<p>I am planning to major in Biology. I was wondering..are there any private universities that are big on biology or science? Only in southern California please!</p>
<p>Caltech
Harvey Mudd
USC</p>
<p>Definitely check out Occidental College!</p>
<p>I second all the suggestions. Caltech, Harvey Mudd, USC, and Occidental are all great schools. Fact: the movie "Fired Up" (about two guys coming to cheer camp- it was in theaters quite recently) was filmed at Occidental. Caltech is in the show "Numbers", I think. I wouldn't be surprised if USC has been in one or more shows or movies, it's a really nice campus.</p>
<p>I don't know why Occidental was mentioned in the context of biology. They have 9 full time faculty members and a few adjuncts. They do seem to have a niche of environmental biology and marine biology, but they don't have much in the way of [biomedical] research. There is only a single NIH research grant (for 233,000) at the whole college. I don't know much about the rest of the university, but I wouldn't say it is among the strongest in southern California. USC or Caltech definitely are.</p>
<p>I second molliegym - and yes, I'm pretty sure USC has been featured in tons of movies (:</p>
<p>additionally - Harvey Mudd is a solely science school with other classes taken at the 4 other Claremont colleges.</p>
<p>The top 3:</p>
<p>Caltech
Harvey Mudd College
UCLA</p>
<p>^^OP said private schools. UCLA is not a private school.</p>
<p>When visiting Harvey Mudd, check out Pomona as well.</p>
<p>*** And as you are a female, you might want to dd Scripps. CMC is also a great school and part of the Claremont colleges, but more known for their poli sci than sciences.</p>
<p>"additionally - Harvey Mudd is a solely science school with other classes taken at the 4 other Claremont colleges."</p>
<p>Er... Incorrect. Mudd itself classes in other areas, such as humanities and writing and art and whatnot. And seeing as there's such a huge humanities requirement but no requirement whatsoever for students to take anything at the other Claremont colleges if they do not wish to, that means that Mudd has to provide all those courses.</p>
<p>For example, from the list of visitable courses being taught at Harvey Mudd in the fall semester only when I visited:
Special Topics in Anthropology: War and Conflict, The Jewish Experience in America, Workshop in Hand Press Printing, Intro to Digital Photography, Contemporary Art Issues 1945+, Black & White Photography, Elementary Chinese, Dickens Hardy & Victorian Age Major Authors, Jazz Improvisation, Ethics: Ancient and Modern, Political Innovation, and the list goes on.</p>
<p>Pepperdine has a strong Natural Sciences Division.</p>
<p>Natural</a> Science Division | Seaver College | Pepperdine University</p>
<p>^^^ Have you seriously looked at the programs here?? They only offer the most bare bones of biological science coursework. There are a grand total of 8 faculty in their biological sciences and 5 in their chemistry. This is even worse than that other one somebody had suggested, Occidental. If you are serious about studying biological sciences (i am assuming biomedical) find yourself a university with a medical school attached or at least a sizable research operation as that is what attracts top flight faculty in the biomedical sciences.</p>
<p>UC santa barbera is has a good science school
nice campus too</p>
<p>belevitt, you identify characteristics of large universities that attract "top flight faculty" whose priority is research rather than teaching. In my opinion, a student who wants to learn directly from professors, rather than grad students, should give strong consideration to schools like Pepperdine and the other private schools mentioned above. For example, Dr. Stephen Davis at Pepperdine, who teaches biology, recently won the Cherry Award for Great Teaching, one of the most prestigious teaching awards in the country. It is also worth noting that Pepperdine has an exceptional record of getting its science students into medical school.</p>
<p>Cherry</a> Award | Natural Science Division | Pepperdine University</p>
<p>countryboy, I guess you caught some of my biases. While it is true that larger universities have their intro courses (lab/sections) taught by TA's, you might find that this is actually a very good thing. There was a thread on this site not too long ago discussing the advantages and disadvantages of learning from TA's vs professors. </p>
<p>My issue with the schools mentioned revolves around a distinct lack of diversity in coursework. You can take a pretty comparable (at least in topics) general biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry etc anywhere. However, it takes faculty with specific expertise in a certain area to teach a class in that. When a school has half a dozen faculty members, they end up with a very generic set of courses (like Pepperdine). </p>
<p>Furthermore, people outside of science don't seem to appreciate the role that research places in scientific education. It is vitally important to understand how knowledge is created in a first hand manner. That is why science courses have labs and why medical and graduate school requires research experience. Again at a place with few faculty, there isn't as much variety or opportunity to engage in research.</p>
<p>I don't dispute the quality of the faculty at Pepperdine or Occidental or whatever other schools have been mentioned. I think its great that the one professor you mentioned received an award from his alma mater (Baylor). I was disputing whether it would be a good place to train in science.</p>
<p>I actually signed up for this Web site just so I could counter what Belevitt is saying. I graduated from Pepperdine in 2000, and I was pre-med my first two years there. Pepperdine has an EXCELLENT natural sciences department. As countryboy said, Pepperdine has a superb record of its students getting into medical school - about double the national average, actually. The faculty are very scholarly, and they encourage undergraduate research…even doing research side-by-side with faculty. Undergraduates routinely present their research at scientific meetings and many are published. Pre-med students have the chance to take human prosection as a course/lab, which is extremely rare at the undergraduate level. Pepperdine goes beyond the prerequisites required of graduate and professional schools, which is why its students are accepted in large numbers post-grad. You should also be aware that many medical schools/graduate schools LOVE science students from liberal arts schools because they tend to be very well-rounded thinkers. Science students at many large public universities get tunnel vision, whereas liberal arts schools force their students to spend quite a lot of time on a variety of core areas that enhance logic, judgment, and appreciation of the world around them. At a school like Pepperdine, you’re going to spend half of your time there taking core classes, then you’re going to be going above-and-beyond what grad schools are looking for in science majors. But let me say this: it is HARD. Many students just don’t make it. But if you can get through it - with good grades! - you will do well post-grad.</p>