<p>How is Berkeley's undergraduate chemistry/ chemistry-biology program compared to other schools (other UCs, Ivies, other top colleges i.e. JHU, Rice, Northwestern, Stanford)? </p>
<p>And is it hard to switch from let's say a chemistry major to a bioengineering major?</p>
<p>i believe bioengineering is impact major.. but i'm not entirely sure..</p>
<p>Here are the top programs in chemistry, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education's 2007 ranking (at chronicle.com)</p>
<p>Institution Faculty Scholarly Index Number of faculty</p>
<p>1 Harvard U. 2.16 25</p>
<p>2 Yale U. 1.98 31</p>
<p>3 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1.94 43 </p>
<p>4 Northwestern U. 1.92 27</p>
<p>4 U. of California at San Francisco (grad only) 1.92 49 </p>
<p>6 Columbia U. 1.89 35 </p>
<p>7 U. of California at Berkeley 1.86 58 </p>
<p>8 California Institute of Technology 1.83 45 </p>
<p>9 U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1.78 53</p>
<p>10 Stanford U. 1.75 23</p>
<p>These are for departments overall. At the undergrad level, I'd say Caltech, Yale and MIT are the strongest. Berkeley is highly ranked, but it is also overcrowded with students.</p>
<p>u can check out various rankings in chem from this website <a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/phdsci/phdsciindex_brief.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/phdsci/phdsciindex_brief.php</a>
the top programs in chem:
Chemistry (Ph.D.)
Ranked in 2007* </p>
<p>Rank/School Average assessment
score (5.0 = highest)
1. California Institute of Technology 4.9
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 4.9
Stanford University (CA) 4.9
University of California--Berkeley 4.9</p>
<p>u can check here <a href="http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/ugrad_info/pros_ugrad/admission/freshmen.html%5B/url%5D">http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/ugrad_info/pros_ugrad/admission/freshmen.html</a> about switching majors from the college of chemistry</p>
<p>US News' rankings are based on an unscientific poll, and have little to do with undergrad programs or with the department as a whole. They have more to do with how many Ph.D. students graduate each year.. which is actually somewhat of a negative if you are an undergrad.</p>
<p>In that case pick from the bottom of the list and work your way up :rolleyes:</p>
<p>The national research council has berkeley as the number one department of chemistry in the country, and among chemistry faculty nationwide, it's not even close to being disputed.</p>
<p>In addition, berkeley has an entirely seperate college of chemistry for undergraduates. They are lavished with personal attention and opportunities for undergraduate research are absolutely unparalleled. </p>
<p>Bottom line, if you're absolutely serious about chemistry, you cannot beat Cal.</p>
<p>Cheers,
CUgrad</p>