<p>bio major? general education?</p>
<p>i am not pre-med or bme</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins has an amazing biology department and tons of opportunities! What do you want to do after graduation?</p>
<p>im not sure…probable grad school, but my major is not set for sure i still want flexibility and security of other programs of significant quality that i could change to</p>
<p>This is a toss between JHU and Berkeley. </p>
<p>If you’re taking Bio as a premed, JHU wins hands down. If you’re taking Bio as a science major with an aim to do further studies on it or conduct research, etc… Berkeley.</p>
<p>If you are non pre-med and interested in either cell and molecular bio or behavior and ecology, Cornell is a very good option. Tons of opportunities for undergraduate research through all of its extension efforts, especially for ecology/plant sciences.</p>
<p>Cornell produces more students who go on to obtain a PhD in the life sciences than any other school. It also produces more MDs. But that’s more a function of its size…</p>
<p>This is the nail in the coffin for Cal:</p>
<p>Cal: 6,000 Freshmen
JHU: 1,200 Freshmen</p>
<p>The academic quality of instruction is going to be good. The community experience and level of engagement with respect to research opportunities will be very different. It depends on what you’re looking for but the size is a huge compelling argument towards JHU in this case.</p>
<p>i agree, i would prefer a smaller school. but which is stronger across the board in sciences? cornell or jhu? in physics and astronomy also, i am not set on bio for sure.</p>
<p>Berkeley is the best I’d say.</p>
<p>When the Director of NASA came to speak on campus… he did a little research on his own and found that Johns Hopkins is the leading recipient of NASA grants…</p>
<p>We have the Space Telescope Science Institute on campus that houses the control center for the Hubble Telescope. </p>
<p>Ranking for physics and astronomy, Cornell #7, Hopkins #8 (our faculty conducts enormous amounts of research; Hopkins is a world leader in physics & astronomy research.)
[Chronicle</a> Facts & Figures: Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/stats/productivity/page.php?bycat=true&primary=4&secondary=38&year=2007]Chronicle”>http://chronicle.com/stats/productivity/page.php?bycat=true&primary=4&secondary=38&year=2007)</p>
<p>Look at Hopkins vs. Cornell in the sciences… Hopkins is like a science stronghold. Cornell is an engineering stronghold…</p>
<p>Hopkins 2007:
[Chronicle</a> Facts & Figures: Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/stats/productivity/page.php?year=2007&institution=1591&byinst=Go]Chronicle”>http://chronicle.com/stats/productivity/page.php?year=2007&institution=1591&byinst=Go)</p>
<p>Cornell 2007:
[Chronicle</a> Facts & Figures: Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/stats/productivity/page.php?year=2007&institution=2377&byinst=Go]Chronicle”>http://chronicle.com/stats/productivity/page.php?year=2007&institution=2377&byinst=Go)</p>
<p>I would take Cal–more academic opportunities (research, grad classes, etc.)</p>
<p>Phead, that information was nice but not really helpful since the OP is more interested in bio. Honestly, I’d say your best bet is with either Hopkins or WashU. Both have the best medical research schools, so you’ll find great opportunities to do research in biology-related topics (not necessarily medicine). Both encourage research freshman year and have much smaller class sizes and more attention than you’ll find at berkeley or cornell. At berkeley and cornell, you have to be a lot more independent minded, whereas at washu and hopkins, you’ll find advisers helping you plan courses and tweaking your application to graduate school. All these schools are great and you can’t go wrong with any choice.</p>