<p>I'm posting this question for a friend of mine whose sister is a rising senior. She scored a 27 on her ACT, has good grades (GPA is probably somewhere between 3.5 and 3.7) and is looking for a medium to large school that excells in Biology. Location isn't important but she doesn't want to apply to any non-Illinois public schools, so it'd be great if you could suggest either a private or Illinois public. </p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>These aren't very large schools, but good biology private schools in the IL area include Beloit, Case Western, College of Wooster, Denison, Earlham, Hope, Kalamazoo, Lake Forest, Lawrence, and Oberlin. </p>
<p>Outside the IL area I would add Allegheny, Boston U, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Fordham, Hampshire, Lewis & Clark, Marlboro, Occidental, Pitzer, Reed, Syracuse, and Trinity U.</p>
<p>Hood College (Maryland)
Ohio Wesleyan University
Gettysburg College (Pennsylvania)
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Massachusetts)
Rensalaer Polytechnic Institute (New York)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Wellesley College (Massachusetts)
Skidmore College (New York)
Duke University (North Carolina)
George Washington University (DC)</p>
<p>Anyone who thinks they want to do bio research could consider the schools that provide the best undergraduate preparation, as measured by the percentages of graduates who go on to earn a PhD in biological sciences. The top ten are:</p>
<p>Reed
CalTech
Swarthmore
U Chicago
Kalamazoo
MIT
Earlham
Harvey Mudd
U Sciences Philadelphia
Grinnell</p>
<p>Data from Weighted Baccalaureate Origins Study, Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium.</p>
<p>ummm...God, I sound like a broken record...And what exactly is her financial situation? </p>
<p>Can she swing $40K+/year? In that case, the list is huge and she can just go to US News and take the top programs for which she'd qualify. </p>
<p>Is she expecting finanical aid (and has she actually calculated that)? If so, she might want to see what schools are likely to meet her need. </p>
<p>Does she need money, but doesn't qualify for aid? Then she needs to look at schools that offer merit money, and for that she has to carefully position herself relative to their stats and other need (geography, sports, ECs, whatever).</p>
<p>She'll figure out -- hopefully sooner rather than later -- that lists are pretty useless unless you have a financial strategy to go with them. It is not a good thing to have kids "fall in love" with a school they can't possibly afford.</p>
<p>I would definitely put Carleton College on her list, even though its a pretty tough school for admissions.</p>
<p>Argh!!!</p>
<p>I forgot to mention University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. A highly regarded science program with a reasonable smattering of liberal arts. Better male/female ratio than RPI or WPI.' It's employment and graduate school placement statistics back up the school's fine reputation.</p>
<p>Cornell, Rochester, RPI...</p>
<p>try checking out <a href="http://www.theu.com%5B/url%5D">www.theu.com</a>, they could probably help you with your college search since they have videos with stats and student interviews for all the major schools across the country</p>
<p>she will be seeking fin aid, yes. her brother goes to NU (although he's transferring to USC) and gets around 12 grand a year in grants, if that helps at all.</p>