<p>Hi, I've been accepted to three really cool schools</p>
<p>I'm interested in biochemistry as a major and I'm just wondering about the academic rigor, course variety, internship opportunities, and post-undergrad opps (jobs, grad school placements, top recruiters, etc) at RPI and Tufts mainly.</p>
<p>I've done my research on MIT, but if anyone could compare its program to other schools that'd be cool.</p>
<p>concerning rez life and student body (friendliness/bitterness/snob index, diversity, liberal or conservative, w.e comparison you can make between these schools would be nice.</p>
<p>thanks guys!</p>
<p>Personally, I think you have a better chance of getting into the best graduate schools for PhD program if you are a big fish at a smaller school vs middle of the road at MIT. I went to a top 3 PhD program in engineering and the grad students were from a huge variety of schools (state schools, lower prestige colleges, etc), there was no way all the MIT/Stanford/Ivy students received easy admissions unless they were also at the top of their school. Staying where you are for a master’s degree is pretty easy. </p>
<p>Our son loves RPI, has said he’s happier at RPI than he would have been at MIT, but he’s not in biochemistry.</p>
<p>thanks!
just realized there’s another thread on this…egh…</p>
<p>but anyways does anyone know enough about Tufts to compare it to rpi? MIT is now out of the question (fin aid reasons)…</p>
<p>Awwwwwwwwww, that’s sad!</p>
<p>I don’t know much about Tufts, but it has a smaller student body than RPI, and people seem to love their teachers there. More personalized, I guess. Tufts also has a lot of connections in Boston, so employment prospects are excellent there. The main thing they complain about is the small endowment, however.</p>
<p>RPI, in contrast, is slightly bigger (about 6,000 compared to Tufts’ 5,000). They have an extensive employer network, lots of undergrad research opportunities, and high starting salaries after graduation. Job/grad school placement is really good; it’s not uncommon for people to get several job offers before they graduate, or go on to a grad school like MIT. Academics are also pretty rigorous – lots of homework and an intense grade curve. The administration has a pretty bad rap over there, though. Apparently, they cut a bunch of elective courses, including the entire language department, without consulting the students. The course offerings in the humanities, in addition, are somewhat scanty.</p>
<p>In terms of biochemistry – I don’t really know much about that field, so I’ll leave it to the biochemistry majors.</p>
<p>Hope that helped.</p>
<p>I think most people would choose MIT regardless just because the diploma…</p>
<p>but, </p>
<p>I can’t speak for Tufts, but RPI has a huge biotech center and a very strong program in biomedical engineering and biochemistry. </p>
<p>Also, as far as post-grad opportunities, I would venture to say RPI is close to MIT as far as employment in technical fields. RPI has a lot of tie ins with corporations and venture start ups.</p>
<p>What about RIT Vs RPI?</p>