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Hi there,
A friend of mine is really frustrated coz she wants to do biology, but she knows she will be rejected by John Hopkins U, which is known for its biology program.
I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions/rankings about biology majors in US.
Thanks a lot!

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Friday, July 16, 2004 - 04:47 pm: Edit

Undergraduate rankings in Biology are not really possible. You obviously have the usual suspects: Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Ca-Berkeley, Princeton, Duke, Wisconsin-Madison, Cornell, Columbia, UCSD, Michigan-Ann Arbor, Washington-St Louis, UCLA, Chicago, Washington-Seattle, Penn, Yale, Brandeis, Rice, Colorado-Boulder and a few others.

You also have a bunch of LACs that rock. Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin, Carleton, Haverford, Swarthmore, Oberlin, Pomona, Scripps, Claremont McKenna, Bates, Davidson and Reed to name a few.

Rankings really don't matter at this point. It really depends on her personality and what college she likes best.

By Maggie (Maggie) on Saturday, July 17, 2004 - 02:38 am: Edit

Thanks Alexandre.
My friend is an international student with SAT between 1300-1400. She has pretty decent involvement at school (clubs, competitions) and i think her essay will be pretty good.
Any specific suggestions?
I think she likes a real college experience but not overly big.
THanks!

By Geniusash (Geniusash) on Saturday, July 17, 2004 - 02:47 am: Edit

Macalester

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Saturday, July 17, 2004 - 05:20 am: Edit

What system of education is she in? 1300-1400 is pretty good, espcially if her Verbal score is keeping it down. I really recommend she does her research. I would limit her search to a few universities...maybe 25.

Schools I would look:

Reaches:
Amherst
Bowdoin
Carleton
Cornell
Davidson
Haverford
Middlebury
Northwestern
Pomona
Reed
Tufts
University of California at Berkeley
University of Chicago
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Williams

Matches:
Wisconsin-Madison

Safeties:
University of Washington
University of Colorado

I would also seek Carolyn's advice. She really knows her stuff.

By Maggie (Maggie) on Saturday, July 17, 2004 - 02:00 pm: Edit

Thanks Alexandre.
Who is Carolyn?
She is in UK system (from HK) her verbal is around 600.

By Cornellgrad02 (Cornellgrad02) on Saturday, July 17, 2004 - 02:35 pm: Edit

Add University of Texas at Austin...they have a really good bio program with excellent faculty.

cheers,
cornellgrad02

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Saturday, July 17, 2004 - 03:05 pm: Edit

Carolyn is a frequent poster on this forum, and her knowledge of universities where sciences are concerned surpasses my own, and that is saying a lot. Just post a message in the Parents" board with the title "Carolyn". She will give you great information.

I would then look at my list and hers and mix the two. Her recommendations are geered more toward the US market whereas my point of view is more international.

By Maggie (Maggie) on Sunday, July 18, 2004 - 02:52 am: Edit

Hi Alexandre,
Thanks a lot.
Would you please evaluate my chanes?
I am an int'l student from HK studying in a CC in WA.
I have 4.0 GPA
VP of int'l student org
student ambassador, 3rd for most number of hours volunteered
international student mentor
community service club (not very active)
student senator of student gov't
volunteer in new students orientation
Will volunteer in tutoring center
I think I will have around 640/270 in TOEFL
I am majoring in business marketing.
I have 7 colleges in mind
1. UMich-Ann Arbor
2. NYU
3. UWash
4. UWis-Madison
5. Indiana U
6. USC
7. UMinn-Twin cities.
Please help!
thanks a lot!

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Sunday, July 18, 2004 - 04:57 am: Edit

Hello Maggie, like I said in your other post, you need to give me your SAT scores. For now, I would recommend the following 7 universities in that order:

#1 University of Pennsylvania-Wharton
#2 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
#3 University of California-Berkeley
#4 University of Texas-Austin
#5 New York University
#6 Indiana University-Bloomington
#7 University of Wisconsin-Madison

But you need at least a 700 on your math and at least a 600 on your verbal to have a decent shot at some of those universities.

By Maggie (Maggie) on Monday, July 19, 2004 - 01:29 am: Edit

Dear Alexandre,
Thanks a lot.
As I said I didn't take any SAT and I don't plan to,though I don't think I will get 600 in verbal.
I wanna to know my chances in thses schools and what category (safety, match, reach) those schools are in

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Monday, July 19, 2004 - 01:59 am: Edit

Without the SAT, you really cannot be considered by those schools. The SAT is a required test. There are some excellent schools that do not require the SAT, but they do not have Business programs. You would have to major in Economics.

Anyway, back to the original point, your chances at the universities I mentioned above. If you decide to take the SAT and get a 750 on the math and a 550 on the verbal:

Penn (reach)
Michigan (realistic reach)
Cal-Berkeley (reach)
Texas (realistic reach)
NYU (match)
Indiana (safety)
Wisconsin (match)

But you have to take the SAT if you want to be considered by any of those schools.