Looking for insights/info from parents/students who are in the University of South Carolina Neuroscience major. I know it’s a relatively new major at SC, so interested in experiences as my daughter applied/was accepted and was also invited to the Honors College, so has the opportunity to potentially create her own major there.
I know SC is an R1 research university, but a little worried about how a program that is so new will be viewed by PhD programs, and the depth/breadth of research she may be able to participate in while an undergrad.
Thanks for any/all insights.
Can your daughter reach out to any of the professors and ask about undergraduate research?
It looks like recent graduates with this major are heading to medical school, an OT program, and a psychology masters program (3 were listed).
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She absolutely can, but was hoping for some personal insight from parents with kids in the program. Since she was admitted to the Honors College, she can also create her own major which includes neuroscience wifh comp sci and/or data analytics. TV
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Hopefully you will get some answers here, but if not maybe you can join the parent group?
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Honors college gives you access to research opportunities as undergrad. The office of fellowships and scholarships also work closely with honors students who want opportunities. Of course not science related but my D went from SC honors to Ivy PhD. She was double major and had great relationships with both department heads, which is a great asset. My SIL actual got his PhD in neuroscience at USC and picked it because his research required MRI access which not all schools have.
Along with opportunity to create own major, UsC is very generous if student has lots of AP credit which made it easy for my D to double major and take fun classes. Also, senior thesis project can literally be on any topic so a chance to do something that would boost her in eyes of graduate programs.
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Thank you! This is great information. She will have 24+ credits of dual enrollment when she starts (which hopefully will be accepted as she has straight A’s and coming from a well-ranked NJ community college, so the idea of a double major would make a lot of sense for her as well. She has an interest in Comp Sci/AI/Data Analytics but a double major in CS and Neuro could be a little over the top!
Don’t worry about whether technically she gets double major. Problem with some combinations is that if programs are in different colleges it is hard to meet all requirements for both and many times they are requirements that don’t mean much. Graduate schools will look at actual coursework and if you have the right higher level CS or neuro, then they won’t quibble if your diploma says double major or not. Similar to how you can be a music major and get into med school as long as have all required coursework. She will get an extra level of advisement in honors college and, based on Ds experience, will have easy access to people to help guide her.
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What does your daughter want to do after college? You mention a PhD in neuro; does she want to become a professor or something else?
She’ll have no problems participating in research at an R1. The neuro major there actually requires it, especially if she accepts her invitation to their honors college. Their curriculum looks comprehensive, and they offer several concentration tracks.
Neuroscience undergrad programs don’t have many specific courses. It’s interdisciplinary, so the curricula are just a collection of existing courses across different departments (mainly bio and psych).
Her exact major and the newness of the program won’t matter for grad school admissions. I don’t actually like neuro as an undergrad major for most people (I’m a neuro prof). She could major in a variety of things and still be competitive for PhD programs. It’s not very hard to get into neuro PhD programs.
If she’s interested in SC/AI/Data type stuff, I would strongly encourage her to contemplate those as potential majors because they are waaaaaay more employable than a neuro major. If she did that, she can pursue neuro as a minor and via research or whatever. If she wants to be a professor, a neuro major is fine, but there are lots of other pitfalls there which I won’t get into here.
I would strongly discourage her from doing a custom major for a variety of reasons. She should major in something standard and supplement her curriculum with things like electives, a minor, double major, extra courses, activities in her fields of interest, etc.
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She is a bit undecided truthfully about qhat ahe wants to do. Her current thinking is Biotech or Pharma which is why she’s thinking PhD. Her internship mentor owns 2 Biotech startups and has her working on Alzheimers already with Alzamend Neuro, which she finds fascinating BUT is alzo aware the importance of Comp Sci and AI which is why a double major could make sense. I keep felling her a PhD is a long slog, so I would like her to have a more marketable major if she decides R&D is not for her. To me, Neuro coupled with Comp Sci sounds painful but she is open to it…
Umm she sounds like she would like Neural Computation. Maybe show her this.
Carnegie Mellon here in Pittsburgh is #1 for comp sci majors and their collaborations with Pitt Neuro are plentiful.
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She also applied to and was admitted to Pitt. Juzt FYI
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Awesome! My S19 was a neuroscience double major with philosophy. Earned 2 degrees a BS and BA. Worked in a TBI neuro lab among many other projects.
Pitt is a great choice! BTW she can cross register for classes at CMU or any other Pittsburgh college. Up to like 18 credits I think. CMU might have some niche AI or other course she might like.
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Ahh, yes this all makes sense. There are different paths into biotech and a PhD may or may not be a good path, depending on the situation. Honestly, employment prospects even for neuro PhD’s aren’t plentiful. Sure, they’re not usually unemployed, but you might be surprised how many end up in poorly paid lab tech roles or in jobs that aren’t a great match for all the effort and expertise of the PhD. If the plan is to be a professor, there’s a whole other strategy.
She will be so much more marketable with CS and/or data sci type experience, whether it’s her major or not. Neuroscience is interdisciplinary, so it’s not too hard to squeeze it into a degree like bio, psych, chem, CS, etc. And you can squeeze CS etc into a neurosci degree as well. A good analogy might be that my kid is very interested in biomedical engineering but knows that the job market is not great for that degree. It’s interdisciplinary and you get a lot of breadth but do have to sacrifice depth. So he’s doing a fundamental major that he likes (Chem eng), knowing that he can take biomed courses and can pivot hard in the biomed direction at any point that he wants. But he will qualify for more jobs with a major in ChemE or MechE or CompE, etc.
It’s nice that her mentor can give her advice. She should also talk to other people who work in biotech and pharma (including some people who don’t work at startups). They can give her guidance about what those career trajectories are like, the different options for entering those fields, and what the best preparation is during college. Sometimes, the best option can be going in at the entry level right out of undergrad and working their way up via the employer-provided path. It depends on the company and the subfield. Anecdotally, I know tons of PhD’s in the neuro field. Those with CS and data sci type experience, regardless of major, have gotten much better jobs than those without – especially if they are looking outside academia.
The prestige of the school she attends won’t matter much, unless she wants to be a professor. The exact courses she takes won’t matter that much. As long as there’s a CS department, all these schools will have the classes she might need, regardless of the official program titles. She may find individual programs that appeal to her more than others. She may find research or internship opportunities that appeal to her. I was impressed looking at the neuro website for USC. USC and Pitt are absolutely good enough for what she wants to study, so don’t worry about that.
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In addition to talking to a professor, the school should be able to set her up with a student or two. Most should have them at the ready.
There was a previous thread on U of SC, Va Tech and one other -
I found it. Not sure if it will be helpful.
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I would not be concerned about the neuro major being new, as SC is an established university, your D made honors, and it looks like she will have plenty of opportunities including research (a requirement). It also looks like the first cohort of grads has done well.
I would focus more on the major and what she may add to it (or not), and whether it makes sense to work first in order to gain additional experience and solidify her interests (which of course can change throughout her career).
She has time for that, as she is still in HS and a lot can change over the next few years. Best wishes!
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