Hello everyone! I was admitted to Schreyer Honors College and and awarded the Braddock Scholarship at Penn State, and this, along with Penn State being an overall great school, makes the University really attractive to me. I just have a couple questions. First, will there be a lot of research opportunities, specifically in neuroscience, at the college? Will those opportunities be enhanced with being in SHC or being a Braddock Scholar? Also, I am aware that Penn State does not have a neuroscience major, but the biology major has courses within it that I can elect to take to be on a sort of neuroscience plan. This is alright, but UPitt has a neuroscience major and I was accepted to the Honors College there as well. How will doing pre-med and neuroscience at PSU stack up against UPitt? UPitt does have UPMC pretty much on campus and it has a well established neuroscience major after all. Thanks to anyone for help! Also, I don’t mean to offend any Penn Staters here by weighing it against UPitt, I have some familial ties to Penn State and I deeply respect the University.
I’m a neuroscientist, a Penn State alum, and was a grad student in Neuroscience at Pitt. Penn State is definitely growing their neuroscience program, but Pitt has a full major with excellent classes at the undergraduate level and the research options are much more extensive at Pitt.
Thank you for your helpful comment! It’s nice to hear from someone who has gone down the same road that I plan on going down. I may contact you in the future if you would care to talk about your experience as a neuroscientist!
@mistba19, I’m a huge PSU fan but I agree with neuromom4. Pitt has the edge here and with all the hospitals nearby, you have better access to more pre-med type shadowing opportunities at Pitt. Even though we are a local PSU family, my son is considering the neuroscience program at Pitt. We could end up being a divided household. Ha!
Thanks for the input and I hope your son is happy where ever he ends up!
I’ll be the dissenting voice because of Schreyer. (Otherwise, Pitt has an edge).
Indeed, Penn State has a top notch GRADUATE neuroscience program. You may think, well, I’ll be an undergraduate…except that as a Schreyer student you’ll be allowed to take graduate classes as early as junior year. And taking a top notch graduate class goes a long way to show how strong your academic chops are - keep in mind that once you’ve met the basic MCAT/GPA requirements, all kinds of factors come into play and advanced science classes are one criterion.
Volunteering in a medical setting and with deprived populations is another one - and Penn State has RAM. (Look it up).
Finally, 4 Schreyer students will spend their summer after freshman year shadowing doctors and surgeons at Hershey, alongside a couple students from JHU and such. It doesn’t mean you can’t volunteer, shadow doctors, etc., at Penn State, but rather that you lay have a paid summer internship in medicine as soon as summer after freshman year.
No matter what you choose to do, read closely the tumbler by Afrenchie36, a neurobiology major, take notes, and contact him to ask questions.
Thank you so much MYOS, this was really helpful information. You mentioned a lot of new stuff to me that’s I’ll have to look into and definitely consider. I’ll also read through the tumbler you suggested. Thank you again, I really appreciate these comments.
I just reached out to the student you recommended I contact through tumbler. He seems to be a genius. I read through his blog as well and that was already so helpful within itself. Hopefully he sees my message and replies!
@mistba19 I’m happy to answer any questions that come up. I am sure would get what you need for pre-med at Penn State or Pitt. My daughter just committed to Penn State - both because it was the best of the schools she applied to for her major and for the overall experience.
Being in the honors college at either school will definitely give you better preparation. As a grad student, I was a teaching assistant for one of the core neuro courses at Pitt and its honors section. The honors section was a seminar-style course and really operated at the level of a grad seminar. It was one of the most formative classes I’ve ever taken (even as TA). I’d advise you to check out the course catalogs for both programs, undergrad and grad (as MYOS suggests). Look at the calendar for visiting scientists who are coming to give seminars. I think that Pitt has an edge with the UPMC system being essentially on campus - for both research opportunities and clinical-type experience. Either way, neuroscience is a great pre-med major. I teach neuro undergrads, so I’m happy to answer your questions.
@mistba19:
But, see, he wasn’t a genius at all. (I think that when he posted his stats on CC everyone told him he wouldn’t get into most of the colleges he applied to). He worked nearly full time while taking a rigorous (but not crazy) high school schedule, which taught him time management and perseverance, the two most important skills for premeds. He also knows how to prioritize, how to listen to advice and follow through, to take advantage of all opportunities offered, and he doesn’t let himself get sidetracked by stuff such as fraternities or freshmen who during the first three weeks go out every night. He made mistakes and endeavoured to fix them then learn from them. He developed his leadership skills (there’s a Schreyer leadership academy) and he’s not stuck up despite all his success. It’s been a pleasure and a privilege for me to follow his growth in the past 6 years. I often recommend reading what he writes because he shows any premed exactly what to do without relying on high school success.
He’s now a great mentor for Penn State premeds and I’m certain he’ll be a terrific doctor, surgeon, or whatever he decides to become.
I hope he replies, too. 
@neuromom4 Congrats to your daughter! It’s really comforting to hear that neuroscience is a good pre-med major, because it is so interesting and I would love to delve into it in my undergrad years wherever I end up. The small seminar type class that you described to be Pitt’s Honors class seems really interesting and like something I would enjoy. I will definitely check out what you suggested, and keep you in mind for other questions! Thank you so much, again.
@MYOS1634 I hope to emulate that time management, perseverance, and opportunism he has! He is quite the role model. It is really kind of you to help me with my decision just like you helped to guide him. I wasn’t aware of the leadership program at SHC until you mentioned it, the honors college’s support is really impressive! I appreciate all of your input, you have been of great help.