I think UIUC is a great consideration for Chemistry and correspondingly Biochemistry. So it might be great for doing undergraduate and then transferring to a place where startup culture is more ingrained for graduate studies.
Biology is probably the most pre-med-dense major at colleges generally. Expect a competitive environment.
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Yes. We have told him this. I think he slightly lacs āgo-getterā personality right now. So large research school with a lot of competition may be harder for him.
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Yep, and all of these schools (except Kalamazoo of course) have med schools. It can be cutthroat, and biochem is a super popular premed major.
I say this as someone who knew I wanted a PhD and never wanted to attend med school. I went to a flagship R1 with a med school and majored in biology (chem minor). I did great, but the premeds are really something. In one of my chemistry classes, I was the ONLY one out of >200 students who intended to do a PhD. Everyone else was pre-med, pre-pharm, etc. It is a very different environment than a LAC (where I have taught bio).
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Can I ask why? I have consulted at many pharma/med device start-ups and there havenāt been many PhDs. If a startup is of interest, why not do that after undergrad? The opportunity cost of doing a PhD is immense (if one is wanting to be in startups).
Is there a knowledge attainment reason that makes a PhD desirable prior to startup involvement? FWIW the startup culture at UIUC is not lacking, nor is it in Chicagoland (easy to access that market for summer opps).
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Oh great! You have done almost exactly the career path that Aneesh wants to follow! Your view and advice would be very valuable. Let us know if we can send you a personal message once all the results are in.
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If your son does decide to go to Kalamazoo, he should think about doing an REU with the NSF. Thatās a great way to get bigger research experiences while still attending a small school.
https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/
edited to add: this is limited to US citizens or permanent residents 
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Oh it may be because he wants to follow in his fatherās footsteps 
Haha well I hope so!
Here is what I feel could be advantages:
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If one of the co-founders is a PhD then startup can be more about deep science. Generally that is required by VCs also based on my experience.
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There is some possibility of making your PhD thesis into a startup as well.
Good to know that UIUC has strong start-up culture as well. Chicago and area around would be interesting for Pharma etc. How would you compare with Bay area, Seattle and Boston?
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Yes will certainly take a look. K has a good promotion for summer research programs at various colleges and they have promised that they make all the efforts required to make them available for international students.
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One of the Collegekids did this: went to an LAC not known for STEM research (& not a T20), but did research from 1st year on, including (paid) summer internships at top research centers (through the national REU program). Those experiences (and those references!) made up any difference in reputation/prestige & the result was acceptances to 6 of the top 10 PhD programs in the relevant field (& no rejections 
).
I donāt disagree with @ColdWombat - but will add that all of this is in the abstract.
What will matter is how this student will do in that environment- and that none of us can say. The competition at UCSD / UC-B etc to be a star student will be more intense- which really suits some students! For our collegekid, the broader experience / lower intensity of an LAC was a better fit- but equally, it would not suit every student.
IOW: your student will be able to get wherever he wants to go either way. Either way it will take a good deal of hard work, of looking for opportunities and of maximizing them.
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Thanks much. Yes I agree that summer research can make up for brand name of the college. He will certainly work towards that. Being an international student there are some challenges but can be managed.
Yes. Hopefully he can get to research irrespective of money but we will see. K claims that they will help to get the required approvals so that he can do at least some of the paid summer research programs.
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One question: is it necessary to be a star student at UCSD or UCB? For example if you are above average in top college vs top student at mid level LAC. How will that be compared? Or may be the answer is depends on the professor/department?
Congrats to you son! I think Kalamazoo is a great choice.
I understand your concern but having a daughter at a small liberal arts school on par with Kzoo, I see the kids go on to top notch graduate schools all the time. When she was beginning school there we sat in on a panel discussion and one of the alumni was doing his PhD at Berkeley in chemistry, I believe.
Looking at the PhD feeder schools I think is very useful and hopefully will put your mind at ease a bit about choosing a smaller LAC. I continue to believe that the research opportunities at smaller LACs make them more attractive than going to big research universities as an undergrad.
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@Andygp I will send you a DM.
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Thanks. Looking forward.
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Yes PhD productivity scores of Kalamazoo, Wooster and Oberlin is one of the reasons we applied. Kalamazoo has amazing record for life sciences!
After talking to a few professors we started wondering if the productivity is high but chances of getting in top programs is lower so want to get more pointers from this group.
Great to know that comparable college had a PhD student from Berkeley!
I am for Team K all the way! It sounds as though your son really likes what he sees and is excited to go there. The cost is very significant. That extra money could be used to fund grad school, or a down payment on a home, or a car.
Iām a So Cal native. UCSD is not that amazing, in my honest opinion. It is a good school, but I donāt know if itās worth $300,000 as opposed to $120,000. So. Cal weather is, dare I say it?ā¦boring.
UCSD is famous for being in a famous place. Kalamazoo is not a famous place. If your son prefers big lecture halls, and probably being taught by TAās, which he will surely get at UCSD, he will be fine. But there is no question that a small class experience with easy access to professors and a collaborative environment is a great way to get an education.
Donāt underestimate the importance of getting to know professors well and collaborating with peers. Professor recommendations can be very important, depending on a studentās future plans.
I myself attended university at a Cal State. Not an amazing school then, but very popular now because of its location. Iād seriously consider if the location is worth that much more.
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Very interesting outlook! I agree about all points but weather in SF or San Diego I think it is unbeatable. There is absolutely no doubt that he really loves K college. In our call with AO we were praising it so much that he finally said: I donāt think it is perfect please reduce your expectations
As a California native who lived in several regions of CA, Iām really going to burst your bubble here, so I apologize in advance. 
I vividly remember being frozen and nearly blown off my feet a few years ago when visiting Point Loma in San Diego. And Mark Twain famously said āthe coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco.ā Mind you Davis isnāt in SF at all, and probably has better weather than SF.
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