The psychology major at University Park (UP) is similar to Altoona’s, and students can transfer to UP after the first two years. However, the major at UP is a controlled major, and students will need to know the requirements to be admitted. Specifically, you must complete the following courses by the end of fourth semester with a grade of C or better:
- PSYCH 100
- STAT 200
- Additional three credits of GQ
- Additional three credits of GS
In addition, you must also have (a) completed 27.1 credits, (b) a cum GPA of at least 2.0 in all classes, and (c) a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 in courses attempted for the major.
Important! The College of Liberal Arts, which houses the UP psychology degree, has mandated that students transferring to UP should take no more than thirteen credits of major courses at their starting campuses. This means that if you are planning to transfer to UP for your junior year, you should not take more than PSYCH 100 and three other PSYCH courses.
The program at UP is much larger and thus provides a greater variety of courses to choose from and a larger number of faculty to work with. The program at Altoona allows students to work more closely with faculty and to have smaller classes with more personal attention. Your degree in both cases will be from Penn State with the only difference being that the UP program will say College of Liberal Arts and the Altoona program will say Altoona College. Discuss the pros and cons of each program with your adviser.
