<p>I’m going to Brown in the fall and am trying to decide a major. I’m looking between cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience. Which degree would be more useful and what does brown have better programs for? Thanks!</p>
<p>If you are going to be a freshman in the fall, this should be of no concern for you. I’m certain that you don’t declare a major until the end of your sophmore year.</p>
<p>I know, I’m just trying to get an idea of what areas I want to explore</p>
<p>I think the issue is worth addressing (to an extent), given that they do have different requirements, and both programs have Sc. B requirements of 16 (CogNeuro) and 18 (CogSci) courses, respectively. It may be trivial, but it’s something to think about.</p>
<ol>
<li>CogSci and CogNeuro are housed in the same department. The same people teach classes for both majors, and many of the requirements overlap.</li>
<li>CogSci is more computational and CogNeuro more biological. You will have to take Bio 20 (or place out through AP Bio scores) for CogNeuro, and you will have to take a computer programming course for CogSci. Moreover, CogNeuro makes you take at least three neuro courses (Intro Neuro, CogNeuro, and Neural Systems), and CogSci requires only one (either Intro Neuro or CogNeuro).</li>
<li>CogSci makes you take a lot of different courses that cover different areas of cognition (human cognition, perception, linguistics, and neuro), in addition to Intro CogSci. CogNeuro requires only human cognition or Intro CogSci.</li>
<li>Both degrees require statistics and a lab methods course (you must take two for CogNeuro).</li>
<li>Everyone has to “focus” on a particular topic and take at least four pertinent electives.</li>
<li>CogNeuro allows you to count one elective below the 1000 level. CogSci will not let you count any.</li>
<li>Go look at the departmental webpages.</li>
</ol>
<p>I wish I had known some of these things as a freshman. I picked CogSci over CogNeuro because my interests are more computational and less biological, but I’m still doing a fair amount of neuro stuff anyway. Take some classes and figure out which you like better.</p>
<p>thefunnything: you can still change, can’t you?</p>
<p>@mgsinc: sure, but I’m happy with CogSci, especially given that I’m doing a fair amount of computational stuff. I’ve finished the CogSci core, so there’s no real point in switching, anyway.</p>