Foundations be taken at the same time as two other science courses as that requires taking 3 labs in one semester. It is highly recommended that students take Foundations prior to Neuro1 or Neuro2. The material covered in Neuro1 and Neuro2 are quite integrative and can be a little overwhelming for students with less science background.
Students decide on a ‘sequence’; a set of 4 courses in a particular area. These are listed on the neuroscience website neuro.kecksci.claremont.edu. For example, students interested in psychology-based neuroscience will take 4 psychology-related courses. The courses in the second ‘tier’ are based on the sequence. Students taking psychology-based courses should take Research Methods and Psych Stats (these usually have to be taken at their home institution), along with math or CS. The non-psychology students should take some combination of biostats, computer science, math, or physics (only one semester of physics counts).
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Physics/Biophysics/Engineering
Students contemplating a Physics major should take Principles of Physics (Physics 33) in the Fall semester of their first year, followed by Physics 34 in the Spring. Waiting until sophomore year before taking intro physics is strongly discouraged, since it can produce a variety of scheduling challenges later (including with study abroad). Potential physics majors should also plan on finishing at least through second-semester college calculus by the end of their first year. (Math 31S at Pomona has a focus on applied calculus and might be an especially good choice for science majors who need second-semester calculus.)
Students contemplating a Biophysics major have the option of taking either the Principles of Physics (Physics 33-34) intro sequence or the General Physics for Life Science (Physics 30-31) intro sequence (see below), though we recommend starting with Physics 33. Ideally, biophysics majors should take intro physics starting in the fall semester of their first year, though it is possible for biophysics majors to wait until sophomore year.
Students with a potential interest in physics or biophysics should always consult with a physics professor before making their course selections; students with a definitive plan to major in physics or biophysics should switch to a physics professor as their academic advisor.
Students contemplating participating in our Engineering program should immediately consult with Prof. Scot Gould, sgould@kecksci.claremont.edu.
The physics program has two distinct intro physics course sequences: Principles of Physics (Physics 33-34) and General Physics for the Life Sciences (Physics 30-31). Physics, Chemistry, and Engineering majors should take Physics 33-34, while life science majors often take the Physics 30-31 intro sequence; biophysics majors can do either sequence, though 33-34 is preferred. Although the two intro sequences are similar, the key differences are: (a) 33-34 is frequently taught in an integrated lecture-lab format, whereas 30-31 has separate lectures and labs; (b) while both sequences use calculus, 33-34 uses it more heavily; (c) 30-31 has more life science related examples; (d) 33-34 uses numerical software packages more; (e) 34 covers
