I was just wondering, is there anyone on CC who is majoring in neuroscience/interdisciplinary fields within neuroscience? I’m planning on majoring in it in college, and I would like to know if it’s worth it? Is neuroscience a major field, or is it “un-important”? What are your courses like? What should I focus on in high school to help gear myself toward a neuroscience major? Thank you to anyone who replies!
What do you mean by unimportant? Or interdisciplinary fields? (Is that specific to the college you’re looking at?) Neuroscience is a relatively new undergraduate major so not all schools have it as a stand-alone major. Otoh some have very rigorous programs (like Baylor). It’s a good major if you’re interested in the brain, or if you like both science and psychology.
General biology programs will have a focus, depending on the specialties/background of the faculty. Smaller schools may have one focus; larger schools with more faculty will have a broader range of options. There may be a biology professor with a Neuroscience degree who teaches a neuro elective or two as part of her teaching load, but it’s not a full blown degree option. All depends on the school.
@Pbrain By interdisciplinary I’m talking about categories within neuroscience, such as cognitive, behavioral, medicine, etc. I don’t mean unimportant; more along the lines of is neuroscience a desirable/ growing field of science? Thank you for your response!
Well, it certainly has its applications. You ask a very broad question. In terms of job prospects, it currently probably does not fare any better than other science majors if you are looking for research jobs with a PhD.
Although you can certainly get more general jobs with that degree, as an undergraduate you are not really prepared to work in the field, you are more prepared for grad school. Many people who go into Neuroscience in grad school have a biology degree. To see what the courses are like, look at the degree program at a couple of universities that offer undergrad neuro degrees and look at the course requirements.
You don’t have to do anything to gear yourself for a particular major, high school should be broad preparation for any major as students do change their minds. But you should take the highest level of bio and chem that you can, I’d say. And you can look into extracurricular projects that are related that might expose you a bit more to the field and to bio, psych etc.
what are some of the careers after neuroscience?
what are some of the careers after neuroscience?
Careers within neuroscience can range anywhere from working in a major hospital to research facilities to small clinical offices. Some examples of areas of careers include: behavioral/cognitive neuroscience (which is what I am aiming for! 
), clinical neuroscience, neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, neuropharmacology, or neurosurgery, just to name a few. @henry397
I see… thanks anyway