Sciences Course Map 
• Materials and Nanosciences Course Map 
• Physics Course Map 

* Accessible versions of course maps available here (Word document will download first):

• Biology Accessible Version
• Chemistry Accessible Version
• Earth Sciences Accessible Version
• Materials and Nanosciences Accessible Version
• Physics Accessible Version

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Program requirements are generally based on the year students begin their studies in the Faculty of Science. Make sure to view the correct program requirements in the archived calendar for the appropriate year.

• Requirement checklist for Honours Psychology (BSc) (2021/2022/2023 calendar requirements) 

• Requirement checklist for Honours Psychology BSc (2018/2019/2020 calendar requirements)

• Requirement checklist for Honours Psychology (BSc) (2016/2017 calendar requirements)

Since this program is co-advised, students are advised to send their completed degree checklist to the Psychology - Science advisor to review their Science and general elective requirements and to the Psychology - Arts advisor to review their Psychology course requirements. 

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Honours Psychology (BSc), Co-op students need to successfully complete a minimum of four work terms as well as PD1, PD11, and two additional PD courses of their choosing to fulfill their co-op requirements.

Students following the 2021-2022 Undergraduate Calendar or later have five scheduled work terms and their first co-op work term is in the Spring term of their second year. Students following the 2020-2021 calendar or earlier have four scheduled work terms in their sequence. Please ensure to view the correct Undergraduate Calendar year when reviewing the study/work sequence and co-op requirements.

Sequence Change Requests

Honours Psychology (BSc), Co-op students are expected to follow the program sequence and it is their responsibility to apply to co-op opportunities that align with their sequence (e.g. a Spring four-month job posting for their Spring four-month work term).

If students are considering a sequence change in order to meet their academic or co-op requirements, they can submit a sequence change request for consideration. Minor requirements and/or elective course planning are not applicable for sequence change requests. 

After reviewing the information linked below as well as the important points found on the second page of the sequence change form, students are advised to email a completed sequence change request form to the Psychology - Science advisor for approval. Students will be contacted via email once their sequence change request form has been reviewed. Please note that all sequences must end on a study term and not all sequence changes are possible.

*Please note that sequence change requests to convert the first co-op work term into an eight-month work term will not be approved. All work/study sequences in Science begin with a four-month co-op term and the required Psychology course offerings are aligned to the standard program sequence. In addition, the four-month co-op terms provide Honours Psychology (BSc), Co-op students the opportunity to develop skills and build experience to prepare for the future eight-month co-op term that is already built into the program sequence.

*Please note that sequence change requests to remove a work term will be considered, provided students have secured employment for their fourth work term. Students can plan to take courses that are typically offered on their scheduled study terms and/or decide to take a 0.5 unit lecture during a work term to support their course planning. However, requesting to remove the fifth work term (Year 5 Fall) can be an option for Honours Psychology (BSc), Co-op students who are on track to complete their fourth work term requirement and wish to introduce an additional Fall study term into their sequence. 

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Career Advising and Further Education

By connecting with Career Advisors and Further Education advisors at the Centre for Career Development, Honours Psychology (BSc) students can learn more about potential careers that fit their interests and goals and receive support and guidance as they navigate professional and graduate school applications.

Students are invited to check out the links below to find out how to get started on their career plan and learn more about how further education can fit into their career path. 

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Need help?

For questions about the Honours Psychology (BSc) admission requirements or the program's Science and general elective requirements, feel free to email science.psychology@uwaterloo.ca to connect with the Psychology - Science advisor. 

For questions regarding the PSYCH course requirements and PSYCH course planning, please email cenver@uwaterloo.ca to connect with the Psychology - Arts advisor.