Colleges with Good Neuroscience/English Programs?

College Search & Lists
1

I’m a current junior in high school who’s looking to create a list of colleges with good neuroscience (probably neurology or neurobiology) and English programs, as I intend on double majoring in both.

OBJECTIVE:

SAT I: 2130 (CR: 690, M: 730, W: 720; will not be sending this score to colleges)
ACT: 34 (E: 36, M: 34, R: 34, S: 31, W: 27; will be rescoring the essay)
SAT II: Will be taking Math L2 and Biology M in May and possibly either Spanish or Literature in June
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: Current - 4.57; Cumulative: 4.24
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): Euro (5); currently taking AP Bio, AP Lit, and AP Psych
Senior Year Course Load: Sci-Fi Lit, AP Calc BC, Honors Physics, Philosophy, Econ, AP Gov, AP Spanish

SUBJECTIVE (Making these vague to keep my anonymity):

Extracurriculars: Two science clubs (president of one, secretary of the other), Spanish Club, internship at a university on a topic in neuroscience - plan on getting a paper published by October, piano (around 9 years)
Volunteer/Community Service: Have been volunteering at my local library for over a year, NHS (11th - present), CSF (9th - present)
Summer activities: Took a neuroscience course through an academic enrichment program last summer; will either continue my internship or attend an internship program this summer
Awards: Several local/regional awards in photography and writing; currently at Level 8 (CM) and Preparatory Level C (National Guild) for piano

OTHER:

State (if domestic applicant): California
School Type: Very competitive public school in Bay Area
Ethnicity: Asian Indian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Not sure, but probably 100k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

I would like to attend a liberal/liberal-leaning college that has a nice campus, with lots of vegetarian/vegan options and nearby entertainment (I know this sounds as if I’m describing UCB, but any other similar colleges would be great options to consider!). I will definitely apply to UCs such as UCB, UCD, UCSD, and UCLA, a couple of Ivy Leagues (of course), and a few private colleges in CA. I think I would like to stay in CA to be close to my family, but I wouldn’t mind going to school in the East Coast if the university is worth the move (ex: great academic opportunities, scholarship, etc.). My parents and I haven’t really discussed finances, so I’m not sure whether they can pay the full price of private or even public schools.

I understand that my extracurriculars/awards aren’t the most outstanding and that my test scores aren’t the greatest, so I would appreciate any help in finding targets and reaches especially.

2

West Coast:
-California Institute of Technology
-Claremont Colleges

East Coast:
-Duke University
-Georgetown University
-Tufts University
-UNC Chapel Hill
-University of Virginia

3

Brown is very strong in both. UPitt is strong in neuroscience, has an honors college and merit money available. Also look at Tufts and U Rochester. Caltech is not a great fit for what the OP is looking for.

4

Pomona (or any Claremont).
Reed (they don’t have an official neuroscience major, but excellent for getting into grad schools which is where you’ll have more specialization)

Chicago
Brown
Duke
Northwestern
Pittsburgh

Someone mentioned CalTech, but unless your stats improve significantly I wouldn’t bother applying there (this is not a criticism, your stats are great). Plus, completely science focused.

5

Thanks, everyone, for the help so far! My parents have hinted to me Johns Hopkins and Yale as colleges I could apply to. Are they strong in Neuroscience and English?

6

Emory University in Atlanta fits your description extremely well.

Look into Occidental College in LA.

7

John Hopkins is a good option - not sure about their English, but good in neuroscience (one of their most popular majors). Yale is good of course all around, but a high reach even if your scores improved - probably best to focus on less selective colleges.

8

Once you have a list of schools, start looking at websites to get more information about the departments. Neuroscience can can have have a biological or cognitive science emphasis, does the the department have what you’re looking for? How many professors are there and do any do research in areas you’re interested in? Similarly with English departments, look at the requirements for the major and what are the strengths of the department and what is the focus? Are there different tracks and are those tracks appealing to you?
It’s not just a question of whether departments are good, but if they are what you are looking for.

9

Sorry, posts 2 & 3 are right. You’d need a 2200+ for Cal Tech.

10

@newjerseygirl98 more like 2300+, plus 800 on a couple SAT IIs :slight_smile:

11

Just to add to post #6: Hopkins has an outstanding English department. Very small, but with some of the top faculty in the field.

12

Talk to your parents about how much they’ll pay each year. Does either parent own a business? If so, then the Net Price Calculators will not be accurate.

13

Duke, has one of the best neuroscience programs in the country.

Also note you cannot ‘major’ in neurology as an undergraduate. Neurology is a subspecialty after medical school.

14

If you are interested in liberal arts colleges, Amherst had the first neuroscience concentration in the country, historically has had an extremely strong English department, and has an open curriculum which would allow you to double major in those two disparate fields. Admissions also would be a reach, of course.

15

Thanks so much for all your help! :smiley:

16

WashU has the PNP major (philosophy/neuroscience/psychology) and is one of the leads on the Human Connectome Project. There’s also a neuroscience track in the bio major. There’s a strong creative writing program. The med school has pretty good research opportunities (including a large MRI lab) and was where the PET scan was pioneered I think.