<p>I'm doing my college research recently and found that there are so limited info on how strong a undergrad's biology program is. It seems like people don't really distinguish bio out like they do for engineering or bussiness. Anyhow, does anyone know what colleges (undergrad) are specificly strong in biology? I want to go for MD/Ph.D program for grad school and I wish to major in some pure biological science in undergrad school. Here are some colleges that I'm looking at:</p>
<p>Harvard</p>
<p>Yale: I heard Yale provides really good research opportunities</p>
<p>Princeton: Is Princeton strong in bio? I don't even know. I consider Princeton only because it seems like they are trying to improve their art dpt and I'm thinking about minoring in art</p>
<p>MIT: I know MIT has great engineering program, but what about just pure biological science for undergrad?</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins: JHU is pretty well known for bio but is it as good as Harvard/Yale at undergrad level? They have great med school but I'm not sure about undergrad.</p>
<p>Stanford</p>
<p>Caltech: again, it's strong in bio engineering but what about just pure bio</p>
<p>Percent of PhDs in Biology/Health Sciences per undergrad degree </p>
<p>PhDs and Doctoral Degrees:
ten years (1994 to 2003) from NSF database</p>
<p>Number of Undergraduates:
ten years (1989 to 1998) from IPEDS database</p>
<p>Note: Does not include colleges with less than 1000 graduates over the ten year period </p>
<p>1 California Institute of Technology 5.4%
2 Reed College 4.8%
3 Swarthmore College 4.4%
4 University of Chicago 3.3%
5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 3.1%
6 University of California-San Francisco 3.1%
7 Harvard University 3.0%
8 Kalamazoo College 3.0%
9 Harvey Mudd College 2.9%
10 Earlham College 2.8%
11 Johns Hopkins University 2.7%
12 Princeton University 2.6%
13 Haverford College 2.6%
14 Mount Holyoke College 2.6%
15 Yale University 2.5%
16 Rice University 2.5%
17 Lawrence University 2.5%
18 Carleton College 2.5%
19 Stanford University 2.5%
20 Oberlin College 2.4%
21 Cornell University, All Campuses 2.4%
22 Grinnell College 2.3%
23 Hendrix College 2.3%
24 Bryn Mawr College 2.1%
25 Bowdoin College 2.1%
26 Wellesley College 2.1%
27 Amherst College 2.1%</p>
<p>ID's list sort of shows this, but almost any top school (i.e. top 50 or so) and many others will provide a strong background in biology. Your list is very top heavy, and it doesn't seem like you know very much about the schools. Decide exactly what you want in a college (size, location, housing, etc.), get a copy of a book like the Fiske Guide or Colleges That Change Lives, and go from there.</p>
<p>The top PhD programs in biology are at (in no particular order, because they're all equally excellent) Harvard, MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Caltech.</p>
<p>Particularly at Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Caltech, the strength of the undergraduate program and the strength of the graduate program are quite closely linked, since students do research directly with the faculty and are considered members of the research community. Students at MIT frequently take graduate-level biology classes with graduate biology students, and I imagine the same is probably true at the other schools I mentioned.</p>
<p>For undergraduate applicants looking to apply to PhD programs in the future, one of the major considerations should be the availability of research opportunities, since research experience is basically the major criterion in graduate school applications. Students who have the opportunity to do outstanding undergraduate research (for a long period of time, in a meaningful way, being published in major journals, or with a famous PI) are accepted into top graduate schools in an extremely disproportionate way.</p>
<p>I was an undergrad in biology at MIT and am now a grad student in biology at Harvard, so if you have any specific questions about graduate school applications, I'd be happy to answer those over PM.</p>
<p>interesteddad, this table is excellent, but another form might be even more useful: Percent of PhDs in Biology/Health Sciences per undergrad degree in Biology/Health Sciences; is this data available?</p>
<p>E.g., for a school with which I am familiar, and assuming the numbers are constant from year to year (which they are not), Reed last year graduated 36 Biology/Health Sciences majors out of 287 total graduates. If 4.8% of 287 (or about 14) go on to get PhDs, this is about 38% of Reed bio grads.</p>
<p>A table with this info might better show the strength of each school's bio department, assuming most PhDs in bio started with a BA/BS in bio.</p>
<p>As mentioned many many times, there are many biology students that go on to become Doctors, Veterinarians, Dentists, lawyers, and Indian Chiefs. They could all get an undergraduate biology degree from the BEST biology Department in the country. They don't need a PHD, nor do they want one. </p>
<p>I still see no direct correlation between the quality of an undergraduate department and the number of PHD's a school produces. Sorry.</p>
<p>Yes OP did say they wanted to go to PhD/MD, but specifically asked about undergrad rankings that will help him gain admission to a good PhD/MD program later. The rankings of a school's graduate level biology program may be important in that it might indicate a strong undergrad program, but this is not necessarily true. In fact some schools with great undergrad programs may be at schools which do not offer grad degrees.</p>
<p>I meant PhD rankings - I don't think just because Berkeley has a great PhD program it has a great undergrad program with a high med school acceptance rate and lots of research opps for undergrads...</p>
<p>The University of Wisconsin has one of the deepest bioscience resources in the US. They are leading in several areas of biotech and have the most bioresearch funding in the US.</p>
<p>1sokkermom: "I still see no direct correlation..."</p>
<p>Quite true, but there is likely an indirect correlation between a school's ability to consitently produce an important subgroup of the future top people in a given field, and the overall quality of the school's undergraduate program.</p>
<p>And in this case, the OP specifically said she was interested in getting a PhD, so it's helpful to know which schools show the best results at providing the quality preparation to that end.</p>
<p>All these threads asking "what's the best school for..." and "which colleges are good for..." ask the wrong question. The question should be "What do I need to look for at different schools to make sure I'll get a great education in ... "</p>
<p>For biology, I recommend a book-length report titled Bio 2010 which was funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and researched and written by a team of professors, medical professionals, and research scientists. This is a report specifically looking at the elements necessary to create a strong UNDERGRADUATE biology program. It also looks at why traditional ideas about biology undergraduate education may not work in developing the skills scientists and doctors need for tommorrow's technology. It includes case studies describing undergraduate biology programs at a wide variety of schools - not just the "elites" - in detail. When you finish reading this book, you'll know the IMPORTANT questions to ask as you evaluate individual programs, whether you're considering Harvard or your local state U. And, in truth, there are MANY great biology undergraduate programs out there beyond Harvard, Yale, and MIT. I'm not bashing Harvard, Yale, and MIT by saying that -- just pointing out that there are many other options to consider as well, including some that you may not have have heard of yet.</p>
<p>And, my wise friend Warbler said it best: Figure out what you want overall in a school first, before you start looking for "good departments." Students change majors all the time, so the first priority is figuring out what matters to you overall, where you'll be most likely to succeed and be happy. That way, If you change your major, you won't have to transfer when the "great department" no longer matters to you. :)</p>
<p>"the OP specifically said she was interested in getting a PhD"</p>
<p>The OP also specifically said he/she was interested in getting an MD. As other posters have suggested, a student can get an excellent education in biology that would prepare them for medicine in many institutions that do not necessarily pump out PHD candidates.</p>
<p>I brought up the schools I did because the OP mentioned them in the first place. </p>
<p>There are certainly many wonderful places to prepare for graduate work in biology. A factor that is very important, regardless of school, is the extent of undergraduate interaction with faculty, for research experience and for recommendations, as well as for general career guidance and support. Prospective students should also ask what sort of class preparation they will receive -- since science advances so quickly, it is more important to be taught how to think about scientific problems than to be taught "X negatively regulates Y." A great undergraduate biology program will teach its students to ask questions and to critically read the primary scientific literature. It's also important to find out whether undergraduates really participate in ground-breaking research, or whether they are used as glass-washers.</p>
<p>I do think there is an advantage to going to a top undergraduate program if one is planning to attend graduate school -- about half of the people I met at grad school interviews last winter were from HYPMS, and especially Harvard, MIT, and Stanford. People came to the interviews from all over, however -- LACs, big state schools, local state school branches. Personal motivation is clearly a very important factor, but so are the resources available in a given undergraduate program.</p>
<p>I agree with that. I think "resources" is a vague term, though. Emory has the CDC next door (many of whose scientists teach at Emory), the American Cancer Society nearby, and sold an AIDS drug last year for $540 million. All of this makes Emory ideal for an MSTP prospie, but Emory doesn't usually make the top PhD or MD production lists.</p>
<p>
[quote]
As mentioned many many times, there are many biology students that go on to become Doctors, Veterinarians, Dentists, lawyers, and Indian Chiefs. They could all get an undergraduate biology degree from the BEST biology Department in the country. They don't need a PHD, nor do they want one.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's all well and good. But, the student posting the original question specifically asked about a PhD. career path in biology related fields.</p>