Brain & Cognitive Science

Major Overview

Admissions Requirements

Please note: the Brain and Cognitive Science major is not open to students who have completed more than 50 hours of transferable college coursework due to pre-requisite course sequencing.

GPA

It is expected that applicants to this program will have a minimum GPA of 3.0 (A = 4.0).

Coursework

Students With Fewer Than 50 Transferable Credit Hours at Time of Application

If you’ll apply to Illinois with fewer than 50 transferable credit hours, you must complete transfer coursework equivalent to the following University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign courses before or during the term you’re submitting your application:

  • PSYC 100, Intro Psych
  • RHET 105, Writing and Research (at most institutions, the equivalent requires a two-course English composition sequence)
  • STAT 100, Statistics
    • or PSYC 235,Intro to Statistics

Please note that students are allowed credit for only one introductory statistics course at Illinois. Please contact the Assistant Director of Course Articulation at (217) 300-8606 if you have questions.

Admissions Recommendations

Coursework

Although it isn’t required that you do so in order to be admitted, we also highly recommend that you complete transfer coursework equivalent to the following University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign courses before or during the term you’re submitting your application:

  • PSYC 204, Intro to Brain and Cognition
    • or PSYC 210, Behavioral Neuroscience
    • or PSYC 216, Child Psych
    • or PSYC 220, Images of Mind or PSYC 224, Cognitive Psych
    • or PSYC 230,Perception & Sensory Processes
    • or PSYC 248, Learning and Memory
  • BCOG 100, Introduction to the Brain and Cognitive Science
    • or BCOG 200, Introduction to Programming for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences
  • ANTH 101, Introduction to Anthropology
    • or ANTH 102, Human Origins and Culture
    • or ANTH 104, Talking Culture
    • or ANTH 143, Biology of Human Behavior
  • INFO 102, Little Bits to Big Ideas
    • or CS 124, Intro to Computer Science I
  • LING 100, Intro to Language Science
  • PHIL 101, Introduction to Philosophy
    • or PHIL 102, Logic and Reasoning

Please note that due to the unique structure of the Brain and Cognitive Science major, we cannot guarantee completion of the degree in four semesters.

Graduation Requirements

To graduate, all students are required to complete at least 45 semester hours of credit at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. At least 21 of these credit hours must be at the 300 or 400 level.

General Education Courses

Included in our graduation requirements are general education (gen ed) courses. These classes allow you to gain and use broad knowledge beyond the specialized learning you’ll do through your major. Learn more about our general education requirements. You may be able to use Transferology to find gen ed courses that will transfer over from your institution to UIUC.

Language Other than English

Although this program doesn’t require you to complete our language graduation requirement for admission, we strongly encourage you do so before transferring.

For AdmissionFor Graduation
No RequirementLevel 4

Learn More About This Major

To learn more about this program, including degree requirements and similar majors, we encourage you to check out the below resources.