Frequently Asked Questions

We suggest that you indicate in your statement your background, the reasons for your interests in our program, and your future goals and aspirations. Also, indicating what research you would like to get involved with will be helpful to the Admissions Committee. We also recommend taking some undergraduate courses to better prepare (e.g., Intro to Psychology, Intro to Biology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Cognitive Psychology, Physiological Psychology, Research Methods, Statistics).

The program can be completed within 2 years depending on how many courses you take each semester. Given that a thesis is required, we recommend 2 years for full-time students and 3 years for part-time students. If part-time, you would be able to be on campus for part of only 1 – 2 days per week. Lastly, students may be able to switch from full-time to part-time as needed.

The MS Program in Cognitive Neuroscience was approved by the State of New York in November, 2017. All programs at the CUNY Graduate Center are accredited by Middle States. You can find more information here: Click here. 

Most courses will be during the daytime hours during the weekdays. There is a possibility for evening courses in some semesters. Saturday classes are not currently being offered.

We do not have a spring admission cycle.

There is no summer semester.

Yes, but the course hours will vary from semester to semester and students can enroll in the program as full-time or part-time students.

Some teaching opportunities may be available individually at one of the CUNY campuses, and some faculty may have funds available to hire an RA.

The committee reviews applications through a holistic process that takes into consideration the
entirety of each application. Therefore, we do not provide statistics on the averages of quantitative measures. 

If your institution does not provide an unofficial or online student copy of the transcript, then you need to request an official one to be sent to you.  That copy should be opened, scanned and uploaded into the online application form. You may want to request 2 copies from the issuing institution and keep one unopened, so that if you are admitted you will have an official copy available to forward to the Office of Admission prior to registration. Only admitted applicants are required to send an official transcript.

No, a WES evaluation is not required. Transcripts that are not in English need to be accompanied by a certified translation (not evaluation).

Applicants who attended institutions that issue transcripts only in a non-English language format need to upload a file that contains an English translation from a certified translation service.  The scanned file also needs to contain the original document that the translation represents as well as the certified translation.

There is a possibility to take courses as a non-matriculated student at the Graduate Center.  However, a lifetime maximum of only two courses is allowed. The MS Program in Cognitive Neuroscience will not be able to approve registration for non-matriculated students until after registration of students matriculated in the degree program. Please contact us directly for requests to register in classes as a non-matriculated student.

Yes, but you may only apply to one doctoral program per admission cycle.

No, the MS in Cognitive Neuroscience at the Graduate Center is a different program. Our MS Program in Cognitive Neuroscience emphasizes the neural basis of cognitive functions, including perception, attention, memory, language, and decision-making. Note that many CSI faculty are also a part of this Cognitive Neuroscience program.

No, the MS in Cognitive Neuroscience at the Graduate Center is a different program. Our MS Program in Cognitive Neuroscience emphasizes the neural basis of cognitive functions, including perception, attention, memory, language, and decision-making. Note that many Queens College faculty are also a part of this Cognitive Neuroscience program.

No, the MS in Cognitive Neuroscience at the Graduate Center is a different program. Our MS Program in Cognitive Neuroscience emphasizes the neural basis of cognitive functions, including perception, attention, memory, language, and decision-making. Note that many Hunter College faculty are also a part of this Cognitive Neuroscience program.

No, the MS in Cognitive Neuroscience at the Graduate Center is a different program. Our MS Program in Cognitive Neuroscience emphasizes the neural basis of cognitive functions, including perception, attention, memory, language, and decision-making. Note that many Brooklyn College faculty are also a part of this Cognitive Neuroscience program.

There are some faculty members at CUNY who are working on neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, but not specifically from a cognitive perspective. However, students might be able to pursue research on neurodegenerative diseases with faculty members who are experts on memory research, if they are willing.

We do not accept recommendations that are not uploaded into our online application system.  Please select recommenders who can upload recommendations into our online system in order to ensure a timely review of your application.

After you have submitted your online application, you can remind your recommenders to submit their online recommendation by logging back into the online application system. At the dashboard (the first screen you will see upon logging back in) click on the blue button on the upper right hand side that says "View Application."

Then on the left hand navigation bar, you will see a link to "Recommendations" under the "Important Links" header. That will bring you to a button that says "Recommendation Provider List" where you can resend the request to previously listed recommenders.
 
The system does not allow you to add additional recommenders or to correct/modify the email address of a recommender. Those requests should be made by email to admissions@gc.cuny.edu with the understanding that you may have a significant delay in the processing of your application due to an issue with the recommender emails that you have listed prior to submitting your application.

Programs do not accept more than 12 transfer credits for equivalent graduate coursework. Courses taken at the undergraduate level cannot be transferred or used to waive out of courses. Each transfer credit case is reviewed individually and transfer credits will only be evaluated if you are admitted to a program, after you have begun the registration process.

Although there is no formal program in place, this program was designed such that students who excel in it will be able to apply to and, if admitted, transfer many of the course credits into the Neuroscience doctoral program at the Graduate Center.

The Graduate Center, on 34th St and 5th Ave, is where most of the courses will be offered. It also houses some of the labs.

No, the program cannot be completed remotely.

This is a basic MS degree and does not provide any clinical training. However, it is research oriented, which may increase your chances of getting into doctoral programs in psychology, including clinical ones. This would especially be the case if you conducted your thesis with someone doing clinically oriented research.

This MS in Cognitive Neuroscience at the Graduate Center will not allow for the possibility of seeking counseling licensure. It is a basic MS degree rather than a professional or clinical one. Some of the courses that you take, however, may qualify for transfer into other degree programs that may allow for licensure.

Either one will be fine to supplement your application.

For institutions within the United States, the most effective method of locating institutions using this screen is to type in only the CITY field. If you cannot locate the institution by CITY, then type in only the NAME field. If that does not result in locating the institution, please type in "Undeclared" in the NAME field and select "Undeclared Domestic" as the institution.

For institutions outside of the United States, please search first by selecting only CITY. If that does not result in locating the institution, search only by NATION field. If that does not result in locating the institution, please select "Nation: Foreign Inst" for that country. (For example, if you are searching for a Canadian institution that does not appear on the list for Canada, select "Canada: Foreign Inst").

The current tuition and fee costs can be found at Prospective and Current Student website Click here.

Yes, and this amount will depend on whether or not students are New York State residents. Students with US citizenship may become a resident after one year's documented residence in the state.

As a foreign student, you may not be eligible for loans but you may be able to work at the university under your visa. For details, visit the Office of International Students website Click here. The total cost for tuition is comparably low, however.

This will depend on the type of loans that you are eligible for and which ones you end up getting. Follow this link for further information: Click here.

After you have completed the online application form, you will be asked to submit the form for review.  A payment page will then appear asking you to select your payment method.  You may pay online with a credit card or by sending in a check by mail.

The application fee is only waived for United States Armed Services Veterans and McNair Scholars. To apply for these fee waivers, please select the "pay by mail/check" option when you submit your application. Then you need to notify the Office of Admissions via email that your application is complete and that you are requesting a fee waiver. Please specify in the email if you are a veteran (attach documentation) or a McNair Scholar (attach documentation).

If you wish to apply again after completing the application process in the past, you need to submit a new application form and application fee for the current admissions cycle. You are also required to submit a new applicant statement.

To ensure that your file is smaller than the maximum size of 4 MB, you may have to scan your file at the lowest DPI that produces a legible image. In most cases, you will be able to use a DPI under 200. Do not scan in color. Use greyscale if possible; otherwise, use black and white. If the file already exists as a download from your institution, please take a look at this Adobe page with instructions that can assist you in reducing the size of an existing pdf file. 

For all writing samples, if the size absolutely cannot be reduced to less than 4MB, then upload one document with a url/link to a hosted file.

We do not have a career counselor in this program, but we do have a professional development office for our current students. As a student in this program, you would be able to utilize those resources.

We plan to host Open Houses during which you can ask questions and find out more about the program. We suggest you visit the Admissions Office event page Click here for upcoming date/time and location announcements.

We suggest you contact the Admissions Office directly to inquire about why the system is indicating that your application is incomplete.

If you have general admissions questions, please contact the admissions office at 212.817.7470. If you have specific questions about the M.S. Program in Cognitive Neuroscience, either email cogneuro@gc.cuny.edu or call us at 212.817.1811  to schedule an appointment.