Hello guys, I was wondering if anyone had any insight into the chemistry (and materials science) programs at the above colleges. I am going to be a chemistry major with a strong interest in physical chemistry and polymers, (also possibly biochemistry?). Undergraduate research is incredibly important to me. I want to have easy access to a lab my first year or even first semester. I also want to go to a prestigious grad school, which of these schools are known for their good chemistry grad placement rates?
Thank you for any and all information on this topic!
You have chosen excellent schools for chemistry research.
In terms of school-specific attributes, look for chemistry departments that offer research as a for-credit, repeatable course during regular terms. This option will ensure that you will have regular opportunities for directed research. Look as well for the opportunity to engage in summer research projects. If you are ready, these may begin after your first academic year. Ultimately, you will want to complete (and will likely be expected to complete) a senior thesis under close faculty guidance.
As opinion, I might suggest that your LAC choices (Williams, Swarthmore, Hamilton, Colby, Union, Colgate) might be strongest for undergraduate research in chemistry, though potentially all of your listed schools could be good.
They’re all good schools for chemistry at the undergrad level. Since you already have some idea of what you’re interested in studying (physical chem, polymers) you should definitely look at the professors at each school and see if their reseach interests you. You’ll have to do undergrad research to get into a top grad school, so you want to be able to do science that interests you and that prepares you for the subfield you want to specialize in later on.
For applying to top grad schools, you should try to do an REU at a R1 university in order to get exposure to cutting-edge research. Rochester and RPI have pretty productive research faculty, so those would be able to give you the ‘real’ taste of grad school, but at the others, the type of research you’re doing will be much more tailored to teaching undergrad students.
You may also want to consider your choices with respect to the courses that might be available to you as a first semester student. For example, if you will have completed two years of HS chemistry, you would likely prefer a college chemistry curriculum that offers the choice of an “introductory” course suitable for this level.
In looking through numerous sites, it can be easy to miss some of relevance. This one, for instance, describes when and how chemistry research can be conducted at Hamilton:
PhD production for the last 20 years, courtesy of WebCASPAR:
76 RPI
63 Rochester
58 Williams
46 Colby
38 Colgate / Swarthmore
37 Hamilton
35 Union
Courtesy of IPEDS, the number of chemistry majors over the past 10 years:
299 Williams
296 Rochester
169 Colby
152 RPI
146 Hamilton
78 Colgate
75 Union
71 Swarthmore
Doubling these for an estimate of the total for the last 20 years, the ratio of BS degrees produced to PhDs produced looks like this.
3.74 Swarthmore
4 RPI
4.11 Colgate
4.29 Union
7.35 Colby
7.89 Hamilton
9.40 Rochester
10.3 Williams
In other words, Swarthmore produces the most PhDs relative to the number of chemistry majors it graduates, and Williams produces the fewest PhDs per chemistry major.
Re #5: Note that colleges may diverge statistically based upon career aspirations. Williams, for example, may be superb in terms of opportunities for undergraduate research in chemistry. However, a good percentage of those who avail themselves of these opportunities may prefer careers, such as in medicine or law, in which further degrees other than a PhD would be appropriate. Immediate employment or a fellowship might be other desirable post-collegiate outcomes. In any case, those students who do wish to pursue a PhD in chemistry or a related field after Williams would be likely to be viewed favorably by graduate school admission committees. Actually, I think all of your choice would be excellent in this latter regard, @physicsfuture.
In your situation, I’m seconding the suggestion to take a look at what individual professors have as their specialty - what they are researching/love - and see how that compares to your interest. The vast majority of “eager to do research” students I’ve come across use this to pick their final school (once finances have been considered). It’s worked well.
The more who match your interest, the more in the “pro” column that school goes. There is no “bad” school on your list IMO.
Beware of only one prof doing something that interests you. I saw a student choose by that once, then the prof left that school for another. I doubt that’s common, but it’s happened, so if there are more than one, I’d give that far more points.
Swarthmore, Hamilton, Colby and Union appear in “15 Best Value Small Colleges for a Chemistry Degree” (online), so you, somewhat interestingly, landed on a good percentage of the schools the article discusses. I wouldn’t go too much by what appears to be a modestly researched analysis, but the source could nonetheless offer corroboration for some of the colleges you have already selected.