<p>What are the best undergraduate programs in chemistry programs that cost me, the father and arm and a leg?</p>
<p>Cost you? You mean, expensive private schools? I'd say: Caltech, MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Chicago, Cornell, Yale, Northwestern.</p>
<p>Agree with kyledavid re: private mid sized schools (Caltech not exactly mid).</p>
<p>Among large schools: Wisconsin, Michigan, UNC-CH, UCLA, Berkeley - all still probably shine best at grad level.</p>
<p>Among LACs: Harvey Mudd, Carleton, Williams, Swarthmore, Reed, Grinnell, Wesleyan</p>
<p>The strongest overall schools for undergrad are kyledavid's list, basically, plus Harvey Mudd, Rice, and maybe Lehigh or Rochester. Mid-sized privates often have a strong undergraduate focus. </p>
<p>State schools, like wbwa said, are most often strongest in their grad programs. But of them, the strongest is probably Berkeley, followed by UCLA.</p>
<p>^^ actually, I'd say UIUC would come in second. Cal and UIUC are known for their chem programs.</p>
<p>Berkeley's College of Chemistry is best. And it could cost you and arm and leg if you happen to be out-of-state.</p>
<p>California Institute of Technology
Columbia University
Cornell University
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Northwestern University
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
University of California-Los Angeles
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
University of Texas-Austin
University of Wisconsin-Madision
Yale University</p>
<p>It is important to note that none of the universities above will have more than 50 or 60 undergrads majoring in Chemistry (per class). Those same universities have Chemistry faculties with 50-70 professors. In other words, even though those schools have a heavy emphasis on research, undergrads are not shortchanged in the least.</p>
<p>I guess I worded my question wrong. I'm looking for the best bang for the buck. Best schools for Chemistry that are not very expensive.</p>
<p>Which state do you live in?</p>
<p>Post 39 in the above thread has some rankings. Many of the state schools can give you a great deal</p>
<p>We are from Missouri</p>
<p>Maybe U of Illinois, Wisconsin or Texas (Austin)? For a lot of privates, you may not pay the listed price anyway. But are you willing to pay your EFC? If your S/D is a top student, he/she may even get merit-based scholarship.</p>
<p>What is a LAC?</p>
<p>liberal arts colleges</p>
<p>Sam Lee,</p>
<p>What is EFC? Yes they are a top student #6 of 499, 4.6 GPA,</p>
<p>I'd try University of Delaware. When I was looking at colleges, they were really attractive because they seem to get a lot of money for their chemistry (and science) undergrads - the DuPont family and the people who make Goretex are engaged in a "I can sponsor a better science building than you can!" competition. The fact that I got a nice scholarship, courtesy of the DuPont family, certainly didn't hurt, either. I didn't get their top scholarship and I was out-of-state, but I think I still would've paid about... er, $12K or so per year, all things included? (Of course, this was 4+ years ago, so things may well have changed at that school.)</p>
<p>Though I will say that ultimately, I ended up at NYU because their scholarship + NYC location was even more attractive. :)</p>
<p>If you're looking to go out-of-state, I'd actually still recommend privates. They tend to be more generous with money. </p>
<p>(Publics are often just as expensive as privates if you're out-of-state, but they tend not to give much aid to OOS kids.)</p>
<p>Try this list for specific examples of generous schools: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/52133-schools-known-good-merit-aid.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/52133-schools-known-good-merit-aid.html</a></p>
<p>
[quote]
Yes they are a top student #6 of 499, 4.6 GPA
[/quote]
Woah, just saw this. Your kid would definitely be competitive at top schools (such as the ones posted by kyledavid in post #2). Although the sticker prices appear to be high, these top schools in particular will usually make sure that anyone who gets in can afford to go (and are sometimes even open to negotiation).</p>
<p>William & Mary has an excellent chemistry dept. Esp, for a LAC type school.</p>
<p>EFC is your expected family contribution. Essentially, it is what the colleges expect you to pay towards your child's education. There are online worksheets that will give you a rough idea about what you might be expected to pay. However, each school will come up with a different number in the end, so the number worksheet is really only a ballpark estimate.</p>