UMD would be cheaper but money isn’t really a deciding factor for me
I know there are other forums with this question but I just wanted something a little more up to date
Can anyone with experience at either school please tell me about their pre-med programs?
Or a list of pros and cons for either school?
Also, just out of curiosity, what is the behavioral neuroscience major at NEU like and is it worth pursuing in regards to the professional world? What can that type of major be used towards?
I don’t know anything about UMD, but hopefully I can help you out with some information on Northeastern.
I was pre-med for my first couple of years before deciding I wanted to go into research. There are a couple of pre-med advisors and an online system to help keep you on track for pre-med, plus a pre-med club on campus. Northeastern also has the big benefit of being less than a mile from some of the best hospitals in the country. I volunteered at Brigham and Women’s Hospital for awhile in a program that’s specifically geared toward pre-med students. It’s also possible to do co-ops at a lot of the hospitals or in associated labs.
I’m also a BNS major. The major requirements have changed since I started, but the general idea is still the same. One thing that struck me about it when I was applying is that it included more on the psychology side of things, whereas a lot of neuroscience majors at other schools struck me as biology with a few additional brain-related science classes thrown in. Looking at pre-med, med schools are starting to place more of an emphasis on social sciences, so this inclusion could be a benefit to you. I’m planning to use my degree to go to graduate school for bioengineering and go into research. As with most bioscience majors, there are not a lot of career options in the field without an advanced degree, either medical school or a PhD, unless you want to go into teaching. There are definitely jobs available, but they don’t tend to have room for advancement without going on for further education. (For example, I have a roommate who graduate with a degree in biology last spring and has a nice, well-paying job at a pharmaceutical company, but she can’t go much higher unless she gets her PhD, which she plans to do.)