Looking for suggestions for schools for daughter. Biochem major (would consider bio major if there’s an opportunity for biochem concentration). Very passionate about learning. Wants a school with strong research opportunities for undergraduates (most seem to have this?) Prefers urban, but ok with suburban if surrounding town/city is accessible and students are known to explore the area. Must be LGBTQ safe and friendly (both school and surrounding area - certain states will likely not be considered). Top 10% of class in public school in a state with strong ed reputation. ACT 35/SAT 1580. Will have 7 APs, potential for Capstone diploma, rest of classes are honors. Solid ecs, but nothing extraordinary or unusual. Will not qualify for financial aid. Merit would be nice, but not a deal breaker. Prefers collaborative environment over competitive. No preference on school size just yet. Not interested in Greek life so wants a campus where this is not dominant.
Based on your stated criteria, these sites may offer ideas for colleges for your daughter to consider:
Rochester. Arizona. Charleston.
Reed is a school with a distinct personality - it would be important to discern whether it was a fit. But if it appeals, it seems to match your criteria, and it’s a top producer of future PhD’s in biological sciences. (When adjusted for size, it comes in 3rd after MIT and Caltech.) It’s in a nice location in the very LGBT-friendly city of Portland, OR - not in the most urban part of the city, but still in the city with good public transit access. Intellectually intense but not competition-driven. No Greek life.
In terms of public flagships that are also top PhD feeders, UC Berkeley tops the list but is very pricey for OOS students. U of Minnesota Twin Cities is worth a look - nice progressive urban location. UW-Seattle also.
Would she consider a women’s college? Barnard, Wellesley, and Bryn Mawr have the best urban access; Smith & Mt. Holyoke are more college town but with large student population because of the 5-college consortium including UMass. Scripps is in Greater LA but pretty suburban - getting to the urban part of LA from there is a bit of a project. Great resources both at Scripps itself and through the consortium, though. (And of course there are the other Claremonts as well.)
If she wants the big college experience, Wisconsin had one of the best graduate level BioChem programs in the world. That trickles down to the undergraduate level to some extent.
She has said she doesn’t want to look at all women’s colleges unfortunately. I’ve heard of Reed and will look at more closely as well as the state schools you mentioned. Thanks.
I’d start off looking at these. If they’re on the Campus Pride Index they have at least 4 stars (out of 5). They’re either in big cities or very close to them, and there’s an array of sizes from small to large.
Tufts (MA)
John’s Hopkins (MD)
U. of Minnesota-Twin Cities
U. of Wisconsin- Madison
U. of Rochester (NY)
Case Western (OH)
Ohio State
Reed (OR)
Brown (RI)
Macalester (MN)
Swarthmore (PA )
Tulane (LA)
U. of Pittsburgh (PA )
Of schools mentioned so far, Brown and Reed are examples of two that match all, or nearly all, of your stated criteria.
UW-Seattle. It’s great for biochem, and the area is very welcoming to the LGBT+ community provided you stay west of the Cascades (my observations as a western Washington resident).
Can you tell us what state you are from? That might help us narrow down the choice a bit.
Macalester College in St Paul, MN
It’s in the twin cities, so there’s endless things to do nearby. Nice upscale residential neighborhood surrounding the school. There are numerous restaurants and stores in walking distance, within a few blocks of the school. It’s 15 minutes from MSP airport so there are direct flights from all over. It has a great reputation academically, and known for lots of opportunities for internships etc because of its location in the twin cities. It has an extremely diverse student body, including about 20% of international students.
We toured it last month and my 23D is strongly considering it.
Massachusetts, but ok with a school further from home.
Adding that she also has since clarified that she doesn’t want a huge school. Probably anywhere from 2k-20k. So some state schools may be too big for her.
Brown is a great school, but the only kids from our local high school who have gotten in are legacy students. So she may opt to apply, but I don’t expect her to get in. Reed may end up on her list. Thanks.
William & Mary
Is W&M conservative? For some reason I had that in my mind, but they did receive a solid score on the pride index. I don’t know much about it.
St Olaf
Case Western
Northwestern for a reach
My daughter goes to Skidmore and I think checks off a lot of the boxes you are looking for. She is a Biology major. Lots of research opportunities. She easily got to do research with a Chem professor 2nd semester of her freshman year. They are building a very impressive new science center. Skidmore is located in a lovely and lively area of Saratoga Springs although not that close to cities. NYC is an easy train ride away though. We also are from Mass and Skidmore has a lot of kids from Mass …Merit is not the best there but they do have a math/science scholarship that you can apply to. Definitely LGBTQ friendly and welcoming. No Greek life. A kind of similar school that we looked at was Connecticut College (CC more sportsy and Skid more artsy) but my daughter got great merit $ at CC (30K) and her stats were not as good as your daughter’s. One thing I will say is if merit money is important then target schools where her stats land her in the top 25%. If you target schools that are highly competitive and selective, your chances of merit are not great. Also I know it’s large but UMass Amherst is a great option. My daughter’s friends who go there are very happy. Good luck!
Oberlin ticks a lot of boxes, and she would get good merit. It is also a top producer of stem PhDs (produces the most PhDs of all baccalaureate level institutions in absolute number by a long shot…Baccalaureate origins of doctoral recipients)
Some of these schools may be of interest (of which a few have already been mentioned):