<p>I was wondering if anyone could give me some more information about the Psychology and Neuroscience majors at Pitt, as I am deciding between them. I would ultimately like to go to medical school, so I am not sure which one would look better? Besides that, how would the quality of the classes and students compare in each major? How do the grading curves compare? Any other insight would be appreciated as I am interested in both and can't decide.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>My 2 cents on the subject… You shouldn’t choose your major based on what will “look better” on your med school application, since what really matters on that application is your GPA and MCAT scores, followed by research and/or volunteering in a medical setting. So choose a major that 1) you are passionate about as it’s going to be easier to get the best possible GPA and excel in what you’re doing; 2) is going to be reasonably marketable if, for whatever reason, you don’t end up in medical school; 3) is reasonably well aligned with the premed requirements so you don’t have to kill yourself doing two radically different tracks at the same time.</p>
<h1>1 is a must, #2 is just my opinion as a parent, and #3 is a little debatable as people have been speculating that med school committees are starting to give a slight edge to applicants with liberal arts degrees, but that’s anecdotal. I certainly don’t think that it’s worth the trouble of majoring in a completely unrelated area if you’re not passionate about that area, only to show the med school people that you’re well rounded.</h1>
<p>Also, you do know that you don’t have to declare a major for two years, right? And with good reason. That said, you can–and probably should–do a little research ahead of time. Go to the two departments’ websites, learn about the major requirements, read the classes descriptions, figure out what your coursework would have to look like for the first two years, including the premed requirements, see if there’s any overlap between the two majors and whether you can take introductory classes in both departments to decide which one is a better fit, etc. IMHO, open-ended questions such as “how would the quality of the classes and students compare” are rather hard to answer…</p>
<p>This is an interesting question. I can’t speak to the pre-med part of it because I have no expertise in this. However, my daughter is a psych major and has taken a bunch of neuroscience courses also. Pitt’s psych department is large and well-funded, offering undergrads many opportunities for hands-on research. Just to get you thinking along these lines, here’s a list of the research projects going on: [Current</a> Opportunities](<a href=“http://www.psychology.pitt.edu/undergraduate/experiential-learning/directed-research/opportunities.php]Current”>http://www.psychology.pitt.edu/undergraduate/experiential-learning/directed-research/opportunities.php)</p>
<p>My daughter has found the advising at Pitt to be very good. I’m sure the advisers there have dealt with your question many times because there are lots and lots of pre-meds at Pitt. As a layperson, I would recommend for you to take Intro to Psych your first semester, and in the spring something like Intro to Biopsychology (in psych department) or Brain and Behavior (in the neuro department). Also in freshman year, take two semesters of bio and two semesters of chemistry. (Intro to Neuro now requires a year of bio and a year of chem as prerequisites. So you can’t take Intro to Neuro as a freshman anyway unless you’ve had APs in both.) </p>
<p>Sophomore year, take Intro to Neuro and another neuro course in the spring. I think by then you’ll be able to say where your passion lies. Continue with psych courses as well if you have room in your schedule. Cognitive psychology is very interdisciplinary and involves linguistics, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, etc. Pitt offers a concentration in this in the psych department that may interest you: <a href=“http://www.psychology.pitt.edu/documents/CognitiveScienceConcentrationinthePsychologyMajor--newcurriculum_000.pdf[/url]”>http://www.psychology.pitt.edu/documents/CognitiveScienceConcentrationinthePsychologyMajor--newcurriculum_000.pdf</a> </p>
<p>Do you know how to look at all of Pitt’s courses? If not, I’ll post the link. Best of luck to you!</p>