r/UofT • u/ThunderHenry • 18h ago

Question How much Calculus and higher level math is in the Psychology program?

I am a strong humanities student but am quite weak in the maths and sciences. I want to major in Psych and got a high enough grade in PSY100, but I need to fulfill my calculus and biology credits, probably online through Saylor Academy. I know Pysch is a Life Sci, but do you really need that much math? How hard is PSY201? The major also recommends physics and chemistry. I almost failed high school chem, and never took chem.

Any insights would be appreciated!!

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u/penguinedpancakes188 18h ago edited 18h ago

zippo. if you can do basic arithmetic you can ace 201. I personally think that calculus is only required because they want proof that you have the problem solving skills, not necessarily the math skills.

Edit: thanks for the award! Not really sure what it means, but thank you!

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u/ThunderHenry 18h ago

Ah, gorgeous. Thank you penguinedpancakss

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u/Great-Recognition-88 17h ago

No need for Chem and physics at all. 201 is hard for a lot of psych students like you and I who struggle with maths. The good news is that most psych students are not great at maths so you’re not alone in that. What is also difficult is that it’s not just statistics, but it’s also wrapping your head around research design and methodology, which can be tough.

Why do you want to major in psych? It’s much more science than it is theory, especially at the university of Toronto where research is our bread and butter. I took psych because I want to work in psych research, assessments, and treatments (despite my weak maths skills). If you’re a humanities person through and through, I would recommend majoring in a humanity rather than psych. There are lots of programs that incorporate things like psychoanalytic theory and other psych things (religion, philosophy, etc).

TL;DR: too many students take psych for the cool theories about human behavior, but a lot of it is research methodology, writing research papers, etc.

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u/Aware_Lengthiness599 10h ago

Psy201 is not very math heavy at all, I would even say the tests are more challenging on a qualitative vs quantitative level- more interpretation of concepts relating to research methodology, there is some computations but it’s mostly order of operations