I plan to do a Bachelors in Science Biology or Chemistry or both (but also doing Pre-Med requirements) and am considering applying to Amherst and Haverford, Williams, and Swarthmore. I know that the academics are rigorous at all the school, but I am wondering if there are any differences, academically and in Research Opportunities. Also the second thing I am wondering is which school is most accepting of Dual Enrollment credit (when I finish my senior year of high school I will have 112 quarterly credits and an AA for transfer). I know schools like these are very iffy about dual enrollment.
For transfer credit, search for “[school name] transfer credit”.
Even if no credit units are granted, you get placement into higher level courses if you already covered material equivalent to introductory level courses. Note that grades received in college courses taken while in high school, and all grades for repeated courses, do count when calculating your GPA for medical school application purposes, even if your college does not count them in your GPA for its own purposes (most colleges do not include transfer credit grades in their GPAs for students).
Thank You ucbalumnus for answering the Transfer Credit Question, I’m not worried about my GPA I have 3.97(one A-, ugh), but still wondering about the Science programs at these schools.
Obviously, you can check with each one, but I don’t think any of them have dual enrollment. Those credits are nice for admission and may be relevant for placement, but I don’t think any of the schools at that caliber give credit for work done pre-enrollment.
You can look at course catalogs and schedules to get an idea of what is offered and how often. Biology is a rather broad field with many subareas, so different schools may have different strengths and weaknesses. For chemistry, you also check for ACS approval.
Note that “science” encompasses more than biology and chemistry. Are you interested in other sciences like physics, astronomy, geology, math, statistics?
I assume that I was just wondering, I like all the schools because they are relatively small and well known
Apart from checking the course catalog (the starting point), check the number of faculty in each dept (you need critical mass - 5 or more to pick an arbitrary number), and then look to see what their areas of specialty are. That way you know if anyone has research interests that match your own. Note that some schools are part of a consortium (like Swarthmore) and therefore may have more course and research options available to you at partner schools - in which case, you need to check how easy it is to cross-enroll and logistically how feasible to actually take courses at those schools.
Thanks @N’s Mom I will defiantly check the number of faculty and their specialties at each school.
@ucbalumnus well I would say maybe bio medical engineering or molecular biology, I am great at math but it really dose not fascinate me like the sciences.
@earthsea - You’re very unlikely to find top-notch BME at an LAC; in fact, Swat is the only super-selective LAC with engineering at all, iirc (and this isn’t a criticism–I’m a Williams alum!). Molecular bio, though, should be good at any top LAC (I’ve heard good things about Williams’ [url=<a href=“http://bimo.williams.edu%5DBIMO%5B/url”>http://bimo.williams.edu]BIMO[/url], for example).
Wesleyan’s science program tends to labor in the shadow of the accomplishments of its many alumni in the visual and performing arts fields (“Hamilton” creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Mad Men” creator, Matthew Wiener, et al.) However, one sign of its strength is that of all the twenty-two members of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Molecular Biophysics Pre-doctoral Research Training Program, Wesleyan is the only LAC:
http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Training/InstPredoc/Pages/PredocInst-Molecular.aspx
Haverford is particularly strong in Biology. Additionally, the consortium between Swarthmore, Haverford, and Bryn Mawr is, in reality, much closer between Haverford and Bryn Mawr. Go to Swarthmore for the intense academic experience but don’t go for the consortium.
@circuitrider Thank you I will definitely have a look at the Wesleyan’s science program
@tonroxmysox do you think Haverford + Bryn Mawr is better than Swarthmore by itself
@earthsea Haverford + Bryn Mawr will give you more course options than Swarthmore. Very few students at Swarthmore take classes at Haverford and Bryn Mawr, whereas over 90% of Haverford students take a class at Bryn Mawr. The Haverford vs Swarthmore question is one that many people struggle with, and although Haverford and Swarthmore are pretty similar, they have huge differences such as the environment at each.
Science is certainly strong at all of these schools, probably hard to go wrong. Note that Amherst has the worst facilities among them; they are finally (after decades of relatively little investment in facilities) building a spectacular (200 million dollar) new science facility, but construction has not begun and it won’t be completed until at least three years from now. Williams already has excellent science facilities (constructed in 2000) and is embarking on building a sizable addition for new state-of-the-art labs, to be completed roughly around the same time as the new Amherst facilities. Swarthmore unlike the others has engineering and is known for strong sciences; also has tremendous facilities.
Williams provides a huge number of opportunities for undergraduates to engage in research with faculty, perhaps unequaled anywhere, both during the school year and the summer. Williams grads have won a slew of Apker awards based on Physics research (only one awarded per year to liberal arts grads) and consistently are among the leaders among liberal arts colleges in terms of NSF fellowships awarded. Last year 9 Williams grads won NSF fellowships and 12 more received honorable mention: http://cfr.williams.edu/news-updates/639/