Chemistry

<p>Amherst vs. Swarthmore vs Dartmouth vs Williams vs ( Any other LAC- Haverford or Pomona or Grinell,etc)
Could someone please rate Chemistry majors in all these colleges?</p>

<p>That’s your job if you’re interested in those programs, not someone else’s… I can’t even imagine how one would begin to do that. All I can say is that I am a chemistry major at Williams and I like it very much. It’s a challenging, individually focused education in chemistry, but there aren’t many courses and is thus much different than receiving a BS in chemistry that meets American Chemical Society standards.</p>

<p>I have gone through the college websites, but I wanted some opinions from people who are out there studying the actual course ( like you).
I am sorry but I din’t get this.
‘but there aren’t many courses and is thus much different than receiving a BS in chemistry that meets American Chemical Society standards.’
It doesn’t conform to the standards?</p>

<p>I think that what you really need to do, is go into each of the catalogues for each of the schools you are considering. In that way, you understand what they expect of their chemistry majors, whether they offer both a BS and a BA degree, and also what courses they offer (keeping in mind that not all courses in the catalogue are offered every year). I believe that is what Foxboro is referring to. If you check the American Chemical Society, I am sure you can find what their educational standards are and determine how they impact what you are interested in learning.</p>

<p>^^Yes, I should elaborate–sorry for my quick response! You can complete the chemistry major at Williams with only 8 or 9 chemistry classes, which is not anything like majoring in chemical engineering or something at a different college/university. You can (and definitely should, if you are interested in eventually entering academia or the industry) take more classes, but at a small college, only so many courses can be taught. I’m pretty sure that having your chemistry degree from Williams approved by the ACS requires your taking a lot more than the minimum 8 classes. But I imagine that this is the same at most of those other liberal arts colleges. The standards in the classroom are as high if not higher than anywhere else, but you can’t, for example, take 4 in-depth courses on nuclear chemistry. You’d have to take summer courses somewhere else to do that. </p>

<p>Chemistry is my second major, so I like this program because it’s flexible enough to fit with my other academic/career goals while at the same time being quite challenging. And the research opportunities in professors’ labs are both great and relatively abundant–you can work over the summer as an assistant as early as your freshman or sophmore year (the former is uncommon, though), and you can conduct your own research projects as an independent study or as a senior thesis. </p>

<p>I know you checked out the College website, but also try the course catalog for some of the info you’re looking for: catalog.williams.edu </p>

<p>Let me know if you have any more questions!</p>

<p><a href=“American Chemical Society”>American Chemical Society;

<p>williams chemistry program is approved.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot everyone, special mention- Foxboro Piper.</p>