I have been doing a lot of research about colleges and my first choice is Purdue, but if turned down by them, these are my 3 back ups. I have been using US News and Forbes, as well as trying to find who has better research opportunities (though have not had too much luck there). According to the results, after Purdue, USD is top, UND is middle, and Ball Sate is bottom by the looks of it, but it kind of looks like UND may surpass USD sometime soon; it may have already have happened. I am just a little torn and would appreciate what others might have to say. Thank you. 
((Cell) Bio) Between Univ. of North Dakota, Univ. of South Dakota, & Ball State, Who might be better
I find these choices interesting. When I think of top bio schools, none of these schools come to mind. What is your reasoning for these schools? Also, where is your state of residency? If, by chance it is Indiana, you should definitely look into the bio programs at IU and IUPUI, both excellent schools.
Sorry I forgot to mention this, but I have visited IU and IUPUI and I do not like IUPUI and I live in IU town, so my parents are forbidding me from going there, since they beleive I will have a much more fun college experience away from my hometown. Besides, these colleges do my offer cellular/Molecular Bio; IUPUI:Bio, IU:Microbiology (despite the name, it is not the same).
There’s no appreciable difference between cell/molecular/micro-biology at the undergraduate level at any university. You will learn the same things no matter where you attend, and the name of the major doesn’t really matter. Moreover, many schools that only offer a “biology” major often have different concentrations within that major, such as molecular/cell or ecology/evolution.
You’re better off looking at research opportunities at different schools, like you already mentioned.