What Schools Offer either a good Neuroscience or Brain and Cognitive Science Program?

<p>Im a senior in high school and i have become fascinated with the brain. I want to learn about it soo much that I have decided that I want to make it my major. But even though I have done some research, I still want to hear from people who have personal experience in this program, and what schools have the good ones and what schools have the bad ones. I rank number one in my class, take all the AP courses available, and am not afraid of studying. so Im not ruling out any college because "I dont think i can get into it". so please, any help would be awesome. </p>

<p>thanks!!</p>

<p>johns hopkins</p>

<p>Duke is unique, I think, in offering three options of studying neuroscience- a concentration within the biology major, a concentration within the psychology major, or a certificate program.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.biology.duke.edu/undergrad/conc/neuro.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.biology.duke.edu/undergrad/conc/neuro.html&lt;/a>
<a href="http://unp.aas.duke.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://unp.aas.duke.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The NRC</a> ranking can give you an idea of where good neuroscience programs can be found, although some of them (Rockefeller, UCSF, etc.) don't offer undergraduate programs in the subject.</p>

<p>Neuroscience programs at LACs can be harder to find. Franklin & Marshall, Davidson, Pomona, Amherst, Bowdoin, and Bates have excellent programs.</p>

<p>PM molliebatmit if you want specific information about neuroscience at MIT, Harvard, or other universities.</p>

<p>Thanks! I've been going crazy trying to find undergrad programs.</p>

<p>alsoo im new to all of this so, what does PM molliebatmit mean?</p>

<p>When you view molliebatmit's</a> profile, look under "contact info." There's an option to send a private message.</p>

<p><----Alternately you can click on their username here and click "send a private message to..."</p>

<p>I believe Mollie got married yesterday, so don't be surprised if she takes a while to reply to you. ;)</p>

<p>Thanks!! I didnt realize what a huge help this site would be. =]</p>

<p>WashU has a terrific UG interdisciplinary program called Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology (PNP) you might be interested in. The major involves studying the mind from multiple perspectives, including other disciplines that contribute to the understanding of cognition such as biology, linguistics, education and cultural anthropology. <a href="http://artsci.wustl.edu/%7Epnp/undergrad/courses.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://artsci.wustl.edu/~pnp/undergrad/courses.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>In the first year, freshman take a two core courses in the Mind, Brain, and Behavior program ---- a first-year program also open to students entering any college in the university --- to study the brain in relation to attention, memory and language. It's taught collaboratively by faculty and involves coursework from the natural sciences, philosophical, and psychological perspective. Freshmen in MBB participate in a weekend retreat where they meet the faculty mentors who will work with them on research as sophomores. UG research options are built into the soph year, involving independent research and also opportunities to work collaboratively.</p>

<p>Penn - Biological Basis of Behavior Major</p>

<p>There are lots of neuroscience programs out there. What else are you looking for in a school? If you search on here, I'm sure there were lists posted in the past of neuro schools. You can easily eliminate schools if they don't meet your basic criteria (city/rural, big/small, research/LAC, etc). Once you start your list, check into actual majors offered but don't give up if you don't see neuroscience or cognitive science listed. Sometimes it's part of a larger dept like biology, biological sciences or psychology. Once you find some you're interested in, read through the curriculum for major. They do vary quite a bit. Seeing the differences may help you decifer what's more appealing to you.</p>

<p>Some of the programs my son looked into were at Brown (Neuroscience or Cognitive Neuroscience or Cognitive science), Princeton (Neuroscience certificate), Colgate (neuroscience), Amherst (neuroscience), U Miami (neuroscience - neurobiology or psychobiology tracks - higher admission standards for this major). At JHU, I believe there's a neuroscience tract within the Cognitive Sciences Dept. Yale offers a Cognitive Science major and a neurobiology tract within the Biology major. Check your state schools. I know Rutgers has a Cell Biology and Neuroscience major.</p>

<p>University of Rochester has a department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences. You can major in Neuroscience or in Brain & Cognitive Sciences which is slightly broader. There are also a lot of research opportunities for undergraduates at Rochester's medical school.
<a href="http://www.bcs.rochester.edu/programs/undergraduate/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bcs.rochester.edu/programs/undergraduate/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I forgot that one. My son liked UR's neuro pgm, flexibility in curriculum and Take 5 pgm. UR, like UM, also offers merit $.</p>

<p>I looked into this extensively when I was looking for colleges. The program at Brown is awesome and very popular as a concentration. The list from jerzgrlmom is very accurate. My second choice was Princeton and Miami the third one. Miami limits only 40 undergrads students into this program, unlike Brown and Princeton. Then again, these two are the most selective.</p>

<p>At Caltech, you could get the traditional biology major, taking your elective and concentration courses in neurobiology courses, or get an Engineering and Applied Science major, with your concentration in Computational and Neural Systems, which "studies the interface of problems in neurobiology, computer science, electrical engineering, and physics" (quote from the website). It's supposed to be a pretty cool major, though I haven't taken any classes in it. Check it out.</p>

<p>It is my understanding that University of Pittsburgh shares faculty/labs etc with Carnegie Mellon and as a result has a decent program.</p>

<p>Rugg’s Recommendations</p>

<p>NEUROSCIENCE
Claremont McKenna
Pitzer
Pomona
Scripps
UC Berkeley
UCLA
UCSD
Colorado College
Northwestern
Bates
Bowdoin
Colby
Johns Hopkins
Amherst
Boston U
Brandeis
Harvard
Mt Holyoke
Wellesley
Colgate
Columbia
Cornell
Hamilton
NYU
Duke
Franklin and Marshall
Lehigh
Brown
Rice
Washington and Lee</p>

<p>BIOPSYCHOLOGY
Earlham
U Michigan
Washington U St Louis
Barnard
Hamilton
Vassar
Bucknell
Carnegie Mellon
Franklin and Marshall
William and Mary</p>

<p>Gourman Report ranking for neuroscience GRADUATE programs</p>

<p>YALE UNIVERSITY 1 4.93
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 2 4.92
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-SAN FRANCISCO 3 4.91
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-SAN DIEGO 4 4.90
UMBIA UNIVERSITY 5 4.87
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 5 4.87
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY 6 4.83
STANFORD UNIVERSITY 7 4.83
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY 8 4.81
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 9 4.78
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 10 4.75
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY 11 4.73
ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSI1Y 12 4.72
DUKE UNIVERSITY 13 4.68
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON 14 4.67
CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY 15 4.64
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-LOS ANGELES 16 4.62
MASSACHUSETIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOlOGY 17 4.61
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-ANN ARBOR 18 4.57
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO 19 4.53
BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE 20 4.51
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE 21 4.48
CORNELL UNIVERSITY 22 4.45
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 23 4.40
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON 24 4.36
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA-CHAPEL HILL 25 4.33
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY 26 4.31
ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE OF YESHIVA UNIVERSITY 27. 4.30
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA 28 4.24
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT STONY BROOK 29 4.22
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA 30 4.19
MAYO MEDICAL SCHOOL 31 4,17
BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY 32 4.14
EMORY UNIVERSITY 33 4.13
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA-TWIN CITIES 34 4.11
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON 35 4.10</p>

<p>I don't trust Ruggs too much.</p>