<p>I'm applying to mostly psychology programs that have a specialty in the area of cognitive neuroscience. Though I might apply to a couple programs that are actually biomedical programs with an area of cognitive neuroscience. These programs state on their websites that psychology majors with limited physical sciences courses can be admitted but should "correct these deficiencies" the summer before admission.</p>
<p>I haven't taken any chem or physics and only one bio class so I feel like I'd be really far behind and I shouldn't bother applying. However, I do like the research of some of the cog neuro faculty and its a free application. </p>
<p>Worth a shot?</p>
<p>My guess is that acceptance would be unlikely unless you have a top-notch profile in every other way. But even if you were accepted, I don’t see any way that you could take general chem, organic chemistry, and cell bio over the summer. The chem/orgo sequence alone is usually three semesters. In a neuroscience program, you would probably be required to study molecular and cellular neuroscience, systems (neural connections/networks), and neuroanatomy in addition to cognitive neuroscience, which you may not be able to study your first year, although you could work in a cog neuro lab.</p>
<p>Look at the core courses in those programs. Do you think you could handle the coursework? If not, why bother applying, even if the application is free? You would be better off spending that time on another application. Of course, if you feel that you could tackle the coursework and if you are willing to make up those deficiencies (read what they say about their typical applicant’s preparation), then go ahead and apply.</p>
<p>Not going to happen unless you make up a ton of classes, and unfortunately almost all of those classes are up the food chain relative to psychology. see: [url=<a href=“http://xkcd.com/435/]xkcd:”>xkcd: Purity]xkcd:</a> Purity<a href=“only%20half%20joking”>/url</a></p>
<p>It’s harder to go from a less fundamental field to a more fundamental one than vice versa.</p>
<p>Thank you both for the replies. I know its unlikely, but since psychology majors were addressed on the website I figured I’d look into it. Though I’m guessing that “correct deficiencies” business is probably for psych majors who have most of the requirements already right?</p>
<p>lol gthopeful, I’ve seen that before. I understand what you mean but I hope you mean its harder to go from a less fundamental field to more fundamental field because people normally don’t have the background (its hard to study physics as a psych major without calculus). </p>
<p>I hate when people rag on psychology and say its not a science! How is using an fMRI not science?!</p>
<p>it also depends on what programs you’re looking at- although it sounds like you have a specific one in mind.
Programs that have a strong bio/chem/whatever focus in their research will expect those classes, but there are some straight neuro (as in not cog neuro) programs that state they welcome people from different backgrounds, including psychology. Stanford is one off the top of my head, but then regardless of classes, you still have to get in to Stanford…</p>
<p>and people love to rag on psychology, but us psychologists can tell it’s really just insecurity;)</p>
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<p>LOL, Nessa. I like that.</p>
<p>But in all seriousness, there is a huge difference between “hard” neuroscience and the cognitive neuroscience of psychology. The overlap is there, but the core curriculum and the admissions requirements are different. My D is a graduate student in neuroscience, with enrollment in a cognitive neuroscience certificate program, but she never would have been able to handle her required classes without a solid background in biology, chemistry, and neuroanatomy. Likewise, as an undergraduate neuroscience major, she did not have the credentials to get into a PhD in psychology program, even though she took a few psychology courses when completing her major. Just because the two fields overlap, it doesn’t mean that a student is qualified to get into both.</p>
<p>Stanford does take students from varied backgrounds – psychology, bioengineering, neuroscience, computer science, etc. – but, as you point out, it’s still Stanford and extremely competitive. To me, because Cogneuro noted that those specific programs require students to make up deficiencies over the summer prior to admission, it means that students are expected to have a hard science background. That kind of background is very different from training in psychology.</p>
<p>I’m going to go against most of the rest of the responses. I was a psych major in undergrad, took two semesters of biology, no chemistry, and had physics transfer credit from high school. I applied to two pure neuroscience programs, NYU’s center for neural science, and Duke’s cognitive neuroscience, and got interviews to all of them and eventually ended up in one of the pure neuro programs. The other neuro program said I would have to take biochem before enrolling, but only because the person I applied to work with used a substantial amount of biochem in their research.</p>
<p>I did take every biologically-oriented psychology class offered by my undergrad, had great GRE scores (general and psych subject test), great GPA, and 2+ years of psychology research (although all but 1 year was mostly unrelated). I also got in touch with all the PIs that I was interested in working with. </p>
<p>The labs I wanted to join at all but that one program did not require chemistry or biochem for the research, and the first year curricula in each program covered neuroanatomy and basic neurobiology. There was a lot of material that was mostly new to me, but it wasn’t overwhelming or anything.</p>
<p>I think I’ve said it before, but the most important thing is that you have the prerequisites for the labs and research that you want to do. At least in my experience, those course requirements are more like general guidelines for the average applicant, not what is absolutely required regardless of your research focus. I’m only one data point, but that was very much my experience.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your replies 
I emailed the POI at the school and asked her about this situation so I’ll evaluate everything when she replies… </p>
<p>Although I told my letter writers I was all done with applying to schools :P</p>
<p>Neurograd, would you mind being more specific about what you mean by “great” GRE scores? Would being above 700 on both parts be in the ballpark?</p>
<p>I got something like 95% verbal and 90% quantitative, which was ~700 V and not quite perfect Q. For the subject test, I got almost perfect, but I don’t know if that mattered too much to the neuro programs (although I’m sure it helped at the 5 or 6 psychology programs I applied to!). I really doubt that those are as important as research experience, letters of rec, and GPA, though.</p>