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<p>If that is a typical year, then it appears that Williams bio majors earn about 25% more life science PhDs per capita than Cornell bio majors do.</p>
<p>Williams alumni: 57 PhDs 2006-10 (11.4 per yr / 48 majors = 24%)
Cornell alumni: 412 Phds 2006-10 (82.4 per yr / 433 majors = 19%)</p>
<p>These numbers by themselves don’t indicate Williams is “better”, but they do at least suggest the LAC environment isn’t holding students back from success in life science research. Faculty engagement and mentoring may have a bigger impact on preparing students for grad school than the larger number of course offerings and other advantages of a big research university.</p>