<p>Hi, I'm about at my wits end, been driving myself sick with worry, etc, so any help would be lovely.</p>
<p>I'm looking to apply to PhD programs for 2014. I've got a 4.0 GPA for B.S. in neuroscience , with minors in mathematics and computer science at Georgia State University. I received a two year undergraduate research fellowship, and the last year I've done work in the lab (summers) and remotely for a professor doing speech analysis in Northwestern U. He will give me a very strong rec. letter, I'll have another strong one from a professor I had for 3 classes and TA'd for one class, and a somewhat weak 3rd rec. Also I'm in my late 30's, and had a decade's worth of computer support work. Just started studying for the GRE with magoosh online, first practice tests show around 155 average prediction for verbal/quant, that should go up with study, hopefully 160-165.</p>
<p>So here's the thing, I discovered a year or so ago that I really like programming, and would like to apply for in descending order of interest, a CS, Neuro-engineering, or Bio-engineering program. Unfortunately GSU's CS programming kinda blows, and they have basically no engineering, so I know I'm disadvantaged for that field. I have had math through calc 3, and a few programming courses though. I really want to get out to the west coast, preferably portland. OHSU has a biomedical computer science program specifically speech focused, which matches my research experience, so I'm definitely applying there. But I'd like some other suggestions of likely candidate programs, especially any on the west coast that might be "safety" schools to apply to. I need to find some sort of paid gig, as a BS in neuroscience is basically useless for job hunting, and I don't have parents to go home to. </p>
<p>Let me know if more info would be helpful, if I should ask elsewhere, etc.
Thanks for your time.</p>
<p>First of all, a BS in neuroscience is not “useless” for job hunting. A lot of students seem to be under the impression that you have to have some specific major to get a job. Unless you absolutely have to do high tech programming after college and nothing else will satisfy you, you can get a job with a neuroscience major. The unemployment rate for recent college graduates in biology and life sciences is 7-8%, so those biology and neuroscience majors are getting jobs somewhere (that means that 92-93% of them are employed).</p>
<p>But that’s besides the point. I think engineering for a PhD is a long shot for you, given that you don’t have an undergrad degree in engineering; most PhDs in engineering will expect you to have some background first. You could do a funded MS in engineering, focusing on research and building your core skills, and then apply to PhD program in engineering from there.</p>
<p>Computer science could be within the realm of possibility, given that you have math + CS minors. It’s especially feasible if you have interests in neuroimaging or computational neuroscience within a CS department. Some programs will want more of a CS background, though, and if you aren’t a strong programmer then a CS PhD will be a long shot too - might want to do an MS in CS first. With your stats though you could get into a funded MS program.</p>
<p>Also, why not neuroscience programs? Computational neuroscience is a definite subfield of neuroscience, and there are a variety of biomedical and neuroscience programs where you would be a VERY competitive candidate. For example, UC-Berkeley has a neuroscience program with a specialization in computational neuroscience; Frederic Theunissen does neuroscience of audition, including speech, there (and he’s an engineer by training). Boston U also has a computational neuroscience specialization that has several people doing speech research (Jason Bohland, Michael Cohen, Stephen Grossberg, Frank Guenther, Jason Tourville).</p>
<p>Which brings me to my next point - if you are serious about an academic career, then you need to be geographically unbound. It’s different if you have relatives to care for out there, but it sounds like you just want to move to the West Coast out of preference. The best program for your interests may be in Chicago or Boston or Indiana. Also, if you give yourself more geographic flexibility on the front end - and go to a great top-ranked program - you have more choice over where you want to move in the future. A person with a neuroscience degree from UC-Berkeley can go teach anywhere, including back at Berkeley; but if you get a PhD from a mid-ranked program your options are more limited.</p>