Hi all! I’m not sure if this is where I’m supposed to post this, but I’m a neuroscience major and recently just got off the waitlist for Barnard. I’m already committed to UMD and I really like the school, but I do prefer the NYC campus/location better. I’m planning to focus a career in research, so I’ll probably go to grad school/get a PhD. My family can afford Barnard (80k), but UMD is way cheaper and since I’m planning to do things after undergrad, saving money is something I should keep in mind. If anyone went to either of those two schools, or just has any knowledge on their neuro programs, I would greatly appreciate any help!
If I remember correctly, the neuroscience program at UMD is not that big (compare to other programs). I know nothing about Barnard.
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Barnard offers one of the country’s stronger neuroscience programs.
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You have stated a preference for Barnard’s decidedly urban environment.
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To the extent that Barnard falls under the umbrella of Columbia University, Forbes regards it in this article as being worth its expense:
- Graduate programs tend to be funded.
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Thank you for your reply! Do you have any sources/articles about Barnard’s neuroscience program being stronger compared to other neuro programs in the country? Part of this process is me trying to convince my parents
The Neuroscience department at Columbia has two nobel laureates. So it is well known in academic circles. I think the Barnard department is still strong, but not as well known as Columbia. But the best part about Barnard is that you’ll be able to take classes at Columbia.
What is your long term goal? Research, PhD, medical school, industry?
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This site, which is reasonably well-researched, includes Barnard:
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My long term goal is so research, so I am planning to get a PhD.
It sounds like both schools are affordable (this is something to sort out with your parents). If that is the case, there seem to be enough differences between the two schools (large suburban public v single sex urban LAC with access to larger university) that one should stand out to you as the better fit.
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Your goal of a PhD will be equally attainable if you go to either school. The neuroscience programs are both fine. There is no point in trying to determine ranks here.
Both schools have clear and specific instructions on how to get involved in neuroscience research. It would be ideal for you to spend all 4 years in the same research lab. Try to find one that is a good fit as soon as you can in the fall.
Both schools technically offer both a behavioral track and a cell/molecular track. However, it seems that Barnard’s curriculum has more of a behavioral flavor overall. I personally prefer the cell/molecular flavor, so that would be a selling point for me for UMD. But that’s just my opinion. The Columbia courses are just equivalents to the Barnard courses, so it’s not as if they offer anything extra that you can’t get at Barnard. I don’t actually know how much you can or can’t use the other neuroscience resources at Columbia. The Barnard neuroscience website doesn’t say. It does look like you might be able to join Columbia research labs, but I’m not sure how integrated that is or is not with the Barnard experience.
There are advantages to doing undergrad at a place like UMD that offers a PhD in your discipline. There are more resources and courses, but there are also more students that need to be served by those resources. And they have a med school which also means more neuroscience. Whereas at Barnard you’d get more individualized attention.
PhD programs in neuroscience are fully funded, so your tuition would be free and you’d receive a modest stipend to cover the most basic living expenses while you’re in grad school.
If you attend UMD and do research throughout (as you should), you’ll directly observe what doing a PhD and postdoc in neuroscience is like. That will be incredibly helpful. If you attend Barnard, you should do at least one summer of REU (and/or work at Columbia) so that you get the experience of working at an R1 institution prior to deciding on grad school.
Just so you know, doing neuroscience research as a career is not super straightforward. You should attend the school that you like more in general and is within your budget, keeping in mind that you may change your future plans as you progress through your education.
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Just to avoid confusion - one has to be clear if one is referring to the Neurosciences Department of the Columbia University?
The University departments (e.g. at the medical/grad schools) are not specific to any of the 4 undergraduate colleges, whether Barnard College or Columbia College - and any opportunities and faculty, equally accessible to (n)either.
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UMD medical school is at totally different location. UMD is at College Park. Medical school is in Baltimore…
I know a student who went to Pitt over UMD instate because Upitt had more established neuroscience program…
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Ah, so they may be mostly limited to doing research with the profs that are on the College Park campus. There are still quite a lot of them. I don’t know the dealio with Barnard and Columbia and how resource sharing works between the institutions, so that’s something for OP to look into.
UMD’s neuro program is definitely adequate. Rather than developing all new courses, they took existing bio and psych courses that teach neuro content and made a “neuroscience” major out of them. It’s basically the title of the degree that changed.
That may lead to the question of why someone would do a neuroscience major rather than doing a more traditional major with a neuro concentration. I personally don’t love neuroscience as a major and I think that people should do majors in something like bio, psych, chem, instead of neuro. Neuro undergraduate degrees aren’t useful for much. But OP didn’t ask for opinions on that, so I’ll leave it at that.
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Barnard is one of the four undergraduate colleges of the University.
Because Barnard is careful to maintain her financial independence, there has a been formal intercorporate agreement for decades, under which Barnard contributes about $7 Mio a year for (among others) “cross-registration for students, college services, faculty exchange, athletics, and certain special services and support costs”.
From a student perspective (and their professors), there is no difference which of the 4 undergraduate colleges at the University a student happens to be enrolled in, for practical purposes.
Barnard faculty are also University faculty!
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Barnard mom here. Daughter just finished her junior year today! She’s been working in a Columbia neuro/psych lab for over a year and attended her first academic conference this year in which she presented a poster. Way cool experience.
Meanwhile, Barnard is funding daughter’s summer research, which will eventually become her senior thesis. She has received ample career and academic advice from the prof who runs the lab (Columbia) and her advisor (Barnard). I expect both will write her recs next year.
UMD is great for many things! (We are looking at it for my son). But Barnard offers a unique experience as the LAC within a university and the all women’s college within a co-ed space.
Good luck with your decision!
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How’ve you been making out with your decision, @teejatomato?
If you want to get a PhD in Neuroscience, then look towards the college where you can best get involved in undergraduate research. As pointed out earlier, a history of research activity will help your PhD application.
Barnard is part of the Columbia umbrella, but still yet somewhat separate. You can take classes at Columbia, and work in the research labs. The main difference is the courses you’ll need to graduate. The Columbia College students have to take the core. At Barnard the core classes are fewer, and you’ll probably have more room in your schedule.
To clarify, yes Columbia College has a traditional core, which narrowly prescribes courses, content and texts.
Barnard doesn’t have any core - rather it has very broad/flexible general education/distribution requirements (e.g., Foundations, Modes of Thinking) - where one chooses from more than a hundred courses, very many of them can serve to satisfy more than one requirement.
In many cases, one can even find a course that fulfills requirements while at the same time at least tangenting one’s fields of interest, possibly even a field of study.
Some people will favor the traditional core, while others will see it as a source of frustration/distraction when they are stuck in art history or music classes and can’t schedule a different class during those hours.
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I’m leaning towards Barnard - the courses are a lot more interesting to me, plus the neuro department is more established. It seems like I’ll be able to find more research opportunities that I’ll be interested in too. I visited the campus recently and I really like it!!
Thank you for all your help!
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