<p>Anybody majoring in UVA's neuroscience program? I know it's relatively new so I'm not sure if I should apply to UVA or if the program is a good choice. I'm really looking for colleges that offer Neuroscience as a major, and UVA is a solid school (but I've already got a lot of schools I"m applying to, I sorta need some matches though)</p>
<p>Brief stats:
Class Rank: 1/3XX i think
GPA: uw: 4.0 | w: 4.76 (might be higher now)
SAT: 2350 (800M/790CR/760W) - (10th grade, I sucked at writing then)
SATII: 740 Bio-M and 750 Lit, will take Math2 and Chem in october
AP: Calc BC, Stat, Bio, English Lang, World, US Gov't - All 5s
NIH 1 year internship (~1200 lab hours)
Lots of community service clubs and activities, other clubs, leadership in about 8 clubs and dedication (in most of them for all 4 years), around 350 service hours.</p>
<p>Would UVA be a good match for me? (I live next door in MD by the way!)</p>
<p>It's ranked REALLLLLLLLY high and people on this board (not UVA... just CC in general) have succeeded in making me think I do NOTHING so realistically do I have a shot?</p>
<p>Untilted and barrons, any of you have experience with the program?</p>
<p>fengshuibundi, you have a fantastic chance at UVA and at being an Echols Scholar. I hope you apply.</p>
<p>The neuroscience program is strong enough that you'll be able to do whatever you want for graduate school provided you do well. Departmental strength is less important at the undergraduate level than it is at the graduate level. I don't know too much about it other than the fact that it's got a lot of smart kids in it who do fairly well afterwards...</p>
<p>From what I've heard, the Columbia program (I'm looking at Columbia, JHU, Dartmouth, Rochester, Brown, Duke, and <a href="mailto:WashU@St.Loui">WashU@St.Loui</a>s for Neuro as well! Care to assess/comment?) is quite intensive. Could you give me a link to UVa's neuro-page (I think the one I am looking at is outdated or something) or tell me if it's a good option for somebody who wants to head to medschool, and if it's feasible to do a double major with something like biochemistry alongside it?</p>
<p>fengshui, try not to be such a massive gunner. ALL of the schools you're looking at are very strong, and ALL have programs that would be suitable for getting you into a top medical school or top PhD program. A 3.8 and a 39 MCAT from any of them would make you a great candidate. At this point you should worry more about the overall prestige and academic strength of the school as well as the non-academic aspects of the school - social life, sports, etc. It is my opinion that UVA is superior to the schools you're looking at in non-academic factors, and only a hair behind in academics. However, I doubt that a top student in one of UVA's departments would be looked at as an inferior applicant to a Columbia or Brown applicant just by virtue of the schools the applicants attend. Double majoring in neuroscience AND biochemistry would be extremely rigorous as both majors have MANY required courses and labs that would be difficult to even schedule in four years. Believe me, doing one or the other and doing well would get you as far as you'd want to go.</p>
<p>Haha... sorry that I came off that way. I'm usually the one telling my folks that based on the schools I'm looking at it really doesn't come down to academics, but more how I like the school, the campus, and the social life (to which they scoff... who needs a social life... crazy people they are!)</p>
<p>I was just wondering about the biochem, it isn't really an interest of mine but was the first major I could think of... I would have said horticulture if I thought of that first :-D</p>
<p>I'm not an Echols Scholar (someone may better explain this) but to sum it up: You are placed into a program with other admitted first years with excellent credentials. You don't have to fulfill area requirements, you get priority registration and a bunch of other perks. It's a pretty sweet deal from what I hear.</p>
<p>The Echols program is an honors program in the College of Arts & Sciences. It gives special privileges to the top 6-7% of students in the college. I'm an Echols Scholar, as is sv3a (another poster on this board), so if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'd be shocked if you didn't get into UVA and moderately surprised if you didn't get into the Echols program. Here's a website you might find useful:</p>
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I'm usually the one telling my folks that based on the schools I'm looking at it really doesn't come down to academics, but more how I like the school, the campus, and the social life (to which they scoff... who needs a social life... crazy people they are!)
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<p>Let me guess: asian? lol</p>
<p>I'd recommend that you come visit sometime this fall when it cools off a bit. The gounds really are beautiful and I always thought it was neat to see all of the students out and about in their oxford shirts and khaki pants.</p>
<p>Haha, thanks! Echols looks pretty awesome, I hope that they select me for it! But either way, it's a good school with a program I'm interested in, so I'll seriously consider it regardless of my Echols status if I get in.</p>
<p>Cav is right in that it doesn't matter if you go to columbia or uva as long as you can succeed well in that school. Our RA last year had ridiculous stats, and could have gone almost anywhere. It didn't matter that he went to UVA instead of Princeton undergrad, he still excelled immensely in his major (BS Chem with Biochem spec) and MCATs and was free to choose where he wanted to get interviews. Also, as long as you don't make an ass of yourself in your essays, you're basically 100% guaranteed Echols.</p>
<p>ORMs suck. They're stealing admission spots that various other groups have the absolute right to. Especially those Indians who are more overrepresented than probably another other ethnic group at UVA.</p>
<p>My parents were a little shocked at me telling them today that UVA is suddenly an option (becaues in the past 3 weeks I've added URochester, dropped Princeton, almost dropped Drexel and Boston U, and added Columbia and Dartmouth and it looks like I'm just unsure)</p>
<p>So Echols looks awesome on paper, free to choose more of my classes than most people... HOWEVER is it really as impressive and advantageous as it sounds? And how are UVA's merit scholarships, any chance I could recieve one?</p>
<p>yes you can do both. make sure your state's alumni supports a jefferson scholar program - otherwise you could be the perfect applicant and you wouldn't get it.</p>