Generally classes that will count towards an APMA, BIOL, CHEM, CSCI, PHYS, MATH, NEUR, or ENGN degree will qualify. Specifically almost all APMA, BIOL, NEUR, and MATH classes will count. Classes such as CHEM0090 (Kitchen Chemistry) and PHYS0220 (Astronomy) will not. Any CSCI programming class will count. ENGN classes with physiological/neurological components will count.
What counts as a "laboratory course"?
Any class where you need to meet outside of seminar/lecture hours to perform an experiment, work on lab exercises/reports, feel up a brain, work on lab coding experiments, etc. is considered a laboratory course. Your syllabus or Courses@Brown description will explicitly state whether it is a lab course. Examples (but not limited to): CLPS1192, CLPS1193, CLPS1492, CLPS1510, CLPS1590, CLPS1791, CLPS1890.
If I take additional laboratory courses, what would that count as?
Additional lab courses can count as an approved elective, or it can be counted towards an approved science course, depending on the course content and which you would prefer for it to be categorized as.
What counts as an "approved elective"?
Cognitive Neuroscience: Any approved elective should be able to address the topic of cognition, neuropsychology, neuroscience, or computational methods. You can use the syllabus to determine this. (Most CLPS and NEUR classes fall under this category, though some psychology or linguistics classes without any neuroscience or cognition component might not count - if you are unsure about whether a class qualifies, e-mail Professor Heindel.)
Cognitive Science: Any approved elective should be able to address the topic of cognition, which includes classes in cognition-in-general, perception, philosophy of mind, language, or computational methods.
As you can see, the approved electives are open to personal interpretation. There is no specific list of "approved electives" to choose from because the classes vary from year to year as new ones are added. The best thing to do if you are unsure whether a class qualifies is to e-mail your respective concentration advisor.
What's the recommended course trajectory for the Cognitive (Neuro)science?
If I'm a pre-med student, how do CLPS classes count towards my STEM GPA?
CLPS0900 counts as a statistics/mathematics class, and thus is calculated in your STEM GPA. NEUR classes count towards your STEM GPA. The stance of Brown's Health Careers Office is that CLPS classes do not count towards your STEM GPA, but there have been individuals who have been able to get particularly neurobiology-heavy courses within the CLPS department to count as per official AAMC or AACOM guidelines. Your best bet would be to consult with the Health Careers Office, or call AAMC/AACOM directly.
(Anecdotally, AAMC has allowed Cognitive Neuroscience students to count CLPS classes with the words "Neuroscience", "Biology", "Neural", or "Brain" in the title as STEM courses, but this is not guaranteed for every single CLPS class.)
Can I take concentration requirements S/NC?
Yes, but definitely have a conversation with your concentration advisor for specifics.
What if I took an intro-level class S/NC in my first year because I didn't know I would concentrate in this department?
Simply complete the rest of your courses and confirm with the respective concentration advisor, and the class can be retroactively counted towards your degree.
How do I get study-abroad courses or courses at another institution transferred to Brown?
The department policy is that up to 2 study-abroad courses can count towards your concentration. The conditions are:
1) that the course is comparable to a full credit course at Brown (180 class hours) AND
2) that it fulfills a concentration requirement (e.g. an elective, a computational course, etc.).
For specific instructions and forms for getting your courses approved, follow these instructions.