My son has got EA into Northeastern (with merit scholarship) to the Behavioral Neuroscience dept (his first choice). NE is one of his top choices.
He’s currently interested in pre-med track, hoping to become a doctor. Of course things can change, but this is him right now.
Questions:
Does NE have a good pre-med track program, esp with his chosen major of BNS ?
I am a bit concerned about the co-op program, whether it’s a good or bad thing considering his plans ?
In particular, in other colleges, kids finish up their undergrad in 4 years & take a gap year to volunteer/prepare for MCAT/take-a-break etc. Wondering how this plays out with NE’s potentially 5 year undergrad plans ?
If son decides to change tracks and major in something else health-science-y, how feasible is that?
So any advice, especially from kids or parents of, on pre-med track, will be very useful.
No experience with pre-med but I can answer a few of your questions. You can change majors fairly easily (the earlier you do it in your college life the easier.) One health-science major to another should be fairly easy, since they would have lots of similar requirements. He should be proactive with his advisors if he decides to make any change - they will be able to guide him in course selection, etc. Not all Behavioral Neuroscience majors choose to go on to med school, many pursue other career options.
I can’t imagine the co-op could be bad - he would get some hands-on lab or hospital experience that would add to his resume and help to frame his career decision. He may decide not to be a doctor but some other biology related or health care career.
He is only required to take one co-op, but can take up to three. He doesn’t have to take 5 years to graduate - depending upon summer plans and number of co-ops he could be done in 4 or 4 1/2.
Technically, you aren’t even required to take one co-op - you just need to do one experiential learning activity, which could be study abroad, service learning, or research. That said, going to Northeastern without doing at least one co-op seems a bit silly.
There should be options to do 4 years with 1/2 co-ops, particularly if she is willing to use her summer class sessions. You can look at mapping out the specifics by term, and any AP/IB credit will help a lot there. Does he have any?
Northeastern has great programs with health sciences, biology, chemistry, physics, etc. I’m not sure what exactly makes a good “pre-med program”, but with the available classes and resources, Northeastern should be a fine pre-med option.
I would really emphasize how easy it is to switch majors, even between departments, even competitive ones. With all the intricacies of student life at Northeastern with co-op, the last thing NEU wants is to cause problems with classes. For that reason, taking classes outside of your major and changing your major are both made to be incredibly easy. You could switch from BNS to Business in a single semester if you wanted (just an example).