For information about the admission process, including deadlines, visit the Office of Undergraduate Admissions website. Applications can be submitted via the Common Application.
Supporting documents not submitted online should be mailed to:
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
The George Washington University
800 21st St NW Suite 100
Washington, DC 20052
For questions visit undergraduate.admissions.gwu.edu/contact-us.
The following requirements must be fulfilled:
The general requirements stated under Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Undergraduate Programs.
The following program-specific requirements:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required | ||
| Introductory natural science (8 credits): | ||
| BISC 1111 | Introductory Biology: Cells and Molecules | |
| BISC 1112 | Introductory Biology: The Biology of Organisms | |
| Basic analysis (6 credits) | ||
| STAT 1127 | Statistics for the Biological Sciences | |
| MATH 1231 | Single-Variable Calculus I | |
| Basic computation | ||
| One course (3 credits) selected from the following: | ||
| CSCI 1012 | Introduction to Programming with Python | |
| STAT 1129 | Introduction to Computing | |
| Research methods (3 credits): | ||
| PSYC 2101 | Research Methods in Psychology | |
| Gateway courses | ||
| Two courses (6 credits) selected from the following: | ||
| PSYC 2011 | Abnormal Psychology | |
| or PSYC 2011W | Abnormal Psychology | |
| PSYC 2012 | Social Psychology | |
| PSYC 2013 | Developmental Psychology | |
| One course (3 credits) selected from the following: | ||
| PSYC 2014 | Cognitive Psychology | |
| PSYC 2015 | Biological Psychology | |
| BISC 2220 | Developmental Neurobiology | |
| BISC 2320 | Neural Circuits and Behavior | |
| SLHS 2106 | Neural Substrates of Speech, Language, and Hearing | |
| Upper-level breadth | ||
| One course (3 credits) selected from the following: | ||
| PSYC 3112 | Psychology of Adolescence | |
| PSYC 3115 | Developmental Psychopathology | |
| PSYC 3125 | Cross-Cultural Psychology | |
| PSYC 3126 | Multicultural Psychology | |
| or PSYC 3126W | Multicultural Psychology | |
| PSYC 3128 | Health Psychology | |
| PSYC 3132 | Social and Personality Development | |
| PSYC 3170 | Clinical Psychology | |
| PSYC 3173 | Community Psychology | |
| One course (3 credits) selected from the following: | ||
| PSYC 3116 | Brain and Language | |
| PSYC 3118 | Neuropsychology | |
| PSYC 3119 | Cognitive Science in the District | |
| PSYC 3120 | Neuroscience of Consciousness | |
| PSYC 3121 | Memory and Cognition | |
| PSYC 3122 | The Cognitive Neuroscience | |
| PSYC 3123 | Neuroscience of Consciousness | |
| PSYC 3124 | Visual Perception | |
| PSYC 3180 | Seminar in Cognitive Science | |
| SLHS 3133 | Autism | |
| BISC 3320 | Human Neurobiology | |
| Advanced research lab | ||
| One course (4 credits) selected from the following: | ||
| PSYC 4106W | Research Lab in Sensation and Perception | |
| or PSYC 4107W | Research Lab in Cognitive Neuroscience | |
| PSYC 4107W | Research Lab in Cognitive Neuroscience | |
| PSYC 4201W | Research Lab in Clinical/Community Psychology | |
| or PSYC 4202W | Research Lab in Applied Social Psychology | |
| or PSYC 4203W | Research Lab in Developmental Psychology | |
| PSYC 4202W | Research Lab in Applied Social Psychology | |
| PSYC 4203W | Research Lab in Developmental Psychology | |
| Electives | ||
| Four elective Psychology (PSYC) courses (12 credits) numbered 2100 or above. | ||
| Two advanced breadth courses (6 credits) numbered 3000 or above from any of the following departments: ANTH, BISC, CSCI, DATS, PUBH, and SHLS. | ||
In addition to the University General Education Requirement, undergraduate students in Columbian College must complete a further, College-specific general education curriculum—Perspective, Analysis, Communication (G-PAC) as well as the course CCAS 1001 First-Year Experience. Together with the University General Education Requirement, G-PAC engages students in active intellectual inquiry across the liberal arts. Students achieve a set of learning outcomes that enhance their analytical skills, develop their communication competencies, and invite them to participate as responsible citizens who are attentive to issues of culture, diversity, and privilege.
Coursework for the University General Education Requirement is distributed as follows:
-
One course in critical thinking in the humanities.
-
Two courses in critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, or scientific reasoning in the social sciences.
-
One course that has an approved oral communication component.
- One course in quantitative reasoning (must be in mathematics or statistics).
- One course in scientific reasoning (must be in natural and/or physical laboratory sciences).
- UW 1020 University Writing (4 credits).
- After successful completion of UW 1020, 6 credits distributed over at least two writing in the discipline (WID) courses taken in separate semesters. WID courses are designated by a "W" appended to the course number.
Coursework for the CCAS G-PAC requirement is distributed as follows:
- Arts—one approved arts course that involves the study or creation of artwork based on an understanding or interpretation of artistic traditions or knowledge of art in a contemporary context.
- Global or cross-cultural perspective—one approved course that analyzes the ways in which institutions, practices, and problems transcend national and regional boundaries.
- Local or civic engagement—one approved course that develops the values, ethics, disciplines, and commitment to pursue responsible public action.
- Natural or physical science—one additional approved laboratory course that employs the process of scientific inquiry (in addition to the one course in this category required by the University General Education Requirement).
- Humanities—one additional approved humanities course that involves critical thinking skills (in addition to the one course in this category required by the University General Education Requirement).
- CCAS 1001 First-Year Experience
Certain courses are approved to fulfill GPAC requirements in more than one category.
Courses taken in fulfillment of G-PAC requirements may also be counted toward majors or minors. Transfer courses taken prior to, but not after, admission to George Washington University may count toward the University General Education Requirement and G-PAC, if those transfer courses are equivalent to GW courses that have been approved by the University and the College.
Lists of approved courses in the above categories are included on each undergraduate major's page in this Bulletin.
In addition to meeting general requirements stated under University Regulations, to be admitted to the GWU Psychological & Brain Sciences (PBS) Undergraduate Honors Program, the student must 1) have taken at least five graded GWU PBS courses with a minimum PBS grade-point average (GPA) of 3.50, and a minimum GWU GPA of 3.00, and 2) submit a completed application and unofficial GWU transcript from the Registrar's Office (which will have the student's name on it) to the PBS Department within the first week of their senior year. In addition to meeting other University and Departmental requirements, to graduate with PBS Departmental Honors, the student must also 3) maintain the minimum GWU and PBS GPAs, 4) complete at least one semester of PSYC 3591 Supervised Research Internship or PSYC 4591 Independent Research, 5) complete PSYC 4997 Honors Seminar, and 6) complete a graduate-level (PSYC 8000s) PBS course.