Behavioral Neuroscience at NU?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northeastern University
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<p>I've just gotten back from a college trip at NU and fell in love with the campus. I was originally only going for the experience of a college visit (I live in metro Boston), but was surprised by their beautiful campus and perfect location. </p>

<p>I was also pleasantly surprised to see that they offered behavioral neuroscience, a major that I am very interested in taking. So my question is, just how good, if at all, is the behavioral neuroscience bachelor's program at NU. Could anyone give any insight into this?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>(By the way, I am talking about Northeastern university in Boston.)</p>

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<p>I’m a senior BNS major so I can probably answer any questions that you have.</p>

<p>BNS is a really awesome major just because it’s flexible and pretty broad, so you can really tailor it to whatever your interests are. Some of us are interested in more psych/behavioral stuff, some are into the hard sciences (biochem/regulatory cell/comparative neurobiology), some really want to specialize more in the “neuroscience” and less in the “behavioral”. Science Bachelor’s are generally broad enough that you can do whatever you want with your degree… my friends are going on to do all sorts of things (I’ll be going for a cell biology phd, so I won’t be needing any of that psych knowledge!), so it’ll set you up nicely for whatever you want to do after college.</p>

<p>It’s also the easiest of the science majors at NEU… obviously it’s not a cake walk since you’re required to take most of the basic sciences (bio/chem/organic/genetics), but you aren’t required to take some of the more brutal hard sciences like Physical/Analytical Chem, or the more tedious like Anatomy & Physiology or Physics I/II (although I’d say 90% of BNS majors take physics anyway).</p>

<p>As far as quality of the department and courses, I’ve been mostly very happy with everything. Of course a few bad professors here and there (happens at all colleges) and a few stupid requirements, but overall, I had a good time, I learned a lot, and I’m prepared for jobs/grad school. BNS is interdisciplinary between Psych and Bio, which are both fairly strong departments, and there are lots of opportunities for research/clubs/groups/etc etc etc. Plus there are some really sick co-ops available.</p>

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<p>Sorry, any neuroscience program that doesn’t require physics or anatomy/physiology (unless it is replace by neurophys and neuroanatomy, which should be required in the first place) is highly suspect.</p>

<p>Their major (according to their guide <a href=“http://www.neuroscience.neu.edu/BNSMajorGuide.pdf[/url]”>http://www.neuroscience.neu.edu/BNSMajorGuide.pdf&lt;/a&gt;) seems mostly straight psychology courses and almost no neuro specific courses or electives. Co-ops are meaningless in a research majors, of which neuroscience is one, as you need straight lab experience which you get in academic settings under a professor with, ideally, the possibility for some sort of authorship. Northeastern isn’t know for abundant research options. It certainly isn’t a strong neuroscience major compared to other schools, even in Boston (e.g. BU/Tufts). </p>

<p>Many schools are adding neuroscience majors because it is a hot topic, and they usually stem from psych departments. Be sure to look at the labs doing actual work in neuroscience (at that there are some you like to do work in) and the offering of actual neuroscience courses like neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, neurophysiology, neurodevelopment, etc. Also, claims that a neuro major is one of the easiest science degrees at a school is a giant (GIANT) red flag.</p>

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<p>I definitely agree that physics is a really important aspect of neuroscience–I’ve always expected the school to start requiring it of BNS majors, but as it is we all take it anyway because it’s necessary for graduate/professional schools. I also agree that NEU needs to expand on its real neuroscience courses. There are a handful of really good and challenging courses as it is… psychopharmacology, neuroethology, clinical neuro, and comparative neurobio (taught by Joseph Ayers who teams with Harvard’s “robobee” project), but the requirements do tend to be a little psych heavy. Hence behavioral neuroscience. It’s not going to be the straight neurobiology education you’re going to get at a school with a large neuroscience department. But, the handful of real neuroscience kids in my classes stick to the real neuro classes rather than the BS animal behavior and behavior modification classes and get a pretty solid education.</p>

<p>Behavioral Neuro is easier than biochem and chem because we’re allowed to take some of those ridiculous psych classes. But frankly, no self-respecting BNS major takes Personality. A BNS major taking the real stuff doesn’t have it that much easier than a biochem major–but I still just can’t imagine my Seminar in Psychobiology (and MAN was that a lot of reading) was nearly as challenging as, say, P-Chem.</p>

<p>I also agree that research is pretty underwhelming at NEU. None of the students here really deny that, and that’s why we all do research elsewhere. Brigham & Women’s and separate Harvard Med labs are probably the biggest employers of NEU science co-ops, and those looking for the $$ go to biotechs in cambridge. I have friends with publications in top journals, I have friends landing research assistant gigs at top research institutions in the country while they take a year of to apply to graduate schools. We really get set up nicely in the research department.</p>

<p>I’m not really one to pretend NEU is something it isn’t, but I have to jump in and defend my major because I really have it made for grad school. I have 4 years of research experience with some awesome mentors (one at brigham, one at northeastern), I have a publication, I have a nice year-long job offer for when I graduate, and most importantly I feel like I actually understand science well enough to pursue it at a graduate level. </p>

<p>I can’t disagree that the requirements of the BNS major are a little too lax. On the research front, sure, it’s not the widest selection of labs or hot shot scientists (that’s where co-op comes in). But if you are interested in behavioral neuroscience, the opportunities are there and if you take advantage there will be a lot of options post-graduation.</p>

<p>Now, if you can get into Hopkins, by all means go there and get your world-class neuroscience education, but watch out for those gunner pre-meds.</p>

<p>phew–that was a mouthful. Edited to throw in the catalog for BNS
<a href=“http://www.northeastern.edu/registrar/courses/cat1011-acad-sc-bnsc.pdf[/url]”>http://www.northeastern.edu/registrar/courses/cat1011-acad-sc-bnsc.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>One thing I feel the need to point out is that Course Requirements for Behavioral Neuroscience are in the middle of a massive overhaul. Most of the psychology electives are getting cut (or rather, you’re expected to take only about 1 or 2, rather than the current requirement which forces you to take more), and a much harder ‘core’ of ten courses has been constructed that all students will need to take eight of (while I am not intimately familiar with the content of these courses, they seemed to be more focused on actual neuroscience). Unfortunately, I don’t have a copy of the document detailing these changes- I might look around, but to my knowledge it has not yet been posted anywhere online (btw, I’d have to say that the biggest weakness of this major is its website…).</p>