School wants me to take pre-req that covers material I have already completed

[Arctic]

I recently got admitted to a top choice for Human Factors Psychology. The dept I was admitted to wants me to complete a course that covers human cognition. My under grad is not in traditional psyc, but in cognitive science (more neuroscience and human computer interaction oriented). While I have not taken the same course exactly. I have seen the material across various neuroscience and intro psych courses, it's stuff like attention/perception/decision making....basic psych stuff. I put courses down on my orignal app sheet as fullfilling these pre-reqs but for whatever reason they didn't count it. I have two courses (probably combined) that I believe may count for this requirement.

how can I convince the dept to accept the two courses I believe are similar but not exact? I don't want to waste time taking another upper div undergrad class when it's not necessary, and especially because I have seen all the info before.

also it may be important to note that my undergrad school was on the quarter system and this grad school is on the semester system. That might affect how courses transfer?

[wtncffts]

I honestly don't know what you could do other than provide as much evidence as possible (course syllabi, work done, etc.) from those courses. But if they don't bite, I'd suggest just taking the course. You never know what you might learn, and even if you've gone through a lot of most of the material, there may be different perspectives and it's always good to brush up on the 'basics'. I wouldn't consider it wasting time; it's not like taking that one course is going to affect when you finally get that degree five, six, or however many years from now. And if it's all stuff you've seen before, it shouldn't take up much time in terms of studying.

[Eigen]

It's pretty common to be required to take classes that have a lot of material you've already seen.

I wouldn't fight it too hard, honestly. It's just one class.

[sbowman]

I think that that's a common outcome for one or two courses, and probably a good thing. Taking familiar material with a new professor that you'll likely have to work under or alongside gives you a very clear sense of their take on the subfield.

[anonthropology]

While I agree with others saying there may be some benefit to taking the course (even the same material can be different depending on who's teaching it after all), assuming you have your reasons for not wanting to, I would try to submit one or both syllabi along with a petition to have the requirement waived. That way, they can judge for themselves whether the coursework you've done meets the requirements. I was able to do this coming into my current master's program (submitted syllabus and petition and had it waived).