<p>Ultimately, my goal is to study neuroscience at a good graduate school for little to no cost. Should I limit my choice of schools to only those that offer neuroscience or widen my options by majoring in biology? </p>
<p>I'm afraid a graduate school would be less inclined to sponsor a degree in neuroscience for me if I choose to major in biology rather than in neuroscience. On the other hand, by choosing to major in neuroscience I end up ruling out my best "match" schools.</p>
<p>Basically, what's the best route to a graduate degree in neuroscience?</p>
<p>You can major in either biology or neuroscience and get into PhD programs in neuroscience. PhD programs in general are less interested in the name of your major than they are in the knowledge in your head. If you are interested in a neuroscience PhD program, though, it will probably be to your advantage to do research in a neuroscience lab as an undergraduate. Undergraduate research is critically important to science PhD applications, and it's useful to have done the research in the field you plan to enter as a graduate student.</p>
<p>Just for your information, any neuroscience PhD program will be at no cost -- programs pay tuition and a living stipend ($20,000-30,000, depending on cost of living). This is a standard practice and isn't a merit award.</p>
<p>I'm a third-year neuroscience PhD student at Harvard, and I double-majored in biology and neuroscience as an undergrad. I am glad that I doubled, because I think I needed a broad knowledge base in biology as well as a good specialized base in neuroscience. But if a school does not have a neuroscience undergraduate program, it's absolutely fine to major in biology and take neuroscience electives and/or work in a neuroscience lab.</p>