As I am trying to decide where to apply early, I have realized that despite having a solid list of schools, I don’t have a top choice. One of the factors I want to consider is which school has the best undergraduate chemistry program. What 2-3 universities are considered to have the best undergraduate chemistry programs in the US?
Berkeley Harvard Stanford cal tech and northwestern Mit leads the next group
There are many great schools with chemistry majors. What can you afford? What do you want in a school? What is your career goal and what are you hoping to accomplish during your four years? What are your stats?
@twogirls
I come from an upper-middle class household, so I will defintely apply for as many grants, scholarships, and other aid packages as possible but will likely be able to pay the rest at pricey universities. My career goal as of right now is to major in chemistry/biochemistry with a possible minor in neuroscience. From here I might apply to medical school or go into biochemical engineering. I posted a chance thread a couple weeks ago but my stats are well within the ranges of top schools with similar ECs.
You are a strong student. Use the NPC at schools that have been suggested above and show the cost to your parents. If medical school is a possibility I would take that into consideration… attend a solid school where you will get the A and save the money for medical school. What is your state school?
The gradations of reputation in chemistry, among top schools, are not based on the quality of the educational experience for undergrads in chemistry classes specifically. The chem-specific reputations are based on the graduate programs. You should be able to get into many of the top schools, but IMHO your decisions about which you prefer should be based on what you want around that core of the chemistry major, not on program rankings within the top tier. There’s a ceiling effect in that regard when it comes to undergrad.
It’s fine to be unclear on your plans, but your decisions will depend in part on which doors you want to keep open. If the possibility of ChemE is still in play, do you want to narrow down to schools that offer that? Might you even want to apply as a ChemE major, knowing that it’s much easier to switch out of engineering than in?
If you want a very broad and rigorous STEM base from which you can branch into pure chem, or chemE, or neuroscience, or whatever, then consider the more “STEM bootcamp” type schools like Caltech and Harvey Mudd. If you want a deep foundation in chem in the context of a broader liberal arts education, then HYPS et al could be a better choice.
Re: Berkeley, keep in mind that the College of Chemistry specifically disadvantages its own undergrads for graduate admissions; so if you want that option for grad school, consider not going there for undergrad. (Attending a UC as an OOS undergrad is a terrible financial deal anyway fwiw. If you’re going to spend that kind of money, why not get more faculty attention from day one, instead of paying your dues in high-volume classes until you get to the upper division coursework?)
I looked at your chance thread, and it seems as if music is also very important to you. For continuing your jazz training at a high level (with the option of a marching band program as well) Northwestern bubbles to the top of your list. http://www.music.northwestern.edu/academics/areas-of-study/jazz-studies.html Also consider USC, which has similar offerings and will give you significant merit $, particularly if you make NMF. You can keep the engineering option open at both. Both have med schools as well, which could be helpful in securing the research and shadowing experiences you’d need if you go the premed route. Hopkins also has it all (Peabody, engineering, med school) except for the marching band thing, which maybe you won’t be prioritizing anyway since it’s such a time-suck. Vanderbilt (Blair) would be another in this also-has-top-tier-music category. (Rice too, but they make it hard to do both music and STEM seriously.) URochester (Eastman) would make a great safety/low-match that would give you every bit as good of a STEM education as your top choices, with huge music opportunities, and would give you merit aid.
I guess my feeling is, the differences among classroom experiences in your chem major probably aren’t even discernible - program rankings are not a proxy for this. You’re a well-rounded person who should have a lot of options; why not aim for the schools that “have it all” in terms of your whole range of interests. Going out of your way to choose what somebody says is THE TOP chem program (vs. honestly anything in the top 20-30), is not worth giving up other aspects that you want, as the assignment of that supposed top spot is mostly smoke and mirrors anyway. Instead, narrow your list down to the chem programs that meet your criteria (which should be many) and then filter for your other interests an priorities. There’s no reason at all to shortchange your music. There’s no reason to put the engineering option on the back burner if you think you might go that route. What other priorities do you have? You’re a very strong applicant, especially with the URM hook, so craft a longer list of must-haves and that will bring the top choices into focus.
https://music.usc.edu/departments/jazz/
http://peabody.jhu.edu/academics/instruments-areas-of-study/jazz/ however http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bs-fe-peabody-thomas-20171211-story.html (but hopefully you’ll be able to get some sense of whether the new leadership has things on the right track, before you’ll have to make a decision)
https://blair.vanderbilt.edu/departments/jazz.php (looks weaker - specialty instructors are adjuncts - I think Blair is more classical focused. Same is true of Eastman, I believe.)
@aquapt
Well, that was probably the best advice I’ve ever gotten in regards to choosing colleges. Seriously though, thank you for the incredibly thorough and helpful response. It’s a relief to know that I don’t have to be worrying about which universities have the supposed best undergrad chem programs. You’re right that music is one of my top priorities, so Hopkins looks like one of my best options right now (I didn’t plan on continuing marching band).
@aquapt
Since you brought to my attention the numerous music opportunities I would have at these great schools, I was wondering if you could tell me what the feasibility of getting a minor in jazz studies would be. Is this something that could hinder my chemistry major (diverting my attention) or purely a way to continue my music education at a high level?
Duke currently has two chemistry Nobel laureates on faculty. It’s not a traditional powerhouse but there is a lot of great biological chemistry research being done there.
@TritoneSubNico , that’s a good question, and one I almost made a pre-emptive remark about not knowing the answer to, lol.
USC is known for being particularly flexible and accommodating about the spanning of disciplines, and indeed they are the only one of the three (Northwestern, JHU, USC) that makes it obvious that non-music majors can do a jazz studies minor: https://music.usc.edu/admission/minors/
NU and JHU talk about access to private lessons by audition, and it looks like a general music minor is possible but a jazz-specific one isn’t discussed. It seems like your best bet would be to identify the jazz faculty for your instrument and inquire directly about what your options would be and when it would be best to audition. (i.e. I know you’d need to audition to apply as a music major, but is that the only circumstance under which you can audition before matriculating?)
Also think about whether you have any interest in going the music major, chem minor route. If you are pre-med, you not only don’t need a science major, the med school admission stats can actually be better for music majors. (Maybe because music majors are less “a dime a dozen” but also because med schools know that music performance majors have the kind of discipline that foretells success in med school.) Of course, if you want to be a research chemist, that’s a different matter and you need the full major. Depends on your goals. Double-majors are possible too but might be a >4 year proposition.
Sorry not to have more insider knowledge.