UCLA Psychology (BA) vs Psychobiology (BS)

helloooo everyone. I have recently committed to UCLA as a Pre-Psychology major. As someone who hopes to pursue neuropsychology (or clinical psychology), is it advisable to switch to a Pre-Psychobiology major? Secondly, such a field also requires that I attend grad school. So in reference to that will I be at a disadvantage if I were to apply to a post-grad clinical psychology programme with a BA in Psychology. Lastly, how rigorous is the chem/math/phy requirements of the psychobiology major in comparison to the psychology major? Thank you for your time and help :slight_smile:

If you are interested in neuropsychology, have you looked at Cognitive Science?

UCSB phased out their BA and now only offers the BS in biopsych.
UCI is going to “sunset” the BA by the end of 2023-24

I know those schools aren’t UCLA but it is showing a trend. If you are interested in the science of psychology, biopsych or cognitive science might be better choices.

The best people to ask are the counselors in the psych dept and career center. And the good news is there is no urgency. You have 3 years to complete the Psychobiology pre-major requirements although most will complete it much sooner. There is some overlap in the prep classes so you can start out as a frosh taking classes that will work for both. Finally the prep classes are not restricted in any way, so no matter what your pre-major is listed as you can take any of them you wish.

Thank you so much for your response. I did notice such a trend, and that is one of the reasons I am on the rocks about pursuing a BA in psychology. Also, I did look at cognitive science but preferred the psychobiology coursework. In the case, I go forward with a BA in psych (unlikely), does taking a lot of neuro and biopsych upper-division courses compensate for the lack of a BS in psych (from a grad school point of view)?

Thank you. That makes a lot of sense and is a little relieving to great haha. Should I contact the psych department now, or wait until classes start (at which point, I will probably have more clarity due to having talked to academic advisors etc at orientation)?

What type of grad school are you talking about?

Ideally, If I get enough research and theoretical experience, I’d like to directly apply for a doctorate programme. In case I am not comfortable doing so yet, I’d probably apply for a master’s programme.