Is a double majoring in neuroscience and electrical engineering a good idea or useless?

College Majors Science Majors
1

So, I’m an entering freshman at UW Seattle, and I’m bringing 90 college credits with me (maybe more, if I petition to get all 110 credits I’ve obtained transferred). I got an AA in Biology from a community college through our Running Start program, and I’ve already completed the Calc series (3.7, 3.7, 3.6 GPA) and Bio series (3.9, 3.4, 3.4 GPA), and Chem series (4.0, 4.0, 3.7), and I’ve pretty much completed all my Gen Ed requirements except for two social sciences. I was originally interested in pursuing degrees in Neuroscience and Physics and go to med school (neurosurgery was the end goal), but now, after really examining why I wanted to go to med school and become a surgeon, I’ve decided that med school maybe isn’t for me (I’m still not completely giving up on it—I’d just like to wait and maybe do some job shadowing and give it more thought before going all “med schoo yeahl!!1!!”).

The thing is, I’ve always been extremely interested in bioengineering, especially things like neuroengineering and brain-machine interface. I’ve always shied away from it because I thought I wasn’t really smart enough to pursue it, but I’m really, really interested in it and wanting to at least give it a try (college is for discovering new things, after all). So, I was looking through different programs at UW and I really loved their electrical engineering one. I also absolutely adore neuroscience.

The question, then, that this long-winded rambling has been leading up to is: would it be feasible to major in both neuroscience and electrical engineering, then go onto doing a BioE-related M.S. (related to neuroengineering)? I can’t minor in one or the other (they don’t offer those), and the classes are closed off to non-majors, so I either have to pick one or do both. I don’t know if I would be able to handle it, but the great thing is, I can spread out the classes for these two through four years. If I pushed it and took closer to a full load every quarter, I could get done in three years or less.

To double major or not to double major? That is the question.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: if this is in the wrong forum, forgive me! Just let me know and I’ll move it. Wasn’t quite sure which forum to post this in, so I went with Science.

2

Both those majors have competitive admissions.

3

I know, but because I’m a freshman, they’ll more likely look at my UW courses (which I plan on kicking ass in) instead of my CC ones. I’ll be taking more advanced math courses, and will (hopefully) do well in them before applying, which will probably lessen how much my Calc grades matter in admission for EE. For NBio, I’m taking OChem and Physics, and planning to do well in those, too, and I’ve already talked to the advisor for the major, and he says that if I do well in those, I’ll probably get in.

Additionally, I got bad grades in Bio and okay ones in Calc mainly because I was dealing with mental illness issues in addition to family problems, which I will explain while applying.

4

An EE major will keep you plenty busy, as far as coursework goes. Will the second major in neuroscience add additional time to your degree? If so, it’s not worth it. That time would be better spent working or doing internships, or getting a graduate degree. This is especially true since you’re already considering a graduate degree.

You already have an AA (or equivalent?) in biology–you already have a demonstrated record of exposure to the biological sciences. If you want to sharpen that area, just take a few neuroscience electives.

Moreover, you don’t need a second major (or degree) to work in the areas in which you’ve expressed interest. Neuroengineering, HCI and neuro-machine interfaces, etc. An EE degree is more than sufficient, especially since yours would already be supplemented by some courses in biology and potential neuroscience electives. Any additional specialization would take place in graduate school.

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@AuraObscura Thank you for your input! It’s been really helpful. If I do the neurobio major, it would add about half a year max. My only real worry was that I wouldn’t be able to take any nbio courses because the courses are closed to non-majors, but after re-checking, I can take a few of computational neuroscience courses, which eases my worries.

You’re right, though—my time would probably be better spent focusing on EE and doing the best I can do in that, and maybe try to get involved in comp neuroscience research if I can through my EE major. Since there’s already a biomed instrumentation specialization in the major itself, I think I could accomplish that. As the saying goes: don’t half ass two things; whole-ass one thing. :wink:

Thanks for being so helpful! I think I was just mostly worried about leaving behind my nbio major because that’s what I’ve been focusing on since I was sixteen. Writing everything out, and reading your response, has helped me come to a better decision.

6

Expect UW to be substantially more difficult than the community college. I suggest that you choose one of the majors that interest you and decide whether to continue with just that major, take on both majors or even switch to the other major when you know how difficult the chosen major is for you at UW.

It is important to keep your GPA high and to not get overwhelmed.

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I was a neuroscience major and I’m now going to grad school for bioengineering. From my experience, bioengineering grad schools take people with a lot of different backgrounds, including neuroscience and EE. But many of the pre-reqs would be easier to fulfill with a more engineering background (like linear algebra, diff eq, programming knowledge). You don’t need both to get into bioengineering grad programs.

Get involved in some interdisciplinary research, take some relevant upper-level bio electives, and you should be in good shape with EE.

Also, in the major restrictions: talk to your advisor about restricted classes you might want to take. The restrictions are in place to make sure that students in the major can get the classes they need, but at a lot of schools, if there is space left or valid interest, non-majors can also take the course. I dont know how it is at UW Seattle, but it’s worth asking.