Hi,
I am extremely interested in northwestern, and I was wondering if it is possible to double major in Human Development and Psychological Services (HDPS) and Cognitive Science in WCAS. I want to go to med school but I am more interested in studying cognition and development (want to be neurologist) would this be possible? When I apply and write the why NU essays, would I talk about the specific school I would apply to or the majors i am interested in? Thanks!
Lets start off with the essay. What NU wants is the following: “You may choose one or several aspects of Northwestern to focus your writing, though the majority of the essay’s content should relate to your own interests or experiences.” http://admissions.northwestern.edu/apply/tips.html#Essays
In the essay, I’d talk more about your passion(s), while relating the Northwestern programs to your interests, rather than about the programs themselves. That may have been what you meant, but I just wanted to clarify in case it wasn’t.
Now to the other things you brought up.
From the HDPS webpage: “Many students choose to double major or minor while maintaining human development and psychological services as their primary focus.” http://www.sesp.northwestern.edu/ugrad/human-development-and-psychological-services/index.html
Plus, most double majors are between Weinberg and another school.
I’d say the answer to your major question is you could probably do the double major. I’m not 100% certain that you could fit Pre-Med in there, since, according to the following webpage, Pre-Med has quite a few requirements that might not be met by either of your two majors, and since you’d hypothetically be doing a double major you wouldn’t have all too much room for other classes. But its worth looking into. You may, however, need to choose two of the three. http://www.northwestern.edu/advising-center/pre-med/required-courses/index.html
If you want to go deep, I’d suggest making a spreasheet of all the quarters/classes that you would be at NU, and trying to fit in all the requirements into those places. Maybe that’s a bit obsessive, but maybe its not. I dunno. Also, you may want to save some room for random classes along the way; keep that in mind when/if you do the spreadsheet.
Another helpful link on the topic of interschool double majors: http://www.weinberg.northwestern.edu/handbook/major-minor/additional-major-options/double-majors-across-schools.html
Even if all the things you want to do don’t feasibly fit in a schedule, you can mention the things at NU that you might want to do at NU rather than the things you definitely want to do. That might even show the admissions people maturity, in that you demonstrate that you are self-aware that your interests are changable and fluid to some extent.
Good luck, and have fun!
@thatrunnerkid Thank you!!! This is very informative, I appreciate it.
@sprights , glad to help! Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions about stuff not related to this thread.