Brock offers a 4 year, non-honours degree option called the Four Year BA with Major. This degree is designed for students who want to complete a 4 year degree, but who aren’t especially interested in the research training that students in the honours research stream receive or the data management training students in the honours comprehensive stream receive. If research/data management aren't for you, and if you aren’t considering applying to graduate school in psychology, you might prefer the flexibility of the 4 year BA with Major.
But Doesn't Honours = Smart? Some people make the mistake of thinking that they need to do the honours program so that others will think that they're "smart" - in other words, they want other people to know that they had high grades in university. In fact, this connection between grades and the honours program is a bit of a myth. It's true that the people who complete an honours degree usually have high grades, because we restrict entry to the program based on students' PSYC GPA. However the designation that really tells people you're "smart" (that is, that you got high grades) is graduating from Brock "with distinction". Students who graduate with distinction have an average that is 80% or above, and this will be noted on their Brock transcript. We have a number of people who graduate from psychology with distinction but who chose not to complete an honours degree. Instead, they opted for a 3 Year Pass or a 4 Year BA with Major degree because they were not interested in the research requirements or data management training that are included in the 4 Year Honours options.
TIP If you aren't sure how you feel about research training and graduate school, and if you have a 77% PSYC average, you may want to take the required Year 3 courses for the 4 Year Honours Research degree. Doing so will allow you to examine more carefully whether you enjoy research; if you find that it's not for you then it is really easy to switch from the honours degree into the Honours Comprehensive or the 4 year BA with Major in your fourth year. If you complete PSYC 3F40 (the Research Methods course for the honours degree), you won't be required to take PSYC 3P30 (the Research Methods course for the Honours Comprehensive Stream and the 4 Year BA with Major) -- in fact, they replace each other so don't register in both!
Average Requirements Students must maintain at least a 60% average in their Psychology courses and in their electives to complete a 4 yr BA with Major in Psychology.
Year 3 Course Requirements
PSYC 3P30
2.5 PSYC credits numbered 300-399
2 Electives
Year 4 Course Requirements
1.5 PSYC credits numbered 300-499 (that means either 3rd or 4th year credits!)
PSYC 4P07
1.0 PSYC credits numbered 400-499 (these courses must be 4th year)
2 Electives
TIP: Electives When you apply to graduate you cannot have more than 8 first year credits (including PSYC 1F90 and your context credits). Students completing a 4 yr BA with major must have at least 2.5 elective credit numbered 200 or above (that is, at the second year level or higher).
What Does This Degree Prepare Me For?
Applying to some graduate programs outside of psychology. There are several Masters of Social Work (MSW), Counseling, Occupational Therapy and Masters of Business Administration (MBA) programs that will consider your application with a 4 yr BA with Major.
And…
Entering the workforce in a variety of disciplines (e.g., business in human resources, marketing or sales, social work, human services)
Attending a post-graduate college program
Teachers college
For more information about careers and post-graduate programs, click here.