UCLA, UCI or UCSB for cognitive science.

State Forums
1

Today I got accepted into UCLA, UCI and UCSD for cognitive science specializing in neuroscience, but I’m debating which one to go with. My hope would be to do a PhD program at UCSD in 2 years.

UCLA
pros - school reputation
cons - doesn’t have a Cog Sci department

UCI
pros - Close by, small cog sci department (could be pro or con), well respected Cog Sci program, easier for a high GPA
cons - UCI doesn’t have a neuroscience dept, so they’re a little week on that side.

UCSD
Pros-In the top 5 schools in the world for Cog Sci
Cons - Long commute (I can’t move), getting a BS here greatly hurts my chances at a PhD here.

I’m really leaning towards UCI, but I just want to make sure I’m making the correct choice. Any advice would be great!

2

oops, I meant UCSD not UCSB in the title. I don’t think I can change it now >.<

3

Why would attending UCSD hurt your chances of getting a PhD there? There are going to be more cogsci research opportunities and stronger academics there, as it’s the birthplace of cognitive science and consistently the #1 or #2 cogsci department in the world.

4

According to their website, only a handful of UCSD graduates have ever been admitted into their PhD program. By tradition and to encourage the flow of ideas, schools rarely take their own students for graduate programs

5

For UCLA, there doesn’t necessarily need to be a cog sci department for the major to be strong. Does the major as a whole seem strong despite there not being a department dedicated to it?

For UCI, how’s their selection of neuroscience courses in general? Even if they don’t have a neuroscience department, that doesn’t stop them from having a fair selection of related courses under, say, biology (or whatever other department).

6

I’ve pretty much decided on UCI. The only problem is, they force transfer students to enter as a psychology major and then switch to cog Sci. I requested a change through admissions and they said to talk to the school of social sciences in the summer. I tried calling and they said to call admissions. The problem is, I’d hate to commit to UCI, only to not get into the program. At least with UCLA and UCSD I’m in the major for sure. I’m going to head down on Friday to get a walk in appointment. I’d at least like to know what my chances are before I plunge in!