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:
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.
Must be taken in consecutive semesters subsequent to completion of APSY-UE 1034
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the program, graduates will:
Demonstrate a broad understanding of psychology as a social and behavioral science, and explore its connection to other disciplines.
Demonstrate a solid scientific and research background, develop critical thinking skills, and apply knowledge gained in lectures and reading to research and the practice of psychology.
Use effective written and oral communication skills to analyze, synthesize, and disseminate information.
Demonstrate readiness to enter the field as a professional as defined by the fieldwork core competencies (i.e., cognitive, behavioral, and communication).
Policies
Program Policies
Course Grade Minimums and Repeat Grade Policies
Students pursuing a major in Applied Psychology must maintain a minimum cumulative and term GPA of 2.0 or higher.
Any grade below a 'C' in major specialization coursework must be repeated. If the student does not receive a 'C+' or better on the second attempt of the major course requirement, the student will be recommended for academic dismissal from the APUG program. A maximum of four (4) major specialization courses may be repeated. The repeated grade will appear on the student's transcript, and both grades will count in the cumulative GPA.
Students who receive grades below 'C' in major specialization coursework will be placed on a Notice of Academic Concern. Students who maintain a cumulative and/or semester GPA below 2.0, but do not have major specialization coursework below a 'C', will be placed on a Notice of Academic Alert. Students whose cumulative and/or semester GPA falls below a 2.0 will be placed on a Notice of Academic Concern.
The student will return to Good Academic Standing when the cumulative and/or semester GPA is at or above 2.0, repeated major coursework has a final grade of 'C+' or better, and they do not have any unrepeated major specialization coursework below a 'C'.
More information on NYU Steinhardt's Academic Standards is available here.
Double-Counting Policy
Students in the Applied Psychology program are able to double-count a maximum of two (2) major courses toward a secondary major requirement, and a maximum of one (1) major course toward a minor requirement.
Satisfactory Academic Progress
Students in the Applied Psychology program must make timely completion of their major requirements to remain in good standing in the program. This includes completing major coursework in the below, unless otherwise communicated and approved by the student's Academic Advisor:
APSY-UE 2 Introduction to Psychology and its Principles - Must be completed by the end of a student's first year (e.g. freshman year)
APSY-UE 10 Developmental Psychology - Must be completed no later than the end of sophomore year
APSY-UE 1050 The Cultures of Psychology - Students can complete the requirement in the second semester of their junior year, or in the first-or-second-semester of their senior year
APSY-UE 25 Research Methods I - Must be completed during a student’s junior year
APSY-UE 1137 Research Methods II - Must be completed after APSY-UE 25 (students can take a gap between RM I and RM II if studying away)
APSY-UE 1034 Professional Development in Applied Psychology - Must be completed prior to APSY-UE 1124 Seminar I; APSY-UE 10 is a co-requisite
APSY-UE 1124 Seminar I - Must be completed second-semester junior year or first-semester senior year
APSY-UE 1125 Seminar II - Must be completed in the semester following APSY-UE 1124 Seminar I
SAHS-UE 1 New Student Seminar - Must be completed during the student's first semester in the APUG Program*
Steinhardt change of majors who successfully complete SAHS-UE 1 in the major they initially matriculated into at NYU are not required to retake SAHS-UE 1 with APUG
Expository Writing Sequence should be completed within the student's first academic year in the APUG Program
More information on Steinhardt's Expository Writing Requirement, and how to satisfy it based on your matriculation status, is available here.
Failure to make timely completion of Applied Psychology major requirements, in addition to maintaining minimum grade and GPA requirements, may result in a review for Notice of Academic Alert, Notice of Academic Concern, or a recommendation for Academic Dismissal.
Requirements for Transfer Students
Students who do not begin their first-year (e.g., freshman year) in the Applied Psychology Undergraduate Program are considered transfer students. This includes:
Steinhardt change of majors to Applied Psychology
Liberal Studies transition students to Applied Psychology
Internal transfers to Applied Psychology from within NYU
External transfers to Applied Psychology from another college or university outside of NYU
Liberal Arts Requirements for Transfer Students
Transfer students have slightly different Liberal Arts requirements from those who were admitted to the program as first-year students.
In addition to the transfer requirements for Expository Writing listed above, transfer students are required to complete or transfer in one course from Foundations of Contemporary Culture (FCC), one course from Scientific Inquiry (FSI), and one ADDITIONAL course from FCC or FSI. Transfer students have an additional 8 credits of Liberal Arts Electives (total 24 credits).
Any point differentials from transfer credits allocated toward Liberal Arts CORE and/or Interdisciplinary Elective Sequence requirements are added or subtracted from the student's Liberal Arts Electives to ensure the student is able to satisfy the minimum 60 credits needed in Liberal Arts Requirements toward their degree.
Major Specialization Requirements for Transfer Students
Per program policy, we allow students to transfer up to 14 credits toward major requirements with equivalencies for APSY-UE 2 Introduction to Psychology and its Principles and APSY-UE 10 Developmental Psychology (both pending syllabi review if non-NYU courses), as well as up to two additional psychology courses (6 total credits) toward the Specialization Elective requirement (for GPH/AP co-majors, this allocation would go toward Co-Major Electives). Any additional psychology-related coursework gets allocated as Liberal Arts Electives.
Any student transferring public health-related coursework can transfer one Core equivalency and one Co-Major Elective equivalency (8 total credits), pending review and approval by Global Public Health. Any additional public health-related coursework will need to be reviewed by their Academic Advisor and Student Affairs to determine if the courses are eligible to count toward Liberal Arts requirements.
External transfer students are able to transfer up to 72 credits of eligible coursework in accordance with University and Steinhardt policies.
Point Differentials in Major Specialization Coursework for Applied Psychology Majors
Any point differentials from transfer credits allocated toward Major Specialization requirements are added or subtracted from the student's Unrestricted Electives to ensure the student is able to satisfy the minimum 68 credits needed in Major Specialization Requirements toward their degree.
Point Differentials in Major Specialization Coursework for Global Public Health/Applied Psychology Co-Majors
As Global Public Health/Applied Psychology co-majors do not have Unrestricted Electives as part of their degree requirements, any point differentials from transfer credits allocated toward major specialization requirements are added or subtracted from the student's Liberal Arts Electives to ensure the student is able to meet the minimum 128 credits needed toward their degree.
For more information or clarification regarding transfer credits, please contact your Academic Advisor.
STEM OPT Benefits for International Students
If you’re an international student, you may be able to work in the United States after graduation for an extended period of time. Most students studying on F-1 visas will be eligible to apply for 12 months of Optional Practical Training (OPT) off-campus work authorization. F-1 students in this program may also be eligible to apply for the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics) OPT extension, allowing you to extend your time in the United States to pursue degree-related work experience for a total of 36 months or 3 years. For more information on who can apply for this extension visit NYU’s Office of Global Services: STEM OPT.