Hi! I was wondering if someone could give me a bit more insight into NU’s behavioral neuroscience major. Either from personal experience or a friend’s. Best and worst things (about the program specifically)? Are there a lot of research opportunities? Do most of the students get into good graduate programs or medical schools?
I just graduated this spring as a BNS major, so I should be able to answer some of your questions.
Best and worst things:
One of the things that really appealed to me about this program (as compared to a lot of other neuroscience programs) is that it really is interdisciplinary. While a lot of other programs felt like a biology major with some neuroscience requirements, Northeastern’s major is a joint program between the psychology and biology programs and does a good job of making the connection between the two. They recently revamped the major requirements, and while I think the new required classes are some great offerings, there are a lot more requirements for the major than when I started, so it takes up a lot more of your schedule slots. However, if you come in with any credit from IB/AP/dual enrollment, that can definitely clear up some space. I was able to use those free slots to do a computer science minor, elective math courses, and an honors thesis.
Research opportunities:
Yes, there are a lot of opportunities for research! Another thing I really liked about Northeastern is that it’s a graduate institution with top notch research, but undergraduates didn’t feel like an afterthought, which is how I felt at some other research universities. Pretty much every professor is eager to have undergraduates work in their labs. You can do research as a work study job, a volunteer or paid research assistant, a directed study (get course credit for research), or a co-op. The best way to get involved in research is to take initiative. If there’s a professor whose work looks interesting, send them an email or go to their office hours. Some may have specific skills they’re looking for before they’ll take you on (i.e., complete intro biology or psychology first). I spent 4 years working in one lab on campus, which opened up a lot of fantastic opportunities with the connections that this professor had. Co-op is another great way to get research experience off-campus, either in other academic labs (nearby at Harvard medical school, far off at UC campuses, or anywhere in between) or in industry (there are a ton of pharmaceutical companies and biotech startups in the Boston area). I did my first co-op doing research on campus, and my second as an international co-op at the Max Planck Institute in Germany.
Graduate programs:
Northeastern grads definitely get into top programs. A lot of people go to MIT for grad school, and I also know a number of people at Harvard Med, Yale Law, etc. I’m headed to Imperial College London on a Marshall Scholarship, which is the top engineering school in the UK, so I’m really excited about that. There is pre-health advising if you decide to go pre-med, and faculty advisors if you decide to go to grad school. The mentor relationship I developed working in a lab on campus was also invaluable in helping me figure out what I wanted to do for grad school and helping me get there.
If you have any other questions, hopefully I can help out. (And sorry for that wall of text. I just really had a good experience at Northeastern.)
If you had wanted to go to work right after graduating for NEU, instead of grad school, do you think you would have had good prospects with your major and coop experience? Do most people go on to grad school as BNS majors?