Colleges for (Plant) Biology Research

College Search & Selection
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Hello! I am looking for advice about affordable colleges that would be able to support an interest in plant genetics/breeding or biotechnology. I’m not looking specifically for schools with a Plant Biology major, just schools that have reputable Biology/Genetics programs and aren’t entirely focused on doctor-oriented pre-med or animals (I am not interested in corn breeding or dairy agriculture, although I am interested in plant-adjacent marine/freshwater stuff and the medical side of plant research!). Personal interests in rice breeding but honestly anything but corn is cool. I’ve also been thinking about majors like biomathetmatics or a computer science minor but I’m not sure how viable that last part is. I plan to do grad school, so I’d rather keep costs low.

Also, given that the EA deadline is so close, I would plan to apply to any reccomended college RD, unless the suplements are really quick to write. I think this could affect available financial aid.

Other things I would really appreciate in a college but are not all hardlines:

  • I would prefer to be in a more urban area, as that is what I am used to, but I am still happy with being in a suburb. Just would rather not be in the cornfields lol, for the reasons below.
  • I would also love colleges in areas with good or at least passable public transport as I will not have a car.
  • Near a botanical garden or something similar would be cool, especially if it supports academic use, but no where near required
  • Living learning language communities. Love the idea of those they sound so cool (eg. Pomona’s Oldenborg dorm or Minnesota’s). Again not at all a requirement
  • I’m looking for colleges with strong oppurtunities surounding exchange programs to China specifically (here’s to hoping the pandemic isn’t still raging by then…) and an absolute dream of mine is to do grad school there, so any colleges with programs that could help further that, I would love to hear about it. As an example, I’m thinking about things like Cornell’s China Center or how UC Davis / Michigan State partner with Nanjing Agricultural University. Sorry if this is too niche of a request though.

In terms of colleges, I am an ORM and not first-gen student or low-income, so nothing there. But, for the prerequisite stats I believe I have around a 3.7-3.8 / 4.0 UW GPA. I don’t think my weighted GPA would mean anything because I don’t understand the scale that it’s weighted on, it’s definitely not a 4.0 scale but I (and one of my teachers too) don’t think it’s a 4.5 scale either. I got a 33 on the ACT (only took it once, and my science & math sections are both the lowest, at 31, which I am afraid will hurt my chances as I am applying for those types of majors…). If it might help me though, my school’s average ACT is 16 (not a prestigous highschool. not sure what else is necessary to mention) and I rank 5th out of a little over 200 kids. We don’t take the SAT at my school. I’ll have taken 12 AP’s by the time I graduate, and I will be able to send 8 of those scores to colleges: one 3, three 4’s, and four 5’s. The AP Scholar w/ distinction honor is the only award I have… unless honor roll counts or something. For the science/math AP’s, Biology was only a 4 for me and AP Calc AB was a 3 but I got a 5 on Calc BC (incl. subscore), 4 on AP Stats. I have taken 3 years of the same foreign language. Also currently dual enrolled in a statistics class and hoping to dual enroll in Calculus 3 and an intro bioengineering class next semester (unsure if I want to pursue something like that in college or not).

Other than that though, my EC’s are pretty terrible; only NHS for Junior & Senior year (currently in a leadership position, but not President or Vice-President), and both Cooking Club and Art Club for all 3 years I was in person at my high school. In all fairness, we really do not have competative clubs, I think two maybe have done local competitions but they’re both very unrelated to my intended major. Most of my volunteer hours are related to school involvement, but at least my service project was related my city community. I also took part in a summer internship relating to food justice where we worked with a local gardening org that eventually donates their produce to local food pantries. Very fun & rewarding experience but I’m unsure how much colleges would care since it wasn’t some competative thing. I’m not sure what information is desired regarding work experience. Like, I work but it’s nothing academically related…

Overall, I know my stats are pretty mid for the colleges I’m looking at so I would love recommendations for more realistic choices where I might be a more desireable applicant, or at least a plausible acceptee. I am open to being suggested more reaches though. Just not the major 10% or lower acceptance rate type reaches please, I think I have enough of those lol!

For financial context, we are looking at an EFC of ~30k per year, as per the FAFSA and when we run NPC’s, my COA generally ranges from 20-35k. My parents are willing to pay for most of that range of expenses, but would prefer something on the lower end of it if possible. Because of this, I have been focusing mostly on private colleges. I do not believe there are OOS public colleges that would give me much or any aid, but if there are I would love to hear about it. For example, I have heard that a number of out of state public schools are good for my major (eg. Michigan State, Rutgers, Oregon State, Penn State, Purdue) but unfortunately we could not reasonably afford any of them.

The colleges I am already looking at are as follows. I am only going to list my out of state safeties on here. Hopefully they’re all in the right catagory!

SAFETY:

  • Iowa State (auto-admit, hoping for a scholarship too; probably RD)

TARGET (all EA):

  • University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (I would get reciprocity)
  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute

REACH:

  • Smith College (RD)
  • Macalester (hoping for merit, EA)
  • Wellesley (maybe? wasn’t sure, RD)

EXTREME REACHES (all RD):

  • Colby
  • Rice (thinking about applying since tuition would be covered)
  • Pomona
  • Cornell :frowning:

To anyone who read this far, thank you very much! I am sorry it was so long. Hope you all have great days/nights. :slight_smile:

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For plant sciences specifically, you should not overlook Connecticut College, which supports an excellent botany department. You could select courses of interest from its considerable plant sciences offerings irrespective of your major. With its 750 acre campus, CC’s arboretum will be broader and more diverse than most.

With respect to study in China, research Hamilton, which administers Associated Colleges in China. On its home campus, Hamilton offers an immersive botanical garden. Its biology department integrates bioinformatics modules across introductory, intermediate and advanced courses; or you could choose, say, genetics as an applied domain for a data science major. A free shuttle provides access to nearby suburban amenities.

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University of Arizona is one to consider.

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I’d have less concern with abroad. Most colleges have exchange programs and if yours doesn’t work, they’ll allow you to go through others.

If you want urban, why Cornell or Colby? Ok they meet need but neither is remotely urban.

Here’s one rank of top botany schools. You can look and study further.

So the issue is budget so having reciprocity with UMN is great and ranked highly. I don’t see WPI working financially.

Others that could work per this list and looking at budget (with merit) and urban

Arizona State

U of Arkansas

U of Kentucky

U of Nebraska

Seems to me UMN is a home run. Apply early. And you can have the pressure off.

Ps in the rank below @merc81 recommendation of Conn College ranks well and they meet need. Don’t forget they determine need, not FAFSA. They’ll do a deeper dive into your family finances.

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ANother university to consider as a reach is WashU because it has great biosciences, and because of the Missouri Botanical Gardens.

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I encourage you to get your apps in for EA or rolling admission for any schools that offer those rounds. Applying RD could affect merit aid, but more importantly, acceptance rates are lower in the RD round at those schools that offer EA/rolling.

Iowa State’s own app is easy, I imagine you could complete that today. Apply - Iowa State University

Have you started your common app? I expect you can finish that and make the EA deadlines for Wisc, Minn, WPI, and Macalester. (All Nov 1)

Because of the context of your HS, I encourage you to send your test score to all of your schools. Self report them where possible, many schools don’t require official test scores in the application process.

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Miami University (OH) offers a B.S. Botany and has some generous merit scholarships for OOS.
Scholarships | Costs and Financial Aid | Miami University (miamioh.edu)

They also encourage co-majors in broader related fields.

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@merc81 @Parentof2014grad @baerli Thank you!! I will be sure to look into those schools! That description of Hamilton sounds particularly intriguing : )

@tsbna44 Oh ok! I’ll keep that in mind thank you.

Yeah, for Colby I am mainly considering it for the aid rather location. I will probably reconsider it later, I just didn’t know if I should rule it out just over that? But as for Cornell I’m not actually sure if I’ll apply or not (their housing lottery sort of scares me, just with city prices & competition, minnesota’s too) but I didn’t want to be recommended it again so I just stuck it on my list. : )

For WPI, the NPC estimate around 32k for my first year so it’s technically in range, just not the preffered end of it. They also offer potential scholarships for my major which is what I’m hoping for, but with your concern, are they known for (significantly) increasing COA after the first year or anything? I’ve heard that sometimes aid packages are so low for first years because there are specific grants for that, but it goes up a lot in the later years, and that worries me. :sweat:

I will look into all of those, thank you so much!

@MWolf WashU’s NPC estimates out of our price range unfortunately. Thank you for the suggestion though! : )

@Mwfan1921 I am applying to those schools EA already. : ) That paragraph was meant to be about any recommendations I got on CC because I wasn’t expecting to get responses this soon :blush:. I will look into these suggestions for EA applications now too though!

And thank you for the advice about Iowa State, I will switch that over to EA.

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I’m a fan of avoiding debt no matter what, but what sort of grad school are you thinking? If a PhD, you should be fully supported by the program. Some Masters programs are funded as well, but fewer overall, and fewer again for full funding.

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@collegemom3717 I’m not fully sure, sorry :sweat:. That’s a bit above what I understand at the moment. From what I have seen, it is common for plant breeders to have a PhD, so it is my aim, but I was unsure if you needed a masters before that? I don’t really get how grad school works… (no one I know has gone). And yeah, it’s the cost of a masters that I’m very worried about. My parents have a set amount they’re able to pay for my undergrad but unless there’s money left over I will be paying for grad school alone.

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I am a biology professor who has been at schools ranging from small to very large, both public and private (none of them elite). The good news is you can get an excellent education at many many many schools. There will be certain programs that have particular strength in botany and/or genetics, it just depends on the school.

If you plan to go to grad school, I encourage you do do the PhD and don’t even bother with a master’s degree (for several reasons). A PhD should be fully funded (don’t do it if it’s not) and you’ll earn enough to pay basic expenses for yourself.

There will be a ton of pre-meds no matter where you go. If you go to a school with a med school, you’ll have way more. If you go to a school without a med school you’ll have less. Just as an example: if you go to U of Utah or Indiana U or U of Washington, you’ll have tons of premeds and amazing plant and genetics instruction. If you go to Utah State or Purdue or Washington State you’ll have fewer premeds and amazing plant and genetics instruction, but with the added bonus of lots of agricultural opportunities. This is true of many states for their flagship vs land grant / aggie universities.

Many of the agricultural powerhouses are public universities that have formed decent sized college towns around them. BUT, as you’ve seen from some of the suggestions you’ve been given, there are lots of places you could go and you are by no means limited to those powerhouses.

You will have no problem finding schools that have the right fit for YOU. You are on the right track by investigating all the qualities that you’re looking for. You should focus on going somewhere where you can thrive, whether that’s big or small, private or public. Don’t focus on your precise major – biology vs botany vs agriculture doesn’t matter. Just be sure to take plenty of rigorous basic science courses and talk with profs about your plans as you go along.

Prioritize having fun and learning interesting stuff and getting good grades. I highly encourage you to get involved in undergraduate research as soon as you can. Consider applying for REU programs with the NSF each summer. Again, you can do all of these things anywhere, but it will be easier at a place with several professors that specialize in plants. Getting into a funded PhD program will be easy, so don’t worry about that until later.

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@ColdWombat Wow, thank you so much for such an informative response!! I really appreciate all of the advice : ) The REU opportunities sound so cool!

Also, if you don’t mind me asking, would the REU programs (generally) be semi-equally open to anyone of undergraduate standing, or are they geared towards students farther along in their degrees?

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In general, REUs prefer 2nd & 3rd year students, but for a strong student/good fit I do know 1st years that have gotten them.

When looking at unis, check into what funded research opps are available on campus through the botany department. Try and get a lab/research role within your university during term, and a funded summer gig on campus for the first summer. Then apply to REUs (& similar) for summer after 2nd year. The more research you can pack as an undergrad the better, for two reasons: 1) you strengthen your PhD app, because you will have a better idea of what you want to study and you will have more people to write LoRs and 2) you will learn for yourself where your interests lie- and whether research is your path!

As @ColdWombat pointed, science PhDs are funded: they cover your tuition, and pay you a stipend that you should be able to live on. In exchange you do research and some teaching (how much of each varies by program). The bigger point is that there are so many good, affordable choices out there that you can choose a place that will leave you with zero student debt. Future @littlefern will be very, very grateful to you for making that choice.

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@collegemom3717 Ahh, ok! Thank you very much for your help!! :relaxed: If it’s alright with you, I have a couple questions:

  1. How would getting into research work as a freshman? For example, if I wanted to take part in research in my second semester, how early into first semester is it reasonable to start reaching out to professors?

  2. I’ve heard that LAC’s generally have a better track record with undergrad research simply because of how few students they have & general lack of grad students, but would there be colleges (of any type) that particularly try to help freshman? Or would it be enough at most campuses to just be proactive about it? Also, in regards to LAC’s, would it be inhibitive if there are no grad students to also learn from in a lab?

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Smith seems like an intriguing option, since you’d get all the benefits of a small LAC that’s strong in STEM, but also have access to coursework and research opportunities at UMass Amherst, which has a decent amount going on in your areas of interest. Have you considered applying to Mt. Holyoke as well?

If you like Pomona as a high reach, and you like women’s colleges, why not also apply to Scripps, which is similar to Smith in competitiveness? The consortium is very close-knit, so you could expect to access many of the same opportunities from Scripps as you could from Pomona. Pitzer could be worth considering as well. Have you already looked at the Envirolab Asia program? https://envirolabasia.claremont.edu/

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Just a personal thought - both my kids are offered research all the time. I think most don’t take it but it’s offered. My sons gf has been doing for years. They are a large state school.

I think if you ask, you get. Anywhere.

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@aquapt I had considered Mt. Holyoke! They have a professor with a research specification in plant genomes who has mentored students before & they also have botanic gardens. I remember thinking I should put it down, looking back, I’m not quite sure why I didn’t do that… Thank you for reminding me of that college again ^^;;

I did not know about the Envirolab Asia, that looks very interesting! As for Pitzer and Scripps (which I hadn’t realized had strong STEM programs), I have considered applying but I was a little (irrationally) worried applying to multiple Claremont colleges might be disadvantageous as they advertise themselves as very unique from one another (I really like Pomona’s language dorms >.<). I appreciate the suggestions though and I will be sure to look into both of them more! : )

@tsbna44 Oh that’s awesome, thank you for the perspective!

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I concur with the suggestions of Mount Holyoke and Scripps.

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As @tsbna44 said, if you ask, you get. When you arrive at college ask your advisor what sort of research opps there are. When office hours start, go to you botany profs office hours and ask about research opps. Sometimes there are plenty going begging, sometimes they competitive, but if you put yourself forward you will get there!

Choose the school type that suits you- both large unis and LACs will have more opportunities than you can take advantage of you. When there aren’t grad students both the profs and the older students will be there to help you learn.

Remember that most profs are always on the lookout for the truly interested students, and enjoy mentoring their future peers.

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The Claremont Colleges are distinct, and writing good applications to more than one will require some research into their attributes so that your “Why X College?” essays show that you appreciate their individual strengths. But at the same time, they are very closely adjacent. Cross-registering doesn’t require any special process - they all have a shared registration portal and the majority of classes are open to students throughout the consortium. However, their admissions offices are completely separate; they will neither know nor care whether you applied to other consortium schools.

Unlike the 5 college consortium in MA, the Claremont campuses are immediately adjacent and walkable - no shuttle buses needed to access classes and extracurricular activities throughout the consortium. OTOH, having a public flagship with agriculture programs as part of the MA consortium could be an advantage for you, that the Claremonts couldn’t replicate.

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