<p>I’m a rising senior in high school and I’m having trouble finding schools with good neuroscience programs. As a matter of fact, many schools I’ve looked into don’t even offer a neuroscience major. So, I have a few questions:</p>
<li>What are the best schools to study neuroscience at and why?</li>
<li>What are the best neuroscience programs in the southeast U.S.?</li>
<li>Can I still pursue a career in neurological research without majoring in neuroscience? If so, what would be the best major (or double major) to choose and how would that choice be beneficial and/or detrimental to my future career?</li>
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<p>I’m planning to apply to schools outside of the southeast, but I hope to find a good school in South Carolina (or the surrounding area). My top choices are currently Brown, MIT, and Furman.</p>
<p>Any insight on this subject would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>Neuroscience isn't everywhere, as you've noticed. My search was mainly focused towards California, and that doesn't sound like where you're looking, but the Claremont Colleges and some of the UCs are great options.</p>
<p>There are three majors at my college that let us select a concentration in neuroscience: psychology, biology and computer science. I guess any combination of these subjects would prepare you for graduate study in neuroscience, depending on which aspect of the discipline you want to focus on. One or two years of chemistry might be beneficial too.</p>
<p>I'm a neuroscience PhD student who majored in neuroscience and biology as an undergraduate. To get into my program, it's fine to have an undergraduate major in something like chemistry or biology, but you do want to be able to show graduate school admissions committees that you're really interested in pursuing neuroscience.</p>
<p>So it's fine to go to a school that doesn't have a specific neuroscience major, but you probably want to be sure that there are labs investigating neurobiological questions where you can get a research position. </p>
<p>Personally, I'm glad I came to my program both with a deep knowledge of neuroscience and a broad knowledge of molecular/cellular biology in general. Both majors have been useful to me in graduate school, and I think it would have been much more difficult for me if I had only neuroscience or only biology in my background.</p>
<p>Here's a link to the neuroscience department at William & Mary...I have one friend in the major and really enjoys it. Let me know if you have any questions!</p>
<p>mollie what school are you studying at and where did you go for undergrad? also what do you suggest to an undergrad who wants (in four years) to get into HYPS neurology for PhD studies? like should i try to take graduate level courses? should i focus on research? should i befriend a famous neurologist to get him to write me a rec? which things matter most to elite PhD programs</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins probably has the best neurology unit in the country (ever hear of ben carson?) but im not sure if their neuro professors have the same reputation as the doctors that work in the hospital... also duke and NCarolina have good psych programs... and i'm sure vanderbilt is top notch</p>
<p>As someone said above, Emory does indeed have a good neuroscience program. Also, take a look at Duke and UNC, Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt and UVA. At least I know that all of the above have good graduate programs, as my d is currently a senior at Barnard majoring in Neuroscience and beginning the process of grad school apps and these schools are on her list. Brown is on her list as well, so that is indeed also a good program.</p>
<p>And, no you do not have to have a neuroscience degree to apply to grad programs....as Mollie said, you need to have a strong background in Bio, Psych, chem and organic chem and many programs recommend physics. And try to get some meaningful research experience. </p>
<p>Best to you in your college search and application!</p>
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mollie what school are you studying at and where did you go for undergrad?
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I'm a PhD student at Harvard and I went to MIT as an undergrad.</p>
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[quote]
also what do you suggest to an undergrad who wants (in four years) to get into HYPS neurology for PhD studies? like should i try to take graduate level courses? should i focus on research? should i befriend a famous neurologist to get him to write me a rec? which things matter most to elite PhD programs
[/quote]
First and foremost, you want to participate in research as early and as intensely as possible. Getting into a science PhD program is all about showing your aptitude and enthusiasm for research -- they figure they can teach you anything you need to know knowledge-wise, but they can't teach love for research in graduate school.</p>
<p>Second, you need to be close with at least three professors (at least one of whom you would have worked with as a researcher) who can write you outstanding letters of recommendation. You don't want a letter that says, "X is a good student and got an A in my class," you want a letter that says, "X is an outstanding scholar and researcher and will thrive in your PhD program." As a bonus, your professor friends will be a great source of information on where you should apply -- my research mentor predicted all of my admissions results correctly.</p>
<p>Taking graduate courses is really fun and helpful to you in a knowledge sense, but I don't know that it provides much of an advantage in admissions. I took several graduate courses as an undergraduate, and I'm very glad I did.</p>
<p>You want to have, of course, a good GPA and strong GRE scores (Graduate Record Examination; the grad school SAT), but your research and recommendations are what will get you an interview at top programs.</p>