Suggest any Colleges for Biochemistry?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi everyone,

I found the forums on CC to be very helpful as I started thinking about college over the past year, so I finally decided to get an account of my own! Any suggestions you have for colleges with excellent biochemistry programs, preferably those with high grad school placement rates, would be awesome.

My stats:
4.0 UW GPA (My school doesn’t weight, nor does it offer honors classes; I will have AP Lang (5), AP Lit, APUSH, AP World (5), AP Psych, AP Chem, AP Bio, AP Physics 1, AP Stats (5), AP Calc BC, and Multivariable Calc by the time I graduate)

36 ACT (36E/36M/35R/36S)

PSAT: 231

SAT IIs: World 790, I’m taking Chem, Bio, and Math II next month

I’m interested in a medium sized school, with a campus that is not rural. I grew up with plenty of excellent food options in my city, so I would like to attend somewhere with lots of diversity in terms of restaurants :slight_smile: I can handle competition, but I don’t want to go to a school where the vibe is fairly cutthroat. I’m not really into the party scene, so if the school lacks it that’s not a huge issue. Although I don’t want to study music, I definitely don’t want to give up playing in college, so my ideal school would have non-major ensemble options! In addition to a biochemistry major, I’m considering a French minor and would like to study abroad, so schools that would make that possible would be nice. Geographically, I’m pretty flexible; I just want to stay in the U.S.

My family is in that awkward spot financial aid-wise where my parents’ salaries are just high enough to result in EFC calculators giving estimates that are much higher than my parents can realistically afford; they can pay about 25k per year. Schools with merit aid would be a plus!

Thank you for reading through this post, and thank you in advance for any suggestions! Let me know if I should provide any more information, or if any of my criteria are too limiting.

Thank you again!

2

bump

3

North Dakota state university

4

Midsize would be, U of Chicago, Wash U, Northwestern, Hopkins, Emory, Duke. All top schools in the field.

Lots more top schools in the large category.

You have top stats, take a shot at Hopkins or all of them.

5

<<
My family is in that awkward spot financial aid-wise where my parents’ salaries are just high enough to result in EFC calculators giving estimates that are much higher than my parents can realistically afford; they can pay about 25k per year. Schools with merit aid would be a plus!
<<

With the money limitations, you need to either get into schools that give supper aid (like HYPS) or schools that give lots of merit.

I don’t think JHU would work out because it sounds like they’d expect your parents to pay more than they can.

What is your career goal??

You’ll be a NMF, so there are those big awards as well.

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I would really like to become a professor in the field, as I want to both teach and research! mom2collegekids, do you think that this should/would influence a choice of college?

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What is your home state?

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Wisconsin

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No, not really. when my son was applying to PhD programs, the fact that he went to a mid-tier flagship made no difference. The schools considered his grades (perfect 4.0), his GRE scores (tippy top), his coursework, and his research/related ECs, and his LORs.

The “name” of your school where you get your terminal degree is what’s most important.

You’d get free tuition at NEU. You could get more elsewhere.

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You realize Wisco is ranked 20th in the entire world in that field? And in the top 5 in the US.

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Oh, of course! I only feel that it’s on the large side, and I have lived in the area my entire life. I wanted to see if anyone had other suggestions that would fit me and be financially feasible; my parents seem to expect me to go to UW (and have for years) and I just feel like I’ve already been tied down to one school without even applying. I know that sounds way too petty, but at this point I am just trying to keep as many doors open as possible.

12

If you want a change of scenery, apply to Washington & Lee in Lexington, VA. It is super selective but 10% of each class get the Johnson Scholarship, four year free ride and a 7k per year stipend. It is an excellent and highly regarded school. Very historic. Robert E. Lee is buried in the chapel. You have impressive numbers, what the heck.

13

Reed College. Much smaller than you were hoping but a great school with many pluses.

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@mom2collegekids -

I can see how “supper aid” could come in handy if you like to go out to eat alot, but in the grand scheme of things, is it really that important ? :slight_smile:

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Thank you for all the suggestions!