About the Major
Major Requirements
The Interdisciplinary Cognitive Science BA major consists of at least 10 approved courses taken at UVA that will total at least 30 credit hours and meet all the requirements of the major. The 10 courses can include up to two pre-approved Education Abroad courses (6-8 credits) that fulfill COGS elective credit requirements. The only COGS requirement that can be fulfilled with test or transfer credit is the Calculus requirement and those hours will not count toward the 30 degree hours.
10 Approved Courses
UVA Cognitive Science courses are selected from disciplines across grounds which contain significant content related to the inter-disciplinary scientific study of the mind and its processes. All courses which count for the COGS major, are vetted and approved by our director and/or area specialist faculty. For this reason, course lists change each term to encompass new areas of exploration.
You must take at least one approved course in each of the five areas of the study of cognitive science: computer science, linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology.
You must complete two upper level approved courses in the same concentration area. For the areas of computer science, linguistics, and philosophy—the courses must be at the 3000 level or above. For psychology and neuroscience—the courses must be from the 4000 level or above. The computer science concentration requires you to complete a CS Concentration Form and have it reviewed and approved by our area specialist--Dr. John Hott. Need to change your concentration? Reach out to the department at cogsci@virginia.edu and communicate your current concentration and what you want to study. The College must enter all concentration changes after they are requested by the department.
Two to four approved COGS elective Courses
Elective courses can be chosen from any of the five area approved lists. The number of elective courses you will need to take to reach 30 hours depends upon if you have transfer or test credit for the math requirement and if you only take two upper level courses in your concentration. Please note that there are also courses that can only count as elective credit and cannot be used for core course requirements.
Minimum course grade requirement:
A minimum grade of "C" is required for all courses to be applied to the major. Ungraded courses cannot be applied to the major. Exceptions to this rule are UVA COGS approved courses taken Spring 2020 where we accepted CR/GC grading, the academic year 2020-2021 and Summer Session 2021 where we accepted CR, and Fall 2022 where we accepted CR.
Math/Calculus Requirement
The COGS math requirement is the only program requirement which can be fulfilled with test or transfer credit. Courses that fulfill the requirement include: Math 1220 or Math 1310 or higher or APMA 1090 or higher for Engineering students. Please note if you take MATH 1190 or Math 1210 at UVA--it will not fulfill the COGS math requirement and you cannot also take 1310. PSYC 2005 and STAT classes are not accepted to fulfill the COGS math requirement. If test or transfer credit for MATH 1220, MATH 1310 (or higher), or APMA 1090 (or higher) appears on your UVA transcript--it will not count toward the 30 program hours but will fulfill the requirement.
Program GPA Requirement:
An overall grade point average of 2.0 (grade of C) or better is required for all Cognitive Science courses completed at the University.