<p>I'm looking to major in Biology so I can eventually become a Wildlife Biologist or something else where I can work with animals. I'm interested in majoring in Bio rather than Zoology, in case I change my mind about my career goal. So, what are some of the best programs? And if possible, try to stay away from the Ivies for once? (and yes, i know they have some of the best programs).</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/591556-does-anyone-know-undergraduate-rankings-biology.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/591556-does-anyone-know-undergraduate-rankings-biology.html</a></p>
<p>Just on the top of my head: Berkeley, JHU, Duke, UCSD and U of Washington</p>
<p>Also, don’t overlook the technological schools beside MIT and Caltech: Georgia Tech, Illinois Tech, RIT, Carnegie Mellon.</p>
<p>Colleges that graduate the most future PhDs per capita in the life sciences include:</p>
<p>Cal Tech
Reed
Swarthmore
Harvey Mudd
Chicago
MIT
Kalamazoo
Carleton
Haverford
Grinnell</p>
<p>Earlham and College of the Atlantic also have made the top 10 in some reporting periods. The data is gathered by the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium (HEDS). Reports are available on the Reed College and Earlham College sites.
([REED</a> COLLEGE PHD PRODUCTIVITY](<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/ir/phd.html]REED”>Doctoral Degree Productivity - Institutional Research - Reed College))</p>
<p>The list provided by Theleak is the US News ranking of graduate programs in the biological sciences.</p>
<p>^ Reed, Swarthmore, Harvey Mudd and Chicago are all very intellectual, research-oriented universities, hence the high PhD per capita. They may not be the best choice for OP since he’s not interested in research.</p>
<p>Bio is about a generic science major as you’ll find. Any college can do it. Even liberal arts schools like Williams have strong programs.</p>
<p>^^
Reed, Swarthmore, and Harvey Mudd are not research-oriented universities. They are not universities at all. They are small liberal arts colleges (LACs) with total focus on undergraduates. But yes, they are intellectual places where students who want research opportunities should be able to find them.</p>
<p>Although I agree that a wildlife biology major is neither necessary or even advisable for your field, I would nevertheless encourage the selection of schools with strong offerings in wildlife science. Research experience is of utmost importance for graduate school admission, and you will need at least a MS for wildlife biology. It would be to your advantage, therefore, to select colleges with faculty members working in that area.</p>
<p>One method would be to look for colleges with majors in animal science, wildlife management, fisheries science, zoology, etc. An alternate method, which is particularly helpful among private colleges, is to look for colleges with strong ecology/organismal tracks within the biology department – these range from Duke, Swarthmore, and Stanford to UNH, U Oklahoma, and COA.</p>
<p>Bluebayou correctly noted that strong biology programs can be found across a tremendously wide spectrum of colleges. Except for the few colleges that focus specifically on molecular biology (Johns Hopkins, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Brandeis, and a few others), any top school would be perfectly fine for your purposes (and a good many other schools besides).</p>
<p>As with many applicants, you’re going about the process somewhat backwards. I suggest figuring out exactly what it is you want in a college. Consider size (tiny Williams or giant Ohio State?), location (bustling NYU or quiet Hamilton?), and other limiting factors (want a good Indie scene? a large LGBT community?). Once you have a list of factors in mind, it’s fairly easy to draw up a tentative list of schools, and from that step, it’s easy to sort the list based on strength in biology.</p>
<p>Only someone not knowing much about Bio thinks it is generic and one is the same as another. What you really have in “Bio” is at least half a dozen major areas each of which is a full rich discipline. Biochem, mole chem, genetics, microbial sciences, zoology, and plant science. Any of these can have an undergraduate concentration and subconcentrations.</p>