I am a high school senior looking at strong LACs for science. I know I’ll be going to school for either Biology, Chemistry, or Physics, but I’m not sure which yet, so I want a school that has strong departments for all three fields. However, I also want a well-rounded education, and I am looking at LACs of various sizes and locations. What I’m wondering is: which schools can give me a solid education in the liberal arts WITH great opportunities in the sciences (including access to undergraduate research)? I have a 4.0 GPA, took the most rigorous high school course load, and have an SAT score of 2300, so I’m looking at highly-selective LACs. I also want a truly intellectual environment where students have a love and excitement for learning (without the highly competitive atmosphere). Any additional information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!!
Look into Carleton and Haverford.
Oh and I also thought I’d mention that I’m planning to be in school for the long haul towards a PhD…
Go through the faculty lists for the schools in the top 25 and see which interest you the most. The larger the faculty the better. Offhand I would say Biology would be a more popular major than chemistry and physics at these colleges.
These schools are not as impressed by a score of 2300 as many universities. If a student with a 2100 has other qualities and has visited, writes great essays and interviewed, that student wins.
Some schools may be strong in one of the sciences, but weak in another.
Biology is a popular major, but is a broad field. So you will likely find plenty of course offerings, but large (for the given school) classes with pre-meds. But the breadth of the field may mean that some subareas may be well represented in the course offerings but others may not be.
Chemistry majors are accredited by the American Chemical Society: https://webapplications.acs.org/Applications/CPTASL/app_list_search.cfm?CFID=20595&CFTOKEN=2e6105f57ff89507-C2D917EF-DCD5-4F55-489E17A39D2135FD&jsessionid=A2DD8AAD26D00AA8BEFEF939C46ACCFF.cfusion . However, elective offerings and frequency of course offering may still differ.
Physics has a fairly well defined core of junior/senior level courses: intermediate mechanics, statistical and thermal physics, electromagnetism (often 2 semesters), quantum mechanics (often 2 semesters), intermediate/advanced lab (often 2 semesters). Frequency of offering may vary, as can electives like astrophysics. As a relatively less popular major, it often has a relatively small department, so at some smaller schools, the junior/senior level courses may be inconveniently offered only once every two years (Harvey Mudd, Oberlin, and Reed may have more frequent offering).
Definitely Grinnell - state-of-the art facilities (including the science facilities). An observatory and prairie research center, the smallest class sizes of any lack (no entry level science class larger than 25 at least as of a few years ago and the largest science class was capped at 40), a large endowment that translates into excellent support for student research activities (including 8-10 weeks of funding for summer research internships), and merit aid (Trustee Scholarships). S majored in biochem there and had an outstanding experience.
You have to like small towns in the midwest though - it’s about 45min to Des Moines and to Iowa City.
The Claremont Colleges would be worth looking at, as you can take courses at all of them, regardless of which school you’re at which you’re enrolled, with some minor restrictions. Pomona has its own science department, as does Harvey Mudd, and the other three share resources as the Keck Science department. Pomona sounds like it would be a good fit for you.
As an aside, but possibly of interest to you, some colleges, including a few LACs, offer a major in chemical physics.
I don’t think you’re going to find LACs that are strong in all three fields – just not enough faculty. OTOH, a number of LACs participate in a joint degree program with CalTech – 5 years to a dual degree (BA From the LAC; BS from CalTech. Choosing one of them might be a way of broadening the curriculum available to you. But you have to be willing to leave, and to go to CalTech, and you won’t know whether you’ll actually have that option at the time you decide where to go to college – it’s a separate, subsequent, admissions process. Alternatively, can you use senior year to get a clearer idea of which field or which 2 fields are most interesting to you?
I second the recommendation of the Claremont colleges. It’s been a while, but if I recall correctly Carleton, Grinnell, and Reed stuck out in having a good amount of students ending up pursuing science PhDs
Williams & Reed.
I think that most of the top 20-25 LACs will be good enough in the sciences for your needs. A lot of them have just built / are just building new science facilities. My suggestion is that you go at it the other way: look at the top LACs and pick out the ones that appeal to you, then check out their sciences. One thing to look for: does the college offer paid summer research work, and if so is it open to all students? Many of them do, and it is a great stepping stone to REUs: you get paid experience through the college the summer after first year, and it makes you more attractive to REUs for the next summer. The other people in my D2s REU this summer mostly come from LACs, b/c preference is given to students whose home institution has fewer research opportunities.
@shawnspencer’s recollection comports well with data from a National Science Foundation database.
Top Schools from which S & E Doctorate Recipients Received Bachelor’s Degrees (normalized for bachelor’s awarded):
- Caltech
- Harvey Mudd
- MIT
- Reed
- Swarthmore
- Carleton
- UChicago
- Grinnell
The sample size is smaller, but the following are national liberal arts colleges that have produced at least one Apker Award winner (for undergraduate work in physics):
Bucknell
Colgate
Franklin & Marshall
Hamilton
Haverford
HMC
Middlebury
Mt. Holyoke
Oberlin
Swarthmore
Wesleyan
Williams
(Augustana College (SD) deserves a mention, though it is typically classified differently.)
You may want to consider the following indicators in comparing schools:
- The percentage of degrees conferred in biological sciences, physical sciences, math, or other fields of interest. These numbers are shown in section J of each school's Common Data Set.
- The percentage of alumni who earn PhDs in science fields. http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf13323/ ... see table 4 http://www.reed.edu/ir/phd.html
- Research expenditures. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings_2013/liberal_arts_research.php http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-m-gentile/growing-scientists-at-college_b_1224433.html
LACs that seem to do well in one or more of these areas include:
Swarthmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr (which comprise a tri-college consortium in the Philadelphia area)
Harvey Mudd & Pomona (members of the Claremont Colleges consortium)
Carleton
Reed
Williams
In addition to the above metrics, browse the online course catalogs and faculty biographies/CVs. Investigate whether science facilities have been updated in recent years (many top LACs have added new science centers in the past ~decade). See if graduation requirements include a thesis (or other major project); if possible, check out recent topics (http://academic.reed.edu/physics/theses.html; http://academic.reed.edu/biology/theses/#current).
Middlebury used to have the best LAC science facilities. I’m not sure whether that’s still true.
Carleton, Haverford, and Grinnell.
You might want to consider the type of LAC that attracts you- location, +/-consortium, vibe, size, distinguishing characteristics- and from there narrow down which has the science program that best fits your needs. They all are different from each other, and if you have a preference for a certain community/campus/student body your preference might help you narrow down your options a bit. Also, do you need merit aid or help with need based aid? That will also require its own filter in this process.
Biology and physics are some of Reed’s most popular and strongest majors, even though they are probably the most difficult. Chemistry is also nice, with cool facilities and stuff. It feels like you can find everything you have pointed out at Reed, but I would still highly recommend looking at schools like Williams, Swarthmore and Pomona, as you do have distinguished accomplishments, which would be very much in line with Reed’s student body, but I feel that by the virtue of their endowments, Williams, Swat and Pomona can probably give you more opportunities for research.
Don’t get me wrong, though. Reed is absolutely great for the science, especially in the physical sciences as it usually produces the most number of PhDs in physics of any LAC in most years (depending on whether you consider HMC an LAC). But unless you are satisfied with operating a nuclear reactor, working on a thesis that will consume your life during senior year, and competing for the limited grants available for collaborative research with faculty, and maybe those REUs, Reed may not be the best option. Especially freshman year summer and maybe even sophomore year summer, it may not be possible to get grants to work with faculty because they would probably choose upperclassmen who have undertaken advanced coursework. At schools like Pomona and Williams, it may be possible to start during your freshman summer.
Another thread you may find of interest:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1737399-which-top-liberal-arts-college-has-the-strongest-science-programs-p1.html
New note: I just discovered that a few of my freshman friends who work at the reactor are working as research assistants in biology and chemistry over the summer. I may have spoken too soon. Sometimes the faculty hires students on non-grant funded programs (comes out of the departments’ budgets), even freshmen.