is cognitive science a science?

[smarty99]

Hi all,

I'm getting familiar w/ med school apps and learned 2 LORs are needed from science professors. I'm wondering if this strictly pertains to Chem, Bio, Physics professors from the standard premed sequence and upper level courses.

If so, can a lab professor from the Bio class write an LOR, even though she didn't teach the class, just the lab part?

Also, can a cognitive science class count as a science LOR?

Thanks for any help! Greatly appreciate it.

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[phonyreal98]

Depends on the school and course material. If the course material is more than 50% science and your professor can speak to your aptitude in the sciences, most schools will accept this as a science letter. Others will only accept letters from BCPM professors and some won't even accept letters from math professors.

 

[Tapepsi]

Hmm...well cognitive science at my school is considered social science so it would fall under a non-science. It depends on your school though.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Unless it focused a lot on cognitive neuroscience, then no.

 

[gettheleadout]

Hmm...well cognitive science at my school is considered social science so it would fall under a non-science. It depends on your school though.

Though I found this hard to figure out at first, I think a good way to simplify this whole deal is to assume that when a LOR from a "science professor" is required, "science" = BCPM. If they didn't teach a class that factored into your sGPA, they're not a science professor for the purposes of a LOR.

 

[CodeBlu]

Though I found this hard to figure out at first, I think a good way to simplify this whole deal is to assume that when a LOR from a "science professor" is required, "science" = BCPM. If they didn't teach a class that factored into your sGPA, they're not a science professor for the purposes of a LOR.

I agree with GTLO.

 

[smarty99]

Though I found this hard to figure out at first, I think a good way to simplify this whole deal is to assume that when a LOR from a "science professor" is required, "science" = BCPM. If they didn't teach a class that factored into your sGPA, they're not a science professor for the purposes of a LOR.

thanks a lot all!

 

[tttttc]

email the schools you are applying to

and don't expect prompt and unambiguous answers.

 

[Medicine4Bruhs]

A good way to figure this out is to look what department offers the class. Generally, if the same class is crosslisted in the biology department as well as the psychology department, then you can absolutely list it as either BCPM or not. As in, if you did well in the class, list it as a BCPM class. If not, I wouldn't list it as a BCPM class. Also, what level cognitive science is it? Cognitive science isn't really known as a normal BCPM class, but if you choose to list it as a BCPM, then that's fine. I tend to believe upper level psych classes have a lot of biology that can be easily argued to qualify as BCPM content. This is the gray area that is absurd with regards to application policy but if you can take advantage of it, then I say go ahead.

AMCAS policy is the following:

http://web.jhu.edu/prepro/health/Applicants/AMCAS.html

 

[MartletMD]

Hi all,

I'm getting familiar w/ med school apps and learned 2 LORs are needed from science professors. I'm wondering if this strictly pertains to Chem, Bio, Physics professors from the standard premed sequence and upper level courses.

If so, can a lab professor from the Bio class write an LOR, even though she didn't teach the class, just the lab part?

Also, can a cognitive science class count as a science LOR?

Thanks for any help! Greatly appreciate it.

I would say, as a cog sci major, that heavily depends on what kind of class it was. My program has a very strong focus on neuroscience rather than the psychology aspects of the field, so I would count those, but I wouldn't count the linguistics-type classes that also apply, for obvious reasons.

Having said that, I would also e-mail or call admissions people, just to be sure.