Hello. I am starting my freshman year at hopkins this fall, but I want to change my major. My parents talked me out of chemical engineering and now I would like to pursue neuroscience along with premed classes. I am not sure how to go about doing this, however. Should I contact my advisor? Also, I have already signed up for classes like calc and physics for engineering majors while the neuroscience requirements are calc and physics for biological science majors. I am not sure whether I should drop these classes and try to get into the others while I can along with an intro neuroscience class. Is there a large difference between these two types of classes? Any insight would help. Thanks!
You should be fine. Even if you’re a neuroscience major, you can take Calc and Physics for engineers. In fact, some people have suggested Physics for engineers.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18606035/#Comment_18606035
Good luck!
Yup, you’ll see your advisor within the first few weeks of school, and you can just tell him / her that you want to change.
The specific Physics and Calculus courses you take don’t matter, and there’s always a period of a few weeks where you can switch classes with no penalty. I haven’t taken any Calc at Hopkins, but from my friends’ experiences, I think that the Calc for Bio will also include some Probability and Statistics, because Bio majors tend to only take Calc I and II, while Physical Sciences majors tend to take higher-level math classes, so they don’t need it in the intro courses.
And I would recommend taking on an intro Neuro class, because Neuro’s really not for everyone. “An Introduction to Neuroscience” with Dr. Hendry is the best; you’ll figure out really quickly whether Neuro’s for you. But “Foundations of Brain, Behavior, and Cognition” with Dr. Gorman is good because it gives you a broader introduction to Psychology, Neuroscience, and Cognitive Science.
As an incoming freshman, your major is by no means set in stone. In fact, what you indicated on those questionnaires was your preference for a major, not an actual declaration of a major, so don’t worry about that at all. At the end of your freshman year, you’ll be asked to choose a tentative major. As for your classes, you can either stay put and speak to an advisor once your on campus, or switch now, it’s entirely your choice.
Just to expand on what OnMyWay2013 said, you should definitely take a neuro intro class or two in your freshman year to make sure this is what you want to pursue. Both of OnMyWay2013’s recommendations are good! As for me, in my freshman year, I took “Intro to Cognitive Neuropsychology,” which really helped me solidify my notion of pursuing a neuroscience major.