What I learnt so far is UPitt is a research based program. This means at the end of each year, the students apply to some of the labs in Neuroscience department and get research experience as opposed to internship based at vTech( which you have to find yourself).
Looks like Va Tech has 4 majors in their school of neuroscience.
They, and most every school, has research opportunities. Pitt may be your choice - but most any school has research opportunities - schools post them and frankly, all one needs to do is ask and they shall find.
Internships again are never given - and while school research is great and I know schools will tell you itâs a substitute for an internship in employerâs eyes - hmmmmm - I donât think so.
My sonâs gf has done research in engineering all four years - including the summers in between. Employers wanted - research experience.
I may be wrong - but I think you have two fine universities - and there are no guarantees from either - but both are very good.
If one curriculum stands out - or for example, you like the research at Pitt, thatâs great - but I would also suggest you look further, because Iâm sure any school in consideration will also have ample research opportunities.
Good luck.
Curriculum | School of Neuroscience | Virginia Tech (vt.edu)
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Not really sure that you have been given accurate counsel since both schools are major research universities. These universities bend over backwards, trying to get motivated freshman and sophomores started on research. Since that is their pipeline for future PhDsâŠ
My daughter is at Texas A&M as a freshman. middle of the first semester she emailed a few professors expressing interest in joining a research lab and now this semester she is on a team that is doing spinal injury research studies. Throwing that out just as an example of Texas A&M is a large school where they donât promise you anything in advance, but students that are motivated absolutely have their pick of high quality research opportunities. I believe the same would be true at the schools you are considering. So I will say what others have already said it really comes down to what does your student want in terms of feel of the campus etc.
and candidly, if they have any interest whatsoever in a masters or PhD afterwards, which is pretty much required to have a long term career path in neuroscience, the best choice would be which ever one of these BS degrees costs less. No one is going to care which of those two schools they went to, they are going to care about if they applied themselves in class and pursued research opportunities during undergrad. What did you do with those four years. Just my two cents.
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S19 is about to graduate Pitt in both BS Neuroscience and BA History and Philosophy of Science. He has a 4.0 in both majors. We are PA residents so it was a no brainer for him to go there after he waited out some Ivy waitlists. William and Mary tried hard for him to go there with honors etc but really OOS tuition made zero sense.
Ask any questions about the major but he had to find his own research project for Neuro so no they just donât fall in your lap at Pitt. You are very much on your own at Pitt for all things such as scheduling, advising and finding jobs, internships and research. He is in the Honors College but it has done zero for him with regards to these items. Pitt HC is not very strong unless you want to appy for the Fullbright ScholarshipâŠvery non-science oriented.
Hands down VTech has a nicer college campus⊠Pitt is not really a campus. Both my kids go there and we live here. You have to navigate a ton of traffic and busses and Oakland is and has always been a gritty area of Pittsburgh. Right now major construction in the area is a big issue. This is scheduled to continue into 2024.
S19 will most definitely be applying to med schools in the DC/VA area.
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I do think this statement is likely the case at most large flagships. I could be wrong - but just a guess. Itâs definitely about the drive of the student. CompaniesâŠI mean collegesâŠmarket as if this stuff is just handed to you - but in reality itâs not - and thatâs why some get multiple offers and some donâtâŠsome are driven for the experience and some just attend class and hope to get a piece of paper. The latter doesnât do so well. Likely most anywhere - or at least big flagship types.
Ask any questions about the major but he had to find his own research project for Neuro so no they just donât fall in your lap at Pitt. You are very much on your own at Pitt for all things such as scheduling, advising and finding jobs, internships and research.
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Thanks for some pointers and insights about UPitt. Do all students at Pitt get a research project in each year ? What does the departmental advisor do in terms of help in these areas?
Your observation that onus is on the student is correct. However, there is a contribution by the teacher too in making the subject interesting and motivating them. Yes, it sound utopian, but that does not seem to be the case by and large from what I hear from may students
How were the teachers / teaching in freshman year at UPitt who took required classe? I am of the opinion that this is a important year that gives the fundamentals
Hi, from a local just call it Pitt, no one ever calls it UPitt 
Pitt is a sink or swim school honestly. . My S19 knew several students on his dorm floor fail out freshman year. But if your student is one of those self-motivated, disciplined, multi-AP Class HSchooler, they will do well at Pitt.
Again, research projects are found by the student. They just donât get assigned them. Itâs up to the student to search for them, ask questions to professors, look online. My sonâs advisors have done nothing to help in this area. He literally figures out his schedule, picks his classes, has the zoom meeting in which the advisor signs off on it. Thatâs it. His one research project was a tip from his Chem prof. His other one came from a program called First Experience in Research which he applied to a bunch of them then had to interview with ones that called him. This was pre-Covid 2019 so I donât know if they do this FER anymore. His roomates have all found their projects on their own as well.
Itâs better to stay in research projects long-term in order to show outcomes and allow more responsibilities. This looks good apparently on med school apps.
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In addition to which style of campus and surrounding area your student prefers (because as said, the two are very different), I think it also matters what your student plans to do with the major. Is it a precursor to a PhD or medical school, or is it intended to lead right into a career? Pitt is widely considered a gold standard for Neuroscience because it is not only one of the earlier programs but it is also among the rare programs housed in a department with a faculty with Neuroscience professors delivering the curriculum, whereas many other Neuroscience degrees that popped up during the surge of the degree (initially because it was the new âbiologyâ degree that many pre-med students declared for their undergrad degree) were just interdisciplinary degrees with a curriculum of courses taught by faculty from various other departments within Colleges of Arts & Sciences that combined to meet the objectives of a Neuroscience degree. Virginia Techâs School of Neuroscience, although much much newer, also has dedicated Neuro faculty so this shouldnât be much of a factor between them, though perusing through the courses might highlight a particular path of interest for your student that may be helpful. I was delighted to see Sandy Hall has been renovated to house the School of Neuroscience, it was mostly uninhabited when I was there but it is in such a great location on campus that it was unbelievable that it wasnât being used.
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