<p>Does anybody know if it’s any good? I haven’t visited the department yet, but I hope to soon (when/if I get in RD).</p>
<p>My Tufts interviewer actually said some really good things about BC’s chem department, but I feel like there’s a lack of research opportunities for undergrads.</p>
<p>I can’t really provide you with any specifics, but I always hear that BC has a pretty strong Chem department.</p>
<p>Dear tchang : Chemistry (and the biochemistry major in parallel) is an extremely strong program at Boston College with tremendous opportunities in many areas with just some named here.</p>
<p>Top undergraduates are chosen to work with the graduate students in lab settings to get some excellent opportunities for publication, research, and interaction with graduate candidates. Remember that this is an honor given to the students who have shown the greatest success in both course and labwork while also demonstrating a great deal of dedication to the pursuit of research.</p>
<p>Undergraduate students who wish to push the envelope are invited to join graduate level courses as early as their junior year if there is a particular topic of interest. The competitive level that emerges between graduate and undergraduate students in the same class is much less than you would think; specifically, the courses become based on education rather than “earning an A”. Many such courses will have undergraduates considered separately from their graduate counterparts for grading, but our experience is that such splits are generally not required.</p>
<p>The BC chemistry department is strong, but it depends what your specifically interested in. So its hard to say. If you are interested in perusing graduate studies in medical research, the BC chem and bio departments are excellent. Bio-Chemistry is popular.</p>
<p>BC professors are judged more by how they teach so they spend their time teaching and have less desire/time for research. If you are interested in ground breaking state of the art research, a more technical school where professors are judged by their research may be more appropriate. A more technical school would probably have more diverse research opportunities. The BC chem dept has strong ties with several Boston area research labs, however, so there is plenty of internship potential. </p>
<p>During your visit, ask about the specific areas you are interested in. BC has a tendency to provide a more well rounded education than one focused on a specific technology, although they do have some strong areas.</p>
<p>The freshmen labs are not well stocked and are in relatively poor condition, however. A BC chemistry or biology major’s workload is grueling as you have equivalent to a five class workload compared to the four class workload of most schools (non-engineering track) like Tufts (my best HS friend goes to Tufts). Thats because labs are typically not counted toward fulfilling graduation requirements. Its not that the classes are that difficult, just that the course work takes up so much time if you want all As. BC students in non-science majors have much more time on their hands.</p>
<p>I would say the biology and chemistry departments are strongly focused on pre-med students but if you don’t want to follow that course, there are opportunities for research here. Like everyone said, it’s not a research based university and a lot of focus is on learning and teaching. However, BC is all-around a great school so the programs are definitely top notch no matter what.</p>