<p>I search for biology strong colleges. Found someone say Earlham is strong in Biology. But I didn't find it in Princeton 378. Denison, Centre, College of wooster,Earlham,Illinois Wesleyan,Kalamazoo,St Olaf I need to choose four from them. Anyone can do me a favour? Thanks.</p>
<p>What favor do you want? Do you want us to pick your four colleges for you, based on any criteria we choose? Or, are you going to tell us a little more about your qualifications and what is most important to you? </p>
<p>They are all small midwestern liberal arts colleges, roughly equal in selectivity. There are no reliable undergraduate biology department rankings. If biology department strength is your most important criterion, compare the online course descriptions, course schedules, and faculty biographies. </p>
<p>Earlham’s biology reputation may be based on its relatively high rate of PhD production in the life sciences.
[Graduate</a> School & Ph.D. Prowess, Academics | Earlham College](<a href=“http://www.earlham.edu/academics/hallmarks-of-excellence/extraordinary-alumni/graduate-school-phd-prowess/]Graduate”>http://www.earlham.edu/academics/hallmarks-of-excellence/extraordinary-alumni/graduate-school-phd-prowess/)</p>
<p>Here are the numbers of alumni of these schools who earned doctorates in the biological sciences between 2006 and 2010 (inclusive), with a couple other colleges added for comparison:</p>
<p>79 Carleton (~2100 students)
66 Oberlin (2900 students)
53 St. Olaf (~3000 students)
36 Kalamazoo
32 College of Wooster
32 Macalester
30 Earlham (~1200 students)
22 Illinois Wesleyan
22 Denison
16 Centre (~1400 students)</p>
<p>If you think these numbers might be significant, you may want to adjust them for school size (or, if you can find the data, for the number of biology majors).</p>
<p>source: National Science Foundation, webcaspar.com</p>
<p>The Princeton Review is not the ultimate arbiter of quality, especially because its mission is to list a variety of colleges across a number of categories which are academically strong. That means it can’t list 19 small, not particularly selective, Midwestern LACs because it would come at the expense of discussing say, suburban Jesuit universities. As a result, many fine schools are left out, relegated to the best “regional” lists. </p>
<p>I’m on my phone so I can’t confirm that Earlham was indeed left out. Regardless, it’s still a good school; I wouldn’t be particularly concerned. </p>
<p>One final thought, finding the " best" school for biology is almost a fool’s errand. Best for whom? Especially at LACs, different departments are going to have different substrengths (to give two non LAC examples, Emory is outstanding for neuroscience but poor for say, zoology, while Auburn has phenomenal offerings/opportunities in the latter sub field) and biology is a sufficiently popular major at almost all somewhat selective schools that most departments will offer far more courses than an undergrad could ever hope to take.</p>
<p>On the PR web site, Earlham is listed among the 158 “Best Midwestern” schools.</p>
<p>2012 Fiske Guide (highly regarded by many counselors and families) gives Earlham four stars out of five for academics, three for “social” and FIVE for “quality of life.” (The only other schools I noticed that received a rating that high in that last category were the much more selective Brown University and Haverford Collge, so it’s in rarefied company there.) </p>
<p>They also list their strongest programs as biology, psychology, biochemistry, human development and social relations, art, and English.</p>
<p>Earlham, a Quaker college, strikes me as a truly rare gem of a school given its high acceptance rate.</p>
<p>Thank you all. So much helpful</p>
<p>Could you please tell me where I can find the numbers of alumni of these schools who earned doctorates in the biological sciences?
Thanks a lot.</p>
<p>The wikipedia page for earlham states: “Earlham ranks ninth in the nation (out of 1,306 colleges and universities) in its percentage of graduates who go on to receive a Ph.D. in the biological sciences and twenth-ninth in the percentage of students going on to Ph.D. programs in all fields.”</p>
<p>I would think that admissions or the bio department would have the current statistics.</p>
<p>My wife was a bio major, but got her PhD in a different field, so I guess doesn’t count for your purposes :)</p>
<p>Take the PR with a grain of salt. For example George Washington U is rated as “having dorms that are like palaces.” However many of the older dorms at GWU have window air conditioner units. Not exactly what I’d want in my palace…</p>
<p>@dudedad - I understand, but the question was not “does it provide a good education” but rather “the number of alumni who earn doctorates”. While it was not a direct answer to the question, my post did provide some information and approach to answering the question. One of the reasons that a lot of professor’s children go to schools like Earlham is that they prepare the students well for graduate work and research. In a post above were numbers published by NSF. Call it PR if you want, but if you look at the numbers, Earlham takes in a less selective student body and has higher outcomes (depending on your measure) for graduates than many of its peers. Other schools can boast higher average income for graduates or many other measures, but the numbers for success in graduate school and medical school is more than just PR.</p>
<p>Wendy - Might you be Japanese? Earlham is perhaps the most renowned school in America for Japanese - U.S. partnerships and studies.</p>
<p>Have you looked at Carleton, Kenyon and Grinnell?</p>
<p>I’ll just add that though these Midwest LACs are roughly similar in size, they are very very different in feel. Denison and Earlham, Depauw and Wooster…totally different kids, for the most part.</p>
<p>Could you elaborate on the differences I the kids at these schools–particularly Earlham and Dennison.
Thanks.</p>
<p>Also the difference between Wooster and Earlham, please. They are one my sons evolving list as safeties. Reach schools will probably be Haverford and Grinnell.</p>
<p>This video announcing the bands playing at Denison D-Day this fall would give you a good view of a cross section (more than 300) of the students at Denison:</p>
<p>[They?ve</a> done it again « TheDEN [Denison University]](<a href=“http://www.denison.edu/theden/2013/10/theyve-done-it-again/]They?ve”>http://www.denison.edu/theden/2013/10/theyve-done-it-again/)</p>
<p>The guidebooks are all different. For example, my edition of Fiske includes Hope College (#100, USNWR) but not Hillsdale (#82). The Princeton edition includes Hillsdale but not Hope. I wouldn’t worry about it if you’ve done plenty of research on Earlham and consider it a good fit for your needs and interests.</p>
<p>On a related note, my 2013 edition of Princeton 377 does not include Washington & Lee. Skips from Washington & Jefferson to Washington State. Nor is the college included in indices. I’ve always wondered why…</p>