IUBio

Undergrad neuro: small liberal arts, or big university?

Lesley abc at abc.com
Sun Sep 29 21:38:58 EST 2002


I totally agree with Richard.  I went to a small liberal arts university for
my undergrad neuro degree and it was a great experience.  Lots of personal
attention in labs and in learning how to write papers.  A word of caution:
make sure that a small school has a strong research presence in your field.
This will help to ensure that you will be able to attain research experience
yourself as an undergrad, which can really help if you are aiming to go on
to grad school.  It will also probably mean that more courses/better
labs/better instructors are available.

Good luck,
Lesley


"Richard S. Norman" <rnorman at umich.edu> wrote in message
news:6bkrou4k0v35hrpu75b7og9hamcdsr32k8 at 4ax.com...
> On Sun, 22 Sep 2002 13:12:25 GMT, "Thalamus" <zhil at online.no> wrote:
> >"Brandon Field" <phanbran at yahoo.com> skrev i melding
> >news:2f61be35.0209220325.777e31a3 at posting.google.com...
> >> I am having a difficult time deciding between a smallll liberal arts
> >> school with a decent neuro program (such as colgate, franklin and
> >> marshal, lafayette, skidmore) and a big university with a large
> >> neuroscience program. What are some of the pro's/cons of the two?
> >
> >Chose the bigger school.
> >
> >Brian
>
> I strongly disagree.  Small schools have some disadvantages but also
> have large positive attractions.  The more important thing is going to
> a good graduate school.  How you get there is a different story. It is
> also very valuable to go one place as an undergraduate, another as a
> grad student, and still another lab as a post-doc to get a wider
> variety of laboratory experience (not to mention life experience)..
>
> At a small school, you may in fact have a better opportunity to
> become involved in faculty research and to work much more closely with
> the faculty (as opposed to grad students and post docs).  You will
> interact much more closely with faculty in classes as well.  You will
> have a really fine opportunity to get a first-rate liberal education,
> not merely professional training. And the social experience can be far
> superior.  On the other hand, small undergraduate schools can be a bit
> limiting if you outgrow the course selection available.  Hanging out
> with grad students can be valuable, too.
>
> Your own personality is the key.  Some students thrive at large
> campuses, others simply get swallowed up in the mob.  Some students
> bloom at small campuses, others fade.
>
> Find out about the success that the smaller schools have in placing
> students into grad school when you visit them. And  make sure you
> consider your education as a whole person.
>
>





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