Top Schools for Undergraduate Chemistry

College Search & Selection
41

<p>
[quote]
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

[/quote]
</p>

<p>trollan CC</p>

42

<p>Berkeley's the only one on the Periodic Table. ;)</p>

43

<p>^ Twice =P</p>

44

<p>I guess RPI didn’t make the list lol…why not?</p>

45

<p>I am afraid that graduate and undergraduate chemistry departments are different. That is because the objectives of th eprograms differ. A lot of research publications does not make for a good undergraduate chemistry program. On the other hand, I do not go to hire graduate-level chemists at places like Carleton College or Haverford College (or Rose Hulman Institute of Technology[?]) because the reaeach work there is not as cutting-edge as at other schools. It is nice to interview a chemist who knows something current about the specialization in chemistry I am interested in. Princeton hasd a top-notch graduate and undergraduate program. Some of the lists I have sene above seem to have been generated by a random-institute generator. Berkeley, Harvard, Cal Tech, Stanford are major international research universities, but some of the others are not, to be tactful.</p>

46

<p>It’s alive!</p>

47

<p>[americanchemistry.com</a> : Shape the Future of American Chemistry: Finding the Right<br>Chemistry Program](<a href=“http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_acc/sec_article.asp?SID=1&DID=5880&CID=33&VID=109&RTID=0&CIDQS=&Taxonomy=&specialSearch=]americanchemistry.com”>http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_acc/sec_article.asp?SID=1&DID=5880&CID=33&VID=109&RTID=0&CIDQS=&Taxonomy=&specialSearch=)

</p>

48

<p>^ This is grad school info. The OP (three years ago!) was looking for undergrad.</p>

49

<p>kerfeet is correct. Also, many of the large top ranked graduate programs have faculty that only deal with PhD candidates or postdocs and not undergrads. While the smaller programs such as RPI have faculty that work with undergrads and degree programs that put an emphasis on undergraduate research working directly with a faculty advisor.</p>

50

<p>Sometimes you can get more research at the under-grad level by attending a really good LAC…</p>

51

<p>Especially at the LACs (or any at schools) that require every senior to do master’s level research and write a thesis on it.</p>

52

<p>^^^last year close to $1.5 million supported undergraduates engaged in research at Northwestern.</p>

53

<p>Holy Cross has a strong chemistry program and the school is undergraduate only. HC built brand new science facility.</p>

54

<p>How good is RIT for chemistry or chemistry-related sciences?</p>

55

<p>Anyone found good rankings yet?
I’m personally looking for an undergraduate university that will lead into a good research institution (MIT/Harvard/Stanford); thinking Organic or Organometallic Chem.</p>

56

<p>^ You’re in-state for the best: Berkeley’s College of Chemistry.</p>

57

<p>Definitely very high on my list. The only thing that worries me is the grade deflation I hear a lot about (more difficult to uphold GPA for graduate school), as well as the higher difficulty of obtaining research as an underclassman.</p>

58

<p>^ College of Chemistry is a lot smaller than, say, Molecular Cell Biology. There are a lot of chemistry professors and chemistry is not a very popular major…so, finding undergrad research should not pose a problem. I also wouldn’t be worried about grade deflation if you really are a competitive applicant to schools like Stanford, MIT and Harvard.</p>

59

<p>1) Berkeley (18)</p>

<p>2) Caltech (14)
2) Stanford (14)</p>

<p>4) MIT (12)</p>

<p>5) Harvard (11)</p>

<p>…
…</p>

<p>Yale (5)</p>

60

<p>Are they so selected for their teaching or reseach ability? Hopefully both.</p>