I’m currently a second-year undergrad studying biochemistry and neuroscience at UNC. I’ve been looking into PhD programs in neuro for a few years now, but as the field continues developing, it’s been hard (for me, at least) to find schools with strong neuro programs that aren’t top-tier Ivies. I know I have some time before I need to start seriously considering where to apply for grad school, but I want to know of some mid-tier schools to keep on my radar.
Per US News, Harvard is the only top neuroscience program that is an Ivy. The other ranked programs are Stanford, Johns Hopkins, UC San Francisco, MIT, and UC San Diego.
Do you mean mid-tier programs? The NRC has a ranking of neuroscience programs. At this point, it’s about a decade old, but they won’t have changed very much.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-/124747
I’d call midtier programs right around the 30ish-50ish range or so. You got places like UMD-College Park, Drexel, Northwestern, Penn State, Tulane, Boston U, UIUC, Colorado State, etc.
What are your career goals? If you want to go into academia, you should be aiming for top-tier programs.
The list above is a good starting point, but more Unis are adding Neuro every year.
Don’t forget to ask your advisor at UNC.
That’s true, and also, sometimes you can study neuroscience even if the program isn’t called “neuroscience.” At my university, there were multiple different ways to study neuroscience - you could get a PhD in neurobiology and behavior, or in psychology, or in one of the biomedical sciences. Choosing a department was more about choosing the theoretical approach you wanted to take, and students often had advisors from multiple different departments. Neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field.