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Advice Needed: Going back to school for Neuroscience (self.neuroscience)
submitted by KenRay
Hey Reddit, long time lurker here, first time poster. I'm a mid 20-something looking to go back to school for Neuroscience. I've been out of college for about 4 years now and really am in the market for some advice.
I've done a lot related reading, got through Kandel's principles of neural science on my own, along with many of the usual suspects, Ramachandran, Sacks, etc... And did a couple of MIT's OCW related courses.
I'd like to do Neuroscience as an undergrad degree before deciding exactly which direction to go in grad school.
Would you recommend I start taking some classes at local schools before applying to undergrad programs? I've looked at CLEP exams to get a head start.
My previous college grades were decent but fantastically unrelated(trademark and copyright law, music licensing...).
Any advice is greatly appreciated, I'm ready to get started in Neuroscience, just want to make sure I best position myself.
I've done a lot related reading, got through Kandel's principles of neural science on my own, along with many of the usual suspects, Ramachandran, Sacks, etc... And did a couple of MIT's OCW related courses.
I'd like to do Neuroscience as an undergrad degree before deciding exactly which direction to go in grad school.
Would you recommend I start taking some classes at local schools before applying to undergrad programs? I've looked at CLEP exams to get a head start.
My previous college grades were decent but fantastically unrelated(trademark and copyright law, music licensing...).
Any advice is greatly appreciated, I'm ready to get started in Neuroscience, just want to make sure I best position myself.
waterless 2 points
I'd consider what exactly you want to do - cognitive neuroscience (fMRI, EEG), something more clinical like neuropsychology, the hardcore biological direction (cell clamping, neurophysiology), theoretical stuff. I'd strongly suggest doing a LOT of work on relevant fundamentals (as ImNotAWhaleBiologist did), i.e., maths and biology, chemistry and physics for some goals. You also want to work on research skills: programming (for, e.g., experimental tasks, data crunching, analyses (Matlab)), signal analysis, statistics (R) is very important if you want to go the research direction.
I'm not sure how to put this exactly, and maybe it's off too, but studying something in the field of neuroscience and your likely kind of job in the field is going to be very different from having the kind of experiences Sachs writes about. You're not going to "be a Ramachandran". Those are people in quite special positions - access to and a huge amount of experience with patients with interesting disorders, the cool bits of which get distilled into an easily read book. Apologies is this comes off condescending! But PHD comics is a good reality check in that sense.
I'm not sure how to put this exactly, and maybe it's off too, but studying something in the field of neuroscience and your likely kind of job in the field is going to be very different from having the kind of experiences Sachs writes about. You're not going to "be a Ramachandran". Those are people in quite special positions - access to and a huge amount of experience with patients with interesting disorders, the cool bits of which get distilled into an easily read book. Apologies is this comes off condescending! But PHD comics is a good reality check in that sense.
[deleted] 1 points
I agree with everything in the first paragraph. In the second, I think you need to be a bit more careful. Of course, you're right in that most people won't have access to abundant split-brain or temporal epilepsy patients. However, if you're motivated enough to pursue a career in neuroscience, then I'd argue that you are very likely to pick up other interests which are much more accessible. For example, if you like the higher level cognitive stuff of Sacks or Ramachandran then you're likely to find at least some aspect of fMRI, TMS, or MEG/EEG very interesting as well.
KenRay [OP] 1 points
First, I appreciate both of your replies, I like to think I'm fairly level headed going into this. I understand the guys I mentioned above are exceptional individuals in exception situations. I've read a few other books (Frank Vertosick's "When the Air Hits Your Brain") that painted a bit more realistic picture of the field, even if that particular example is focused on surgery.
I love the subject matter, my hiccup at the moment is figuring out exactly how to get started, having been out of school for a few years and how best to position myself from the very start.
I love the subject matter, my hiccup at the moment is figuring out exactly how to get started, having been out of school for a few years and how best to position myself from the very start.
ImNotAWhaleBiologist 2 points
Did you graduate college already? What was your degree in? You only tell that your previous classes were in unrelated fields.
I wouldn't bother going for another B.S. Perhaps you could find a master's program in cell biology or neuroscience somewhere. You should probably take some biology classes first at a community college. I'll warn you, not many master's programs exist, at least not at good schools. Most people with a masters in biology/neuroscience are those who left a PhD. program. But I still don't think going for a second bachelor's is a great idea-- just take some classes to prep you for a master's program to then go on and do a PhD. If you don't want to do a PhD, then there's not much a degree in neuroscience is good for besides being a lab tech.
I wouldn't bother going for another B.S. Perhaps you could find a master's program in cell biology or neuroscience somewhere. You should probably take some biology classes first at a community college. I'll warn you, not many master's programs exist, at least not at good schools. Most people with a masters in biology/neuroscience are those who left a PhD. program. But I still don't think going for a second bachelor's is a great idea-- just take some classes to prep you for a master's program to then go on and do a PhD. If you don't want to do a PhD, then there's not much a degree in neuroscience is good for besides being a lab tech.
KenRay [OP] 1 points
Should have clarified that, I did not graduate first time around. Had a business I owned that did pretty well, just didn't have the time for school, yadda yadda.
I'd like to go back for a Neuroscience undergraduate degree as I'm not yet sure whether I'd pursue a research PhD or possibly attend medical school.
I'd like to go back for a Neuroscience undergraduate degree as I'm not yet sure whether I'd pursue a research PhD or possibly attend medical school.
ImNotAWhaleBiologist 1 points
In that case, definitely go finish your bachelor's. It doesn't have to be neuroscience; it could be biology if your program doesn't offer a neuro degree. Getting some physics background would also be incredibly helpful, depending on what you want to do. I would recommend reading Neuron, Nature Neuroscience, and the Journal of Neurosci as a starting point-- find out what you're most interested in, and find schools with labs that do such a thing. Working in a lab as an undergrad is extremely important for getting into grad school.
KenRay [OP] 1 points
Appreciate the suggestions, already read Journal NS fairly regularly, will definitely look into the other two. I'm hoping to find a Neuroscience undergrad program I can get into, been out of school for a few years, ready to really commit to it.
ImNotAWhaleBiologist 1 points
What part of the country do you want to go to school in?
jbowdridge 1 points
You won't have a problem getting into or keeping up with an undergraduate level program. You may however need to start out your degree with an intro psych and intro science courses. Find a school that is doing research you find interesting and get into a lab ! Neuroscience is fascinating, you're making a good choice.
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