This program increases the options
for majoring in the sciences and may attract some students who initially
were interested in the premedical curriculum but might be better served
within the university in an alternative career path that places less
emphasis on grade point averages and more on empirical research.
It might also be of interest for
you if you were initially interested in psychology but now find the
neurobiological approach to the field exciting as a major and possibly
a career. This major helps you define alternative paths for
completing their basic science requirements that are more rigorous
and in tune with the overall directions within the field of psychology
today.
Neuroscience graduate programs
are expanding and entrance requirements for these graduate programs
are becoming more competitive. If you are interested in graduate school
in this area it would be advantageous for you to have a specified
curriculum encompassing basic core courses in this discipline at the
undergraduate level. While it is unlikely that the declaration of
a major in neuroscience itself will significantly improve your competitive
advantage for admission to a graduate program it should provide you
with a more structured sequence of courses to make a proper decision
about postgraduate training. Combined with a traditional major in
one of the contributing departments, the addition of this major to
your academic credentials can only strengthen your perceived commitment,
i.e. like chicken soup it may not help but surely it shouldn'tt
hurt.