Student: Shuo Yang

AOC: Data Science and Biology

Home College: Baruch College

Expected year of graduation: 2027

My Areas of Concentration (AOC) are oriented toward neuroscience graduate programs.
Since neuroscience is a highly interdisciplinary field in which scholars often come from diverse
academic backgrounds—such as biology, engineering, and even philosophy—I aimed to build a
broad, foundational undergraduate education.

Crafting AOC is more of a research project rather than a writing assignment. I reviewed
the requirements of neuroscience programs at many universities’ websites and found that a
strong foundation in biochemistry and biophysics is among the most sought-after qualifications.
So I went on to examine the common structure of curricula of undergraduate biochemistry and
biophysics majors. I noticed that while three or four core courses are universally required for
graduation, other courses vary—being mandatory at one institution but elective at another.
Based on this insight, my AOC includes chemistry courses that are consistently required in
undergraduate biochemistry programs and physics courses that are always found in biophysics
curricula.

Crafting my Area of Concentration (AOC) didn’t end after my proposal was approved.
I’ve been working in a neuroscience research lab at the CUNY Graduate Center, where
assisting with experiments and talking with graduate students and faculty has given me deeper
insights into how my AOC should be. Through this experience, I now have an even clearer
vision of what my new AOC should look like.

There are undoubtedly many other excellent approaches to developing an AOC. What
matters most, however, is that we CUNY BA students truly act as the chairpersons of our own
interdisciplinary departments—it’s our responsibility to make our degrees as rigorous, cohesive,
and intellectually grounded as any traditional program.