<p>I am interested in a career in pharmaceutical research and am planning on majoring in Bio, Chemistry or Biochemistry. Some of the schools I am looking at are Penn State, University of Pittsburgh and the University of Delaware. Cost is a significant factor. I would like a school with significant research and internship opportunities, as well as a good overall program. In addition, I would like to have the flexibility of changing my career direction to medicine if that is something I become interested in. Can anyone compare these schools and give me some advice as to which schools might meet my needs? I have a high GPA and very good SAT scores. Thanks for any replies!</p>
<p>*I have a high GPA and very good SAT scores. Thanks for any replies! *</p>
<p>What state are you in? Your own instate public flagship would probably be fine.</p>
<p>What is your budget? Publics aren’t good with need-based aid…especially with OOS students. Some will give merit scholarship for very high stats. Most publics charge high OOS rates for a reason…they don’t then just cover them with need-based aid. That wouldn’t make a lot of sense.</p>
<p>*Penn State, University of Pittsburgh and the University of Delaware. Cost is a significant factor. *</p>
<p>See above. PSU won’t be affordable. UPitt gives some merit for high stats. Don’t know what UDel gives.</p>
<p>How much will your family pay? </p>
<p>what are your stats?</p>
<p>I am in Pennsylvania. The state schools I mentioned will be affordable for us, although U of Delaware will be a stretch. Most private schools are not affordable for us and even with merit scholarships, will be too expensive. I will also be applying to a few “reach” schools like Cornell and John Hopkins, but they are difficult to get in to and probably will not be affordable…but you never know. I mainly want a really good science program with good possibilities for doing research and flexibility should I decide to pursue a career in medicine. My GPA is 4.35 and my total SAT score is 1990. I also took the Bio SAT scored an 800 on that and scored 730 on the History SAT.</p>
<p>Due to the poor job and career prospects in those fields, and the high cost of attending medical school, minimizing debt should be a high priority when selecting a school.</p>
<p>If you think a PhD or medicine might be in your future, you may want to consider some of the LACs. While the range of research opportunities is smaller because the faculties are smaller, you have other advantages that might be worth more to you: small class sizes taught by a smaller faculty that gets to know you well, research directly with a faculty member, more money for student internships and research than at state schools, etc…</p>
<p>Grinnell College is an example: outstanding science faculty, palatial facilities including an observatory and state of the art science facilities, no distribution requirements, no intro class larger than 24 students, and a huge endowment that supports both merit and financial aid, as well as for student internships and research. It’s no wonder they produce so many PhD candidates. </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/grinnell-college/438138-why-grinnell.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/grinnell-college/438138-why-grinnell.html</a> (By the way, Grinnell doesn’t look at the writing score on the SAT - don’t know if that helps you or not.)</p>
<p>Take a look at Reed, Oberlin, and Macalester as well.</p>
<p>*I am in Pennsylvania. The state schools I mentioned will be affordable for us, although U of Delaware will be a stretch. Most private schools are not affordable for us and even with merit scholarships, will be too expensive. I will also be applying to a few “reach” schools like Cornell and John Hopkins, but they are difficult to get in to and probably will not be affordable…but you never know.
*</p>
<p>Well, if your parents will pay for Penn State, does that mean that they’ll pay </p>
<p>In-state tuition and fees: $15,984<br>
Room and board: $9,420<br>
Books and supplies: $1,456<br>
Estimated personal expenses: $3,222<br>
Transportation expense: $702 </p>
<p>About…$32k per year? Have your parents said that they will pay that much? If so, then if you raise your test scores a bit, you could get merit at some schools that will either make them affordable or will make them less costly than PSU. </p>
<p>* </p>
<p>I mainly want a really good science program with good possibilities for doing research and flexibility should I decide to pursue a career in medicine. My GPA is 4.35 and my total SAT score is 1990. I also took the Bio SAT scored an 800 on that and scored 730 on the History SAT. *</p>
<p>What is your M+CR SAT? I think you need to retest (and take the ACT) to bump your scores up. Right now, you’re not competitive for schools like Cornell or JHU. And your scores aren’t high enough for much/any merit from UDel.</p>
<p>
Do you mean paid internships and paid research assistantship?</p>
<p>My son got $7,500 from UDel with similar stats. Brought it down to about what you’ll pay for Penn State.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies. UCBalumnus, I would be interested in your viewpoint regarding future careers in pharmaceutical research and medicine. Are you saying that the jobs won’t be there? Thanks for the heads up regarding applying to the LAC’s - something definately worth looking into. I did check with others regarding scholarships for some private schools…however if the school starts at say 50,000 and I were to get a 15,000 scholarship that would still be high. As far as the schools I mentioned, these are the schools that my parents felt were affordable… although U of Delaware is a little high, but they said they would consider it. I’m glad to hear that there is a possiblity of a scholarship there, although I think I may be low on my scores. It is definately food for thought to take the SAT’s over again. I did well on the math Sat with a 710 and critical reading was 680. I didn’t do as well on the writing. I’ll have to think about taking the ACT as well. As far as what I am looking for in a school…a good program that prepares me for further schooling and lots of opportunities to do undergraduate (unpaid) research. Also internship opportunities during the summer. Any help anyone can give would be appreciated!</p>
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<p>Jobs will be there, but competition for them is intense. Biology is an extremely popular major, and huge numbers of students major in it. And huge numbers of students go pre-med (many major in biology, even though that is not required to go pre-med); most never get admitted to any medical school. If you look at universities’ career surveys of their recent graduates, you will find that biology and chemistry graduates generally do not do very well. In addition, medical school is expensive, so you do not want to have a lot of undergraduate debt following you around.</p>
<p>His point was that traditional “pre-med majors” such as bio and chemistry offer little employment opportunity at the undergrad level, so if you want to go into those fields, grad school is pretty much a must, which means you should try to save money at the undergrad level.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Right…those who start as “pre-med” and end up with bio or similar degrees but don’t go on to med school find that their degrees are a “dime a dozen” and employment can be tough.</p>
<p>If you want to pursue medicine or similar, then major in something that will lead to a career if you decide not to go to med/pharm/whatever school later. </p>
<p>*I did well on the math Sat with a 710 and critical reading was 680. I didn’t do as well on the writing. I’ll have to think about taking the ACT as well. As far as what I am looking for in a school…a good program that prepares me for further schooling and lots of opportunities to do undergraduate (unpaid) research. Also internship opportunities during the summer. *</p>
<p>Yes…test again. With a 1400+ M+CR or an ACT 32+, some schools will give you better merit scholarships. So, sign up for both the ACT and SAT…do that ASAP!</p>
<p>Internship opps are largely student driven. What I mean is that the student needs to take some initiative…to apply, get the LORs, etc. My son just spent the summer at another university doing BiomedE research, which was funded by a REU (research experience for undergrads…paid by the nat’l science foundation). </p>
<p>Any school…virtually any flagship…can prepare you for professional school. </p>
<p>Do you dislike PSU or are you just wanting to go OOS? or what?</p>
<p>If med school is in your future, you should try to minimize undergrad costs. You should talk to your parents about options…such as…getting a great undergrad scholarship and then they help you with med school costs.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies. I have a lot of things to think about I can see. One big concern is getting a job…my real interest is in pharmaceutical research. I am not really that interested in medicine, but just left that open as an option. It is concerning though that if I don’t make it into grad school I could be left with few employment opportunities. I am wondering if it would make more sense to major in bio or chem with a minor in business? Or would a degree in biochemistry make sense? What majors would you suggest? Any thoughts on that would be appreciated. Also, I am very happy to consider going to Penn State or the University of Pittsburgh. I liked Penn State when I visited it and I understand it gets a lot of research money. I also know the University of Pittsburgh pretty well and like it. My brother went there. It’s my understanding that they get tons of research money …more I think than Penn State. Also they are well known for having great programs in anything that involves health care. I also understand the research opportunities there are great. So U of Pitt is supposed to be great for those pursuing careers in medicine, nursing and so forth. They don’t have a biochem major though, and I don’t know what they would offer for someone pursuing a pharmaceutical research career.
As far a University of Delaware, I don’t know that much about it yet. BTW I am not looking for paid research opportunities, although paid internships would be great! Anyway, if anyone can give me any more information about which of these schools might be best, OR about what to major in, I would appreciate your input. Thanks!</p>
<p>[Seach</a> Jobs | Pharma, Clinical , Medical Device, Research, Biotech | HireLifeScience](<a href=“http://www.hirelifescience.com/seeker_category.asp?searchjobsub=27]Seach”>http://www.hirelifescience.com/seeker_category.asp?searchjobsub=27) may help you get an idea of the kinds of jobs are around and the kinds of undergraduate and graduate majors they want to see.</p>
<p>Chemical engineering may be worth a look, since those with such degrees have good opportunities in other job areas (the supply of chemical engineering graduates is relatively small compared to the supply of biology or biochemistry graduates). Delaware is regarded as one of the better schools in chemical engineering, although it not generally known for other subjects.</p>
<p>General <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html</a> can help you compare how graduates of different majors fare.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your reply. You have really given me a lot of information and I can see that I will have a lot to think about. I really do like biology a lot, but I am taking AP Chem this year, so we will see. Again, thank you so much for your input. I really appreciate it!</p>