What's a good school for me? And has a good neuroscience program?

<p>I'm currently a high school senior planning on majoring in neuroscience next year. I've heard Brown is good, but the open curriculum makes me a bit wary. Cornell seems really nice, but the workload seems like it might be too intense for me. I'm really fond of Dartmouth, but I'm afraid their isn't much to do off-campus other than outdoorsy activities and I'm not too keen on the cold weather. I'm also afraid U of Chicago might be too intense and too cold.</p>

<p>Some other schools I'm considering include</p>

<p>Northwestern
Northeastern
Boston University
Bucknell</p>

<p>Please help!</p>

<p>Rhodes is one of a precious few SLACs in the nation that offers neuroscience as a major, we have research opportunities for undergrads at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and we’re in Memphis where there’s plenty to do and it never gets really cold.</p>

<p>Here’s the complete list of LACs that offer Neuroscience as a major:</p>

<p>112260 Claremont McKenna College Claremont CA
121257 Pitzer College Claremont CA
121345 Pomona College Claremont CA
146427 Knox College Galesburg IL
160977 Bates College Lewiston ME
161004 Bowdoin College Brunswick ME
161086 Colby College Waterville ME
164465 Amherst College Amherst MA
167835 Smith College Northampton MA
168218 Wellesley College Wellesley MA
173902 Macalester College Saint Paul MN
190099 Colgate University Hamilton NY
191515 Hamilton College Clinton NY
195526 Skidmore College Saratoga Springs NY
203128 Hiram College Hiram OH
203535 Kenyon College Gambier OH
204501 Oberlin College Oberlin OH
210669 Allegheny College Meadville PA
212577 Franklin and Marshall College Lancaster PA
214175 Muhlenberg College Allentown PA
216524 Ursinus College Collegeville PA
221351 Rhodes College Memphis TN
234207 Washington and Lee University Lexington VA</p>

<p>I live in chicago, and have been to the U of C campus in the winter…Its very very beautiful. It’s not too cold, but then again if youre from the south it might be, as Minnesota is quite cold for Chicago people. but its a very good school and i would reccomend anyone to apply there with even a slight chance to get it. If youre ready for the workload that is…</p>

<p>U of Chicago’s unspoken motto is: “Where fun goes to die.” As the previous poster stated, apply there if you are ready for the intense courseload. I’ve been on campus and it is nice, however, the surrounding area is not very safe. That said, it is one of the best schools in the nation.</p>

<p>I have heard UCLA is excellent in neuroscience, but the comments were directed at their graduate programs instead of their undergraduate.</p>

<p>I’m pretty sure Neuroscience is one of the most popular majors at Wesleyan:
[Wesleyan</a> University - Neuroscience & Behavior Program](<a href=“http://www.wesleyan.edu/nsb/]Wesleyan”>Welcome, Neuroscience & Behavior - Wesleyan University)</p>

<p>Davidson has an excellent major in neuroscience offered through their interdisciplinary studies program. Because Davidson is totally focused on undergraduate education, students working in any program where research is important, have tremendous opportunities to participate in original research with professors ( not TA’s) and have their work published in peer-reviewed journals. Here is the link: [Majoring</a> in Neuroscience](<a href=“http://www.davidson.edu/neuroscience/neuro/major.htm]Majoring”>http://www.davidson.edu/neuroscience/neuro/major.htm)</p>

<p>If you want to talk about the Brown Curriculum in more detail, please search posts on the Brown forum and feel free to start a thread over there. Perhaps the open curriculum is not as daunting or nerve-wrecking as you currently perceive it to be.</p>

<p>I’ve heard that Pitt has a good neuroscience program</p>

<p>One of my senior friends is also looking into neuroscience and her top choices that have good programs are Oberlin, Pitt, and Cornell. I applied and was accepted to both Oberlin and Cornell but they are VERY different atmospheres so really it depends on what you’re looking for.</p>

<p>You should look into Penn’s undergraduate neuroscience program, called Biological Basis of Behavior:</p>

<p>[Biological</a> Basis of Behavior Program](<a href=“http://www.psych.upenn.edu/bbb/]Biological”>http://www.psych.upenn.edu/bbb/)</p>

<p>It’s one of the oldest and largest interdisciplinary neuroscience programs in the country, and includes a lot of Penn Medical School faculty in addition to members of several of Penn’s liberal arts departments (Biology, Psychology, Anthropology, etc.):</p>

<p>[Biological</a> Basis of Behavior Program Faculty](<a href=“http://www.psych.upenn.edu/bbb/BBBFacultyandStaff.htm]Biological”>http://www.psych.upenn.edu/bbb/BBBFacultyandStaff.htm)</p>

<p>It’s one of the largest and most popular undergraduate majors in Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences, and will be further enhanced by the new $78.5 million Neural-Behavioral Sciences Building currently being planned:</p>

<p>[PennConnects</a> : <em>—</em>Neural Behavioral Sciences Overview](<a href=“Penn Connects : A Vision for the Future.”>Penn Connects : A Vision for the Future.)</p>

<p>I’m starting to lean more towards Dartmouth and U of Chicago (yes, I know they are quite different). I think Cornell may be too large and too intense for me (as well as Penn). I want not only stellar academics, but I great environment to learn and grow in (as cheesy as that sounds). Do these sound like good choices to apply to? Am I leaving any out?</p>

<p>At this size, student body numbers, alone, do not determine how large or intense a campus feels. For example, Penn’s campus is less than 300 acres and is relatively compact, and I’m not sure that you’d find it to feel perceptibly larger or more intense than, say, U. of Chicago or Northwestern. All of these schools have a great deal to offer in terms of their campus environments and extracurricular activities, and you shouldn’t rule any of them out based on a couple thousand students here or there.</p>

<p>I don’t know why lynxinsider said that was a complete list of LACs w/ a neuroscience major because it isn’t!</p>

<p>You inquired about Bucknell. It has a neuroscience major. Students can choose from three tracks–general, behavior and cognitive, or cellular and molecular.</p>

<p>It’s a great school, but smaller and more rural than the other schools you mentioned.</p>

<p>@morrismm - </p>

<p>I used the Department of Education IPEDS Data Center to pull a list of institutions that were categorized as baccalaureate liberal arts colleges and had graduated at least one student with neuroscience as either a first or second major. I don’t know enough about Bucknell to know why they didn’t show up - maybe they’re not categorized as a LAC, or maybe the major is new and they hadn’t had graduates by 06-07 which is I think the year that the data represented.</p>