<p>Yep, I just went and looked at the links you provided. Swarthmore won’t do at all UCB is much better in that regard. Well, that’s one OFF the list. I was trying to ADD to the list! But, Bio trumps Classics for sure. And, I think UCB has one of the strongest plant bio/genetics labs around. Thing is, he still needs backups. Even UCB is not a for sure thing … I don’t want him to do things he isn’t passionate about just to build his resume. I’m hoping he will build his resume by doing things that he really is passionate about and that will mostly be more of the same. I hope the schools can appreciate that. If not, maybe he doesn’t belong there (Harvard, Stanford, Brown). sigh …</p>
<p>Thank you!!! This is really good to know. I don’t know anyone that is actually a student there. A good friend’s brother teaches there though. That’s why we know about it. Plus, their very interesting proganda We will take a harder look at this school. Thank you!!</p>
<p>I suggest you look into Rice. It’s very strong in the sciences and has a wealth of research opportunities for undergrads, as well as good merit aid for stellar students. They do evaluate applications holistically, though, and it’s difficult to predict how they would view a lack of ECs.</p>
<p>Parent22boys, maybe your state doesn’t offer them, but they are in several states. They are summer programs for students, such as your son. I live in NJ ,which does have one. One of the young men who works for us during the summer ( who is also a good friend of my daughters ) went to it. He participated in absolutely no ECs in high school, no clubs, no sports , no arts…nothing. His parents seem to think his participation in this program helped him get accepted in all of the colleges on his list ( Princeton, Tufts, Penn, Penn State, BU , Cornell ) even though he wasn’t in the top ten of the 2006 graduating class.
He is currently a third year chem engineer major at Cornell.</p>
<p>My mom mentioned that one the other day, so we looked into it. They seem to have a really good premed program, but not so much plant biology. But, it looks like a really seriously academic school too. We’ll take another look. Thank you!</p>
<p>Hm…have you taken a look at UC Santa Cruz or Cal Poly SLO? There’s no shortage of excellent public options in California, and many of them are considerably smaller than Berkeley. They might serve as good safeties.</p>
<p>Re WashU - I know I’ve seen a beautiful greenhouse on campus - did you look under the Earth Sciences program? Environmental Sciences? Everything said about Chicago goes for my D’s experience at Wash U - it is nurturing, academic, and at the same time fun!</p>
<p>Also, somebody mentioned Pomona a few times - Harvey Mudd is the school in that consortium with the strong sciences - but again, I don’t know for sure about the plant biology…</p>
<p>“Pitt, of course, is not quite a ‘public’ institution.”</p>
<p>Is that a joke? It is public in exactly the same way Penn State is, satellite campuses and all. (It’s not Cornell, if that’s what you mean.)</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, research at Pitt discovered the structure of Vitamin C and the Salk vaccine. The first double transplant was performed there. They operate the most powerful non-military supercomputer in the world. And they have a $600 million initiative (jointly with Carnegie Mellon) in BioSciences called the “Life Sciences Greenhouse”, a lot of which is directed toward the application of plant sciences to the pharmaceutical and other industries. I doubt that you’ll find any university in the U.S. with such a heavy commitment to applied plant biology.</p>
<p>As a student near the top of the heap, and with the joint initiative with Carnegie Mellon, he might find more research opportunities in plant biology here than anywhere else (and that includes all the Ivies.) (It’s also in a great city!)</p>
<p>I thought Yale is #1 in biology according to Gourman Report by collegehelp. Yale and Princeton love perfect SAT scores while Stanford rejected 2400/ with 4.0 from D’s high school.</p>
<p>As I said, until you understand the methodology, it would be worth refraining from its use. (The 10th edition, the most recent I have seen, is from 1997, but that is the least of its problems. Just for fun: Williams and Swarthmore rank 33 and 36 places respectively behind Wayne State. :rolleyes:)</p>
<p>Can someone enlighten me about Pitt? I am not at all familiar with this school. Is it in Pittsburgh, PA? I’m not even sure I spelled that right. It sounds like we need to do some research on that one too. Thank you!!</p>
<p>My son has no interest at all in Yale. I don’t think he would fit in at a very preppie school. Which is why he hasn’t looked at Princeton either. I know Harvard is preppie too, but it is Harvard. But, since we haven’t looked at Yale, I’ll take a look. My manager has a daughter who goes there. I’ll ask her too.</p>
UCB is much better in that regard. Well, that’s one OFF the list. I was trying to ADD to the list! But, Bio trumps Classics for sure. And, I think UCB has one of the strongest plant bio/genetics labs around. Thing is, he still needs backups. Even UCB is not a for sure thing … I don’t want him to do things he isn’t passionate about just to build his resume. I’m hoping he will build his resume by doing things that he really is passionate about and that will mostly be more of the same. I hope the schools can appreciate that. If not, maybe he doesn’t belong there (Harvard, Stanford, Brown). sigh …</p>
We will take a harder look at this school. Thank you!!</p>