<p>I was just wondering what colleges are good for a marine biology major. My top choice right now is stanford but I'm doubtful that I would make it in. Any other good colleges? I'm willing to go anywhere in the U.S.</p>
<p>1) If you're planning on going into marine biology as a profession...</p>
<p>It isn't wise to major in marine biology (unless you're a double major). Marine biology is mostly a graduate school field. An undergraduate degree in marine biology is not required, nor is it recommended. It is difficult to branch out from marine biology into other fields for grad school. What is far, far more important is getting the necessary biology (cellular biology, molecular biology, comparative physiology, genetics, developmental biology, ecology, evolutionary biology, vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, microbiology, and botany), biochemistry, organic chem, physical chem, physics, calculus, statistics, computer science and possibly geology and differential equations that you need to succeed in the field. There are many summer programs that one can and should participate in to gain some background in marine biology, which will be far more helpful than marine biology courses. Independent research is often strongly recommended, if not required, for marine biology grad programs, so seek out schools that actively support undergraduate research. Marine biology is a subset of oceanography (often called biological oceanography) and is by far the most popular branch (chemical, geological, and physical oceanography being the other three), so the availability of jobs is not high. Many, many schools can provide you with the proper undergraduate background for a career in marine biology. Many of these schools aren't even located on the coast. I strongly suggest picking a school strong in the basic sciences and math. Specializing at this point is a very bad idea.</p>
<p>2) If you're just interested in marine biology as a major and don't plan to make it a career...</p>
<p>It's missing a few (like Stanford, Brown, Cornell, and the 5 College Consortium), but it's a good place to start.</p>
<p>I'm particularly fond of the College</a> of the Atlantic, which I consider the very best school for undergrad marine biology.</p>
<p>UQAR.</p>
<p>/sorry, had to mention it</p>
<p>then what are good schools for just math and science?</p>
<p>Amherst
Bates
Bowdoin
Bryn Mawr
Bucknell
Carleton
Claremont McKenna
Colby
Colgate
Colorado College
Davidson
Dickinson
Franklin & Marshall
Grinnell
Hamilton
Harvey Mudd
Haverford
Holy Cross
Kalamazoo
Kenyon
Lafayette
Lawrence
Macalester
Middlebury
Mt Holyoke
Occidental
Pitzer
Reed
Rhodes
Smith
St Olaf
St Mary's (MD)
Swarthmore
Trinity (CT)
Vassar
Wellesley
Wesleyan
Wheaton (IL)
Whitman
Williams</p>
<p>Universities can be found [here[/url</a>].</p>
<p>To emphasize something in my earlier post, it's often possible to study marine biology for a semester or a year through programs like the [url=<a href="http://www.env.duke.edu/marinelab/%5DDuke">http://www.env.duke.edu/marinelab/]Duke</a> marine lab](<a href="http://www.stat.tamu.edu/%7Ejnewton/nrc_rankings/nrc41.html%5Dhere%5B/url">http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/nrc41.html), SEA</a> Semester, or Williams-Mystic[/url</a>]. Alternately, you could expand your horizons by studying abroad and studying marine biology at the same time. [url=<a href="http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/mbiolaq/%5DJames">http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/mbiolaq/]James</a> Cook in Australia or [Bangor[/url</a>] in Wales, for example.</p>
<p>For research opportunities, there are a number of awesome [url=<a href="http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/list_result.cfm?unitid=5053%5DREU">http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/list_result.cfm?unitid=5053]REU</a> programs in oceanography](<a href="http://www.sos.bangor.ac.uk/%5DBangor%5B/url">http://www.sos.bangor.ac.uk/), which pay for virtually all of your summer costs.</p>
<p>Very Good Math and Life Sciences, in my opinion;</p>
<p>Allegheny College PA
College of Wooster, OH
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, MA
Ohio Wesleyan University</p>
<p>Michigan State University
U of Washington
Washington State University
Oregon State University
U of Alabama at Birmingham</p>
<p>so I should just major in general biology?</p>
<p>My understanding is that generally, the minimum coursework required for admission into a graduate Oceanography or Marine Biology Department is Calculus II, Organic Chemistry II and Ecology. You would take these courses for most Biology majors/concentrations anyway. But if you want to explore other undergraduate majors, make sure you have science core covered.</p>
<p>
[quote]
so I should just major in general biology?
[/quote]
I think the best options are those that offer a marine biology or ecology track within the biology major. Alternately, you could pick a school that offers both biology and marine biology and major in biology but pick up lots of electives in marine science.</p>