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[PlasticDNA]

I'm 23 and I just graduated from Berkeley with a B.A. in Legal Studies but I have no long-term interest in law. I originally took the legal studies major to supplement another major in Psychology in hopes of adding perspective to the way the brain works on a social, legal, and linguistic scale and improving my writing skills which I realized needed improvement. The beginning of my junior year, the psychology department denied my application because I only had a 3.1 GPA in the prereqs and a 3.2 was required for a guaranteed acceptance because the major was capped. I decided cognitive science was more interesting because it was more science-specific and included linguistics, philosophy, and computer science. But when I signed up for a computer science course to get started, the professor told the class that no one would pass without taking a different computer science course not mentioned on the cogsci department website, which was already full that semester. By that time I could not have gone back and taken all the classes required for cognitive science without exceeding the university's 130-unit maximum.

So here I am, pretty deep in debt and looking for jobs with a degree I don't really need. I took calculus, a couple biology courses focusing on brain and genetics, psych courses, introduction to cognitive science, a linguistics course, and a logic course but most grad departments require physics, biology, computer science and more upper division experience in the cognitive science/psychology and linguistics areas. I want to eventually get into cog sci grad school but my time and money are running low

How should I go about transitioning toward cognitive science? Should I take courses at a local community college or re-enroll at a 4-year university while I try to get some work experience in the area, somehow? Would it be worth the cost of taking the 10+ classes I still need? I'm confident I can finish them with outstanding grades, but would I be able to get into grad school if those grades came from a community college or a cheap 4-year? Was anyone else in a similar situation before you went into your current field? Do I even still have that option or should I just sack up and settle for what I can get now? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[caliban]

I'm confident I can finish them with outstanding grades, but would I be able to get into grad school if those grades came from a community college or a cheap 4-year?

Yes, if they are outstanding. Much better chance if you get some relevant experience. Can you use you legal studies background to work as a patient or carer advocate, or in an advice centre for mentally handicapped, or even in animal welfare to get some practical handle on the issues? You could even strike up a research collaboration from such a position, paving your way.

If you want to go for a long term re-schooling the advice is often similar: if you get very comfortable in a job it will be very hard to get back into full time education unless you have a supportive spouse.