STEM GIRL Seeking Sage Advice

@waf107 - super excited to get first two acceptances tonight! Umass Amherst biochem/molecular bio major - honors college with Dean’s Award (2K); Providence College - 60% scholarship; WPI and Clark post in a few days. Sounds like your daughter has had an awesome experience at UMASS.

Congratulations!

Commonwealth honors college is no joke. Congrats.

You have gotten some great suggestions, esp Mass Honors program. I think she’ll get a great package from WPI. They seem to be up and coming esp around women in STEM. They appear at all type of STEM events and host many events for kids in STEM. Has she looked at Holy Cross? I personally don’t know if they are strong in that area but might be an option with her stats for good merit? Have you also looked at BU from the perspective of being a top student and receiving a scholarship? They have a few substantial ones ( given to top applicants). My spouse is an Alum and their magazine is always talking about scientific research. It’s crazy expensive otherwise, though.

WPI and RPI both very supportive women in STEM. WPI campus nothing to write home about, but it’s not ugly either. Think about U of Rochester. Under the radar but a good public school for science is SUNY Plattsburgh. Affordable. Very solid connection with grad programs at RPI. Much new construction at the science departments at Plattsburgh. Only about 1 hour drive from Montreal, Quebec.

I’m sorry and certainly no knock - but there’s no way I would not choose any of those schools being mentioned over commonwealth honors and with the stem strength and upsurge at umass Amherst. And they do have the number one ranked men’s hockey team in America fwiw

Also don’t forget to see how many go on to Phd levels ( and how many of those stay at the undergraduate school) This can give you an idea of the velocity of the undergrads and tell you more about direction. Having an undergrad program and having a program that has undergrad, masters and Phd is very different. This could make her career. Also, larger schools might offer more opportunities ( not always but just more people to network with). And consider where the school is located. A more urban location near companies which actually hire these graduates can make for good synergy between students and the workplace. I’d certainly support my kids working in a related field while they are undergrads to explore their various interests.
Seems like she will have great options.

Actually, a good university WILL NOT want to keep its undergrads for grad school. It’s HIGHLY frowned upon, unless you’re talking Harvard (and even Harvard would rather send them to Yale and vice versa). The idea is that cross pollination of ideas, hence, greater creativity and scholarship, can only be achieved if you’re exposed to as many scholars as possible. It also adds to networking for all involved.
In fact, national LACs are among the top producers of PHDs (especially in the sciences) ie., where PHDs got their start. This also comes from the fact that at Top 50 LACs (and most especially at top 30 or any LAC with a 2-2 or 2-3 teaching load) research is intense but all research assistants are undergrads. (High research universities will be on 2-2 including one or two grad level classes, and superstars may get 1-2 or even better contracts, thus can avoid interacting with undergrads entirely if they wish). LAC professors are hired not just for their research but also for their ability to include undergrads in their research.
At colleges or universities on a 3-3 load research is, by constraint, less intense, but is still conducted in good conditions and at LACs still with an undergraduate focus.
The worst would be a university with a 4-4 load, where research survives during the year and must be done over the summer, which has grad students, who’d hog the few spots available.

In that respect (research), Providence is an outlier.

I agree that Commonwealth Honors is impressive. However, both WPI and RPI bring something else - I’d say all three are of equal academic quality but offer different aspects of the college experience. They’d all be excellent choices and different enough that spending an overnight would help in choosing which one is the best fit.
If Commonwealth Honors is affordable (be careful, the main cost is in fees) then I agree there’s no reason to apply to SUNY Plattsburgh.

@MYOS1634 just be careful about those stats for underrepresented groups. HBCUs and larger research institutions are the superstars in creating science PhDs among African Americans, for example. The two “top 50” lists between overall and African American science PhDs are very divergent. It’s worth breaking down those numbers before choosing taking a hard look at gender, race, etc.

nevermind…I should never respond to posts when I have had three hours of sleep in the past 48 hours.

Went to UMass, Amherst longtime ago --have heard good things about biotech program.

One school that I would recommend (not sure what they have under Biochemistry program) - SUNY, Binghamton – it is a top college, small and very affordable even for out of state residents! If you are in Western Mass – it should not take too long to drive there!

Also, students and parents rave about the campus — it is very similar to Western MA - beautiful country!!! our friend’s daughter went there few years ago (am a parent of a senior…everything is few years ago!!) and loved the small school environment…good luck!

I am not sure why an in state student and commonwealth honors admit would be offered suggestions for oos of state publics in a area of study that is a super strength of the school. And plenty of research and PhD candidate opportunities at Massachusetts. Also the W E B DuBois center for African Americans and library are super resources.

I would also really look at MT Holyoke. It’s a crazy good school and experience for a young woman. And very welcoming atmosphere for all.

WPI and RPI would be great pure stem options. Both great. Well regarded for sure.

If money where the same I would be smith or mt Holyoke for atmosphere and self esteem building for a young woman. Along with with a world class education. Pure stem opportunity and research with a large student body and coed. It would be Massachusetts.

“…Pure stem opportunity and research with a large student body and coed.”

Huh? Having a large student body has nothing to do with research opportunities for undergraduates. In fact, some notable small schools have a superlative track record of STEM research for undergraduates. Lake Jr.'s engineering university is small but has a lot of great opportunities for research. Lake Jr. has his hands of full of research opportunities from his sophomore year onward. Incidentally, after his Freshman year he landed a wonderful summer research job at a flagship public university well known for its chemical engineering and nuclear engineering. It was a wonderful experience that still serves him well.

@LakeWashington

They are unrelated concepts within a range of attributes. Large and diverse student body is an attribute for some. Pure stem and research opportunities are another potential attribute. Put together they create a mosaic for the school she already had admission into and at in state value. That’s my advice and others can differ for sure.

Daughter just accepted to WPI with 27K/year Presidential Scholarship!

wow, congratulations!!

Awesome news. That’s quite an offer from a great school!

Accepted at Clark with 20K/year scholarship!

Massachusetts is home to the top biotech hub in the world. Biotech is a large part of the Mass economy so the state schools invest heavily in this area in order to create a pipeline for industry. With the somewhat recent creation of the new honors college “campus within a campus” the UMass honors college is a great option.

Worcester (home of the UMass Medical School) is a key part of the Mass Biomedical Corridor, so both Clark and WPI can leverage those resources.

You have three strong alternatives spanning a wide range of environments/cultures.

Congratulations!

https://www.massbiomed.org/biomedical-corridor/