Anyone majoring in Chemistry at Macalester? It looks like a super-small department. Is it super-competitive (i.e. competing for the best grades)? Are there a lot of opportunities for research, what about independent research? Any ideas how many of the Chem graduates are accepted in to PhD programs?
Sorry, not a major but plenty of friends in the Chemistry department. The people are super collaborative because the Department is difficult. I do not want to scare you away, but I believe the chemistry majors have the lowest GPA On campus. That said, students take chemistry and learn a lot! Is it super-competitive? Well… everyone knows that chemistry is challenging and everyone works hard. Mac students enjoy collaborating. For example, I often see chemistry study groups on Sunday afternoons in the Campus Center Conference Rooms. I see people bringing out their markers, whiteboards, and plastic models of carbon. Everyone is really supportive. And Mac has a healthy mix of students interested in PhD and/or MD. Macalester has always sent many of its graduates to the top grad schools in the country. Mac is really good at that.
Again, be prepared to learn and be challenged at Mac if you are considering chemistry as one of your majors!
Hope that helped!
Thanks for the reply.
From the several friends I have in the chemistry department I would say that the department is medium-sized by Macalester / LAC standards. Of course chemistry is a strenuous field anywhere but I have heard tales of how particularly difficult some the class at Macalester can be. That being said the department encourages collaboration rather than competition. On the topic of research opportunities, I have heard of many majors working on research with professors over summer and several more that have gone on to graduate programs of all sorts.