<p>The new US News chemistry grad rankings just were published and had the following Top 10:
MIT, Berkeley
Caltech, Harvard,Stanford
Illinois
Wisconsin,Columbia
Cornell, NU, Texas</p>
<p>yes, but the OP is not interested in grad school. they are looking for exceptional undergrad programs. barrons, the schools that you named have exceptional grad programs and great undergrad programs, but grad rankings are almost completely erroneous as it negates LACs.</p>
<p>I'd bet among the large schools the listed ones are outstanding for undergrad too. LAC's are difficult to compare with large schools so you'll have to find your own list for those. Some like to see the number of ugs that go on to PHDs from the LAC's but that can be very school specific as some tend to send kids to medical schools or business and others more to PHD programs.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The NYU chem department had an explosion a few years ago in a lab, nearly killing two students. The chemistry students there I've talked with have recommended against the program.
[/quote]
I'm not sure you want to study chemistry in a place that DOESN'T have the occasional explosion...</p>
<p>Please. I went to the jerry-rigged lab where it happened. Shrapnel everywhere. Having explosions like that shows a lack of concern and training, frankly speaking.</p>
<p>Northwestern:</p>
<h1>9 in grad ranking. Many opportunities for undergrads to get involved in variety of research including nanotech for which NU is one of the best. 3 chemistry majors just won Gates and Fulbright this year.</h1>
<p><a href="http://www.northwestern.edu/observer/issues/2006/02/22/gates.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.northwestern.edu/observer/issues/2006/02/22/gates.html</a>
<a href="http://www.chem.northwestern.edu/news/item?item_id=3401%5B/url%5D">http://www.chem.northwestern.edu/news/item?item_id=3401</a></p>
<p>Yes, Northwestern does very well in the ISI ranking I posted earlier on the thread, coming in 6th after Yale, Caltech, MIT, Harvard and UCSD.</p>
<p>The ISI ranking is based entirely on faculty publications and citations. It has limited scope and only indirect relevance to the quality of undergraduate education. Does having faculty who publish a lot help or hinder undergraduate education? Are the best schools for undergraduates where faculty publish a moderate amount? What do publications and citations tell you about the amount and quality of student-faculty contact inside and outside the classroom?</p>
<p>Unfortunately it is impossible to capture in any numerical way those types of quality measures.</p>
<p>believe it or not, conn college, which has a small department even for a small school, sends chem majors to top phd programs each and every year (take a look: <a href="http://www.conncoll.edu/academics/departments/chemistry/alumni.html%5B/url%5D">www.conncoll.edu/academics/departments/chemistry/alumni.html</a></p>
<p>Stanton Ching at conn college looks like one of the most awesome teachers that really care about the students. He did his BA at Pomona and PhD at Northwestern. :)</p>
<p>^^^ stan is the man! (according to people who have had him. also was interim athletic director for awhile on top of teaching). marc zimmer is also supposed to be amazing- he is one of the nations experts on bioluminence (or however you spell it- he makes rats glow in the dark)</p>
<p>rocketDA wrote: "If you are really into chemistry and want to go to grad school, Harvey Mudd has a steller program that boasts sending 80% of its students onto a PhD."</p>
<p>If Harvey Mudd doesn't take you, Reed College is number two in future chemistry PhD production.</p>
<p><a href="http://web.reed.edu/ir/phd.html%5B/url%5D">http://web.reed.edu/ir/phd.html</a></p>
<p>Waterbubbles... hahaaa</p>
<p>was it really an honest mistake?</p>
<p>University of Delaware is prob. one of the best schools in the country and world for chemistry/chemical engineering (chemical engineering more so). They are ranked top 10 in the country because the US's biggest chemical company loves Delaware and thus gives millions of dollars of funding and resources to their chemistry program, making them prestigious and rigorous. A degree in chemical engineering from University of Delaware will carry a lot farther than from UIUC or Rochester.</p>
<p>Maybe it's better for graduate though. On the graduate level it is on par with Harvard and MIT. Undergraduate perhaps less, because you have things like general education requirments</p>
<p>How about undergraduate studies? Are these same colleges that you guys are talking about good for ug's as well?</p>
<p>Also, I happened to find the new NSF rankings for 2005. Not that they are really important, but it's interesting. They are ranked for graduate programs, though.
nsf.gov</a> - SRS Academic Institutional Profiles (2005 Institution rankings) - US National Science Foundation (NSF)</p>
<p>i wouldn't rely on the Sciencewatch rankings for defining the best schools for undergrad chemistry. The rankings seem to be based on old stats (1997-2001) and the "papers" figures probably reflect grad research rather than undergrad work. For me, there are many other factors, besides quantity of papers published, in defining the top chemistry schools for undergrad education.</p>
<p>By the way, these rankings are for GRADUATE schools, not undergraduate education. i.e. U Washington. It's one of the best grad schools in the world (hence the high rankings in some sciences) but definetly not in the top 20 for undergraduate experience and education.</p>
<p>Ranked in order of prestige:</p>
<p>California Institute Of Technology
Massachusetts Institute Of Technology
Stanford University
University Of California Berkeley
Harvard University
University Of Illinois Urbana Champaign
University Of Wisconsin Madison
Cornell University
Northwestern University
Columbia University
University Of California Los Angeles
University Of Chicago
University Of Texas Austin
Yale University
Pennsylvania State University University Park
Princeton University
University Of Michigan Ann Arbor
University Of North Carolina Chapel Hill
University Of California San Diego
University Of Pennsylvania
Purdue University West Lafayette
Texas A&M University College Station
University Of California Irvine
University Of Minnesota Twin Cities</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins & Rice Univ. should be on there easily.</p>