<p>I'm currently a sophomore undergraduate student at a small first tier private university. It's a very good university that no one knows about because its so darn small. I came here for the financial aid that they offered me. I didn't rock so hard in high school so I considered myself lucky to be here. I'm a first generation university student, I was not born in the US, I have a background (a few internships) in art and graphic design. My family is dirt poor, we live way way way below the poverty line.</p>
<p>Stats: I'm a psychology major with a GPA of 3.6/4.0. I've done a year of research with a psyc professor. Will be looking for more research opportunities with other psyc/bio professors for my remaining years here. Over summer I volunteered at a small non profit organization and will continue doing (the coordinator has promised me a stellar letter of rec if I continue to volunteer). I'm in the honors program as well as 2 other campus clubs, but that's about it, I'm not very active around campus. It's a hard fit for me here but I still enjoy being at this university nonetheless.</p>
<p>My school has an emphasis on behavioral and developmental psychology. Unfortunately that's not exactly what I am interested in. I actually chose psychology because my university didn't offer Neurosciences and I thought psyc would be a good sidetrack into (clinical/behavioral) neuropsychology later when I'm applying to PhD programs (a Masters isn't my first choice, too many loans in two long wasteful years, once again I'm dirt poor).</p>
<p>I already have a minor in Chinese and if I get a 'B' or better in my bio class this semester I will also minor in Biology (hopefully that would make me a more competitive candidate for neuropsyc).</p>
<p>I know it's not much to go on since I'm just a sophomore and my GPA is looking a lil' low. I just need to know if I'm on the right track. What are my chances? What else should I be doing? How can I improve my chances? What, in terms of GRE scores, should I aim for? How can I stand out to my professors? </p>
<p>I have seasonal depression and winters has never been kind to me. I lag a lot around this time of year, and I come on the college confidential to forum surf instead of doing my homework...oh I've said too much..</p>
<p>For a strong/top neuroscience PhD program, you should aim for a GPA of 3.5 or better (although those with lower GPAs can still have success) and a minimum GRE with 1300 combined, with the Q score over 700. While many students come to neuroscience from psychology, you’ll need a little more than the standard psych major degree, so your minor in biology is good. Minimum coursework is generally math through Calculus II, cell bio, organic chemistry, and statistics. You should apply to research programs for undergraduates to fill your summers; many, particularly those funded by HHMI, give admission priority to students at LACs that don’t have many research opportunities, to minorities, and to the economically disadvantaged. You generally get a stipend and housing, so you will have earned money for the school year.</p>
<p>If you have some choices in your biology courses for the minor, you might want to enhance your transcript with courses such as molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, or anything with neuroscience in the course name. Computer science and math higher than calculus can also position you well. </p>
<p>Research is the single most important thing you can do to strengthen your application. Extracurricular activities have no bearing.</p>
<p>One thing to note is that your coursework should reflect your interests as much as possible. If you’re interested in cognitive neuroscience, it is much less important to take organic chem, molecular bio, etc. You still can, and it would enhance your transcript, but it simply isn’t really important for cognitive neuro. </p>
<p>On the other hand, if you are interested in molecular neuroscience, you really should switch to straight up biology/molecular biology major and take all the biology, biochem, etc., that you can, because even biologically-oriented psych classes simply aren’t very relevant.</p>
<p>That’s not to say you should completely ignore either side of it. Molecular neuroscientists interested in depression could obviously benefit from understanding the psychological aspects of the disease, while cognitive neuroscientists interested in memory can obviously benefit from familiarity with the molecular mechanisms presumed to underlie memory. </p>
<p>Since you say you’re interested in neuropsychology, it sounds like you’re in the right track with psychology and taking as much relevant biology as is feasible.</p>
<p>But as MWFN said, research trumps just about everything else. You can get in with deficiencies in coursework, but if you don’t have solid research experience, you simply don’t have a chance.</p>
<p>One more note about course preparation: Neurograd is correct in saying that your transcripts should reflect your interests. Much also depends on whether you want an advanced degree in psychology or one in neuroscience since the programs can have different requirements. For instance, the core courses in neuroscience will likely take you into cellular/molecular and systems neuroscience in addition to areas such as cognitive neuroscience. You would be better prepared if you had already been introduced to some of the subject matter. If you plan to enter a psychology program, then you might not be expected to have a solid basis in biology and chemistry. Even though both types of programs allow you to specialize in cognitive neuroscience, the approach and requirements may be vastly different.</p>
<p>Firstly, thank you for the replys, it’s much appreciated.
Next, I’m horrible with math so I don’t even want to try. The highest math course I took in high school was precalc and I took statistics (required for my major) in college and that’s all I am planning to take (I received a B in both). Mostly because I fear additional math classes would be ‘GPA Killers’ and I have to maintain a GPA of above 3.5.</p>
<p>I have heard that research experience can make or break your application. But I’m not familiar with the process of applying to research. The current one I am doing is for social psychology and I only landed that because my friends were involved in it. Should I just go around the school Psychology department and ask professors if they have place on their research team next semester? It seems rude and informal; the last thing I want is to leave a bad impression of myself. </p>
<p>MWFN: you’re dead on, my summers are empty and I can’t find anything to fill it with (my local junior college no longer accept summer applicants due to overcrowding, nor does my local state university (SFSU)). Is there an alternative way I can get additional research experience? It feels like my options are extremely limited.
“Extracurricular activities have no bearing.” Ha! You have no idea how glad I am to hear that. </p>
<p>NeuroGrad: I’m not going to lie and tell you I know exactly what I want to be because I don’t. I am just planning what would be the best/safest route for me that in reasonably in my reach, something sparks my interest, and has a good outlook.
When I took my first Biopsyc course I was very drawn to brain disorders like Hemispatial neglect, Split brain, Prosopagnosia etc. (It’s crazy, that stuff!) I was also taking Physical Anthropology at that time and my book went over the evolution of the brain (development of the PFC etc.) and I said to myself I can’t believe how fascinating this stuff is and why didn’t they teach you this stuff in high school. It seems to me Neuroscience is very bio oriented whereas Neuropsychology seems more advantageous for me currently. I really don’t have the guts to pull a 180 from my BA in Psychology (I’m almost finished, 3 more classes left) and hop the boat to Biology. </p>
<p>My school only offer a minor in biological sciences. I chatted with my roommate who is a biochem major and she told me to take the “easy” bio classes offered: 2 of the general bio classes, Human Anatomy, Histology, and hopefully Neurobiology (offered once a year). And that would be basically my bio minor.</p>
<p>BTW: I noted in my first post I was also thinking of getting a Chinese minor because 1. It’s easy for me. 2. Relatively useful in the work field to have a second language. 3. GPA booster.
It’s not anywhere related to Neuro, so is it a good idea?</p>
<p>If you actually read all that I wrote, lemme thank you again!</p>
<p>a note: neuropsychology and neuroscience are related, but different fields. Someone with more knowledge of this may correct me, but my understanding of neuropsychology is that it is a subspeciality of clinical psychology (see [Division</a> 40: Clinical Neuropsychology](<a href=“Society for Clinical Neuropsychology – Division 40 of the American Psychological Association”>http://www.div40.org/) for the American Psychological Association’s page). Training for clinical psych is a different beast than training for neuroscience programs, although they do overlap enough that you could do both. The interests in brain disorders (split brain, etc.) you talk about is more neuropsych, and I would recommend looking up more about the field to help you decide which way to go. Neuroscience programs often have a more molecular/cellular focus, and cognitive neuroscience programs focus primarily on healthy brain function, not neurological dysfunctions (although studying such things could still be possible in a cog neuro program).</p>
<p>As for research experience- look up summer REU programs at large research universities. And don’t be afraid to ask professors at your school for research opportunities. Look up their work and show an interest in it; offer to volunteer in their lab if they don’t have funds to pay you. </p>
<p>An unrelated second major won’t hurt or help, really.</p>
<p>nessa is definitely right about the focus of neuropsych vs. neuroscience, although the difference isn’t always that clear-cut. For example, someone in either field could definitely study visual attention by looking at patients with spatial neglect. However, the neuropsychologist may be more likely to be actively researching treatments, while the neuroscientist would be using that type of patient to gain insight into mechanisms of visual attention. There is tons of overlap, though, and that kind of difference in focus is not a hard rule by any means. </p>
<p>Based on your interests, it sounds like applying to a psychology program, likely cognitive/cognitive neuro or clinical neuropsychology, would serve your interests best. You aren’t going to be able to escape math by any means, though. Psychology in general is heavy in statistics, and anything with neuroimaging even more so. You’ll also need to get/be comfortable with some basic programming for data analysis and working with statistical packages (SPSS, Matlab, whatever). Working on those, along with getting more relevant research experience, will help your chances. If you’re interested in a clinical psych degree, I can’t help you too much, as I never looking into it for myself. Clinical is more competitive and obviously values clinical experience in addition to research experience.</p>
<p>There’s a huge difference in how you would apply, though–neuropsychologists are clinical (or school or even counseling) psychologists by primary training and choose to specialize in neuropsych through coursework, practica, research, and especially internship and post-doc. Clinically, neuropsychs do lots and lots of assessment/testing, but all neuropsychs will be trained in the broader domain of clinical psych as well (therapy, assessment, diagnosis, and research) and be licensed primarily in clinical psych and then, preferably, be boarded in neuropsych following post-doc. A strong background in neuroscience and bio will definitely help you if you are applying for clinical programs with an interest in neuropsych, but you’ll be expected to have a solid psych background as well, preferably with some type of neuropsych specific research (preferred) or clinical experience. Keep in mind you’ll primarily be applying to a single professor or two at each program who matches your research interests and that research experience trumps clinical experience (though it’s helpful to have some of the latter–it just matters much less). Neuroscience programs will be pure research and closer to bench research, though there’s definitely a ton of neuroscience in neuropsych and even in clinical psych in general.</p>