<p>kutibah, as a current student, I can tell you that the cut-throatedness is a myth. If you head over to the JHU board, and search for "cut throat" or "throat" etc, you'll find a myriad of threads on the topic. It's competitive, but it's not nearly as bad as it's made out to be, and getting good grades is not impossible, but probably harder than some other schools.</p>
<p>Also, the program--it's not really a department rather than an amalgam of parts of a few departments (bio, behavioral bio, psych, cognitive science, and the med school's neuroscience department)--offers a BA/MS program, sends kids to top graduate programs and medical schools. Moreover, there's some really cool stuff to be learned.</p>
<p>Check this out:<a href="http://www.jhu.edu/advising/images/checklists_pdf/Neuroscience.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.jhu.edu/advising/images/checklists_pdf/Neuroscience.pdf</a></p>
<p>and this <a href="http://undergradneurosci.jhu.edu/faculty.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://undergradneurosci.jhu.edu/faculty.shtml</a></p>