Hey all,
I'm a senior USC (that's California, not Carolina) double-majoring in Neuroscience in Philosophy. I'm interested in applying to PhD programs in Neuroscience, or something related (eg. Computational or Systems Neuroscience), for Fall 2012, but I'm not sure how competitive my application might be. Namely, since I started out as a Music Business major, then switched to Business, then to Philosophy, and then added Neuro, I haven't had years of experience in a lab or received many pretty-looking designations. However, I do have a job at a Neuro lab this semester, and I've been awarded a HASTAC fellowship (from Duke), so I'm at least making a bit of progress. I also spent a year as a research assistant to a humanities professor who's been fairly successful in positioning a new academic discipline. On the downside, and of most concern to me, is my 3.35 GPA.
All that said, I'm curious to know what my odds look like for getting into top-tier and mid-level Neuroscience programs. I'm really just curious whether prestigious programs ever give opportunities to students like me, or if they reserve all their graduate spots for 3.9+ GPA students who've accumulated 4 years of research experience and awards as an undergraduate.
I haven't yet taken the GRE (I'll do so this summer if I decide to move forward on graduate school) but I did get a 2100 SAT and 30 ACT if that's any indication of my standardized testing ability.
