Hi everyone! Only took courses in logic, philosophy, political science, history, law, anthropology, communication, and economics. But don’t know which dept. to take an internship in next.
Am a philosophy and anthropology major. Later on will apply for Law School for a JD. Can’t take any more units in this university due to the unit cap.
Should I take general science courses (biology, chemistry, physics, calculus, computer science) at a community college nearby? In terms of which university, I’m literally fine with getting into almost any that offers this program. Thank you so much. I would immensely appreciate the help.
You would not be competitive for a cognitive neuroscience program without science classes.
Neuroscience students usually have a background in biology and/or psychology. You would want to take some coursework in both - I would say probably somewhere around 4-6 classes (half in either). I am not a neuroscientist so I don’t know what those are exactly, but you’d probably want to take 1-2 basic undergrad neuroscience classes, a biological psychology class, a cognitive psychology course, introduction to psychology, statistics (either in math, biology, or psychology; the more math-based it is the better), and research methods (either biology or psychology). Depending on what your research interests are you might want to take classes in computer science (if you are interested in computational neuroscience). Chemistry could also be potentially useful.
Why do you want to get an MS in cognitive neuroscience before getting a JD? To be honest, there aren’t that many master’s programs in the field. Most programs are doctoral-level only. There are more in the UK. You might also be interested in a cognitive science program, which might be a bit more amenable to your current background in logic and philosophy.
@juillet,
Your response is very thoughtful and resourceful, I greatly appreciate it. I’ll use your advice as an incredible advantage in the next couple of incoming years. Am thankful to save the extra time and avoid mistakes before they happen. In terms of Cognitive Science, it is also an option that I’m heavily considering instead. Further looking into the programs at the moment; it seems like a slightly more suitable option. It’s just that I’m very immersed in the subject of cognition in purely a “learn for the sake of learning” sort of way, but I wouldn’t be fulfilled with my future if I didn’t do anything at least highly socially/politically as a career.
Then again, the cognitive science programs listed all seem very vague in their requirements. It’s unfortunate that universities often seem vague about their graduate admission requirements.