Neuroscience Major

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Wise CC people - help me, as a non-scientist, understand what are the possible career paths for a neuroscience major. Is it a field in which an undergrad is enough, or is it a field in which graduate study is needed? Medical school / becoming a physician is not an area of interest (though medical research or pharmacology might be). Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>DD is in neuroscience. It is a field of a graduate play. Not much you can do with an undergraduate degree, it takes time to do research etc. The GE classes filled up most of their time.</p>

3

<p>Seems like an interdisciplinary mix of biology, psychology, linguistics, philosophy, and computer science (artificial intelligence), among perhaps other things.</p>

<p>Berkeley has a major called cognitive science that is somewhat similar, with sufficient career survey responses:
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/CogSci.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/CogSci.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Note, however, that biology majors do not do so well, so doing neuroscience with a biology emphasis may not be the best from a career standpoint:
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/MCB.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/MCB.stm&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/IntBio.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/IntBio.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>I don’t see why it presents any more or fewer “career path” issues than most other arts and science majors. Seems like an interesting one with a good balance of science, humanities, and social science.</p>

5

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<p>Right. But what do you DO with it, is my question.</p>

6

<p>This is for D, who is at an LAC that has an exchange program with MIT neuroscience, which I understand is tops.</p>

7

<p>MIT career survey here:
[Graduating</a> Student Survey - MIT Careers Office](<a href=“http://web.mit.edu/career/www/infostats/graduation.html]Graduating”>http://web.mit.edu/career/www/infostats/graduation.html)</p>

<p>Page 17 of the 2010 report lists employers of Brain and Cognitive Science graduates. Page 21 of the 2010 report indicates an average pay level among 8 graduates as $43,500.</p>

8

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<p>Google is your friend</p>

<p>[Neuroscience</a> Careers](<a href=“http://www.utdallas.edu/~kilgard/neuroscience_careers.htm]Neuroscience”>Neuroscience Careers)</p>

9

<p>The question you’re not asking is: what do you DO with most any BA or BS degree. The degrees most marketable are:</p>

<ul>
<li>Engineering</li>
<li>Computer Science</li>
<li>Actuarial (applied) math</li>
<li>Accounting</li>
<li>chemistry, sometimes</li>
</ul>

<p>Those are degrees that enable an employer to plug the graduate right into their spot. Just about any other degree, from Math, to Physics, to History, to Business, English, Biology, etc. requires the employer to start from scratch with the employee, knowing only that they are intelligent, hard working, can probably string together a coherent sentence, play well in the sandbox with other children, and at only the most elite colleges, have learned how to think critically.</p>

10

<p>I don’t understand why an emphasis in biology(especially as an undergrad) is hurtful. That’s the path I’m planning on taking, so I would love some more insight. Also, I plan on going to med school for neurology, but I was also considering neuroscience(research) as a graduate school major. Bad idea?</p>

11

<p>PG:</p>

<p>My D just graduated from MIT as a neuroscience major. Although she continued to medical school several of her classmates are pursuing PhDs in the field, several others went to work for pharma and biotech companies, another for GE Medical, one went into consulting, one went to law school to become a patent attorney, and one was hired by Goldman Sachs. It is one of the hottest majors among MIT students in part because graduates are not pigeonholed by potential employers or grad schools. </p>

<p>The neuroscience program at MIT is much more flexible than typical biology programs and spans the full range from cognitive neuroscience to cellular neurobiology. MIT hosts the largest neuroscience research center in the world with 2 Nobel laureates as teachers in the department, a 4 to 1 student/faculty ratio and incredible resources. The program is designed so that every undergraduate student gets involved in research. My D had unrestricted access to the MRI unit in the department for functional imaging studies and was working on autism.</p>

12

<p>My niece graduated from a top 50 with a neuroscience major. She is medical school now.</p>

13

<p>Consulting or Investment Banking.</p>

<p>Success in the neuroscience major demonstrates an exceptional work ethic and superior analytical ability.</p>

14

<p>Neuro at the undergrad level can also have one of three focuses (foccii?): biology, comp sci, or psych. (Perhaps MIT has 'em all, but most undergrad college can’t afford to.) Neuro at UCLA is big on Comp Sci for example. Thus, what one ‘does with it’ depends in part on the focus.</p>

15

<p>Oh wow, I had no idea MIT was so great for neuroscience. Is that only for graduate school, or would it be worth the effort to add MIT to my undergrad schools?</p>

16

<p>Thanks to all, especially cellardweller.</p>

17

<p>Harvard offers 7 routes :)</p>

18

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<p>In terms of job and career prospects, be aware that they are not that good for biology majors. Take a look at the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html&lt;/a&gt; (Berkeley, Cal Poly SLO, and Virginia Tech are particularly detailed).</p>

19

<p>As another poster indicated, neuroscience offers many of the same job opportunities as other A&S majors. It can be a good background for any number of graduate and professional fields, however. Neuroscience is an appropriate preparation for several areas of graduate and professional study. So, besides medicine, there is…</p>

<p>Psychology: Clinical Neuropsychology, Behavioral Medicine/Health Psychology/Rehabilitation Psychology, Developmental Disabilities, certain aspects of Human Factors Psychology, Experimental Psychology (Cognitive, Behavioral Neuroscience, Sensation/Perception)
Neurobiology
Psychopharmacology
Nursing (MSN): Psychiatric Nursing, Neurological Nursing
Speech Pathology, Audiology
Special Education (Learning Disabilities, Brain-Injury)
Physical Therapy
Certain areas of cognitive science, philosophy, linguistics
Bioethics
Gerontology
Optometry
Kinesiology
Occupational Therapy
Certain areas of History of Science/History of Medicine</p>