<p>I'm interested in studying cognition, and I can't decide what my major should be I was thinking cognitive science, but after gaining a better understand of the field it seems more geared toward information processing and artificial intelligence while cognitive psychology seems more geared toward human perception, process of thought, memory etc and that's what I'm interested in but I haven't found any cognitive pysch degrees for undergrad and idk if a gen psych degree will cut it for me. Also, I'm strongly considering transferring to a uni outside the US for personal reasons. Anyway could you please help me discern between cogsci and cogpysch and recommend which uni's both here and internationally are strong in these areas (or at least offer the program?) Btw I'm a freshman still in his 1st semester. Also, is cogsci a subfield of cogpsych or vice versa?</p>
<p>Undergrad degrees usually do not specialize to that level. Most smaller schools will only have general psychology, so if you really, really want a particular subspecialty, you will have to most likely look at large universities that have large departments… more likely to cover various subspecialties.</p>
<p>Try the following links:</p>
<p>[List</a> of institutions granting degrees in cognitive science - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_institutions_granting_degrees_in_cognitive_science#United_States]List”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_institutions_granting_degrees_in_cognitive_science#United_States)</p>
<p>[Best</a> Cognitive Psychology Programs | Top Psychology Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/cognitive-psychology-rankings]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/cognitive-psychology-rankings)</p>
<p>I’d recommend the general psych route. It simply keeps your options more open and is simpler should you find another sub-field that you also find particularly interesting. </p>
<p>However, other majors might also be as relevant. UCLA’s grad school cog psych PhD encourages majors or strong backgrounds from cognitive science, psychology, computer science, applied mathematics, engineering, neuroscience and linguistics. </p>
<p>Harvard offers very similar guidance: ‘It is desirable but not essential to have majored in psychology; indeed, some breadth of training in biology, computer sciences, mathematics, philosophy, physics, or the social sciences is preferred to over-concentration in psychology. Some college work in elementary statistics or quantitative methods is advisable.’</p>
<p>You can use these as a list of potential elective classes to round out your preparation.</p>
<p>OP, my D is interested in this field, and it’s a very broad one because of its interdisciplinary nature. As has been noted, contributions to cognition are being made in aesthetics, philosophy, linguistics, computer science, neuroscience, psychology, and other fields. Some schools offer majors and minors that can include or even require courses in several or all of these fields. You’ll see majors called Mind, Brain, and Behavior (Bard) or Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology (WashU). So it is important to choose the school and the major or minor carefully. Since often a career in this field will require graduate education, it is important to keep in mind the expectations of graduate schools while you’re developing and narrowing your interests as an undergrad. Most grad schools, for instance, are going to expect not only a biostats course, as hp notes, but some core bio major courses like orgo and biochem. </p>
<p>So as a person choosing to enter this field, you have to try to keep all of this in mind now and as you have chances to choose your next semester’s courses. </p>
<p>I’d recommend you also consider the neuroscience route as an alternative to a general psych route. I’d caution you to approach carefully programs that look like they’re thrown together to attract students with something for everyone or, on the other hand, programs that are really bio or psych majors with a couple neurosci courses available willy-nilly.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feed back, though neuroscience is a field I (contemplated) would never major in maybe a minor at most and even then it’s still unlikely. Transferring outside of the US seems a bit hectic, not to mention I’ll probably miss the deadline and be considered an incoming freshman rather than transfer student, so cross that off my list at least for undergrad. I’m a NY resident (born & raised) and besides uconn idk of any other affordable uni’s on the east side with a cogsci major (uconn considers you a resident after a year and you pay in-state tuition… I think) so I’m looking westward. UCB is within price range for me but my chances are well… unknown or rather unlikely as I’m a liberal arts major with only six (12 after the winter portion) credits and they have an 18% acceptance rate. Uni of Cal, Merced is relatively new so I’m unsure about their cogsci program and the research opportunities. University of Delaware I’m unsure about in terms of academics and location. Could someone please offer me a bit more insight or options?</p>
<p>The Universities of California have very strong preference for transfers from in-state community colleges (about 90% of transfers). Also, they strongly prefer transfers who have completed or will have completed 60 units and completed all lower division classes for their major. Finally, they are incredibly stingy with financial aid for out-of-state students, expecting out-of-state students to pay full tuition and fees.</p>
<p>UC Merced is relatively new, and in the least desirable part of the state… so if you were to transfer to a UC, Merced would probably be the easiest.</p>
<p>I found this FAQ on the ucsd site. I hope it helps a little:</p>
<p>"What is the difference between Psychology, Cognitive Science and Human Development at UCSD?
At UCSD Psychology can briefly be described as the study of human/animal mental functions and behavior with a scientific emphasis.</p>
<p>Cognitive science may be concisely defined as the study of the nature of intelligence with an emphasis in three main areas – brain, behavior and computation.</p>
<p>Human development focuses on scientific issues of growth, development, and behavioral change across the lifespan."</p>
<p>Would it be reasonable to substitute for “ucsd psychology” the words cognitive psychology?</p>
<p>YES! I was wondering about that! I’m also, interested in cognitive psychology and neuropsychology. I’m unable to discern the difference between the two though, from my understanding neuropsy studies the brain (illness, trauma and thought) & how it affects behavior, while cogsci/cogpsy studies brain functioning (info processing) such as memory, attention, perception etc. Thing is I’m also interested the human mind (subconscious/conscious) and it seems these two fields that are really my bread & butter seem to act more as neuroscientists rather than psychologists and stray away from the human mind aspect. Could someone clarify these blurry lines? And also include the median salary for each, I tried but to no avail. Thank You!</p>