<p>I'm trying to narrow down which schools I should apply to and was wondering if people had suggestions for some schools with good undergraduate Biology and Chemistry programs. Not necessarily pre-med, but a good sciences program. </p>
<p>A range of schools would be ideal (Ivies, obviously, but also any other schools that may not be obvious...?)</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Some Ivies aren’t well known for their science programs, actually. The Ivies are primarily known for their arts/humanities and finance. Tech schools will definitely have better science programs though they are geared heavily towards engineering. For instance, MIT and CalTech have excellent science departments. Several state schools also boast good science programs - I believe the University of Minnesota has a good Chem department.</p>
<p>Berkeley 10 charac</p>
<p>You need to provide more criteria. There are TONS of schools with good chem/bio programs!
And I would include all of the Ivy League in that category, I don’t know why anyone would say otherwise. Not that I think anyone should be obsessed with Ivy League schools anyway 
Location, what are your GPA and test scores, size of college, sports, Greek Life, etc. etc.
Oh yeah, then there is the what can you afford question :-(</p>
<p>Duke has a great Bio program.</p>
<p>Ivies tend to emphasize the liberal arts. We have world-class faculty when it comes to teaching the arts and humanities but it’s just that most Ivies don’t have an MIT caliber science program. Ivies don’t spend most of their resources on their science departments, they spend a lot of it in the arts. That’s not to say they’re not competitive - they are - but they’re not on the same level as MIT and CalTech when it comes to having star faculty and producing world famous scientists.</p>
<p>Top-10 according to US News graduate rankings:
Biology
Stanford
Harvard
MIT
Berkeley
CalTech
JHU
Princeton
Yale
Cornell
WashU</p>
<p>Chemistry
CalTech
MIT
Berkeley
Harvard
Stanford
UIUC
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Columbia
Cornell</p>
<p>^I understand that US News ranked Princeton 7th for “Biology” but sometimes I have to question their methodology. We don’t even have a biology department - only molecular biology and evolutionary biology ones. I don’t see how they would compare those programs to broader programs that include specialties like zoology, plant biology, and the like. It’s like comparing apples to oranges.</p>
<p>^I don’t disagree with that and it was definitely meant to be a starting point. The methodology is actually pretty simple - just based on peer assessment. </p>
<p>I have heard only good things about the Northwestern’s chemistry program. Usually 20-30 degrees are conferred each year while there are over 40 core faculty, not counting the lecturers and research faculty. So research opportunities are more than plenty and the department has a good history of producing NSF (for example, three in 2009 and three in 2011, out of only 20 or so graduating seniors) or Goldwater winners.</p>
<p>Ptontiger, please, respectfully, STOP. You do not know what you are talking about. All of the Ivy League schools have outstanding science departments. </p>
<p>Harvard is top 5 in Astrophysics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math; top 10 in Geoscience; top 20 in Computer Science.</p>
<p>Princeton is top 5 in Astrophysics, Physics, Math; top 10 in Biology, Geosciences, Computer Science; top 20 in Chemistry.</p>
<p>Yale is top 10 in Biology, Math; top 20 in Astrophysics, Chemistry, Physics, Geoscience, Computer Science</p>
<p>Cornell is top 5 in Computer Science; top 10 in Astrophysics, Biology, Physics, Chemistry; top 20 in Math, Geoscience.</p>
<p>Columbia is top 5 in Geosciences; top 10 in Chemistry, Physics, Math; top 20 in Astrophysics, Biology, Computer Science;</p>
<p>Penn is top 20 in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math, Computer Science;</p>
<p>Brown is top 20 in Math, Geosciences, Computer Science;</p>
<p>Dartmouth has strong, respectable programs that are much smaller… it is closer to a liberal arts college, than a full university.</p>
<p>(By the way, if you are wondering about my sources… I have a PhD in astrophysics, and am a college professor in the sciences. I have close friends and colleagues across all the scientific disciplines.)</p>
<p>As to the original poster’s question… biology and chemistry are “bread & butter” disciplines… pretty much every school in the top 100 will have very strong, respectable departments which will offer a challenging education for the vast majority of students.</p>
<p>Frankly, the discipline-specific “rankings” are utterly useless for choosing an undergrad program… the discipline rankings are really only relevant for graduate programs. Focus on choosing a school that has the best overall fit.</p>
<p>Answer me this. I made the claim that Ivies are known more for their humanities/arts than sciences. Would you agree with this? I’m not talking ranking-wise, just ask an average joe. I also claimed that Ivy science programs also rank consistently below those of MIT and CalTech. Is that true? Claiming that an Ivy has the same dedication to science as a school like MIT is a gross underestimation of MIT’s resources and focus.</p>
<p>You are quite wrong on both counts. Perhaps from you very limited perspective… I mean, seriously, you only just graduated from high school.</p>
<p>When it comes to the natural sciences, Harvard & Princeton are easily on par with MIT & Caltech… not to mention also Stanford and UC Berkeley. I am a science professor and a practicing scientist. I have degrees from both Harvard and Berkeley. Those 6 schools are considered unparalleled EQUALS in science. Cornell & Columbia are pretty damn close as well.</p>
<p>This is well known to any highly educated adult (who cares if Joe the Plumber doesn’t know.)</p>
<p>Only in engineering is the Ivy League relatively weaker (and it’s just relatively… they still have decent, solid programs)… though Cornell is still arguably in the top 5 in engineering, and Princeton in the top 10. Columbia & Penn might arguably be in top 20.</p>
<p>(For the record, I turned down MIT for undergrad AND grad school, and turned down Caltech for grad school… I knew plenty of colleagues who did the same.)</p>
<p>Wisconsin for sure. Very strong in biochem and other bio subareas and in regular chemistry.</p>
<p>Duke and Holy Crove strong science programs.</p>
<p>^Duke and Holy Cross.</p>