<p>I'm a college sophomore, and certain that I want to study the brain. The works of Danielle Dennett, as well have other cognitive scientists, have inspired me that cognitive science is the field for me.... but there are complications.
I live in North Carolina, and I am almost positive that NONE of the schools in the UNC system offer a cog science major. I really dont have the money to go out of state, so I have set the long term goal of getting into graduate school for cog. science, and this is what I need advice on.</p>
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<li><p>I am currently at NCSU. it has a Psychology major (not the best, but okay), philosophy (more than decent), biology with concentration in neurobiology, and a cognitive science minor. Does anyone with cognitive science graduate experiences know which major would be my best bet? Part of me wants to double major in psych/bio or psych/ philosophy with the cogscience minor, which one would be better, and would it be worth the extra time/work?</p></li>
<li><p>I have the option of transfering to UNC. it has a better psych department from what I understand but I have already transfered from another institution. would two transfers be a turn off for grad school?</p></li>
<li><p>and my last overall question: should I worry about the "reputability" of my schools departments, or is it a better investment to just out perform my peers and gain research experience.</p></li>
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<p>thanks in advanced for the replies, cheers.</p>
<p>The ‘other college majors’ forum has more info about cognitive science, and some of your questions have been touched on there as well.</p>
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<li><p>None of those majors that you listed is ‘best.’ Cogsci is a very interdisciplinary field and draws on all of them. Thus, graduate programs in the field - though few - will have a strong representation of students from all those disciplines. I also wouldn’t worry about double-majoring; it isn’t likely to confer an advantage, either for grad school or employment. What you should do is figure out exactly what your interests are within the field. Are you interested more in the psychology? Or the neurobiology? Or perhaps the computational aspects of the other fields? Once you figure that out, you can major in the one whose requirements have the most overlap with courses you’d like to take anyway; and in addition to the major requirements, take courses in your interests which are presumably under the cogsci umbrella.</p></li>
<li><p>I can’t answer this definitively. My instinct is that it wouldn’t harm you to have transferred twice. UNC is considered to be the better school, but you’d also have a good shot at grad schools if you went to NCSU - assuming that you did well at either.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, it’s best to gain research experience. While grad schools do take into account the prestige of the department you’re coming from, it’s mainly for them to assess students coming from departments they’re unfamiliar with. But having strong research is the best asset, and in the end, having that would matter more than the reputability of the department. (And if you had strong research, it adds to the reputability of the department in grad schools’ eyes.)</p></li>
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<p>What cognitive science programs do you think you will shoot for? Are you looking to apply to the most elite/selective ones? Remember also that for cogsci, you don’t need to go for a program that is specifically named for such. Many programs exist within or across departments, so you’d be able to apply to neuroscience or computer science or psychology, etc. and be able to concentrate in cogsci.</p>
<p>(I applied to a variety of types of programs for cogsci, though my focus is in CS.)</p>