Hello,
I am a senior currently deciding between BC and NU. I am entered as a bio major with premed for both universities. From what I’ve heard the Boston College Biology program is “a mess” and that the department does not do a great job giving their students opportunities to research. I am wondering which college is better to go to solely based on the Biology Major with job prospects afterwards. (I am not concerned about financial aid/ campus/ or other factors here.) Thanks for the help!
Northeastern and co-op’s will likely be the better bet for this purpose.
@nationofpeace14 what else have you heard about the department/research opportunities? Why is it “a mess”?
I would submit that an up-and-coming strength of BC is its bio program, which was revamped a few years back. The new lab sequence is awesome and exposes students to a great deal that they would not receive at other colleges. For example, when my D participated in an Undergraduate Summer Research Program, she was running lab analyses for that Unis grad students bcos they did not know how.
That being said, as in every university, the vast majority of bio students are premed. And no surprise, they ALL want to get involved in research. Well sorry, not enough on campus spots for every Bio student. But again, that is true at every college. Premed math majors or chem majors have an easier time finding research opportunities.
But the great thing about Boston is that there are plenty of biotech and pharma companies nearby, all of which are looking to hire students.
If you like one school better than the other, go there. BC has a strong premed advising program, but if NEU is more to you liking…
Job prospects for bio majors are dismal everywhere. It may be the most common premed major, and if folks don’t get in, they are flooding the job market.
Go to the one that is cheaper for you.
I agree with the poster above. BC was 71k this year!
Also, although BC does have some good stuff in STEM, biology is kind of a mess tbh. BC is mainly geared towards business students. And research opportunities are difficult to find.
Have to disagree with beagle. My D took the new Bio sequence and got involved in some testing techniques that undergrads at other schools do not see. When she did a federally-funded summer Research project, the grad students at a top 15 med center had her running titrations and lab tests because they did not know how. They were amazed that she was exposed to such lab work as a Soph.
Also, she had no trouble obtaining research opportunities. Sure, those on campus are limited, but they are at every other college too. One big benefit of Boston, however, is that there are plenty of opportunities with all the bio-pharma companies in the 'hood. Of course, those companies also readily hire Northeastern students, too.