<p>What school has the best Science (Biology, Biochem) program? Willamette, Lewis & Clark or Puget Sound?</p>
<p>oahumom, I was really hoping Calalum would chime in. </p>
<p>My guess is L&C is below both. UPS seems to have a substantial research department, and one of Willamette’s top majors is Bio. There is also the hospital next door which I would think has internship/research opportunities.</p>
<p>I can’t say which is the best, but I can attest that Willamette’s science is at least very good. Karen Holman, a chemistry professor and the advisor to the chemistry club was named Oregon Professor of the year last fall. In prior years, there have been two other Willamette Chemistry professors win that title, as well as a physics professor. If you explore Willamette’s website, you can find a video interview with Professor Holman. She is not a dry and boring lecturer. And the chemistry club is quite fun.</p>
<p>Also on the website you will find a list of the major lab equipment and the year it was purchased. This might be helpful in your comparison of schools.</p>
<p>When my daughter was exploring schools, we discovered the requirements for a chemistry or biochemistry degree were very similar regardless of the institution, be it private, state or big research university. There may be a difference of a class or two, but you are going to learn basically the same stuff. So the deciding factor came down to “in what kind of environment do you want to learn organic and physical chemistry?”</p>
<p>Knowing that professors retire, go on sabbatical etc and that my child may very well change her major, we didn’t select Willamette because of the reputation of the chemistry department. It was the overall feeling of the school and the warmth and friendliness of everyone we came in contact with that swayed her opinion.</p>
<p>Good luck in your research. If you find out anything about the UPS biology department, I’d love to hear about it. Child # 2 is researching schools.</p>