Best Schools for Molecular Biology/Research/Premed

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So I have been very confused in my college search so I thought I would come to CC so hopefully I can recieve some advice...</p>

<p>To start, I am an aspiring research doctor and I am hoping to pursue a Ph. D./MD or a BS/MD. So I am trying to find a good undergraduate institution which offers a great molecular biology program, a great community for premeds, and a diverse scope of research (along with many chances for undergraduate research).</p>

<p>So far my list looks like this:
University of Michigan (in state so it's cheap)
Johns Hopkins
Cornell
Stanford
Princeton
Caltech</p>

<p>Can someone give me some other colleges that fit my specifications? I was also thinking Dartmouth, Columbia, and Yale but I wasn't sure...</p>

2

<p>Gourman Report ranking for undergraduate molecular biology</p>

<p>molecular biology
MIT
Caltech
U Wisconsin Madison
UC Berkeley
U Colorado Boulder
Northwestern
UC San Diego
U Michigan Ann Arbor
Harvard
Princeton
Carnegie Mellon
Cornell
U Penn
Purdue
RPI
SUNY Buffalo
U Arizona
U Texas Austin
U Washington
Penn State UP
Vanderbilt
UC Santa Cruz</p>

3

<p>JHU, Rice, Emory, WashU</p>

4

<p>I don't think I'd do pre-med at Caltech. Few people there go that route, your GPA will be low, etc.</p>

5

<p>Columbia, Duke, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, Harvard, Dartmouth, Cornell, Penn, JHU - all besides Columbia and JHU have decent grade inflation, excellent med school placement in top med schools, but are difficult to get entrance into.</p>

<p>Since all of these schools have excellent premed/academics, what do you want socially?</p>

6

<p>Princeton has very little grade inflation.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2004-04-26-princeton-grades_x.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2004-04-26-princeton-grades_x.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

7

<p>In response to "thethoughtprocess", of the colleges listed I am looking for, socially, an average sized college which is not too big and not too small (college accepts maybe 2,000 to 5,000 a year), somewhere with some greek life but not so much that much of the campus are in frats and sororities, somewhere with a wide array of social activities, and if possible somewhere with a beautiful campus.</p>

8

<p>Consider applying for Northwestern's HPME. Brown has a similar program. The problem with these is that they prevent you from doing MSTP and getting MD and PhD simultaneously. MSTP is very competitive and takes a huge committment, but a full ride to the nation's top med schools is very tempting.</p>

9

<p>js, you should take a look at Williams. It's smaller than the other schools on your list (but still within your range) but has an excellent molecular biology program and superb track record for getting students into top medical schools and research programs. "Wide array of social activities and . . . a beautiful campus" applies. Also, having looked at your profile, Williams offers a lot in the way of music performance opportunities for non-majors.</p>

10

<p>Of the colleges listed in this thread which ones have great undergraduate research programs?</p>

11

<p>Hopkins will be near the top for that. I'm not as familiar with the others.</p>

12

<p>Is Northwestern urban, suburban, or more of a rural enviornment?</p>

13

<p>Urban/suburban--just outside Chicago in an old fairly urban suburb.</p>

14

<p>It has a very preprofessional environment, so make sure that is what you want your undergraduate experience to be like.</p>