<p>I've always been thinking I will go into chemical engineering because i really enjoyed chemistry, physics, and math. (Chemistry was always my favorite by far). Lately I have come to realize that I also really enjoy biology. Now I am thinking I like biology and chemistry the most, and that math and physics are okay but not really what I love. So needless to say I began considering biochemistry instead. Is this a reasonable change of heart? I have a 31 ACT, 96 GPA, WGPA of 4.2. I'm from tennessee and prefer southern schools, but I gave myself a 10 hour drive cushion (from Chattanooga). I was considering Virginia tech, Vanderbilt, northwestern, and notre dame. (all good engineering). Now that I'm considering biochemistry, I know many universities including liberal arts schools have that. So now I'm looking for new college suggestions and any advice on what the best biochem schools are?</p>
<p>You do realize that the job and career prospects for biochemistry (or chemistry or biology) are much worse than for chemical engineering, right? This may mean that you have to take a greater interest in the cost of attendance of the various universities, particularly in terms of minimizing student loans.</p>
<p>These schools have Biochemistry as a major, are located in the south, and you have a good chance of admission to them.</p>
<p>Virginia Tech - has Biochemistry as a major, does it not? (5.5 hrs)
Clemson University (SC) - 30% are “Physical Sciences” majors (3.5 hrs)*
North Carolina State University - 11% are “Biology” majors (7.5 hrs)
Elon University (NC) - offers both Biochemistry and Chemical Engineering (7 hrs)
Washington and Lee University (VA) - has both majors (6 hrs)
Tulane University (LA) - has both majors and is a great school! (8 hrs)*</p>
<p>*one of my two favorites on this list</p>
<p>I’m surprised Georgia Tech isn’t on your list. It’s the top engineering school in the South and your stats look to be competitive for admission. If you’re looking for the best biochem schools, GT would have to be considered.</p>
<p>I had my reasons for throwing Gtech off my engineering list. Just not a place i’d be happy spending 4 years. and from what I hear its impossible to leave with a good GPA because they try to weed people out most of the time.</p>
<p>Most Chemistry majors at the top US universities also include Biochem options. I suggest you pick a broader, general Chemistry major and specialize further in graduate school, if that’s still what you want to do four years from now. I think it is a bit premature to commit to one specific field so early in your academic career.</p>
<p>Anyway, if an early specialization is really what you are looking for, you might consider studying in the United Kingdom. The University of Oxford for example has a great, specialist 4-year course in [Biochemistry.](<a href=“http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/courses/biochemistry_molecular_and_cellular/biochemistry.html”>http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/courses/biochemistry_molecular_and_cellular/biochemistry.html</a>)</p>
<p>*You do realize that the job and career prospects for biochemistry (or chemistry or biology) are much worse than for chemical engineering, right? This may mean that you have to take a greater interest in the cost of attendance of the various universities, particularly in terms of minimizing student loans. *</p>
<p>Very true. What is your career goal with biochem?</p>
<p>What is your budget? how much will your family pay? Many of the OOS publics mentioned above won’t give you aid or much merit for your current stats.</p>
<p>I think you should reconsider Chem Eng’g. My son is a Chemical and Biological Engineering major (I usually just say ChemE to abbreviate). Something ike that might work for you. As a ChemE major, you can still take Bio and BioChem classes or minors if you like.</p>
<p>Takea look at Clemson University! All our sciences programs are amazing and we have a BS Biochemistry program. More info: [Clemson</a> University | Department of Genetics and Biochemistry | Undergraduate Programs - Biochemistry](<a href=“Genetics and Biochemistry”>Genetics and Biochemistry)</p>
<p>Even if you decide to change your major to chemical engineering or chemistry or other science/engineering majors, Clemson has an excellent program for that.</p>
<p>Let me know if you have any questions about Clemson! I’m going to be a junior there majoring in civil engineering. If you have a top 10% class ranking, you can (combined with your 31 on the ACT) qualify to get in-state tuition.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Pierre, are you sure that an ACT 31 will still merit an OOS tuition waiver? Since an ACT 31 is no longer in the top 25% at Clemson, I’m not sure that a student would get a full waiver. I thought students now need an ACT 32 to have a better chance at that OOS tuition waiver…so you only pay the instate rates (which is about $12k per year for instate tuition - ). </p>
<p>Academic recruiting scholarships awarded to out-of-state residents can include a companion Out-of-State Tuition Scholarship that covers part or all or of the out-of-state tuition and fee differential unless otherwise noted. The Out-of-State Tuition Scholarship is only available during periods of enrollment during which the recipient is eligible to receive the recruiting scholarship stipend. Stipends indicated in the scholarship listing are maximums. Awards can be reduced because of funding or other aid awarded.</p>
<p>from the financial aid website: “Usually, recipients of academic recruiting scholarships have an SAT score of at least 1370 (ACT 31) and rank in the top 10 percent of their senior class.”</p>
<p>I think the combination of the SAT/ACT score PLUS the top 10% ranking makes it hard for people to get that in-state tuition rate.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Right, but it doesn’t say that such a student would get full waiver for the full OOS part of tuition.</p>
<p>*Out-of-state students who qualify for an academic recruiting scholarship might be offered a tuition waiver that **covers part **or all of the out-of-state tuition differential. *</p>
<p>So, a 31 (since it’s the lowest qualifying number) may only get a scholarship that covers half of the OOS tuition differential… the differential is about $16k, so a 31 may get $8k or so, right? Or am I reading that wrong?</p>
<p>It’s been my experience that most people that meet this guideline would get the full out-of-state tuition differential (at least from what people have said on CC and people that I know). I could be wrong though but there is a very good chance the OP will get it. Either way, doesn’t hurt to apply!</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>True. Apply and see. </p>
<p>It’s just that several schools have tightened their merit policies this year…either by reducing awards or raising qualifying scores.</p>
<p>The old guidelines sometimes don’t apply anymore which is why it’s important to read the fine print. Someone posted today about a “full tuition” scholarship today at another school…the person didn’t know that that school reduced the scholarship for this year’s applicants.</p>
<p>Clemson’s actually been busy the last few years raising money. It’s been undergoing a capital campaign called “Will To Lead”, a $600 million fundraising drive and a big part of that is increasing scholarships to students who need it. Hopefully that will help out!</p>
<p>Rhodes is a liberal arts college in Memphis and has a biochem major.</p>
<p>
Really? You’ve already created one list of colleges for a prospective major and scrapped it. Now you want to do it all over again? What if you apply to colleges based on their biochemistry programs and decide you want to do psychology? This is why picking colleges based on intended majors is usually an extremely bad idea. (A good friend of mine from high school learned this the hard way. He was completely set on biophysics - took all available AP sciences, did research at his local university, etc. He chose a less selective college because of its strength in the sciences but soon discovered he surprisingly didn’t want to do science anymore. He wound up in linguistics and had to transfer.)</p>
<p>Figure out what you want in a college. Among other factors, consider…</p>
<p>– Size
– Location (rural, suburban, or urban?)
– Student body composition (do you want diversity? do you need a large LGBT or Jewish population?)
– Cost
– Selectivity
– Greek life (small scene, large scene, or none?)
– Athletics (do you want to play or watch?)
– “Atmosphere” or “feel” (quirky? preppy? artsy?)</p>
<p>Any college worth its salt has decent biology and chemistry offerings, and the differences at the undergraduate level will be minimal. The differences in size, location, focus, etc., on the other hand, can be HUGE. The fact that people are suggesting NC State and Rhodes to the same poster indicates that we need much more information.</p>
<p>^agreed, if you aren’t entirely sure of your major, you should pick a school that has many excellent majors (well-rounded programs) instead of a school that specializes in a specific field etc… or pick a school that has many excellent science/engineering programs if that is what you’re especially interested in.</p>
<p>I’m not 100% on my exact major, but it will definitely be a chem, bio, math, engineering related major. I am still really interested in engineering, and I’m not scrapping my list, I was just trying to look at new options should I decide biochem is what i wanted. The only real factor that influenced this change is the fact that I have begun to really enjoy biology. I know I could always minor in it, but from what I hear a minor is useless if your majoring in engineering. People say just study more and get better engineering grades, don’t worry about the minor. In terms of future desires, I don’t really have any career goals, as much as i’m just planning on studying what interests me most. There is always money to be made with a science or engineering major. Whether one is paid more then the other is not important to me, I just want to do what i think i would enjoy the most. I could not disagree more about deciding on a college based on a major. Colleges are huge places, and your bound to find people you get along with at them! what you aren’t guaranteed to find are excellent programs in your areas of interest. especially when i don’t have any size limitations except below 30k, i could care less about diversity, nor do i care about the town. The college feel is a good part of it, but program strength is also one of the largest deciding factors.</p>
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<p>A dangerous misconception. Biology, biochemistry, and chemistry have relatively poor job and career prospects (about as good as humanities and social studies majors other than business and economics). Bioengineering is also generally worse than other engineering. Other engineering and science majors can be subject to business and industry cycles (e.g. civil engineering now (poor) versus 2005 (good); computer science now (good) versus 2000-2003 (poor)).</p>
<p>If you are not sure, or intend to go into a low paying major, you need to be more sensitive to costs and avoiding student loan debt when selecting a school.</p>
<p>Some chemical engineering departments have rebranded themselves as “chemical and biomolecular engineering” and added a biology course or few to the curriculum, presumably because of high student demand for bio-anything majors.</p>
<p>I’m in civil engineering but while we get paid the least among engineering majors (which still isn’t bad pay), at least we’ll always be in need! (I mean who is going to fix America’s crumbling infrastructure?)</p>