How are the biotechnology related majors at Tufts?

<p>okay i got into Tufts, Northwestern, and WashU.</p>

<p>Although Tufts isnt as well-known or prestigious as the other 2, it's biotechnology programs really entice me.</p>

<p>Are the biology/biotechnology/chemical and biological engineering programs at Tufts really strong? Or are these just fancy names for average/above-average majors? How good is the faculty? how good are the research opportunities? will double majoring in chemical-biological engineering and biotechnology give me an advantage when looking for a job after undergrad? or is it basically the same as majoring in biology at WashU/NW?</p>

<p>btw, no school offered me any financial aid... and im also on the waiting list at cornell and johns hopkins, my first choice school.</p>

<p>thanks for any advice. gotta send in a deposit soon =)</p>

<p>I did chem-e - and it's fantastic. It is very intertwined with bio, which should be good for you. Most of the students did research with professors... and I really mean most of them. (I turned down research for a paid internship, which made me the rare one who didn't research w/ a prof.) </p>

<p>As always - we're biased here and allowed to be biased on the Tufts boards. I do cringe at the thought of my major, which was considered the most difficult at Tufts, being deemed "average." It's not. Warning: it's freakin' hard. Most of the chem-es are die-hard chem-e types (in terms of work ethic/devotion; a lot of them are focused on bioE - again, I was the rare one who wanted straight-up cheme). We all knew during our senior year that we would do chemE and never strayed. Never really lost people from the major and never really gained any, either. ;)</p>

<p>Final thing - the only thing that Northwestern has that Tufts doesn't have is a football team... and, maybe, the 1,000 miles between it and Harvard/MIT. Give Tufts both of those and there would be no "prestige" difference.</p>

<p>WashU doesn't have a popular football team (if it has one at all) but its still prestigious.</p>

<p>is it hard doing a double major in ChemE/biotechnology? or is it relatively easy with AP credits and b/c the two majors are so interrelated?</p>

<p>and i know tufts is about equal academically to washu and northwestern, but since its not as prestigious... was it hard finding a job after college? does tufts have any advantage over the schools i mentioned?</p>

<p>ok ill bite here. Not as prestigous as WashU? Really? Here on the East Coast very few people outside of academics/ prospective applicants would have heard of the school. The average person would probably ask if its in Washington state or D.C. For people "in the know", Tufts would be pretty much equal to WashU. As for Northwestern, keep in mind alot of people that know of it will know of it because of Big 10 athletics, regardless of the fact that it is an excellent school. So if you're going to pick one of these schools over Tufts go for it, but if you pick WashU over Tufts because it is "more prestigous" i would strongly question that logic.</p>

<p>Hm. According to my friend, there are only 20 ChemE's in the class of '07. Someone I know is triple majoring as an engineer...crazy. Yes the ChemEs have it hard, although I wonder if it's harder than biochem :).</p>

<p>But to play the devil's advocate, I think that both schools you have listed are more plentiful in resources (more so than Tufts due to money constraints). The education at Tufts will be comparable and very personal, but there might be slightly less of a course offering vs Northwestern's powerhouse. However, you will have an excellent education wherever you go. I suppose it's now down to where you would prefer to live for the next four years and which campus gives you that happy vibe. Prestige is prestige, happy is happy, time to choose :)</p>

<p>yea i got a week left... need to send deposit within the next few days... gonna go now to check courses available at each school. Thanks for all your info.</p>

<p>Flip a coin, three times (do run-offs.) You are one of the people who really can't go wrong. </p>

<p>I'll agree - WashU is not that prestigous out here - it really shot up in rankings during the past few years, and a lot of people haven't heard about it.</p>