Cog Neuro MSTPs??

[Wertt]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hey,

I'm an international student (Canadian) applying to some MSTP programs down here, hoping to do translational research in cognitive neurology (fMRI, PET etc...)

I love the program at Northwestern, and they have an excellent center there for this type of research with Alzheimers etc, but I looked at their past two years and all the incoming MSTPers were doing basic wetlab stuff. Anyone here doing an MSTP at the systems level or cognitive level in neuro???

And if you want to comment on my chances as a Canuck that's fine too.
BCPM 3.95
AO 3.89
OVERALL 3.93
MCAT 37S

 

[stherling]

hey wertt... maybe I'll see you on the interview circuit 🙂 I'm international (aussie) and hoping to do MSTP with the PhD in cognitive neuroscience! those two things seriously limited my choice of schools... 🙁

anyhow. I don't know any more than you do, since I'm in the same boat right now, but my impression is that not many MSTPers do this sort of thing, not because schools are against it but because the average MSTPer is more bio oriented than psych. I know of at least a couple of people at Penn MSTP who do cog neuro, and I think I saw one or two at WashU. I figure it should make my application stand out (hopefully in a good way)!

Where're you applying? Do you have any MSTP interviews lined up yet? Are you applying MD-only as well?

 

[Wertt]

hey wertt... maybe I'll see you on the interview circuit 🙂 I'm international (aussie) and hoping to do MSTP with the PhD in cognitive neuroscience! those two things seriously limited my choice of schools... 🙁

anyhow. I don't know any more than you do, since I'm in the same boat right now, but my impression is that not many MSTPers do this sort of thing, not because schools are against it but because the average MSTPer is more bio oriented than psych. I know of at least a couple of people at Penn MSTP who do cog neuro, and I think I saw one or two at WashU. I figure it should make my application stand out (hopefully in a good way)!

Where're you applying? Do you have any MSTP interviews lined up yet? Are you applying MD-only as well?

Hey Stherling - Just got my MCAT yesterday, and no, definitely no interviews yet. I am a LATE applicant and just got complete at Northwestern, still have to finish secondaries for Boston (MD/PhD), and Dartmouth (MD/PhD). As an international it's hard to find programmes to apply to. I just applied MSTP to Northwestern, Dart., Boston. Applying MD to Minnesota (where I'm working atm), Chicago, and Stanford (just for kicks).

Applying to some Canadian schools too, including MD/PhD.

How about you? Let me know if you've had some interviews, I'm curious how much they delve into your research interests, especially if they are less familiar with them (i.e., not basic science)

 

[stherling]

I'm a late applicant too 🙂 I took the August MCATs, same as you...

I applied MSTP to Harvard(don't laugh....), Penn, Northwestern, WashU and Columbia, so maybe I'll see you at Northwestern! No interviews yet, I'm hoping invites will start coming now that my MCAT scores are in.

I'm going to have a hard time talking about my research if I get faced with someone who has no interest in cognitive stuff at all... have to work on that. I know my stuff well, but I rarely have to discuss it with people outside the field. Do keep me posted on how things work out for you, maybe we can help each other through this process!

 

[Wertt]

Sounds like a plan - us non-test tube folks have to stick together.

What type of research do you do? Did you do your undergrad in the states or down under?

 

[Hurricane]

Here at the University of Cincinnati, we had a student doing her thesis work at our imaging center, but she left the program for personal reasons. Also, we have to do a short research project as 4th year med students, and I'll be doing mine with one of the researchers at the imaging center this winter.

Here are some links:
Our program
Imaging center

As far as the Canadian thing goes, I don't know how it affects your chances exactly, but we do have several of your peeps in our program.

 

[stherling]

wertt, I work in a neuropsych lab studying (for the most part) language production in aphasic stroke patients.

I did my undergrad in the states, and actually, haven't lived in australia since i was 3 -- I lived in Singapore from age 3-19 🙂

 

[huknows00]

I think I'm in a worse off position than even you guys, I'm a Bioengineer who has done and is currently interested in cognitive and systems level neuroscience. Basically I go on interviews and have a really tough time communicating with ppl because we have no common language and very non-overlapping backgrounds. I'm afraid I can sound like a fool when they start asking me about basic neuroscience stuff. I have definite interests and have thought extensively about them, but it is just so hard to articulate them because I don't have the neuro and basic bio background.

Regarding the foreign student thing: on the interviews I have been on they mostly said that foreign students will not be able to receive MSTP funding, but theoretically they will be considered on equal terms as another candidate. Seven-eight years without funding is a pretty expensive proposition, maybe some non-MSTP sources are availabe?

 

[stherling]

Yup, most schools will not fund foreign students, but some private schools will. It all depends on where their funding is from. I'm not going anywhere without funding. But in any case, there are definitely non-MSTP funding sources for the PhD years, so it would just be paying for the MD years.

 

[Wertt]

I think I'm in a worse off position than even you guys, I'm a Bioengineer who has done and is currently interested in cognitive and systems level neuroscience.

In my experience, any engineer is a definite plus for a neuroimaging lab - a lab full of psychology students who need to figure out some serious signal processing junk. I think the best prep for Cognitive neuroscience graduate programs is a neuroscience + Cognitive Science + computer science/engineering education. Unfortunately, most of us have only one of those.

 

[Wertt]

wertt, I work in a neuropsych lab studying (for the most part) language production in aphasic stroke patients.

I did my undergrad in the states, and actually, haven't lived in australia since i was 3 -- I lived in Singapore from age 3-19 🙂

Sounds interesting - certainly clinically relevant experience. I think one of my challenges is that clinicians are very skeptical of neuroimaging, beyond simple EEG recordings and resting PET scans, and I have to try and explain how it is useful...thank god for Mayberg's work in treatment refractory depression!