<p>I am a Chemistry/Math double major and Physics/Philosophy double minor at UMBC. I would have majored in physics too, but I decided 5 years of undergrad is enough. Based on my background and interests, I've determined that theoretical chemistry and quantum chemistry are the fields I will most likely be pursuing in graduate school.</p>
<p>So my question is, what schools have the best programs for these fields? I'm looking for someone who is particularly knowledgable about the various programs and professors in the programs. I'm unfortunately very busy with my course load and research. Due dates for grad school applications are fast approaching and I was hoping someone might be able to save me the time of researching every school. Thank you in advance for your responses.</p>
<p>Ranking from the latest NRC survey of chemistry PhD programs</p>
<p>Harvard University
California Institute of Technology
University of California-Berkeley
Northwestern University
Yale University
Stanford University
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Columbia University in the City of New York
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of California-San Francisco
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Princeton University
University of California-Los Angeles
Rice University
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
University of California-San Diego
University of California-Santa Barbara
University of Chicago
Iowa State University
Carnegie Mellon University
Michigan State University
The University of Texas at Austin
University of California-Irvine
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Cornell University
Johns Hopkins University
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Purdue University-Main Campus</p>
<p>You need to go through each program and identify the people working in theoretical chemistry and quantum chemistry that you are interested in and see which schools have a critical mass of people working in that specialty. </p>
<p>You can find the survey at phds.org I used the NRC survey based quality measure. I just gave you the first page.</p>
<p>Your professors probably have the best knowledge about graduate programsin your area of interest <em>and</em>your abilities. Talk to them.</p>
<p>You may get a list of schools based on some ranking but really that’s not research. You need to do the research yourself. </p>
<p>The thing is you are starting the process at the last minute. Applying to graduate school, especially PhD programs, is a lot of networking - you find out specifics by talking to those who know. Start with your professors.</p>