Important Curricular Policies
The following Ohio State policies could be relevant to your psychology curriculum or degree. Click each tab below for more information.
The University Registrar's website provides a detailed list of important dates each academic term, including deadlines for:
- Tuition payments
- Adding or dropping full-term and session classes
- Refunds
- Registering for future courses
Some Ohio State courses require students to seek instructor permission to enroll. If a course requires instructor permission, this will be noted in the course description as a prerequisite.
Download Course Enrollment Permission Form
Before seeking the instructor's signature, please complete the first section, "Student Information." Additionally, in the "Course Information" section, indicate the department, course number (e.g. 4998), the number of credit hours and the instructor's name.
After the instructor signs the form, bring it to the Psychology Advising Office or email it to psychadvising@osu.edu. We will enroll you in the course.
The final deadline to submit a Course Enrollment Permission Form for an autumn or spring semester course is the second Friday of the academic term. For summer semester deadlines and details, please refer to the registrar's website.
The Grade Forgiveness rule allows undergraduate students who repeat a course to request for the grade and earned credit hours from the second enrollment to permanently replace the grade and hours from the first attempt in the student's OSU GPA and earned hours calculations.
Students may only use Grade Forgiveness on a course that doesn't serve as a prerequisite for another course they have already completed.
- Example 1: A student earns a D in PSYCH 1100. In the next semester, the student takes PSYCH 3331. Can the student later use Grade Forgiveness for PSYCH 1100? No, because PSYCH 1100 is a prerequisite for PSYCH 3331, the student can no longer use Grade Forgiveness for PSYCH 1100 in a future semester.
Example 2: A student earns a C in PSYCH 2220. Since the student is following the BS path, they must retake PSYCH 2220 and earn a B or higher in order to move on to PSYCH 3321 (required for the BS degree). However, since a prerequisite for advanced courses is a C- or higher in PSYCH 2220, the student is permitted to schedule advanced courses with a grade of C in PSYCH 2220.
The following semester the student takes PSYCH 4475 along with repeating PSYCH 2220 to earn the prerequisite grade for PSYCH 3321. The student may repeat PSYCH 2220, but may not use Grade Forgiveness because they're concurrently taking a course for which PSYCH 2220 was a prerequisite. If the student wanted to use grade forgiveness for PSYCH 2220, the decision would have needed to be made prior to taking the advanced course.
The university awards the distinctions of cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude to College of Arts and Sciences graduates who meet the following GPA requirements, without rounding:
- cum laude: Graduating with a GPA of 3.50 to 3.699
- magna cum laude: Graduating with a GPA of 3.70 to 3.899
- summa cum laude: Graduating with a minimum 3.90 GPA
Eligibility for any graduation honor requires a GPA based on completion of at least 60 graded hours (including courses graded "S/U") while enrolled in coursework at Ohio State. No EM (credit by examination) credit hours or credit hours taken on a Pass/Non-Pass basis are counted as part of these 60 hours. Latin honors are noted on a student's diploma and university transcript.
Math placement testing
New to Ohio State? You may need to take a math placement test to determine your starting math class.
World language placement testing
If you took a language in high school and want to take a placement test to determine how many additional language classes you need to graduate, sign up for the placement test of your chosen language.
World language validation testing
Is your first language something other than English? Are you a heritage speaker? See if you qualify for language validation to fulfill the world language requirement.
The University Registrar's Testing Center allows students to take any of the following credit-based exams:
- Credit by Exam: Ohio State-specific tests that allow students to earn EM (examination mark) credit toward graduation by successfully completing exams in subject areas. Both EM tests and department-specific exams are available. The Department of Psychology offers exams for PSYCH 1100 and PSYCH 2220.
- College Level Examination Program (CLEP): Allows students to demonstrate prior learning and earn college credit. Exams are offered in the Testing Center to students of any age.
Commonly used student financial aid forms include:
- Consortium Agreement: Students request this from the university when taking a course at another institution and seeking financial aid to cover the cost
- SAP Appeal Form: Students complete this form when they have lose their financial aid due to GPA or completion rate issues and would like to appeal for continued aid
Students have the option to withdraw from the university, petition to withdraw from one or more courses during a semester, and/or take a leave of absence.
Before pursuing any of these options, students should speak with their advisor. It is important to discuss the decision to withdraw or take leave and understand what it means. Advisors will talk to students about time-to-degree and other concerns that may arise.