<p>I'm pretty certain I want to major in biology or biological engineering, since I'm either looking into med schools, biomedical research, or pharmacy (in which case biochem major might be better) after college.</p>
<p>My brother is a bio major at Cornell, and I love the school based on my visits. Classes are difficult, but definately manageable. Lots of research opportunities. Some of the intro courses are big, but the professors seem great, and it seems like they really have a strong bio program, and chemistry is also top notch if I decided to do something with pharmacy. I love the campus, and would never sacrifice a beautiful campus for being in a city, Ithaca seems like a really nice college town.</p>
<p>I'm looking at either bio through Arts and Sciences or bioengineering through the School of Engineering.</p>
<p>I was wondering if there are any schools anyone would recommend over Cornell for biology. I'm pretty sure I'd be a competitive applicant wherever I applied. My dad's all after me to apply to Harvard, but I took a walk around there, and by gut impression didn't really care for it. </p>
<p>I live in upstate new york (a bit north of Albany), and I'd prefer not to go too far from home (8 hours or so car ride maximum).</p>
<p>How do these schools compare to Cornell for biology:</p>
<ul>
<li>Middlebury</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Duke (a little farther than I'd like to go)</li>
<li>Colgate</li>
<li>I visted Yale, but I don't know how I feel about New Haven. What do you guys think?</li>
</ul>
<p>Hey, amigo, I'm a freshman in biology at Cornell, here's what I found when looking for schools.</p>
<p>Middlebury- a lot smaller, smaller classes, but less research opportunity. Surrounding town is extremely small. I hear med school admit rates are good here, though the data I saw from their admissions made it look like the applicants were screened before application to med schools, but either way, a great school, but totally different.</p>
<p>Princeton- great reputation, don't know about their bio. Suburban, so seems like a good environment for you. Again, I have no idea about their bio program, but it's probably good.</p>
<p>Duke- Good especially for biomedical engineering, but I don't know if it's worth going that far if you don't want to. The weather is warmer anyway.</p>
<p>Colgate- Again, like middlebury. Smaller, has both advantages and disadvantages.</p>
<p>Yale- I agree about New Haven, I didn't really care for it either.</p>
<p>I don't really know enough to rank their bio programs.</p>
<p>It is hard to top Cornell for biology. MIT might be better but if you did not like the Harvard campus you probably won't like the MIT campus. Johns Hopkins also comes to mind as a great bio program.</p>
<p>have you thought about McGill? I don't know how hard it is for American students to attend Canadian schools, but they do have an outstanding department in biology....also, the university of Rochester is very good. </p>
<p>I noticed that you are comparing and contrasting liberal arts schools with big research universities...that's like comparing apples to oranges. compare the liberal arts schools to eachother and the same for the research schools...figure out what's a better fit. If you don't, it's easy to be swayed by research schools with giant course books and hundreds of classes in biology--even if they're not a good match for your educational needs.</p>
<p>If your interested in Colgate and Middlebury, I would highly suggest looking at Bowdoin College. Bowdoin has very good science departments (in biochem, biology, neuroscience, chemistry, and physics). Most of upper level classes have only 3-5 students (i'm not sure if your looking for that one on one attention). I suggest checking it out, at <a href="http://www.Bowdoin.edu%5B/url%5D">www.Bowdoin.edu</a>
By the way, what are you interested in doing with your degree?</p>
<p>wow, I'm surprised that I'd never heard of Bowdoin.</p>
<p>Yeah, I really don't have a clear preference between Universities and LACs. I like that at a research university you have access to all sorts of world class resources, professors, ect. . .and I don't think I'd mind having large intro classes, at least at Cornell, I'm not worried too much about class sizes, because after intro level the class sizes drop down. </p>
<p>If I decided against med school, I'd definately want to get my masters or even phd . .so it would be very cool if I could do like a 3-2 program at a university in that case. </p>
<p>LACs do have their upside in more personal attention, but I'm not sure if I need it, I'm pretty motivated on my own. But I wouldn't totally rule LACs out, and I'll apply anyway. I'm really flexible when it comes to class size.</p>
<p>CUGrad, I'll have to check into McGill's biology. I know a couple people going there that say that it's very affordable too!</p>
<p>McGill's reputation is extremely varied here. . .I know it's a great school, but even in upstate new york, you'd be surprised how many people have absolutely never heard of it (and I'm only like 3 1/2 hours from montreal). You'd think there would be a little more name recognition, but I'm kind of puzzled that there isn't, especially since it's located in a major city.</p>
<p>I'd definitely consider Swarthmore. For a LAC, it's extremely strong in the sciences, and its placement rates are phenomenal. The campus is beautiful, and the atmosphere is more close-knit and not as competitive as Cornell, IMHO. Columbia and U Rochester are also worth looking into, but I'm not sure they fit all of your criteria (i.e. not in a city).</p>
<p>Duke and Yale have good pre-med programs and are top notch all around, but if you don't like the location/type of social life there then who knows - plus the city life in both isn't up to par with Ithaca. Both are very different then Cornell. I'd go to those over Cornell if you had the decision. I'd apply to all of those and visit and decide once April comes around. Always better to have more choices.</p>