<p>How implausible is it to apply to Neuroscience PhD programs if you haven't actually taken a neuroscience course in undergrad? I know that probably sounds pretty silly to most here, but I've learned about BASIC neuro stuff in a few bio and psych classes, but haven't taken a dedicated course (and won't be able to). I'd like to apply along the West Coast (UW, OHSU, UCSF, UCSD, UCLA, Berkeley) so if that's impossible I'll consider going a 5th year to take more psych/neuro courses.</p>
<p>*I haven't seen any Neuroscience Masters programs and I want to do a PhD anyway, so I figured a 5th year is my best bet to get more coursework related to it under my belt.</p>
<p>If your undergraduate background is in biology, you could consider applying to the biology umbrella programs at those schools (e.g. ACCESS at UCLA, Tetrad or BMS at UCSF, MCB at Berkeley) – those types of programs admit students without forcing them to choose a subfield, and generally admitted students are free to rotate with/join the lab of a wide range of professors at the school. That’s the tack I took – I’m a student within the umbrella biology program at Harvard, but I joined a neuroscience lab that’s not officially affiliated with the program. It wasn’t a problem.</p>
<p>In general, though, I don’t think it’s much of a liability not to have a neuroscience background when applying to specific neuroscience PhD programs, as long as you can demonstrate an understanding of interesting research problems in the field and can explain why you’re interested in committing to neuro.</p>
<p>What has your undergraduate research been in? Is there any chance you could get research experience in a neuroscience lab before applying?</p>
<p>Background in Micro/Molecular Biology but recently changed to Biochem. No chance of doing research in a neuroscience lab since my school doesn’t have one, it’s a pretty crappy school rankings wise. The reason I was interested in applying to the neuroscience programs specifically is so that I could make up for my lack of background knowledge in the area by taking the intense graduate intro courses to the field. However, the umbrella system is still an option, where I could just take the intro neuroscience courses as electives.</p>
<p>Neuro is one of those areas where you can get in with very little neuro-specific background. People come into it from all over the place.</p>
<p>That said, the ideal would be that you do some research in a neuro lab. Could you apply to work at one over the summer at a different university (or, if there’s a nearby university that has one, you could do this during term)?</p>
<p>you probably dn’t want to commit to a neuro program without having done research in the topic-- sometimes topics can be really interesting but the day to day stuff can not be. An umbrella program is probably a good move- you can take neuro classes, work in a neuro lab, but that way if you rotate in a neuro lab and decide you don’t like it, you’re not stuck.</p>
<p>I second what others have said - you can definitely get into neuro programs without neuro-specific coursework. The lack of neuroscience research is a bigger problem, though. Rather than taking a 5th year to take more classes, I’d try to get a research/tech job in a neuro lab. You’ll make money rather than pay tuition, it’ll look better for applications, and most importantly, it’ll give you research experience so you’ll know whether a neuroscience PhD is what you really want.</p>