Psych 101

January 21, 2009 8:38 PM

Where in NYC could I take an intro psychology class just to see if I like it?

I tried googling this but all I find are masters/phd programs. I'd want a night course or something I could take, just to learn more about it. I looked at all the related questions and only see books and blogs in this category. Thanks...

posted by sweetkid to education (8 comments total)

Try Columbia. A while ago, I talked a professor into letting me audit an evening class just for the hell of it. The sweet thing is I got temporary library entrance card, I didn't even have to pay the auditor's fee.

If you play to their egos and pitch the angle of "I really want to learn from you", it might help. A lot of professors I've known feel flattered someone is showing up because they want to, not because they have to.

At NYU, it's a lot harder to waltz up "hat in hand" on the first day of class since most buildings need an access card, but I bet you could do the same thing ahead of time with an e-mail. Good luck!
posted by aquafortis at 9:00 PM on January 21

if you're really interested in just learning what kinds of things psychologists study and finding out if those things are of interest to you (as opposed to interacting with other students/profs, getting credit, getting to know profs who can write letters, getting feedback on your own understanding of the material, etc. etc.), then consider an open learning course. You can find lots of links to these courses in this thread from the blue.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 9:26 PM on January 21

You can try Hunter College - looks like its only $170 a credit so it'd probably be $510 for the semester (this will be your cheapest option as a resident of the city). You can apply as a non-degree student - took a summer class there once. Also it'd be a good idea if you were planning on making more of it to have actual credits at the end of the class.

Of course, if you're just planning on sitting in, you could probably just get by with walking in and sitting down. There's no access cards or anything in Hunter (except to get into the library strangely). Just go here, select ---> semester ---> psychology and choose from the 20 intro to psych classes.

Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to email the prof to ask if it's ok though.
posted by jourman2 at 9:46 PM on January 21

Sorry - my bad a nondegree student it would be $250 or $750 for the class. Not bad either way.
posted by jourman2 at 9:47 PM on January 21

Yale's Intro to Psych with Video, and I'm sure there's others thru iTunes U.
posted by gramcracker at 9:57 PM on January 21

Seconding Hunter. Or any of the CUNY schools near you. It will be your cheapest option and give you the taste without commitment that you want.
posted by piratebowling at 6:42 AM on January 22

I took Psych 101 at the New School; a non-credit course is $570 and a credit version of the same class is $3K. It was a decent class -- taught by a grad student, motivated classmates (good discussion), multiple-choice tests and one paper. Since I was non-credit, I wasn't required to do the tests or the paper, but I did anyway and the instructor gave me feedback.

Later on I took several more courses (Cognition, Child Psych, Abnormal Psych) through Fordham's College of Liberal Studies. I don't remember the specifics, but I ended up showing them evidence of my previous college record to get admitted and then I could register for whatever I wanted. All of these courses were taught by tenured professors and my classmates were almost exclusively regular college students who needed night classes to make their schedules work, rather than returning adults. There was one other 30-something. The tests and papers were more rigorous than what I had experienced at the New School. I looked at the website just now and they're charging $650-ish per credit. Most of my courses were 3-4 credits. After the first semester, I had good grades and they gave me a scholarship towards the next semester, which was nice.

I had looked into NYU too and they offer courses but as I recall it didn't mesh with my schedule. I found Columbia to be too expensive. I didn't look at Hunter since I wasn't an NY resident, but if you are, it may be the cheapest option.
posted by xo at 9:24 AM on January 22

Just to piggyback on gramcracker, Intro to Psychology at MIT's Opencourseware.
posted by kristi at 9:26 AM on January 22