For college preference, a liberal art college with strong research grants is an ideal. I understand as Wellesley College student you may be able to take classes at MIT or Harvard, but how strong is it about research opportunities? Is private universities like Northwestern making more sense to attend since the university has large NIH research grants even though a small liberal art college environment feels more fitting? Any insights are appreciated
Plenty of research opportunities at many LACs and remember you’re not competing against grad students for them. What field of study are you interested in?
Does Wellesley offer as many research opportunities as (say) Northwestern? If so, how is it possible considering most LAC do not receive NIH research funding as much as universities?
When doing research with a professor, I don’t think it’s always the case that you’ll get paid – you might get credit instead (not 100% sure on this). Therefore, I don’t think grants are a limitation, if anything, I would say that the limiting factor is the number of professors. Furthermore, Wellesley also has the benefit of being able to take advantage of research opportunities at MIT, also known as UROPS, which again, can be done for pay or credit. Also, Wellesley students can’t take classes at Harvard.
My kid had tons of research options at her LAC. She got credit during the school year and had paid lab positions in the summers. As there are no grad students, the profs count on their undergraduates. LAC profs are almost all still researching, publishing, applying for grants, etc.
Go look at websites for profs st schools you are interested in; they usually talk about their research.