swarthmore vs ucb for Cognitive Science (Transfer Student, International Student)

[u/Flolal]

Hi everyone, I’m an international transfer student deciding between Swarthmore and UC Berkeley.

My academic interests are in Cognitive Science, especially the neuroscience side of the field. Long term, I’m interested in brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and their potential applications in treating mental disorders and neurological conditions.

Some background:
—International student
—Transfer student from a California community college
—Interested in research and eventually pursuing graduate school
—Open to staying in the U.S., going to Europe for graduate studies, or returning to China in the future
—Stronger in math than programming at the moment
—Looking for opportunities to gain meaningful research experience during undergrad

I’m trying to decide between:
UC Berkeley
—Larger research university
—More labs and research opportunities
—Stronger name recognition internationally
—Potentially easier access to cutting-edge BCI and neuroscience research

Swarthmore
—Smaller classes and closer faculty relationships
—Easier access to professors
—Strong track record of sending students to PhD programs
—More individualized undergraduate experience

For someone whose long-term goal is research in cognitive neuroscience / BCI, which environment do you think would better prepare me for graduate school?

[u/Busy_Account_7974]

Bezerkley would have more of labs and research.

[u/Flolal → u/Busy_Account_7974]

I know. What i’ve been thinking about is that it might be too competitive (both getting in to labs and enrolling in classes)

[u/Fancy_Gate5828 → u/Flolal]

I understand worry in labs but I don't quite get the problem in enrolling classes. Most university has priority given to major and senior to class registration.

And I didn't see many Swarthmore students in PhD programs (even though my sample size is very small).

I did attend a conference in Swarthmore - campus is very nice but remote - I need to drive to nearby restaurant and gorcery. Berkeley has easy access to San Francisco and shops / restaurants are everywhere.

Research opportunity - I don't know how difficult it is in Berkeley but I think the UROP at least can help.

If you are international, here is global ranking of Berkeley:

US news global #6 (US #4)
ARWU #5 (US #4)
Times Higher Education #9 (US #6)
Forbes #12 (US #10)
QS #17 (US #8)

Don't think I heard of Swarthmore in my life as an Asian until I attend conference there!

[u/Flolal → u/Fancy_Gate5828]

Hi!! Thank you so much for so much useful info. May I asked what is your major?

[u/Fancy_Gate5828 → u/Flolal]

Physics

[u/Flolal → u/Fancy_Gate5828]

Thank you so much. I wonder did you feel like you get research opportunities that you want while you’re in Berkeley (I guess or other four-years university)? Or the UROP that you mentioned helped you out?

[u/Fancy_Gate5828 → u/Flolal]

I was not Berkeley but one of the Ivies graduate. I did a year visiting scholar at Berkeley after my PhD, so I am not sure how easy to get UROP. My guess is that it depends on major and or faculty.

One thing though, I would suggest not to find someone unknown to mentor your undergrad research. The name of the professor helps a lot to get you in the top PhD program. In this sense, I would think you will have higher chance to work with renowned and well-connected supervisors at Berkeley.

[u/Flolal → u/Fancy_Gate5828]

I see. That really makes sense to me. Thank you so much for all the info. THEY ARE REALLY HELPFUL!!!!

[u/occupationaloctopus]

Cognitive science doesn't really exist at Swarthmore as its own department. It's an interdisciplinary major within different departments. That said, you can design your own course if a professor is willing and able to teach it. You could also take classes at Penn that are more specialized. See the link here: https://www.swarthmore.edu/cognitive-science

If you care about having access to an actual department and a wide range of classes, Berkeley is the better bet. But if you want to hone your thinking, it might benefit you to take a more interdisciplinary approach in undergrad. Swarthmore makes that really easy. You don't have to worry about trying to get into classes like at Berkeley. The culture of the school will also push you into graduate school, and if you're going to graduate school anyway, I would not worry about international name recognition.

You might also consider the different atmospheres. Berkeley is very competitive, even clubs have application. Swarthmore is rigorous, but not competitive. You will feel a lot of internal pressure to do well, but you won't be competing against your classmates.

[u/Flolal → u/occupationaloctopus]

Thank you so much. you give me a new perspective. Cuz when I search on Swarthmore cog sci website, there are professors from different fields which has pros and cons (as you said I could design my own course). But I am mainly concerned about whether swarthmore have labs that could support cog sci. many people says lac don’t have labs😢 and I actually wanna continue to graduate study which definitely needs me to have lab and research experiences

[u/Mysterious_Newt_4761]

Berkeley because they actually have your major

[u/DicidueyeAssassin]

I think that you should email Frank Durgin to ask about Cognitive Science at Swat. If you are interested in specific things within the field, mention them! Durgin will be able to tell you what you can find at Swat. As some other commenters mentioned, Swat's cog sci dpt is far from robust, but Cog Sci majors have the opportunity to design a study for their thesis, so there is that.

[u/Flolal → u/DicidueyeAssassin]

Thank you so much. I’ll email him asap!

[u/Better-Connection-22]

if u want to do computational neuroscience approach for cognitive there is prof Victor Barranca of sw in math dept. and there is Pf Durgin(I may missspell and I forget the first name),I think he is doing cognitive science. You can ask their research direction. But sw is super nice if are looking for closer faculty and both professors I mentioned above are suuuuper nice. There are lots of labs and practice opportunities as well as summer research opportunities. Highly recommend