<p>I'm in the Fall semester of my Junior year at the University of Texas at Dallas, which is a school I went to because I received a full ride, and because it is one of the two in Texas that offer a Neuroscience undergraduate degree. So far I've had good training for medicine, but I am now considering going on to graduate school and I'm afraid the research here isn't as good as I'd like it to be. I'm currently doing Neuroscience research but not in the area I want, and none of the other five professors are doing research in what I want to do. Also, this school is a commuter school, so I feel very limited here. Is it worth transferring to the flagship University of Texas at Austin, or any other other university that would accept a senior year transfer that is more research and academically intensive, and taking an extra year to get a B.S. in Biology with a concentration in Neurobiology and a Psychology degree, and to get research experience and a possible publication in a field of Neuroscience I'm interested in? Or, should I stay here? Will doing this hurt my options for graduate school?</p>
<p>It would be pretty useless to transfer because most colleges only accept 60 credits, correct me if im wrong but most don't even accept senior transfers. If you are in research right now as an undergrad at your current school you are best off sticking with that, it might not be exactly what you are interested in researching but you are gaining more experience in the labs and will have more too add in an interview. What you should be doing is trying to research different professors (around the US/whatever area you want to be in) and find one that is researching something that interests you, you should then contact him/her and say how you are interested in attending that school for graduate studies and helping with the research, you can tell them the current experience you have and what you can bring to the table. By talking to the professor ahead of time, they will be able to push the adcoms to accept you. That is the best way to go about graduate admissions, not as much by rankings but finding the right program that you are interested in researching... hope this helped!</p>
<p>Yours is such a specific question that it might be hard for us, strangers on a discussion forum, to really help.</p>
<p>I think you have well thought-out plans, and I'm not sure you couldn't do just as well from where you are.</p>
<p>Qx for you to consider:
1. as burgler mentioned, would UT-A even consider a transfer with your current academic standing?
2. Might you not have excellent chances at grad school from where you are? Have you spoken to your favorite/best profs about this? Where did they get their degrees? Do they have advice for you? (If your own profs aren't the right ones to approach, how about the Chair of the Dept?).</p>
<p>I don't believe it is important that you have done research in your intended grad field as an undergrad. I believe it is a big point in your favor that you have been involved in research at all. I also think you can feature the fact that you have taken the initiative to get involved in research at a school where that is not the norm.</p>
<p>But I'm not an expert on grad school admissions <em>these days</em> and in your field, so I strongly recommend you go to the Grad School Admissions Forum here, if you ahve not already. Lots of excellent posters there. PM molliebatmit, if you don't get good answers to any thread you start.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Like both Andale and burgler09 have mentioned, I'm concerned about how many credit hours UT-A would accept. UT-A would accept a senior transfer, but I suspect that they would discourage you strongly as they do have a 60 hour transfer limit. You would lose any hours past that and you are not the one who decides what courses count toward that limit and which don't. Unfortunately, if you are going to lose almost a years worth of credit, it is not really worth it to transfer to UT-A. If you are set on pursuing an extra degree, I do not think this is a problem, but you should check with both of the departments you would like to earn your degree from.</p>
<p>I do not know what Texas A&M offers in terms of Neuroscience, but A&M is pretty strong in the sciences and does not have the 60 credit hour transfer limit that most schools do. If I remember correctly, TAMU requires that you complete 30 hours of credit at TAMU and most of this must be upper division; I'd imagine you would have little trouble meeting this requirement. You might lose a little bit of credit depending on the amount that you currently have, but you wouldn't lose nearly a full year like you would at UT-A.</p>
<p>Without knowing more specifics , I can't give you very good advice, but I'll try.</p>
<p>Andale and burgler09's advice/comments about research are good. I've listed some questions at the end of my post that you should think about if you haven't already. I think that it would be very wise to try to do summer research in the field you are interested in. You should start looking now if you want a shot at this summer. I don't think that the school you attend as an undergraduate matters that much when applying to graduate school. Some of the brightest and most respected professors that I know went to Nowhere/Noname school. They were however all at the top of their class and heavily involved in research. Some people will tell you that it is important to stick with one research lab throughout your undergraduate career. While there are benefits to that--like a stellar rec and the possibility of some papers--I think this is hogwash. Hopping around a bit is fine, especially if you can land spots in labs known for the field of research you are interested in AND/OR you would like to continue to work in during graduate school.</p>
<p>I hope this helps. I'd be happy to give you some more advice about transferring to UT Austin if you have anymore questions.</p>
<p>Things to think about:</p>
<p>What kind of research do you want to do and why?</p>
<p>What are the big names in the field of research that you want to pursue?</p>
<p>Have you managed to locate a REU or another similar summer program that you would be interested in?</p>