<p>I know Wellesley is known more for its political/economic majors, so I don't know much about the Wellesley neuroscience program.</p>
<p>I'm looking at bigger schools like USC because of its stronger affilliation with sciences and research.</p>
<p>Can anybody tell me something about what the Wellesley neuroscience curriculum is like? Or how highly ranked it is?</p>
<p>The wellesley neuroscience major is an interdepartmental major. I would say that most of the neuro majors are pre-med and a few want to go into neuro research after graduation. We have a really strong department - there are statistics and information about the program at the website below. It’s all too much to type here.</p>
<p>[Wellesley</a> Neuroscience](<a href=“http://www.wellesley.edu/Neuroscience/]Wellesley”>http://www.wellesley.edu/Neuroscience/)</p>
<p>I hope that helps!</p>
<p>Neuroscience is a relatively new subject, but nowadays more interest has been generated with new findings and research. I might be wrong, but I don’t know many schools that do have a neuroscience department (perhaps they may have a cognition department).</p>
<p>I am currently taking Biological Psychology, and while that is not part of the Neuroscience major, it deals with neuro topics. The class is similar to neuroscience, but with more focus on behavior, whereas neuro is purely objective (if that’s the right way to describe it?). I have some friends who are taking the class, and they really enjoy it. I am thinking of maybe taking a neuro class, even though BioPsych is similar. But who knows, maybe it isn’t?</p>
<p>I think it’s a pretty strong program. Besides classes, interesting lecturers have visited and presented. David Hubel, who received a Nobel prize for his work with cats and artificial strabismus (lazy eye), gave an interesting lecture on his work. A professor of Mt. Holyoke came and spoke about her experience with gaining stereovision (the ability to see in depth) after having strabismus her whole life. It’s really interesting!! There are always interesting presentations going on.</p>
<p>One thing I have heard about the neuroscience class is that students who tend to take it are very focused and “hardcore”.</p>
<p>Neuroscience classes and the major in general tend to attract students who are “very focused and hardcore” because most of them are pre-med. And pre-med students are typically very focused in their studies.</p>
<p>Look into the requirements for the major though since they just changed them starting with the Class of 2012 so it now takes more courses to complete the degree.</p>
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<p>Not cool. :(</p>
<p>Yeah… I have a feeling the number of people majoring in neuroscience will now decrease because well, the neuro major is turning into IR… too many classes to take! Do-able if you want to do that though…</p>
<p>Thanks guys!</p>
<p>I do have one question though. Since Wellesley’s more of a “teaching institution” rather than a “research institute,” like USC, what would you guys suggest for something like neuroscience? Since I’m not in college, I’m not sure what the environment of college is exactly like, and I want to make the right choice!</p>
<p>don’t forget wellesley girls can cross-register with MIT which is #1 neuroscience in the world.</p>
<p>jessica725, what do you mean by something like neuroscience? You can still major in neuroscience if you want to; as current students, catsushi and I are just saying that the requirements have changed this past year and the neuroscience major now requires more classes to complete than before. This may or may not have an impact with the number of people who choose to major in this area. </p>
<p>You can also look into biology, chemistry, and other sciences if you are interested in this are. Neuroscience is also tied to psychology and cognitive science so you could look into those areas as well. </p>
<p>Yes, Wellesley is more of a teaching institution instead of a research institution. That means that the main intent of professors at Wellesley is to teach; their research is secondary to their research. At research institutions, like USC and the entire UC system, professors are there to conduct their own research and their teaching is secondary. However, even though Wellesley has a teaching focus (which I am really grateful for and love about Wellesley), there is still a lot of research done at Wellesley. You can still work with your professors in their labs, get research positions over the summer and during the year just like at a research institute.</p>
<p>Yes, there is still the option to work with professors for the summer. I was kicking myself because I missed the deadline, but I asked some MIT grad students if they needed help with research and they gladly obliged. I know one of my friends, who’s a neuro major, is going to work for a professor this summer with research.</p>
<p>welles10: </p>
<p>Oh, I didn’t mean “something like” as in “something similar.” I meant “for example.” I’m just not completely positive that I want to do neuroscience, so I want to leave my options open to a school that can give me the broadest range of opportunities for me to explore.</p>
<p>I am also a bit worried about exactly how competitive things will be there. Not only for research opportunities, but also for jobs and internships in the Boston area. Since I’d be competing with not only Wellesley students but also BU, Harvard, MIT, Bowdoin students, is it particularly difficult to attain significant jobs or internships in the city?</p>
<p>Wellesley has lots of options you can explore.</p>
<p>The job market right now will be competitive no matter what school you choose to attend. Every major city, especially, has many colleges and universities with thousands of students looking for jobs and internships. I would not say it is particularly difficult to get a job or an internship in Boston or other cities; it depends on what industry you want to enter into and the economy at a certain time. Some great advice I got while looking at colleges to attend was not to choose the college based on where you want to be ten years down the road – basically, don’t choose to go to a school because you think it will get you into a certain graduate program or get you a certain job after graduation; choose to go to a school for the school itself. You will spend four years at that institution and it will become your home for those years. Ultimately YOU will get yourself into graduate school or that dream job; the school itself will not get you to where you want to be.</p>
<p>Oh, thank you so much!!!</p>
<p>I really appreciate all the wisdom you’ve bestowed upon me!!!
I’m sure you’re busy, so I really do thank you for the time you’ve taken to help.</p>
<p>No problem at all! I remember I <em>lived</em> on these forums when I was applying to and deciding on colleges. Feel free to ask more questions – I really like answering all of them and it gives me a productive form of procrastination from my homework ;)</p>
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<p>Same, I should be studying BioPsych right now, hahaha.</p>
<p>As for competition, I’m going to pipe in and say that Boston offers a lot of opportunities in terms of jobs. I’m not sure if it’s because there are a lot of students there in the first place so more jobs are available, or whether it’s because Boston is just an active city. There are so many schools nearby that are pretty open to having other students hang around, whether it be for a job or a party.</p>