<p>Undergraduate research within the College of Chemistry is amazing. If you’re determined, you can start as early as your freshman year. The faculty and graduate students here are…just brilliant. There are so many facilities dedicated to chemistry, chemical biology, and chemical engineering research. I currently conduct research at one of the facilities at the Lawrence Berk. Nat. Labs, and I’ve made some really good friends there. What makes Berkeley chemistry so great is that there’s always something going on: a new paper being published, a seminar lecture (where everyone can attend), etc. There’s a ton of resources available specific for chemistry/chemical engineering. For example, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) student chapter offers a lot of connections to major industry companies i.e. Clorox, DOW, etc. There’s even a professional chemistry fraternity (and we have our own house too) if you want to expand your networking skills. </p>
<p>I think one of the main benefits of being in the College of Chemistry is that your class sizes are really small. You get to meet with your faculty adviser one-on-one, and you get to really know your classmates well. I think the total size of the College of Chemistry (# of undergraduates) is actually smaller than the incoming class of '15 at a private college (if I’m wrong someone please correct me)</p>
<p>And yes, I think the undergraduate chemistry curriculum rivals, if not is better than some of our peer institutions like Stanford and Harvard. You’re going to a school that practically made chemistry, and other schools do know that (if you’re applying to graduate school). And yes, Berkeley doesn’t normally take its own undergraduates into its grad programs (they try to avoid “inbreeding”), but it’s probably you spend the next 5 or so years at another institution for grad school. You know, expand your horizons? :D</p>