Caroline Lasersohn

Ahead of a milestone birthday, Caroline Lasersohn (Certificate in Neuroscience ’26) started thinking about her future. “I was reaching 30 and I thought, what are the next ten years going to look like? What’s my career going to be?” While she had loved her undergraduate cognitive science major—and had considered pursuing an advanced degree—life took her in a different direction after graduating. Over the next eight years, however, the question ‘what if?’ never left her. The Penn LPS Online Certificate in Neuroscience gave Caroline the chance to revisit her old interest and ready her resume to gain acceptance into a master’s degree in neuroscience.

“Something that stood out to me about the program was access to Penn faculty. There was real interaction with professors and the opportunity to build relationships.”

At first, Caroline wasn’t convinced returning to school was reasonable, or even possible. “I had to do a lot of soul searching,” she says. While she had kept up on neuroscience papers and advancements over the years, her academic resume was out of date and had some deficiencies. “I realized I had a big gap in my knowledge, wishing I knew more about the biology and chemistry of cognitive science than I did,” she explains. Additionally, she needed recommenders who could endorse her as a viable graduate studies candidate.  

Searching for a reputable academic opportunity that could be a steppingstone to her future, she quickly found Penn LPS Online’s Certificate in Neuroscience. “Something that stood out to me about the program was access to Penn faculty,” she says. “There was real interaction with professors and the opportunity to build relationships.”

Investigating the program further, Caroline contacted the Penn LPS Online program team. “I reached out and I explained these were my goals: I want to apply to grad school; I need advice; I feel like I'm starting from scratch,” she says. Early conversations with Kristin Sowden, the associate director of career advising and planning, helped quell Caroline’s anxieties about being a returning student and reassured her that the program offered the academic and career support she was looking for.

“What surprised me the most was the level of difficulty of the courses—but it makes sense, it’s Penn.”

After Caroline enrolled in the certificate program, Kristin continued to advise her, encouraging Caroline to build relationships with her instructors and helping her prepare a CV for her graduate school applications.

Caroline started the Penn LPS Online program in fall 2025. It was more intense than she expected. “What surprised me the most was the level of difficulty of the courses—but it makes sense, it’s Penn. I really had to get back into the student mindset of time management and deadlines and how I wanted to study,” she shares. “I was happy for the challenge. It definitely kept me engaged.”

Her first course was Introduction to Neuroscience with Mike Kane, PhD. “I really loved the online flexibility,” she says of the program delivery. Like most of her courses, she had weekly modules of asynchronous work—recorded lectures and online discussion board posts to complete—plus optional weekly office hours with the instructor. “The office hours gave me some structured time where I could ask relevant questions about that week,” she says.

With graduate school applications on her mind, Caroline leaned into the discussion board assignments. “I took that opportunity to basically write short essays, about a page or two in length. I really dove into research and sourcing information,” she says. “I included some of those writing examples when I applied to grad schools.”

She took full advantage of office hours, as well, attending Dr. Kane’s office hours every week to talk coursework, current neuroscience research, and Caroline’s interests in pursuing advanced study in the field. Dr. Kane offered another reassuring voice that graduate school was a valid and achievable goal for Caroline.

“I don't think I would have been able to get into a master's program without the Penn certificate.”

For each class, she found a similar approachability with the faculty. “I was really happy about getting to know the professors and having that resource,” she says. “It surprised me how accessible and friendly everyone was and how willing these professors were to meet me and build relationships with me; I felt like part of the Penn community.”

When the time came to apply for grad school, she secured two letters of recommendation from her Penn instructors, Dr. Kane and Behavioral Neuroscience instructor Judith McLean, PhD.

During her final term at Penn, Caroline was accepted to the Master of Science in Neuroscience program at King’s College London for fall 2026. “It’s really a dream come true—a year later, I did it!” she says of reaching her goal. “I don't think I would have been able to get into a master's program without the Penn certificate,” she adds. “I’m so happy the program really did give me all the tools that I needed.”

For any prospective students, Caroline urges them to invest in the human connections that Penn LPS Online offers. “Reach out to the real, live people, especially if you're someone like me who's using the certificate to pivot or get back into something. Ask the advisors for help and go to office hours; Take advantage of those resources,” she counsels. “I had a lot of really great help along the way.”