Foreward (skip to second paragraph for actual inquiry):
I am a twenty-four year old male living in the USA. Until two years ago, my life was characterized by emotional and psychological issues, drug addicion, physical injuries, mental institutions etc… I stoped using drugs over two years ago and made many changes in my life. Now that I have some stability I am ready for the next challenge. I would like to return to school and persue a degree in the field of
neuroscience. I do not doubt my ability to compete in this intellectual arena. The problem is that I know very little about the many institutions of higher learning in the USA and the programs that they offer.
I would like information about universities here in the United States that offer highly regarded programs in the neurosciences. Names of institutions, personal experiences and any relevant advice or information are both welcome and appreciated.
I have a relative who is a graduate student in neurobiology at University of California Riverside, so they at least have a program. I would do a google search on “neurobiolgy university programs”, as my information is of little help unless you live in California. Otherwise the out of state fees are pretty expensive on top of the regular fees.
I just completed a master’s degree in advanced neuroimaging, however it was from a UK institution, so doesn’t fit the requirements of the OP.
However, I now know the differences between the main course titles in this field, and I can share experiences of what it’s like doing a course like this with no prior education in neuroscience, if you’d like.
Actually, at the risk of off-topic spamming, note that you could probably do a degree in the UK for cheaper than many US institutions, in spite of the fact that foreign students are made to pay around 3x as much as brits.
I did my degree at University College London, the 4th highest ranked uni in the world. For american students the cost of the programme was about $18,000, IIRC.
What I’d try and establish is whether you should take an undergrad degree in neuroscience straight off the bat, or whether a more fundamental course (biochemistry, biology etc) is warranted followed by a specialisation in neuroscience at the graduate level.
The risk of taking an undergrad degree in neurosci, if in fact you can take one in the US, is that you might end up a bit light in the fundamentals of chemistry and biology, which will weaken understanding. This may be an old-fashioned idea, though, so I stand to be corrected. I do work with a couple of neuroscientists in the pain field but I have no idea how their early stage training was structured.
Practicality: your description of your recent past makes one less than completely confident that your High School transcript and after High School experiences will allow you to have your choice of institutions. You may have no doubt of your “ability to compete in this intellectual arena” but that does not mean that you’ll be able to convince Admission Deans to have no doubt.
You may first want to realistically gauge what sort of programs you’d be competitive for, and then investigate the Neuroscience options within that narrower universe.
Also, I’d want to piggy back on Busy Scissors comment - what makes you so sure that neuroscience is what you want to focus on and that an immediate focus on that is the best way to prepare for that career?
That said one of my sons is currently studying at Knox College, a tiny Liberal Arts college in Galesburg IL which surprisingly has an extremely well thought of and well funded Neuroscience Program. (Not his thing mind you, but it always has been mine.)
Also the nature of your post makes me think you are from another country. Are you? And from where?
One point of clarification: Are you looking for an undergraduate program, or do you have that already and want to start a graduate program to get a PhD? There are plenty of strong graduate neuroscience program but they won’t necessarily have anything good for the undergrads. Neuroscience is already a fairly specialized field so you won’t find lots of undergraduate programs, though they do exist (my college had a good undergrad neurosci program).
And certainly keep your ambitions. I knew a guy who dropped out of high school, spent several years getting in to trouble and doing lots of drugs, and then found God and enlisted. After he came back from being an EOD tech in Iraq (!) he went back to school and got an undergrad degree, and now is a grad student at a top ivy league school.
Mijin- Yes, any information you could provide would be appreciated. Currently systems neuroscience seems most interesting to me.
DSeid- My transcripts are not the best, but are not terrible either. My high school GPA was around 3.4-3.6 and my SAT score was either 1350 or 1450. I can’t remember. In any case, I was thinking of including a letter with my application explaining why I feel my records do not necessarily reflect my current abilities.
As a side note, does anyone know whether or not a school might take IQ testing into consideration when reviewing applications? I had one performed on me a few years ago to find any evidence of suspected executive functioning deficits. I scored fairly high but I am not sure if this would be of any assistance to me.
Lazybratsche- I have completed only two semesters of college, so I would be looking for undergraduate programs, not necessarily in neuroscience in particular.
I highly doubt IQ testing is of any interest. I do not know how much an admissions committee would care about your last college grades vs your HS transcript vs your ability to impress that your recent life experiences prepare you for the rigors of serious study.
Worst case: you go a community college route and build an impressive grade point that you can parlay into transferring to an institution with research opportunities. And again there are many that can give you the course work you would need to pursue graduate work in neuroscience.
