Registration

Registration Policy

The Department of Psychology offers popular courses that students across WWU, regardless of major, often want to take. To ensure that intended psychology, human development, and behavioral neuroscience students can access required courses in a timely manner, most PSY courses are major restricted (MJ). To gain access to PSY courses, please declare/complete prerequisites as follows:

PSY Course(s) Required Declaration

PSY 101

No declaration required
PSY 203 Declared psychology/HD/BNS interest/pre-major*/major/minor + 44+ completed credits and successful completion/transfer of PSY 101 (C- or better; 3+ AP score)

PSY 210-250, 274

Declared psychology/HD/BNS interest/pre-major*/major/minor + successful completion/transfer of PSY 101 (C- or better; 3+ AP score)

PSY 305

Declared psychology/human development major

PSY 306; 310-378

Declared psychology/human development major + successful completion of PSY 305

PSY 307

Declared psychology/human development major + successful completion of PSY 306

PSY 410-472

Declared psychology/human development major + successful completion of PSY 307

 

Exceptions include:

PSY Course(s) Exception
PSY 203 During the first 7 days of Phase I, this course is restricted to psych interest, minor, pre-major*, and BNS interest and pre-major students. Restriction will be lifted to include KIN, PE, and public health interest, pre-major, and major students at 9AM on day 8. All restrictions (not prerequisites) will be lifted on the first day of Phase II registration.
PSY 210-250, 274 During Phase I, course is restricted to students who have declared: psychology interest, pre-major*, minor, or major; BNS interest, pre-major, or major; KIN, PE, and public health interest, pre-major, or major; sport psych minor; human development major. All restrictions (not prerequisites) will be lifted on the first day of Phase II.

PSY 305-472

No exceptions available


*The psychology pre-major has been retired.

Frequently Asked Questions: Before You Register

Determine how many total credits you have completed via Web4U Unofficial Transcript or your Degree Works worksheet.

Based on the number of total credits completed, determine your registration date and time.

Visit ClassFinder  or Browse Classes to plan future schedules. Utilize your Degree Works worksheet hyperlinks to determine available GURs, minor, major, and university requirements by upcoming quarter. 

To review a future schedule, please connect with a department advisor and/or contact your faculty advisor to set up an appointment. Not sure who your faculty advisor is? Check Degree Works

No. All math required for psych and HD will be provided within the major. Elementary education, however, does have math requirements; for more information please reach out to ElEd@wwu.edu.

If you have AP General Psych credit that hasn't transferred over fully, please:

  1. submit your official scores to the Registrar's Office, and
  2. send a copy of your scores (jpeg/image are fine) to Rochelle.Robinson@wwu.edu to request a 200-level course override.

If you have a transfer PSY course from another institution that is showing up as 1XX or 2XX, AND has a name almost identical to a psych course offered at Western, there is a good chance it needs to be evaluated for equivalency by the department. To have a course reviewed, complete the Transfer Equivalency Request Form 

Please note: Transfer credit evaluations from other institutions MUST be completed prior to the start of Phase I registration. This process can take approx. three weeks 

If you need to repeat a course contact Rochelle.Robinson@wwu.edu to request an override code. Please note: Most course repeats occur during summer quarter and/or become available during Phase 3.

Because interest students apply directly to the psychology or human development major, we do not offer a pre-major option. For Veteran students who need "pre-major" declaration, the Psychology Department instead adds a Degree Works worksheet note that outlines remaining requirements, e.g.,:

"Once student has applied and been admitted to the psychology major, they will have 40 UD PSY credits left to successfully complete and meet major requirements. In addition, they need 20 total UD credits beyond major requirements. Currently, this student is enrolled in courses that contribute to the overall 180 total and upper-division credits (13 credits @ the 300-level) required for graduation with an additional 7 upper-division and 5 elective credits left to fulfill (128 + 40 + 7 + 5 = 180)."

To have a note added, please contact Rochelle.Robinson@wwu.edu.

297/397 represent temporary course numbers. For example, PSY 297A was the temporary number for PSY 203 Research Methods.

Overrides are required to utilize a temporary numbered course to gain access via pre-req. E.g., An override is required to register for PSY 305 if a student completed PSY 297A vs. 203.

Presently, PSY 397V Culture and Human Development serves as a pre-req for PSY 430 Seminar in Developmental Psychology and will require an override code for registration. Please reach out to Rochelle.Robinson@wwu.edu for all override requests.

2024 Fall A&R Psych Info Session (11-11:30AM) + Afternoon Drop-In Advising w/ Rochelle (3-4PM)

 

https://wwu-edu.zoom.us/j/92152663919?pwd=Nk9jbmM2elpuZFlncVhOVWo0WjhKdz09

Meeting ID: 921 5266 3919
Passcode: 762676

 

 

Course Info

PSY 203 prerequisites: PSY 101 and sophomore or higher standing

PSY 210-250 prerequisites: PSY 101

 

The Psychology Department has Phase I restrictions for PSY 203, 210-250 courses:

During Phase I, course is restricted to students who

have declared: psych interest, minor, or major;

BNS interest, pre-major, or major; Kinesiology

Public Health interest, pre-major, or major.

Sport Psych minor; Human Development major.

All restrictions will be lifted by at 9am when Phase II begins (Wednesday, September 4).

 

For Fall A&R, please note:

  • Students who meet pre-reqs and have a PSY, BNS, KIN, or public health interest showing on their academic history WILL be able to enroll in PSY 200-level courses during Phase I
  • Keep in mind that students may update their academic interest in Web4U. If they change their interest to one of the above, and meet the PSY 101 and credit pre-reqs, they will be able to register.
  • If students have concerns about an equivalent 101 transfer (AP credit, etc.) please have them email Rochelle.Robinson@wwu.edu
  • Seats have been saved in all PSY 203 and 210-250 sections for incoming transfer students, which will release each day of Fall A&R. Additional seats are also available. *It is the priority of the Psych Department to ensure our transfer students have a productive first schedule that sets them up to apply to the major ASAP*
  • We encourage incoming DTA students to enroll in two 200-level psych courses (203 especially important) and one course outside of psychology to help contribute to upper-division graduation requirements

99% of the time, yes, students will need to successfully complete PSY 306 even if they have taken a general stats course previously. That said, if you transfer in a psychology stats course from a 4-year institution, there is a chance it will be evaluated as equivalent to WWU's PSY 306. To have that type of course evaluated, please submit a Transfer Equivalency Request Form.

Frequently Asked Questions: How to Register

To register for 200-level psych courses you will want to update your academic interest: Web4U> Students> Update Academic Interest Form. You can indicate two interests.

Major declaration opens during week one of fall, winter, and spring quarters.

To declare or drop a minor in psychology please complete Section I of the Minor Declaration and Change Form and forward to robins63@wwu.edu, see the Signatures & Attachments box.

Log into Web4U and utilize Registration, where you will input CRNs for the courses you intend to take.

Ways to productively fill your schedule:

  1. Complete all GURs, including your MATH
  2. Complete all PSY 200-levels
  3. Complete the 20 upper-division credits required for graduation that the psychology major will not fulfill; these courses might be random or apply to a minor/double major
    • explore upper-division courses that request few to no prerequisites here
    • explore potential minor/double major options here
  4. Take elective courses that bring your total completed credits, including the 40 remaining upper-division psych major credits, to meet the total 180 credits required for graduation.
Example Credit Breakdown
  _____ total credits after the current quarter
  _____ remaining GUR credits
  _____ remaining psych major credits (75 total; 40 UD)
+ _____ remaining upper-division (UD) credits (20 total)
  _____ total credits at graduation (180 minimum)

 

In the event that you are already declared in another major/certification program but still intend to minor/major in psych/HD you will run into issues registering for PSY 200-level courses. To bypass these issues:

  1. declare the minor; your declaration form should be processed in 1-3 business days, or
  2. request overrides until you can apply and are accepted to the psychology major
    • please send all course override requests to Rochelle.Robinson@wwu.edu, including reason for needing the override, W#, and specific course CRN

The Department of Psychology relies on the function of WWU registration intentionally. This will mean that, at some point while completing the major, students will not be able to register for a course they want because it has filled before their assigned Phase I registration date/time. Often, we encourage students to attempt to join the course the following quarter, as long as it is being offered.

For PSY 305, the system is slightly different. New majors are told in no uncertain terms that claiming a seat the quarter after declaration is not guaranteed. Just like any other course, limited seats are available, and students with the most credits—who register on time—will claim 305 seats first. There are two caveats to this rule: 1) priority registration and 2) previous quarter declaration.

Students who utilize priority registration to claim a seat in PSY 305 are effectively “jumping the credit line.” Yes, they will gain access to 305 before other majors and yes, the following quarter—as long as they successfully complete PSY 305 with a C- or better—they will have access to PSY 306 and other Block 300-level psych course. Registration for PSY 306, however, is directly tied to PSY 305. If 90 seats are offered in PSY 305 in the winter and 80 seats are offered in PSY 306 the follow spring, there will be a 10-student demand for the course, i.e., 10 students will be on the 306 waitlist. The students on the 306 waitlist will be the students with the least amount of credits who did not utilize priority registration. This is why we do not over enroll PSY 305-307: there is always a trickle-down effect.

Students who declare the major with a lower amount of credits often wait one quarter to claim a seat on PSY 305. When this occurs, seats are saved to ensure those students only have to wait one quarter to enroll in PSY 305. Depending on the total number of credits, this does not preclude the chance they will have to wait for 306 as well—when students have a low number of total credits they have much flexibility in their schedule.

As we work to help students access the major earlier, one of the outcomes is that folks might hit a quarter or two where they can’t take the classes they want that quarter. Rather than waiting to get into the major and racing toward the end, they get into the major earlier (and do not have to guess at whether they will be able to major in psychology). However, there are enough classes to be certain that folks graduate in a timely manner. This is a benefit of our registration system being driven by accumulated credits -- students most in need of being able to register for a class are able to enroll first.