<p>My daughter is thinking about majoring in Neuroscience and plans to go Law School after graduation. What if Law School doesn't work out? What kind of jobs can she get with a Neuroscience degree?</p>
<p>The vast majority of neuroscience majors are pre-med and lab/research oriented. My D was initially interested in that same path neurosci plus law school–fascinated by the implications of the new brain science and its application to the law. She got an internship in a hospital lab run by a Harvard Med prof ( a colleague of her neurosci prof) and while it was an amazing opportunity she knew she didn’t want to go to med school and discovered she didn’t want to spend her life in a lab. After a few semesters she found a new path and still plans to go to law school. </p>
<p>You should be aware that a neurosci major has a lot of reqs and prereqs. A strong HS foundation in AP sciences/math is pretty necessary. AP Physics, AP Chem, AP Bio, AP Calc, and Computer Sci would be highly recommended before embarking on this course of study.</p>
<p>My DD is doing a neurosci PhD and loves it, but it did involve being with all the premeds for what are essentially premed required courses- calc, physics, bio and tons of chem in UG. If not going to med school or onto PhD, I am not sure what you would do as a direct job, BUT neuro science can either be a psych or bio major- my DD has both UG degrees, so your kid could be a psych major or bio major with a neuro concentration and then go wherever psych people go 
I do not think that MOST kids get into the fun stuff in UG though</p>
<p>Research tech jobs. CS degree also leads to this major. Seems a lot of colleges have an interdisciplinary program, some weighed more heavily to CS, bio, or psych.</p>
<p>Somemom, where is your dtr attending grad school? You can e-mail me if info personal.</p>
<p>oh my goodness i too am enamored with the potential effects/changes that neuroscience brings to the legal system…what college did/does your daughter attend?</p>
<p>I’m also considering neuroscience but unsure what to do after the UG degree. What’s the best path to a career in research? Med school, PhD, master’s program?</p>
<p>In the more esoteric sciences, master’s degrees won’t get you too far. For purely research degrees, a Ph.D is almost always required. There’s also this interesting field that’s recently come up (well, recent in a relative sense) that combines neuroscience and computer science to work on artificial intelligence problems. This has very wide applications, and is very well-funded through government grants. Financial firms on Wall St. like to hire people who have experience in computational neuroscience and artificial intelligence for theory research that looks suspiciously similar to what a graduate student might be doing for their dissertation (this also applies to physics/math/cs Ph.D’s). Also, if you’re doing something computational, you’re almost always guaranteed a job in a number of fields (oil/gas, finance, IT, defense, software, just to name a few).</p>
<p>There’s also neuroscience + CS with subsequent work in artificial intelligence.</p>
<p>I know someone with a neuroscience BS who is going for a masters in public health (MPH).</p>
<p>Besides the usual med school and neuroscience research pathways, there are many other directions for a neuroscience major to follow, but they will require a graduate degree.
Good neuroscience programs will require coursework in core sciences pretty much equivalent to the usual premed requirements, so that opens up graduate study in various bioscience research fields and health professions. These would include:
Biosciences—pharmacology; ethology; possibly certain areas of physiology, kinesiology
Health Professions—Nursing (MSN, possible specialty in neurological nursing); Speech Pathology (master’s level for clinical or doctoral level for research) & Audiology (doctoral level); Physical Therapy; Occupational Therapy; Optometry </p>
<p>Depending on what other relevant coursework was taken, it might provide a good preparation for these fields:
Certain areas of Philosophy
Bioethics
History of Science/Medicine
Psychology (experimental, sensory, clinical neuropsychology, behavioral medicine/health psychology, rehab psychology, animal psychology, behavioral pharmacology, cognitive, human factors, developmental disabilities, certain areas of educational psychology)
Gerontology
Special Education (acquired brain injuries, learning disabilities)
Certain areas of Linguistics
Science Journalism
Science Education</p>
<p>My undergraduate major is in neuroscience, and I’m currently working in biotech investment banking and venture capital. There are quite a few start-ups in the neurotechnology space that are emerging. Might be another option post-graduation from college.</p>