Hi everyone! So as you may have noticed that in a previous thread I posted saying that I was hopefully going to be pursuing both a neuroscience major, as well as later auditioning for the music as a second major program at Blair during my time at Vandy as a memeber of the Class of 2022. However, I have come to realize that the Neuroscience major is very demanding, with the addition of all the required math and science courses that are used to fulfill pre-med requirements. However, because I’ve never wanted to be pre-med, I have recently been considering creating my own major. I am looking to create a major that I can use in conjunction with my music degree in order to focus graduate study on my true passion: music cognition. I was originally looking at the cognitive studies major at Peabody to replace my neuroscience endeavors, but found that there is a serious lacking of biological basis of behavior in the curriculum. So, say I were to create my own major called “Cognitive Neuroscience” that combines elements of the curriculum from cognitive studies, neuroscience (without the pre-med classes), and many cognitive/developmental psych classes, using classes like the music cognition class as one of the related electives for the major, and it is approved, will my degree read “Cognitive Neuroscience” or will it read “Interdisciplinary Studies”. This makes a large difference for me in applying to grad schools, and for future employers who wish to see my degree, so it would be VERY helpful to know!
- From what I can see you are not even in college yet. Take one step at a time. Once you start taking college classes you may change your mind on what path you want to pursue.
- You would need to ask the Registrar how an independently created major will show up on your transcript. I don’t think a major typically shows up on a college diploma.
- If you go that route I imagine you will have to develop a name for the major and you can work with your advisor to find one that will be a good and fair reflection of your work.
- Grad schools will look carefully at the transcript of coursework you have taken.
- For potential employers you can describe your area of focus and relevant coursework on your resume.
- Never forget - what something is called is less important than the actual work that stands behind it.
Take what I say with a grain of salt because I’m an Econ student, but I personally think you will have a hard time convincing Vandy that you’re prepared to take neuroscience, and especially upper level neuroscience courses without taking the intro math and science courses. This is what the neuroscience program says:
“Neuroscience majors are required to complete a core of introductory courses in biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics that provide the broad scientific background that is necessary for the study of neuroscience.”
Unfortunately I’m not sure what a “create your own” major will say on the diploma. However, I do know that the neuroscience major is technically an interdisciplinary major (created by students but it’s become so common that it exists as a more clearly defined pathway). On the diploma for neuroscience students, it does say “neuroscience” so I’m guessing that they might print the name of your created major (again, take that with a grain of salt though). Regardless, I wouldn’t worry. Employers will read the major name that you write on your resume. Grad schools will be more interested in the breakdown of the actually classes you took and their rigor/preparation potential rather than the name of the major as a whole.
To address your other concerns: the neuro major is reasonably demanding, but I don’t see why you can’t take it/pair it with Blair. It’s really not all that tough - sure, gen chem, orgo, bio, physics, and calc I are weed-out classes, but they only become terrible if you’re a premed trying to maintain a high GPA, and gunning to be in top 10% of the class (for those As/A-s). If you’re not planning on pre-med, you’re probably fine with hanging out closer to the average (around a B- ) so a lot of the pressure/stress isn’t so present. Even if you were premed, I’ve known a couple of people who successfully followed a neuro/blair combo.
Also, I don’t know if creating a “cognitive neuroscience” major will effectively accomplish your goals as described here. It sounds like the classes you’re interested in (upper levels) exactly fit the neuroscience major (mix of psych and the biological basis of behavior) but you’re just trying to find a way to skirt basic introductory per-requisites. Unfortunately, many of the more “basic science” upper levels are in the bio department, and the individual classes will require gen bio/gen chem to enroll (feel free to check through the requisites for neuro-relevant courses here: https://as.vanderbilt.edu/biosci/undergraduate/courses.php). And there’s good reason for that too - it’s sort of unreasonable to attempt upper level molecular/cellular courses without having any prior college intro bio/chem courses. These requirements don’t exist purely as a supplement to satisfy the pre-med crowd; they’re all very basic, fundamental subjects for adequately trained biological sciences. They’re more than re-hashes of AP chem/bio/calc- they’re a lot more in depth, and it is extremely unlikely your high school work has comparably prepared you for upper-level work. I would recommend that you choose one path the other: you could go with psych/cognitive studies and avoid basic science pre-reqs. If that’s not “basic science” enough for you, just go with neuro. Although the weed-outs will be hard, they’ll give you a nice broad knowledge basis.
Finally, as a general aside, it’s always better to avoid specialization and gain as much general knowledge as possible early in your scientific career. In neuroscience, the spectrum of general application to specialized application is organized from basic molecular science to clinical/behavioral science, respectively. You can much more easily apply knowledge of basic science principles to clinical behavior than the other way around, so it’s more flexible. It’s also associated with greater prestige, interest, and institutional/financial investment from the scientific community. However, since it’s more quantitative and mechanistically complex, it takes longer to build the knowledge and you have to start earlier. So it’s crucial to not “miss the boat” and specialize in a clinical/behavioral sub-topic prematurely (in undergrad). Basically, if you’re interested in neuroscience research I think you should take neuro, suffer through the weed-outs and be better for it (not for the weed-outs themselves, but for upper-levels/research opportunities that require them). If you still want to do music cognition work during grad school, the additional knowledge and course rigor can only serve as a boon. However, if you decide that you actually want to do in-vitro work on intracellular second-messenger signaling or GPCR function, you haven’t locked yourself out.
It’s GREAT that you’re spending time dreaming and exploring. Keep it up! There’s actually a major that combines music and psychology and it’s called Music Therapy. It’s usually done as a masters degree. That’s something to explore on Google. You still have plenty of time to decide on a career path, young Padawan 
@soccerfanatic678 : As a person in a STEM PhD and as a person who knows many neurofolks, save the specialization for your research group. It is much better to get more of an interdisciplinary training, which neuroscience is supposed to provide in any program that is ideal. Also, graduate schools will ACTUALLY read your personal statement, jobs require cover letters and EXPERIENCE. They will care less what is on your degree label so much as the experience in your resume, the coursework, and in the case of graduate school, research experience and interests that matches the programs research strengths. Labels matter much less than you think. What you actually did can be explained away in a PS or coverletter and “IDS” won’t matter if you completed a thesis in neuroscience or have a publication or two from your research in whatever area. When it comes to graduate school and even jobs, the journeys are even more diverse than something like say: medical school (where a biology major remains cannon). Trust me.
Also:
"However, I have come to realize that the Neuroscience major is very demanding, with the addition of all the required math and science courses that are used to fulfill pre-med requirements. "
Most graduate programs expect much more than pre-medical requirements. Doing those courses and then some will no doubt enhance your applications as they do take into account rigor and relevance in your chosen curriculum. They typically want someone who is experienced in research but not necessarily a one-trick pony. Being a researcher or taking on STEM careers requires adaptability and an open-mindedness. Having a greater repertoire of knowledge will help you progress in research when stuff doesn’t work or explore new angles from which to view a problem. Knowing a decent amount of math, physics, and even chemistry certainly do not hurt even when studying behavioral and cognitive science (the future sort of is the more quantitative aspects of neuroscience and they have worked their ways into lots of behavioral and cognitive studies). Also, you are worried about the demands, there appears to be a lot of flexibility in how you choose electives via VU’s neuro major.
" It’s really not all that tough - sure, gen chem, orgo, bio, physics, and calc I are weed-out classes, but they only become terrible if you’re a premed trying to maintain a high GPA, and gunning to be in top 10% of the class (for those As/A-s). If you’re not planning on pre-med, you’re probably fine with hanging out closer to the average (around a B- ) so a lot of the pressure/stress isn’t so present."
I have problems with this sort of scare mongering and the issue that @fdgjfg said about grades. First of all, if courses are curved to a C+/B-, B-, or a B-/B, it suggests that about 15-25% of students are in the A/A- range, though I know people love to exaggerate because they went through such classes. In addition, grades beyond B- are much more accessible than people make out. If considering graduate school, you should really try for B/B+ and higher even in these weedout classes. It seems as if maybe physics and calculus at VU are the “true” weedouts and the other 3 courses are fairly typical (though biology appears annoyingly detail/rote memorization focused) and if you take studying in them seriously, you should do fine. If anything, I would definitely focus on learning as much as you can in something like general chemistry 2 (organic could help as well, but my understanding is that most instructors are not as focused on applications there. But getting things like chirality and molecular shape could help with understanding what happens when neurotransmitters or neurotoxins bind various receptors. Any ochem book should help provide applications) as well as physics 2, as much of that content translates to a good understanding of neuro-physiological phenomenon and cellular neuroscience (though theoretically an instructor could give a memorization intensive rendition of such courses as opposed to a quantitative or application based rendition).
Biology serves as a gateway to some upper division courses that could enhance your knowledge of experimentation in neuroscience such as molecular cell biology. Basically, no matter how “demanding” the addition of those courses make the neuro track, it is indeed best for you and serves as an excellent foundation to understand several fields and sub-disciplines in neuroscience (in science it is always nice to be able to converse with those in other sub-disciplines or completely different disciplines, especially if you plan a career in STEM where you will likely attend conferences and networking events. Versatility is always nice. Also doesn’t hurt in graduate school and job interviews). Either way, do not fear the “weedout” classes. Ideally, as a neuroscience major or person constructing your own major and considering graduate school, you should anticipate or even deliberately take at least a couple of courses more intellectually demanding than those (for example, if you took a neurophysiology oriented course, this will combine some of the more mathematically rigorous aspects of physics 2, general chemistry 2, as well as more application/experimentation based biology courses). While you may not be able to score the highest in all the pre-health cores, don’t fear them. View them as preparation and perhaps worry less about the grade. You may actually do better with this mentality (except in rote memorization courses like general biology. Do exactly as they say and be ready regurgitate the slides or book. Period) in more problem solving intensive courses and this may prime your understanding of complex phenomenon in neuroscience. I can agree with @fdgjfg on the good such courses can do. Just don’t aim low.
Also, to be honest, even pre-healths need not be near perfect in all of those classes, though it does help if they are. Either way, definitely no need to consider settling for a B- in something like gchem or ochem considering that they are normally pitched at a fairly standard level (at most schools). I think many underperform in something like general chemistry for several reasons: 1) Anxiety from feeling in competition with others/adjusting to college and these are exacerbated in pre-healths, and 2) Arrogance from some students who have an AP/IB credit or experience, and them getting caught off-guard or bored by material. Ochem is a different beast, but generally students have problems when they try a surface approach (whereby they only stick to trying memorize all the reactions and patterns and don’t properly develop an aptitude for spacial learning and fail to grasp key concepts), and sometimes that approach to learning results from anxiety or feeling pressured for time when managing several courses. The fact that you will not be directly associated with the pre-health crowd may indeed reduce anxiety and pressures to think about learning in certain ways. In addition, if you end up in Blair pursuing music, it may function as something that ultimately enhances performance. Neuroscience and music majors seem common in a lot of places that offer neuro majors and they seem to do really well. There may be something to keeping music in their lives in that serious a capacity. I wouldn’t be so quick to write off the neuroscience major as a whole. Maybe at least try one or 2 of the “weedouts” affiliated with it and see how they go.
Blair student here - I have several friends who are pre-med music majors, some who are double majoring in cognitive studies, and some who are dabbling in psych and other subjects, maybe with minors in some of these areas. All of the above advice is strong (especially @fdgjfg who is spot on here with the science-specific side) but what I will tell you is that the degree of interaction you have with Blair will be a determinant of how possible this is.
For instance, I came to Blair planning to double major in neuro, and as a Blair major it is actually not possible to complete that second major, so you’d have to be a neuro major doubling in music (or minoring more likely, as the numbers of required hours for each subject is quite astounding). Also, don’t underestimate the rigor of Blair classes and the demands placed on you. Most people on campus are aware of how hard they work us at Blair (17-18 credit hours per semester is the norm, and the expectation if you want to graduate, and with these two interests you’d be at maximum course load from the minute you got to campus) so if you are in any way serious about becoming excellent as a musician in addition to strong as a scientist, factor that in accordingly.
Time is the most valuable commodity here and is certainly your greatest currency, so spend it wisely and plan it out appropriately. Think of the life you want to lead. Sometimes, it’s better to whole-ass one thing rather than half-ass two or three.