<p>Hello there. I am a Junior in High School, with a 33 ACT score and a 4.0 GPA. As such, I can consider just about any college in the nation (I might not be accepted by some, but I can still look for them and hope).
I am looking for the very best colleges that have majors such as Genetics, Biotechnology, Virology, and related majors (not biomedical engineering, I must add). I ask for your help: which colleges offer these kinds of majors, ones that will involve scientific research into the workings of organisms, and how to manipulate them to benefit humanity?
For now, I would like to hear about every college around. I am focusing on undergraduate programs, but all advice is appreciated.
Thank you so much for your help!</p>
<p>University of Washington is highly ranked in all of the biological sciences, and is located in Seattle is probably one of the best cities to live in if you want a job in Biotech. It would probably be considered a safety with your stats, but it still a pretty highly regarded university nationally, especially for the biological sciences.</p>
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<p>Here you go. [Johns</a> Hopkins University](<a href=âhttp://www.jhu.edu/]Johnsâ>http://www.jhu.edu/)</p>
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<p>Yeah, I canât think of a better school for this than JHU or Duke. Top BME programs with good Biology.</p>
<p>Just for your reference, it is not wise to choose a niche major like âGenetics, Biotechnology, Virology.â The jobs in these fields will require a graduate degree anyways.</p>
<p>Go to a top BME or Biology school, and then enter graduate school with a real specialization.</p>
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<p>as posted above: JHU has an amazing program for youâŠ</p>
<p>also, UW would be a great place to get into your field. It is one of the worlds most prolific research universities and is very highly ranked/competitive to get into directly (only 25% of their entries go directly into their field - they want that benefit earned)</p>
<p>for your major, it cannot be considered a âsafetyâ as it is I believe # 5 in the nation.</p>
<p>UC San Diego is worthy of a look (#2, i believe) - although rankings and prestige mean less in a career that will require post graduate degrees as your excellent performance over 4 years will mean far more in order for you to get into the graduate or med school you want than the name of the undergrad university you attend.</p>
<p>do your research and settle on the âbest fitâ - good luck and enjoy!</p>
<p>if youâre interested in LACs, thereâs always Wesleyan: [Wesleyan</a> Research Suggests Stem Cells Show Promise Treating Epilepsy - Courant.com](<a href=âhttp://www.courant.com/health/connecticut/hc-wesleyan-epilepsy-0328-20120327,0,5990210.story]Wesleyanâ>http://www.courant.com/health/connecticut/hc-wesleyan-epilepsy-0328-20120327,0,5990210.story)</p>
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<p>Most schools offer a major in Biology (some with specific specialties under that), and then you go to graduate school for things more specific such as what youâre looking for.</p>
<p>Good undergrad bio programs I can think of:
Stanford
UC Berkeley, UCSD, UCLA, UC Davis (UCSF for grad programs)
Northwestern
Duke
Johns Hopkins
Harvard, Penn, Brown, Yale, Columbia
MIT, CalTech
Wash U (St. Louis)</p>
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<p>For BME, Gatech is #2 in the US as per USNWR.</p>
<p>Wisconsin easily. Most bio/life related research in US. All types. Owns stem cell patents. Discovered several vitamins. Wrote first major book for genetics. Many new facilities.</p>
<p><a href=âhttp://www.biopreview.wisc.edu/research_areas[/url]â>http://www.biopreview.wisc.edu/research_areas</a></p>
<p>
Which colleges have trees on campus? Which colleges have big libraries? Youâll receive about as many answers for any of these questions. Such questions are simply far too vague.</p>
<p>Good biology programs can be found at dozens if not hundreds of colleges. Unless you simply want people suggesting their alma maters or favored colleges - which is really all youâll get with a thread like this - I recommend figuring out what it is you want in a college. </p>
<p>At the very least, consider the following.
[ul][<em>]How much financial aid will you need?
[</em>]Small (>2000 undergraduates), small/medium (2000-7000), medium (7000-12,000), medium/large (12-20,000), or large (20,000+)?
[<em>]Public or private?</em>
[<em>]Rural (Deep Springs), small town (Ithaca), big town (Michigan), small/medium city (Rhodes), large city (Columbia), or suburban (Haverford)?
[</em>]Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, or West?[/ul]
- Top private colleges provide a lot more financial aid than publics, but lesser privates may not. Most public colleges do not guarantee much if any financial aid to out-of-state students. </p>
<p>It would also be helpful to know:
[ul][<em>]Are you interested in, bothered by, or apathetic about Greek life?
[</em>]Do you plan to play any sports in college, and do you care if your college is DI, DII, or DIII?
[li]Do you have any special needs? (Physically disabled, transgender, LD, etc.)[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>If you donât know the answers to any of these questions, I recommend visiting some colleges in your area. Try to hit a wide range of colleges - small and big, rural and urban, etc. That should help you figure out what you like and donât like in a college.</p>
<p>I would like to thank everyone, for the multitude of responses I have received. I certainly have a lot of colleges to look at, so I would call this a success.
I would especially like to thank you, warblersrule. I truly know nothing about what Iâm doing, and you advice has given me a lot to think about. I didnât know that the top private colleges give the most financial aid, so for that more than anything: thank you so much.</p>