<p>I was hoping that some current students who are taking biology courses could tell me how Dartmouth's biology department is. I looked at the professors in the department and where they graduated from, and not to offend where they graduated from, but they didn't seem as top notch as their other departments such as chemistry. I was hoping that some kids could give me an honest analysis of Dartmouth's biology department because that is the main factor in my decision of whether or not to apply to Dartmouth. Thanks</p>
<p>I don't have much time to write right now, but I thought I'd get this started. First off, I think your methodology is a bit flawed. Looking at where they graduated isn't really the best way of determining the quality of a department--you want to be looking at their papers. After grad school, particularly in science, paper impact is more important than where you got your degree from--this is different than in the humanities and social sciences.</p>
<p>Take someone like Kevin Peterson, for instance. Not the biggest names in undergrad or graduate school. But he's a good teacher and publishes with fair regularity in PNAS, Science, and Paleobiology. (4 papers in either Science or PNAS since 2004). That's what you should be looking at, because that is going to be what gives you the caliber of the department.</p>
<p>Ok, Thanks. I loved Dartmouth when I visited and I was going to do ED until someone told me that their biology department wasn't good, so I just briefly looke on Ratemyprofessor to check them out and no one rated a single biology professor. So I was a bit concerned. I know that school name isn't everything but I was just a bit concerned because compared to the other science departments at dartmouth like the Chemistry department, it seemed to a little bit weaker. But I take your word that they are excellent. Thank you for your response.</p>
<p>Ok, no worries. </p>
<p>Another thing, too--no one at Dartmouth really uses RateMyProfessor. There's a separate course ratings guide you get access to when you get a Dartmouth e-mail account that contains thousands of student reviews of pretty much every professor on campus. The only people you'll see reviewing Dartmouth professors on RMP are those with some sort of axe to grind, so it tends to drive the results down.</p>
<p>As far as bio professors, I can speak regarding most of their research if you want, but in terms of teaching ability, I'd give these recommendations: you can't go wrong with Velez, Witters, Dietrich, or Bickel, who are probably the best four teachers in the department--animated, funny, etc. Avoid Sloboda, Lambie and Erives. Peterson is an amazing teacher, but often has mixed reviews--he's very effective and funny, but he has an arrogant streak that can turn some people off.</p>
<p>Wow, I can't thank you enough for taking time to give me a thorough answer. I truly appreciate your help. You have just reinforced my idea that Dartmouth kids are the best out there. Thank you sooo much</p>
<p>Hey there- Yeah the bio dept is great. A couple of my roommates were both bio majors and loved the dept. They did great thesis work. On went on to UPenn med school the other went to Stanford to get his PhD.</p>