<p>I searched and found a few threads, most of them with general comments.</p>
<p>Can anyone give more insight on the ups and downs of this major? Specific classes, professors, etc.? I'm very interested in the subject, yet know little about it at UCSD. I did discover, though, that the psychological sciences here are typically VERY good.</p>
<p>I'm in Warren, if that helps at all.</p>
<p>I will also be a cogsci major. Any info is much appreciated!!!</p>
<p>Stan, I'm a Cog Sci major AND I'm in Warren. Unfortunately by the way it looks I'll be living at home across the street from campus.</p>
<p>I've sat through an upper division psychology class earlier in the year, probably one we'll have to take, it was interesting. The professor was great but when the guest speaker who was a graduate student arrived it was boring as ****.</p>
<p>I plan to specialize in human computer interaction or computation</p>
<p>I am! If you have any questions feel free to ask though I probably can't answer too much since I'm only a first year. =p</p>
<p>I'm in Revelle, so do any of the GEs for cogsi overlap with Revelle's?</p>
<p>majors don't have GE requirements, those are college-specific. you may be referring to the lower-division classes required for the CogSci major. and yes, there are potential overlaps ... </p>
<p>but beware: Revelle's Area of Focus has to be outside of your major. So biochemistry majors can't make something like biology their area of focus. if you took AP Lit (and passed) you can make literature the area of focus -- the AP gets you out of two classes, leaving you with only one to take! i really liked mine ... and if i wasn't working all the time, i might have taken a few more for fun.</p>
<p>Bumping this thread!</p>
<p>I'll just assume you haven't started at UCSD yet and know nothing about the cogsci major or Warren GEs...</p>
<p>Anywho...</p>
<p>I'm a third year cogsci major from warren. I've got to say, its a really enjoyable major if you are interested in the brain, cognition, and/or computers. Also, UCSD has one of the best programs in the nation. I believe it was even the first University to offer a BS degree in Cogsci.</p>
<p>UCSD:</a> Cognitive Science - Home > Undergraduates > Prospective Undergraduates</p>
<p>That is the undergrad website which I'm sure you have already seen. If not, have a look around. It tells you all the requirements for the major. You must take 4 quarters of math. I would advise you to take the 20 series unless you have a really hard time with math. It is a bit harder but it is worth it. Other than that, there are only three lower division requirements... cogs 1, cogs 14, and cogs 18. </p>
<p>Cogs 1 is a very interesting but sometimes boring class. It has a different guest lecturer everyday so it doesn't really matter who your professor is. They present you with their specific research and tell you all about the different topics that one can find in the field of cogsci. You will have lectures on everything from neuroanatomy to animal behavior to human computer interaction to neural networks. It's a pretty awesome class but some lectures get really boring if you aren't interested in their specific field of research.</p>
<p>Cogs 14 is just plain boring. It is all statistics. You'll be learning how to calculate all kinds of different info from experiments, surveys, etc. I didn't like it but I guess it could be useful in the long run and you'll find a class like it in every science field so you shouldn't let it scare you away from cogsci.</p>
<p>Cogs 18 is a fun class if you like computers and programming. It has been taught by Susan Marx for the last two years so she will probably be your professor if you take it next year. She is from the CSE department. She is not the best professor I have ever had at UCSD but she makes sure you know your stuff. The whole class is about Java programming. There is a programming assignment due every Friday. The programs require about 4 hours of sitting in the lab and staring at a computer screen which is nothing compared to what CSE majors go through. Overall I think the class was pretty fun. Just make sure you go to class most of the time and go to the lab during help hours.</p>
<p>So those are the 3 lower division classes. I would also encourage you to take other cogs classes just to get an idea of what the major is like. I recommend cogs 10, which is human computer interaction and cogs 11, which is about minds and brains. Neither is required for your major but they are very interesting and as long as you actually do the work, they should be easy As.</p>
<p>I won't go into detail about upper division classes because I haven't taken too many of them yet. However, I do know that they are a lot more interesting because you get to pick a lot of the courses that relate to your specific field of interest.</p>
<p>Additionally, as a Warren student you will also be required to take 2 programs of concentration not related to you major. Since cogsci is in the science field, this means you will take one in social science and one in humanities. You can also choose to pursue a minor in place of a pofc as long as it is in the same catagory. For the social science pofc I am doing an economics minor. For the humanities pofc I am doing general humanities which means that I can take any 6 classes from philosophy, music, theater, history, literature, and visual arts.</p>
<p>There are few more requirements for Warren but you should learn all about those at orientation. If you have any other questions, just ask and I'll try to answer them.</p>
<p>thanks for the write up ttphook.</p>
<p>im currently finishing up 20B and mesa community college and will probably end my calculus career there. I'm not a fan of calculus and dont feel like taking 20C. I will probably just take discrete math and statistics to fulfill the 4 quarters of math requirement.</p>
<p>Yeah just remember the other two have to be from</p>
<ul>
<li> Mathematics 10A-B-C</li>
<li> Mathematics 20A-B-C-D-E-F</li>
<li> Mathematics 15A or CSE 20</li>
<li> Mathematics 15B or CSE 21</li>
<li> Mathematics 11</li>
</ul>