UAB Neuroscience Program?

College Search & Selection
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<p>Tell me — is this is as awesome as I have myself thinking it is?</p>

<p>Neuroscience</a> Undergraduate Program</p>

<p>UAB touts it as a program "that provides the type of hands-on research and close mentoring found only at the graduate level at most other universities."</p>

<p>And there's reason to think it isn't joshing.</p>

<p>The major is "limited to 15 students per year so that the Neuroscience classes can remain relatively small and ensure one-on-one interaction with faculty mentors." It's highly selective, they say — though they weren't clear on HOW selective it is.</p>

<p>They say this:
- allows for Dr. McFarland to serve as your academic advisor throughout your undergraduate career unlike other majors that utilize nonfaculty personnel for student advising.
- allows us to identify enough neuroscience research laboratories for each of our students to spend at least 3 years working closely with a research team from the UAB School of Medicine or the Department of Psychology.</p>

<p>Meaning that UAB neuro majors are getting special mentoring from their profs AND extensive opportunities for undergraduate research.</p>

<p>In fact,

[quote]
Prospective Neuroscience Majors should have a desire to conduct original research in a neuroscience laboratory and the intention to pursue research or health related science careers.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>And then the icing on the cake that every neuroscience major wants to hear:

[quote]
Graduates will be highly qualified candidates for health professional schools or for graduate programs in the biomedical/mental health fields and will have fulfilled the academic requirements for admission to these professional schools. It is likely that neuroscience majors will publish research papers in prestigious neuroscience journals before they graduate.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>And, of course, one cannot ever forget the fact that UAB's merit scholarships make a sufficiently qualified student's time there almost completely free...</p>

<p>Is UAB's neuroscience program really so perfect — a (free) rigorous grounding in brain science that, through special professorial attention and intensive research exposure (ending publishing!!), prepares you for the best graduate (or medical, or medical-graduate) schools in the nation?</p>

<p>Say that it's so!</p>

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<p>Pretty much everything except the last statement (the statement about a very strong guarantee of publishing before graduation) can be acquired at most other institutions if the student is willing and serious enough (ie: 4 years of research, very close interpersonal relationship with faculty etc). I would imagine that the 15 students who are amazing and bright enough to get into this program and get the merit aid to make this a bargain probably have better options to consider. </p>

<p>With that said, yes, it is for sure a very good program, a hidden gem (at least to me, though it’s too late to apply since I’m studying neuro somewhere else). Thanks for posting.</p>

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<p>I’ll need to delete everything when I’m satisfied with this discussion so it stays a hidden gem, then. :P</p>

<p>That’s true? UAB’s not special? But would you say this program is equivalent to those, even though UAB is a bit less academically strong as a whole?</p>

<p>And more importantly…there are better options? (For free?)</p>

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<p>I would say (and I don’t really know how much my opinion is worth because I am just a neuro student and not an authority in the field) that even though UAB is not a top tier school, these types of schools have honors programs, exclusive admit programs, etc that are equal to normal students in colleges that are ranked much higher than they are. For example, I would imagine that having such a small student body (15 per year) in the major with a faculty adviser seems closer to a private liberal arts college program than a southern public school. Again, I don’t know the degree of research quality at UAB so I am not going to judge that element of the deal, but I think this is a great program if one gets into for “free” or a full ride it’ll be hard to beat - especially if one knows that graduate school is the goal this program is great.</p>

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<p>All you need to do to see if it’s the caliber you’d like is ask them what recent grads have done/where they’ve gone. When there’s only 15 in the program, it shouldn’t be too difficult to evaluate at that point and ought to give you a better idea than an internet forum. You’d want to know about all 15, not just the top 1 or 2.</p>

<p>Whether it’s good or not, with just 15 accepted each year, I wouldn’t count on it being something you get accepted to no matter what your stats are. I’d be applying elsewhere too.</p>

<p>Many good neuroscience colleges have competitive scholarships vs guaranteed versions. You’ll just have to apply and see what options you get.</p>

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<p>philovitist… if you have any questions about uab in general feel free to pm me…son attends there. Don’t know alot about the neuroscience program except,… it is rigorous. Dr McFarland expects alot from his students, you must maintain a 3.7 to stay in the program. The program is fairly structured course wise…so dont think you can double major etc. Also on the publish side… if you want to publish…it can be done easily at uab!!! just go for it. There are SO many possibilities for research …my son has been doing research since his first semester…has published one paper, has another submitted to a journal, is currently doing yet a 3rd paper and he is just completing his 2nd year. Profs there want their students to succeed…tough but fair!</p>

<p>you can also (depending on your stats) apply for sci/tech honors, which is ALL about research. Dr Tucker is the director of that program, (selective and requires an interview).</p>

<p>if you tell me your stats i can give you an idea of possible merit or chances for sci/tech. Also if not a direct admit to neuroscience from hs…you can apply during freshman year.</p>

<p>gold3… uab is a tier one research university, only one in alabama ranked high research by carnegie. was awarded the beckman scholar award (only 11 universities in the country are awarded this)
uab receives more research funding than all other universities in the state combined.</p>

<p>UAB ranks among Top-20 nationally in federal research and development funding and 1st in the state of Alabama, receiving more funding than all other Alabama universities combined. UAB received over $416 million in external grants and contracts in fiscal 2007–2008.[20]
As of 2009, UAB is 4th in the Southeast for NIH research funding behind only Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Vanderbilt University.[30]</p>

<p>The University of Alabama at Birmingham is nationally ranked among Top-20 in total federal research funding and key areas of health sciences receiving more than $433 million dollars in funding.[32] The Scientist magazine recently ranked UAB No. 24 on its Top 40 “Best Places to Work as a Postdoctoral Fellow” list, up from its No. 56 ranking in 2008.[33] In the 2010 Princeton Review College Rankings, UAB is listed as one of the “Best Southeastern Colleges” and one of the top 371 colleges/universities in the US. In addition, out of the 371 Best College Rankings, UAB was ranked #3 in race/class interaction, #11 for happiest students, and #14 for best athletic facilities.[34] In the 2011 US News and World Report, UAB is listed as a “more selective” institution and 151st overall (public or private) among 572 universities in USA.[35] In 2009, the Scientist Magazine ranked UAB as 5th in the Top 15 U.S. Academic Institutions and up from 47th in 2007.[36]
re merit… it was brought to my attention that the oos scholarships/cost of attendance while excellent are calculated on a 12 credit/semester . Neuroscience requires more than 120 credits to graduate… so remember to factor in $600 per credit hour above 96 credits. still a great award…and also the 2013-14 awards havent been posted yet… might be better, might be the same…might be less. NMF currently is a free ride (at 15 credits per semester and housing etc). Should hear very soon what the new awards will be.</p>

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<p>creekland… if i remember correctly the neuroscience program was established in 2008, so is a new program, wouldnt be much available about what the grads are doing , but the op could easily ask Dr McFarland about the 1st graduating class (this year)</p>

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<p>I popped Mr. McFarland an email. He said his students got 100% acceptance into Medical/Grad school, 100% publishing, and that next Fall, UAB will automatically admit any student with an ACT of 30 and a HS GPA of 3.75 (which means I’m a shoo-in).</p>

<p>Didn’t get which schools they moved on to, but I’ll ask. I wonder if that last part about auto-admission is more lax than the program’s normally been. And I’ll check. </p>

<p>thanks for that insight, golden — I basically agree!</p>

<p>@Creekland: it seems not. maybe because the program is a well-kept secret, or maybe because the program is growing. I’ll check up on what the consequences of this might be.</p>

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<p>You may be a shoo in for UAB overall, but if they cap the major at 15, I suspect there will be a bit of competition and your stats would probably need to be higher. It’s fairly common for some colleges to cap numbers of people admitted into particular majors.</p>

<p>It sounds like it’s worth a try, but I still wouldn’t advise putting all of you eggs into one basket expecting acceptance (into the major). Trying to make it in after freshman year would also be iffy. In order to get in at that point, does it depend upon others not making the grade or otherwise dropping out? Would you have a Plan B if you didn’t make the grade to stay in?</p>

<p>The cost does not sound completely free since you need more courses than you can take in 4 years.</p>

<p>Just thoughts, but again, it sounds worth a try based upon what I’m reading here.</p>

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<p>creekland, it can be done in 4 years… as far as credits go…i was just advising that the scholarship is based on 12 credits if blazer elite per semester, and they will have to take more than 12… the nmf merit gives 15 credits per semester.<br>
the actual curriculum for neuroscience is within the 120 credits required to graduate so easily done at 15 per semester in 4 years… but if they need research credit courses (which i think they do) then there could be some additional expense and some semesters above 15 credits… however uab is very generous with advanced placement so that may also help</p>