<p>Which school is better for Biology/Biochemistry majors. Still not sure if pre med is the path I want but it is a possibility. Anyone have an opinion?</p>
<p>Dear Mamalumper : Boston College is the better play for Biochemistry by quite a margin. On straight up biology, the topic is a toss up.</p>
<p>I’m going to vent Mamalumper, and for one of the few times I’m also going to disagree (slightly) with scottj. I’m not mad at you, I’m frustrated with a system/society that thinks a question like, “Which school is better for…?”, is somehow reasonable and definitively answerable.</p>
<p>Which school is better for Biology/Biochemistry Majors, BC or UVA? Answer: Neither is better. For the average undergraduate they are indecipherably equal. Intro Bio at BC teaches the same things that are taught at UVA. Cellular Molecular Biology at UVA is the same at BC. BC doesn’t teach a unique set of formulas in Organic Chem and neither does UVA. Individual teaching styles and the order the material is presented in may vary, but in all other aspects they are the same.</p>
<p>A school’s reputation in a particular field is almost always based on the quality of their graduate programs and the research that is being done at that level. Occasionally the best of seniors might find themselves involved in that type of research, but that is rare, in truth, undergrads are given the simplest and lowliest of jobs until they can prove they can handle more intricate tasks. Are there differences among schools? Yes, but they tend to exist in specific subsets, i.e., undergrad Marine Sciences is vastly superior at the University of Miami than say, the University of North Dakota.</p>
<p>The uncomfortable truth is that you could attend any one of the top 50, 100, 200 universities in the country and get the same basic education. School A may have a better reputation than school B, but the material taught will be the same; 1+1 still equals 2 no matter where you go, (well, maybe not at Ohio State…). But remember, a school with the best reputation in the world is worthless if you’re stuck with an incompetent professor teaching your class. The material doesn’t change. There is only one variable in the equation that matters and that’s you. Your ability to perform at your highest level in a given environment is the key to success. The question shouldn’t be, “Which school is better for Biology/Biochemistry?” It should be “Which school has the best environment for me to succeed at Biology/Biochemistry?” The problem is only you can answer that question. The best we can do for you is explain how BC works/worked for us; from there you’ll have to decide if that’s the type of place for you.</p>
<p>I loved my time at BC. For the many people it is the perfect place to get an education, but that doesn’t mean it’s for everyone. BC may be a great choice for my second son, it would have been a disaster for his older brother. To borrow the old racing saying, there are horses for courses, you need to decide which track is the best place for you to run.</p>
<p>I concur with vineh, and disagree (a little more than mildly) with Scottj. Neither college really has much of an undergrad biochem program – they both focus on liberal arts, and biochem is a specialty science. And, IMO, BC’s interdisciplinary major is just not the same. For really strong biochem, a student should look to the big boys on USNews, preferably those with a med school attached. Or a large state Uni.</p>
<p>And finally, science at BC is made more painful due to the lack of course graduation credit for labs. While BC may have wonderful and caring professors, but for whatever reason, they choose to treat lab sciences differentially to many other colleges.</p>
<p>Of course for premed, ANY college, which allows you to thrive, will do.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the feedback. I really appreciate it!</p>
<p>I dont know anything about Virginia, but i was looking at boston college and its premed program didnt look strong. i think it hurts that it doesnt have a medical school.</p>
<p>^^With that I disagree, Sarah. Liberal arts colleges do extremely well in professional school placement, including med, and by definition, LACs don’t have a med school adjacent.</p>