Switching to "College of General Studies" Self-Designed Major

[MynahK]

I am about to enter my senior year at the University of Pittsburgh as a Psychology Major and Math minor in the school of "Arts & Sciences" (the university's main liberal arts school).

I plan to apply to both quantitative/'computational statistics'/modeling-oriented Cognitive Science PhD programs, and Statistics MS programs.

 

I have been trying to explore my interests as much as possible within the constraints of my Arts & Sciences major and minor, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to do so. For example: during my final two semesters, I would like to be able to fit in some courses related to machine-learning, statistics, computational neuroscience, and cognitive science (otherwise, I have been self-studying these topics as much as possible).

Instead, I will be taking courses in clinical/counseling psychology (I saved most of these sorts of major requirements for my final year).

 

The "College of General Studies" at my school has a "Self-Designed Major" program. I am entertaining the idea of switching to this school. I would hope to receive approval and supervision (from a local faculty member whose research I admire) for a self-designed major in something like "Cognitive Science" so that I could take more advanced courses in my areas of interest (subjects relevant to my current and [prospective] future research). This would make my overall course-collection similar to that of a graduate of a quantitatively-oriented Cognitive Science major at a university that offers such a major.

 

The only thing holding me back is the worry that perhaps graduating with a Cognitive Science BS from a "College of General Studies" rather than the "Arts & Sciences" school might somehow hurt my chances of admission to graduate programs.

 

I'm inclined to think that this (a matter of labeling) shouldn't matter... but my question is whether it is likely to matter in fact.

[cyberwulf]

Nobody pays attention to what college/school you graduated from within a particular university. What matters is the courses you took, and how you did.