<p>I am really interested in studying biology or pre-med, most likely with the idea of going on to med school. Can anyone offer comparisons between the biology departments and programs between Harvard and Princeton? Any info would be great. Thanks! :)</p>
<p>I second the question!</p>
<p>I've never heard anything about either program so I'll be watching this thread with boundless interest.</p>
<p>In terms of comparing the two schools I can't really be of much help. I can, however, give you some quick information from the Harvard side. For some quick background information; I'm pre-med (maybe MD, PhD) Biology concentrator at Harvard.</p>
<p>Harvard's biology departments are amazing, to put it bluntly. One example of why are the intro classes. The introductory classes are taught by some of my favorite professors (Robert Lue and David Liu), and although you can test out of them using AP Bio I would HIGHLY advise you to take them. The two intro classes are called Life Sciences 1a and 1b, and they use this very cool hybrid approach (which to my knowledge is only used here, it was new two years ago and no one else in the country used it then). Basically, you get credit for one semester of gen. chem and one semester of bio, but each class takes one big topic (AIDS for LS1a, for example) and takes an integrated look at it from both a chemical and biological perspective. You don't learn about replication for replication's sake, you learn about replication and how the virus uses the machinery to coopt the cell. You don't just learn about receptors, you learn about receptors and then look at which ones interact with HIV and which ones can be mutated to provide resistance. This helps ensure that even kids with AP Bio and AP Chem (like me) are always learning new stuff and stay interested.</p>
<p>Beyond intro level, you have an incredible variety of classes to choose from. I'm working towards taking a course called Introduction to Vertebrate Surgery where you literally do surgery on pigs (and yes, it's an undergrad course). You can take classes from the Molecular and Cellular Bio department, the Organismic and Evolutionary Bio department, or from any number of smaller departments (or even the med. school). In short, the classes you take here are VERY cool. </p>
<p>The bio concentrations are also set up to be very flexible here. There are currently 5 bio-related concentrations: Organismic and Evolutionary Bio, Mollecular and Cellular Bio, Neurobiology, Human Evolutionary Bio (very popular w/ premeds), and Biological Anthropology. Each has a different combination of requirements and a different focus, so you're sure to find something you want.</p>
<p>The #1 reason I'd say to come here for Bio though is the RESEARCH! There are SOOOOOO many opportunities to work in labs here (moreso than princeton, because they don't have the same grad-school resources we do). I've never heard of someone who couldn't find research to do that they were personally interested in, and the resources they throw at you are incredible (we are, after all, talking about $29.2 billion). We just created the Harvard Stem Cell Initiative, for example and they're throwing HUGE money at it (I'm working in a stem-cell lab this summer). Basically, you get to do research you would never get to do at other schools until you were a grad student.</p>
<p>Anyways, sorry to make it so long, hope it helps.</p>
<p>Harvard...not even close, the research opportunities in the various departments are endless, plus there are undergrad positions in research labs at the med school and Mass. Gen. Hospital. Princeton is excellent...don't get me wrong, they have wonderful faculty, but literally your opportunities are endless at Harvard. In addition, harvard is starting a new department in developmental biology and is pouring money into stem cell research...</p>
<p>Granted, if you do well at either school, you'll get into a top med school...</p>
<p>thank you so much! totally helpful</p>
<p>I don't know much, but I do know this:
Harvard is renowned for its medical school, so it is bound to have an excellent Bio/Med department. Why don't you check out these sites?</p>
<p><a href="http://hms.harvard.edu/hms/home.asp%5B/url%5D">http://hms.harvard.edu/hms/home.asp</a> (Harvard medicine)
<a href="http://www.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/fasro/courses/index.jsp?cat=ugrad&subcat=courses%5B/url%5D">http://www.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/fasro/courses/index.jsp?cat=ugrad&subcat=courses</a> The course catalog could be of great help to you i presume...</p>