Hello! I am interested in pursuing both computer science and cognitive science, or areas related to them, in college. However, I am having a hard time finding colleges that would suit my need. I know that double majoring in B.A. Computer Science and B.A. Cognitive Science is apparently quite popular at UC Berkeley, but I would also like to know if there are any other colleges out there that will allow me to pursue this unique path, or a path similar to what I am looking for. Here are my current stats:
School: Pretty competitive public high school in California.
GPA: 4.0 (unweighted).
Honor/Advanced Classes: All of the highest math classes my school provides, honors chemistry class, second highest biology class, and all honor English courses.
APs: AP Chem (5), AP Japanese (5), APUSH (4)
AP’s I am taking this year: AP Physics 1, AP Calculus BC, APCS.
Standardized Tests: ACT: 34; SAT Math II: 800, SAT Japanese: 800 SAT Chem: 770.
Extracurriculars: Piano, violin, school orchestra (principal second violin this year; got into chamber orchestra (honors group) this year as well (yay [:)), Marketing Director (last year) and Secretary (this year) of SAGE Global Business club, founder and president of craft club (1 year), member of another school club (Science of Sight - raises awareness and funds for Usher syndrome research - helped plan fundraisers, etc.), Japanese school every Saturday (recently graduated), Zero Waste Internship where I coded and designed graphics for website.
Awards: Japanese Speech Contest, Piano competition first place, Japanese language award from my school, 3rd and 4th place at national competitions for SAGE Global Business club with team.
Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary major that combines elements of psychology, neuroscience, computer science, linguistics, and also often anthropology and some other areas. Berkeley has a really well developed cognitive science program, but many schools’ cognitive science majors are simply a bevy of classes taken from a variety of different departments, tied together with 2-3 core classes.
My point is, even if one of your desired colleges doesn’t have a cognitive science major, you can recreate a cognitive science major/minor/experience by majoring in computer science and then taking a selection of classes in some of the other departments listed above.
There are other colleges with cognitive science majors and computer science majors, though:
UCSD, UCI, UC-Davis, UCLA, UC-Merced
CSU Fresno, CSU San Marcos
Northwestern
Rice
Vassar
Johns Hopkins
Case Western
Tufts
Dartmouth
Pomona
Carnegie Mellon (in the psychology department)
Occidental
Carleton
Brown
University of Rochester
Beloit
Georgetown
Swarthmore
Lawrence University
Vanderbilt
Wesleyan (a concentration)
RPI
Princeton
Stanford (Symbolic Systems)
Oberlin
Cornell
Wash U (Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology program)
Yale (they offer a cognitive science major but also an interdepartmental major in psychology and computer science).
There are also a range of public universities across many states that offer this major, like Ohio State, UVa, and Michigan,
You might also be interested in the human-computer interaction major (HCI) at Carnegie Mellon or the neuroscience, brain and behavior program at Emory.
From my daughter’s and my research I believe you are correct about both things @lkg4answers . UCSD is my daughter’s dream school and she wants to major in Cognitive Science. But she’s submitted her UC apps and applied to all the UCs that have Cog Sci except Berkeley as she doesn’t think she can get in, and also didn’t apply to UC Merced. Anyone know if UCM’s Cog Sci department is supposed to be decent? I know they are the newest UC and thus have the lowest reputation so far and she’s not sure she wants to be in Merced for 4 years. She also applied to UCSB but they don’t have Cog Sci.
By the way, @julliet didn’t mention it but UCSC also has a Cog Sci major.
Look at U of Washington! They don’t exactly have a cognitive science department, but they’re well known for their psychology-related research, and they have a top computer science program.
Anyone heard anything about University of British Columbia’s Cognitive Science Department? Just started looking at it as it’s in Vancouver, not too far from home for us in Northern CA and looks like a nice school and a good match for my daughter’s stats. They call the major Cognitive Systems rather than Cognitive Science and can do it as a BA or BS but if BS you have to have taken certain things in high school that I don’t think she meets. But the BA would work.
@CAtransplant I have looked at UBC’s Cognitive Systems major pretty thoroughly, as my D is very interested. It looks like a big, ambitious, truly integrated program. The downside is that it seems like a massive commitment. They discourage students from attempting a second major, or even a minor. When I counted up how many credit hours it would require for my D, who would do the BA with linguistics concentration, it came to 74. That didn’t include any general ed classes–that was just for the major, and may have taken into account relevant AP credits. The program looks amazing, though. UBC has many (5-6? I’d have to look it up) CogSys classes that pull all the disciplines together. At many colleges, you just take a smattering of classes in the different disciplines. If your D is serious about considering UBC, I suggest spending some time on their website with a pen/paper so you can add up what would be required. It’s a big commitment, but if it’s what your student wants, it could be the right fit. My D and I are making our second trip to UBC in a few days, so I may have more to add soon. Feel free to pm me after Thanksgiving and I can share any new information I’ve learned.
@ShrimpBurrito thanks so much, wasn’t sure I’d actually find anyone who knew anything about it! I have heard that in general, universities in Canada require more time in your major than American ones. But when you say it seems like a big commitment, do you mean it might take more than four years in order to fit in requirements? Or just not allow you to take as many courses in ‘fun’ or other things as your D might like? Are you guys from Canada or U.S.? Definitely will love to chat more over PM. Would also be interested to know what other schools your D is looking at! By the way, my D would probably be most interested in the BA with Cognition and Brain concentration.
In general, 60-70% of a student’s course load are requirements for their major in Canadian universities. The UBC cognitive systems major is not unusual in this.
Yale has a great cognitive science major (as well as a CS+Psychology major). The liberal arts & sciences curriculum is also pretty flexible in terms of allowing you to double major/ decide on a major only halfway through college, etc.
MIT has a brain & cognitive science major (not to mention a top-notch CS program).
But @bouders, I also did the math for a Linguistics major at UBC and the course load was lighter, without the “no second major/minor” restriction. I also contrasted UBC’s Cogsys with the Cogsci program at McGill. McGill’s major requires 54 credit hours to UBC’s 74. Toronto’s CogSci course load seems to be even less, although I struggle with their credit hours scale (0.5 FCE = 3 credit hours at most universities, right?).
My son takes U of T’s cogsci major. A single major is insufficient for a degree at U of T. Students at U of T must take 2 majors or one specialist for their degree (or one major and 2 minors). Two majors is 14 FCEs out of the 20 total FCEs that students must take. So, the total number of credit hours that he must take for the two majors works out to be 84 credit hours. If he did a specialist, it would be 12 FCEs out of 20 (or 72 credit hours in the other system), but that’s not offered for cogsci at U of T.
@bouders Okay, I see. I had seen those U of T degree requirements before, but as it’s titled “Honors BA/BS” I assumed there was also a non-honors option. I see now that there isn’t. My D would be fine with the double major or major plus two minors option. It’s the focus on just one subject that turns her off. (I understand that CogSci is multi-disciplinary, but my D wants to be able to formally study foreign languages as well.) Thank you for the clarification.
very interesting discussion, all. The Canadian universities do have some differences that are confusing to this American. Appreciate the suggestions of other schools that have Cog Sci too. Another one I didn’t see mentioned is Occidental - a friend’s daughter recently graduated from there with a Cog Sci degree. And here is a whole list of schools that offer it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_institutions_granting_degrees_in_cognitive_science