<p>What are the research opportunities like? How is the biology/biochemistry department? Are most of the science majors pre-med or are they going the grad school path?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Also, are there a lot of science majors at Wellesley? Is it ultra-competitive?</p>
<p>Can't tell you too much about the bio department as I have zero experience with it. There are a fair number of science majors at Wellesley, bio and chem being the most popular sciences. Math and Psych, also housed in the Science Center are quite popular, Psychology being one of the more widely declared majors on campus. Physics, Geosciences, Computer Science and Astronomy are much smaller and intimate, but still excellent. While Wellesley has its share of math/science haters, it has always struck me as a school in which the humanities, sciences and social sciences were all strong.</p>
<p>Students in all disciplines can due REUs, work with faculty during the year, or participate in Wellesley's summer science program.</p>
<p>A fair number of the students are pre-med, and I would venture that the bulk of the competition stems from that. I have no numbers to back this assertion up, but I imagine more science students are looking toward medical school than graduate school. Of course science graduate school is possible from Wellesley (that's where I am right now :o) ).</p>
<p>I wouldn't say ultra-competitive...but I can say that there are a lot of freshmen who are all pre-med. They're very chill people, though. They are competitive in the sense that they will study hard to get the best test score, but it's not like they'll refuse to help each other. It's really the other way around, I always see tons of study groups...they're really quite cute, actually. :)</p>
<p>As for dispersion, I'd say that there might be some girls who are more into the sciences than humanities, but I'd say that it's a fair balance.</p>
<p>Also WC has the coolest science building...it's a new building built on top of an older building...my dd saw some "hogwarts" influences there. CS and WM can amplify of course.</p>
<p>^^I actually think the science building is kind of ugly...it's interesting but ugly in comparison to everywhere else! They used complimentary colors to paint it, though, haha. :)</p>
<p>Here's where I have to trot out my cred as the child of an architect and say that my father and I really like the science center. It's not traditionally "pretty", but I actually think that it has an interesting (and positive) interplay with its natural surrounding and is also very cool on the inside. I think it's interesting that Wellesley does not adhere to a monolithic architectural style (they made some agreement long ago to always build in the most modern style), but still is able to maintain a cohesive campus architecturally. In other words, the buildings go together, but don't match. </p>
<p>Topic? I got nothing. Math is fun, though.</p>
<p>CS that is the artist in you speaking and thanks to advan for having my back...ha ha. :D</p>
<p>The Science Center colors used to be better. Once upon a not-so-long-ago time, the carpet throughout the building was bright orange, and the railings were lime green. At least the Science Library still has an orange circulation desk and yellow stacks :)</p>
<p>As for the quality of the sciences here at Wellesley, the departments are very strong. Many students opt for the pre-med route (although a number of them change their minds during their four years), and it's interesting to note that Wellesley students have consistently good acceptance rates to medical schools. Of my friends who are now in both med school and grad school for the hard sciences, all of them are doing very well and were well prepared for their studies.</p>
<p>I was a bio major at Wellesley and I loved the Science Center, especially in its ultra-bright-primary-colors heyday. The sciences are very strong at Wellesley, with plenty of opportunities to do independent research if you wish. I'm actually quite surprised at the other posts about the number of pre-med students. Unless it's changed drastically in the 4 years since I've left the school, about 2/3 to 3/4 of the science majors I knew were not planning on going to med school. Many of my fellow science majors (including myself) went to/are going to graduate school, as opposed to med school.</p>
<p>As for how competitive science majors can be, my personal experience was that there was a good distinction between the pre-med science majors vs. the non-premed majors. However, the difference was not in how competitive the students were with each other, but how intense they were about getting a certain grade. The non-premed science majors I knew were more into actual s-c-i-e-n-c-e (and all the messiness and complications real science can be), rather than trying to get a certain grade on a test or maintain a certain GPA. That probably has more to do with how science grad admissions vs. med school admissions work than anything else, not necessarily students' interests. And yes, the Wellesley science departments highly encourage group work collaborations.</p>
<p>If you're interested in the sciences, I think Wellesley would be a great option. Really, some of the most awesome professors make the Science Center their home. Flick Coleman, anyone?</p>