Bio-Chemistry: Purdue vs Univ of Cincinnati

College Majors Science Majors
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Price is not an issue.
Just - which is the better program

University of Cincinnati
Purdue

My daughter definitively is going to grad school.

She has in mind developing medicines such as anti-biotics (she wants to use her science to help people).
But its all prospective - she could end up a pharmacist (is going to be a tech this summer at Mom’s request), or who knows what, she has little real world experience.

It’s so hard to find ANY comments in the threads here or ANYwhere.

She is a great problem solver, always notices if something is amiss, is always one step ahead figuring out cases, etc on NCIS, Psych, etc.

FWIW - accepted but she is turning down:

Illinois (UIUC)- Her first choice, but they only gave her $3k !! so at $48K…hard to justify. But it is rated well!!! talk me into this if you dare. !! But I’ve heard…save money for grad school, dn’t blow it all on undergrad?? Or is UIUC worth it any way ?
Bellarmine - too homogenous, in her opinion.

Also accepted but she turned them down:
Denison wait-listed. She turned them down - not Research One.
Michigan. Didn’t apply. Too big (but Purdue was fine for her).
Case. Wait-listed. Told them no. The place just didn’t turn her on. Now I find it’s really well regarded in science. :slight_smile: :frowning:
Indiana - didn’t get to visit, so is ignoring this one.
Rose-Hulman - she doesn’t want to be an engineer, and their chem program seems so small in comparison

Tie-breakers - she was in all the high school plays and musicals (very small parts), was in an LGBTQ? club though she’s straight, was in chorus all years. Just a very studious girl who ALWAYS does her homework, no matter what. Was very reserved in public, shy, but doing ok now.

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FWIW

She was going to major in Chemistry, has always like it.

She took AP Bio and is doing pretty well; figures she likes it enough to do the biochem major. If that doesn’t work out, back to just chem.

3

My son is in his last year at Purdue and we have been impressed all along with the school. Have a good friend whose daughter is Biochem major there and is having a great experience and has been successful landing research positions. Cincinnati’s advantage is the required co-op. DS had Cincy as his #2 but just felt more comfortable on the Purdue campus. He was similar to your daughter regarding being studious and shy but has found a good group of like-minded friends at Purdue. Likes that it is a mix of nerdy engineer types with plenty of Greek/partier types and plenty of school spirit.

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@incadinca
Thanks so much for your reply.
She seemed to think people were really happy there, so I think she’d really enjoy the school spirit.

So, co-oping - since she just wants to go to graduate school, am I correct in thinking that co-op experiences wouldn’t much matter to her, and wouldn’t necessarily help her get into grad school? because: I’ve recently heard that it’s all about the grades.

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EsDad, yes, grad school is all about high GPA and recommendations. But co-op will still help when she looks for job if it is same field as grad school.