List of All U.S. Colleges with a Neuroscience Major
Whether you’re a STEM or humanities person, loved or hated the ending of Game of Thrones, or thought the dress was black and blue or gold and white, there’s one thing every person on the planet has in common: a brain. If you want to learn more about this most mysterious organ, you’re not alone. Neuroscience, and related fields such as cognitive science, is one of the fastest growing areas of study in the world. And because everyone has a brain, the skills you learn as a neuroscience major will be applicable to just about any career you hope to pursue. Neuroscience courses cover a wide range of topics, spanning from sensory perception to mental illness, animal cognition, and artificial intelligence. While there will be some required classes, you will also have flexibility to choose electives in the areas of neuroscience you are most interested in. Keep in mind that you will have to complete more hard science courses than you would as a Psychology major. If that doesn’t appeal to you, Psych might be a better option. Students who succeed in neuroscience courses typically have strong memorization skills, can synthesize complex information, and know how to self-advocate. As a neuroscience major, you will have to remember details like what certain neurotransmitters do, which ions open which channels, and the functions of various neural networks. Neuroscience is also a rapidly growing field, and the research does not always point to an obvious answer. Particularly in more advanced classes, your professors will expect you to draw your own conclusions from contradictory data. Additionally, neuroscience classes are typically on the larger side, so you should feel confident identifying points of confusion and reaching out to the professor on your own, since you will receive less individual attention than you would in some other majors. Because you can take neuroscience classes on many different topics, you will also be able to utilize your degree in just about any field. Some of the classes that will likely be required, such as behavioral neuroscience or social cognition, will teach you skills that apply to a wide range of jobs, from business to social work. Neuroscience is also a popular major for pre-meds, along with chemistry and biology. You will still have to take classes in these other departments to fulfill your requirements, but majoring in neuroscience will give you a solid knowledge base going into med school. If you already know there’s one area of neuroscience that you’re particularly interested in, you should check a school’s website to make sure they offer courses in that area before you decide to apply. For example, Harvard and MIT both offer specialized computational neuroscience majors, whereas Columbia’s program, while still incredibly strong and well-regarded, is more general. If you don’t know how to find this information, we recommend simply googling “neuroscience courses school X,” rather than trying to navigate the school’s website. The first result will likely be either the major requirements or a list of all the neuroscience courses offered at that school, both of which will be useful resources for you. One of the most exciting things about being a neuroscience major is that the field is expanding and evolving so rapidly. There are many fundamental questions that researchers have thus far been unable to answer, such as “Why does the brain need sleep?” or “What is the best treatment for depression? As a neuroscience major, you may have the opportunity to help find the answers to some of these questions, whether you are working with a professor or participating in a study yourself. And if your school has labs dedicated to just neuroscience, you will have more chances to engage in research. For example, Dartmouth offers extra credit in some neuroscience classes if you volunteer to participate in studies, and also has fellowships that pay students to conduct research during an off-term. Another great way to engage with the ongoing research in neuroscience is to listen to neuroscientists describe their work. These lectures will not only enhance what you have learned in the classroom, but also give you an idea of just how many ways there are to utilize a neuroscience major. For example, Columbia’s fall lecture series included talks on subjects ranging from “Developmental Science through the Lens of the Events of 2020” (given by Columbia Professor Dima Amso) to “Past, Present, & Future of American Psychology’s Role in Changing the Current Structures that Support Racial Injustice” (given by Brown Professor Malik Boykin and Yale Professor Edmund Gordon). [amp-cta id="9459"] School Location University of Alabama at Birmingham | UAB Birmingham, Alabama Arizona State University | ASU Tempe, Arizona University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona Hendrix College Conway, Arkansas California Institute of Technology | Caltech Pasadena, California Claremont McKenna College | CMC Claremont, California University of California, Los Angeles | UCLA Los Angeles, California Pitzer College Claremont, California Pomona College Claremont, California University of California, Riverside | UC Riverside Riverside, California University of San Diego | USD San Diego, California Santa Clara University Santa Clara, California University of California, Santa Cruz | UCSC Santa Cruz, California Scripps College Claremont, California University of Southern California | USC Los Angeles, California University of Colorado Boulder | CU Boulder Boulder, Colorado Colorado College Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado State University | CSU Fort Collins, Colorado Connecticut College New London, Connecticut Fairfield University Fairfield, Connecticut Sacred Heart University | SHU Fairfield, Connecticut Trinity College Hartford, Connecticut American University Washington, D.C. University of Delaware Newark, Delaware University of Miami Coral Gables, Florida Nova Southeastern University | NSU Fort Lauderdale, Florida Agnes Scott College Decatur, Georgia Emory University Atlanta, Georgia Georgia Institute of Technology | Georgia Tech Atlanta, Georgia Georgia State University Atlanta, Georgia Mercer University Macon, Georgia Augustana College Rock Island, Illinois University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois University of Illinois at Chicago | UIC Chicago, Illinois DePaul University Chicago, Illinois Knox College Galesburg, Illinois Lake Forest College Lake Forest, Illinois Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois Indiana University Bloomington | Indiana Bloomington, Indiana DePauw University Greencastle, Indiana Earlham College Richmond, Indiana University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana Indiana University, Purdue University Indianapolis | IUPUI Indianapolis, Indiana University of Evansville Evansville, Indiana Coe College Cedar Rapids, Iowa Drake University Des Moines, Iowa University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa Luther College Decorah, Iowa University of Kentucky Lexington, Kentucky Transylvania University Lexington, Kentucky Xavier University of Louisiana New Orleans, Louisiana Bates College Lewiston, Maine Bowdoin College Brunswick, Maine Colby College Waterville, Maine Johns Hopkins University | JHU Baltimore, Maryland Amherst College Amherst, Massachusetts Assumption University Worcester, Massachusetts Boston University | BU Boston, Massachusetts Brandeis University Waltham, Massachusetts Emmanuel College (Massachusetts) Boston, Massachusetts Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts College of the Holy Cross | Holy Cross Worcester, Massachusetts Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MIT Cambridge, Massachusetts Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, Massachusetts Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts Smith College Northampton, Massachusetts Stonehill College Easton, Massachusetts Wellesley College Wellesley, Massachusetts Western New England University | WNE Springfield, Massachusetts Wheaton College (Massachusetts) Norton, Massachusetts Central Michigan University | CMU Mount Pleasant, Michigan Eastern Michigan University | EMU Ypsilanti, Michigan Grand Valley State University | GVSU Allendale, Michigan University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan Carleton College Northfield, Minnesota Macalester College Saint Paul, Minnesota University of Minnesota, Twin Cities | Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) Saint Paul, Minnesota Millsaps College Jackson, Mississippi Saint Louis University | SLU Saint Louis, Missouri Washington University in St. Louis | WashU Saint Louis, Missouri University of Montana Missoula, Montana Creighton University Omaha, Nebraska University of Nebraska Omaha | UNO Omaha, Nebraska University of Nevada, Reno Reno, Nevada Dartmouth College Hanover, New Hampshire University of New Hampshire | UNH Durham, New Hampshire St. Anselm College Manchester, New Hampshire Drew University Madison, New Jersey Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey Adelphi University Garden City, New York Barnard College New York, New York The State University of New York at Binghamton | SUNY Binghamton Vestal, New York Colgate University Hamilton, New York Columbia University New York, New York Fordham University Bronx, New York The State University of New York at Geneseo | SUNY Geneseo Geneseo, New York Hamilton College Clinton, New York Marymount Manhattan College New York, New York New York University | NYU New York, New York University of Rochester Rochester, New York Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, New York St. Lawrence University Canton, New York Syracuse University Syracuse, New York Union College (New York) Schenectady, New York Utica College Utica, New York Vassar College Poughkeepsie, New York Duke University Durham, North Carolina High Point University High Point, North Carolina University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | UNC Chapel Hill, North Carolina Baldwin Wallace University | BW Berea, Ohio Bowling Green State University | BGSU Bowling Green, Ohio University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio Kenyon College Gambier, Ohio Miami University Oxford, Ohio University of Mount Union Alliance, Ohio Oberlin College Oberlin, Ohio Ohio University Athens, Ohio Ohio State University | OSU Columbus, Ohio Ohio Wesleyan University Delaware, Ohio College of Wooster Wooster, Ohio Reed College Portland, Oregon Willamette University Salem, Oregon Allegheny College Meadville, Pennsylvania Bucknell University Lewisburg, Pennsylvania Carnegie Mellon University | CMU Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Cedar Crest College Allentown, Pennsylvania Dickinson College Carlisle, Pennsylvania Franklin and Marshall College | F&M Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lafayette College Easton, Pennsylvania Lehigh University Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Lycoming College Williamsport, Pennsylvania Moravian University Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Muhlenberg College Allentown, Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania | UPenn Philadelphia, Pennsylvania University of Pittsburgh | Pitt Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania University of Scranton Scranton, Pennsylvania Swarthmore College Swarthmore, Pennsylvania Temple University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ursinus College Collegeville, Pennsylvania Washington and Jefferson College | W&J Washington, Pennsylvania Westminster College (Pennsylvania) New Wilmington, Pennsylvania Brown University Providence, Rhode Island Furman University Greenville, South Carolina Belmont University Nashville, Tennessee Rhodes College Memphis, Tennessee Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee University of Texas at Austin | UT Austin Austin, Texas Baylor University Waco, Texas University of Texas at Dallas | UT Dallas Richardson, Texas Rice University Houston, Texas Texas Christian University | TCU Fort Worth, Texas Trinity University San Antonio, Texas Brigham Young University | BYU Provo, Utah Westminster College (Utah) Salt Lake City, Utah St. Michael’s College Colchester, Vermont Middlebury College Middlebury, Vermont Norwich University Northfield, Vermont University of Vermont | UVM Burlington, Vermont George Mason University Fairfax, Virginia Virginia Tech Blacksburg, Virginia Washington and Lee University Lexington, Virginia College of William & Mary | William & Mary Williamsburg, Virginia University of Washington Seattle, Washington Washington State University | WSU Pullman, Washington Western Washington University | WWU Bellingham, Washington Carthage College Kenosha, Wisconsin Edgewood College Madison, Wisconsin Lawrence University Appleton, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin-Madison | Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin Notice a school that’s missing? Email us and let us know! Because most colleges receive thousands of applications more than the number of available spots, the most important thing is to be academically comparable to the average student at a school you are applying to. This is because many schools use the Academic Index as an initial filter on applications, and if your test scores and GPA are well below those of the average accepted student, you are unlikely to be accepted. You can find out what the academic profile of an accepted class is at a particular school by googling “class profile school X,” or searching for each school’s Common Data Set. To make things easier, we also have this info in our free college search tool. Once you get through this initial round of admissions, the more qualitative parts of your application, such as your extracurriculars and essays, become extremely important. While academics will be considered at every stage, as admissions officers make their final decisions about applicants they will also be thinking about what kind of roommate someone would be, or what they would add to their school’s community outside the classroom. Potential Neuroscience majors may strengthen their profile by taking advanced STEM classes, and by participating in science- and health-related extracurriculars, like HOSA, Science Olympiad, and volunteering at a hospital. If you are wondering what your chance of acceptance is at a specific school, we recommend using our free Chancing Engine. Unlike other admissions calculators, it accounts for both objective metrics, like GPA, and more qualitative parts of your profile, such as your extracurriculars.Overview of the Neuroscience Major
What to Look for in a College as a Neuroscience Major
Course Offerings
Specialized Neuroscience Labs
Extracurricular Lectures
List of All U.S. Colleges With a Neuroscience Major
What Are Your Chances of Acceptance?
