Applied Psychology (BS)
Program Description
The Bachelor of Science program in Applied Psychology is an interdisciplinary program designed to teach students to bridge psychological theory, research, and practice to solve everyday problems in a multicultural world. Applied psychologists focus on diverse issues such as learning development, and schooling, race, culture, and ethnicity, sexuality, religion, public health, and mental health and wellness. Applied psychologists work with diverse populations including children and youth, families and communities, educators, as well as practitioners and policymakers across various agencies and other organizations.
The program provides students with practical learning experiences that help them understand the range of work environments in the field of psychology and the many ways that psychology is applied in both research and real-world settings; invaluable knowledge that helps our students make informed career decisions.
The undergraduate major in Applied Psychology combines a broad-based liberal arts component with required courses in counseling/clinical work, developmental, social/community psychology, as well as statistics and research methodology. Specialization electives enable our students to deepen their knowledge on a specific subfield of their choice within psychology or to explore an area of interest in a related discipline.
A two-semester fieldwork sequence offers students the opportunity for professional development and career exploration in research and community-based settings, which helps each student build a portfolio of experience for seeking an entry-level position or pursuing graduate study.
Students who select a supervised field experience in a community-based setting gain essential professional skills as they perform intake interviews at community centers, mentor children or adolescents in schools or after-school programs, or volunteer in hospital settings. Students who select the research option gain essential research skills such as collecting, coding, and analyzing data. Applied psychology students have participated in a number of faculty research projects, including an intervention study bridging home and school practices for culturally and linguistically diverse children, an advocacy research project with young girls who are involved with the juvenile justice system, and an intervention study serving families of youth exhibiting behavioral disorders such as ADHD and ODD.
Students have the opportunity to combine the applied and research options. All Applied Psychology majors conclude their studies with a qualitative research project that integrates the knowledge they have gained through their fieldwork experience with the psychological theory and research learned in their coursework. Select seniors have an opportunity to present their work to fellow students and faculty in a professional forum, the Applied Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference.
Double Majors and Dual Degrees
Applied Psychology majors may double major or minor in another subject, typically in the social science, science, or humanities discipline they choose for their required sequence. Depending on the choice of second major or minor, students may need additional courses beyond the 128 credits required for the bachelor’s degree.
The program also offers a dual degree option, open only to BS majors:
Honors
- Psi Chi National Honor Society in Psychology
- Departmental Honors: Senior Honors Seminar for selected students with at least a 3.5 GPA, culminating in an independent, data-based research project on a topic of your choice within the field of psychology under the mentorship of an Applied Psychology faculty member
Applied Psychology students with a record of exceptional achievement are welcome to apply to our Honors Program. Seniors accepted to the program are required to conduct an independent research project on a topic of their choice under the close mentorship of an Applied Psychology faculty member.
In many cases, the Honors project will be part of a larger project being worked on by a research mentor and their team. Conversely, a student might also develop an original small-scale research project to conduct under the supervision of their research mentor. Students who are accepted into the Honors program will have the opportunity to submit their project for review and presentation to the annual Undergraduate Research Conference website held late in Spring semester.
Please note: Once a student has been accepted into the Honors Program, and they have confirmed their intention to join the program, the student must continue with the program until the end of that semester.
Criteria for Acceptance into Honors Program
Each student's application will be evaluated by three blind reviewers, faculty members, who rate the application on the following areas, from a scale of one to five (5 being the best score):
- Quality of proposed project
- Feasibility of proposed project
- Relevance to the field of Applied Psychology
- Student's academic record
- Evidence of a solid relationship with the research mentor
- Evidence of mentor's commitment to the project
Graduating with Honors
All students in the Honors Program are required to take a two-semester Honors seminar. This seminar must be taken in the Fall and Spring semesters of the Senior year.
To graduate with Honors, students must have a cumulative and major GPA of at least a 3.65 at the time of graduation, as well as an A in both Honors seminars and at least an A- in Seminar in Applied Psychology I and II.
Admissions
New York University's Office of Undergraduate Admissions supports the application process for all undergraduate programs at NYU. For additional information about undergraduate admissions, including application requirements, see How to Apply.