suehl

Hi everyone,

I feel really outdated posting here again after all the college admission craze I went through last year as a hs senior.

Anyways, so i am about to finish my freshman year at cornell. i am in the college of engineering and kind of in electrical engineering/computer science track, but through taking some biology related courses here, i have come to realize that engineering isn't what i really want to do: biology turns out to be my true love.

i have a couple of good reasons why i want to transfer out of cornell. my question is then, a)does yale have a good biology program?(i am not a premed) and b)does yale have lots of researchs going on? (cornell is a huge school=>lots of research opportunities)


about me/specs:

my GPA from the fall semester is 3.5. but considering the grade deflation at cornell AND the difficulty of the courses i took/am taking, I think 3.5 is just slightly less than ideal. (if you wonder, for the first sem, i took orgo(for sophomores), an intense cs programming course(for sophomores), and 1st year engineering math(with an A). and others are just required freshman stuff)

this semester i'm taking: microbiology for sophomores, biochemistry for juniors/seniors, 2nd sem engineering math and 1st sem engineering physics and some other required courses. i am expecting and hoping for something higher than 3.5 for this semester.

i also work in this genetics/biochem lab as a lab technician, but i will be doing intense research over this summer (which i believe is rare for a freshman)

i have a couple of other good extracurricula but since i already cut the ivy line in the past, i don't think this much hs school isn't necessary here.

RECAP:
a)does yale have a good biology program?(i am not a premed)
b)does yale have lots of research going on?
and c)do i have any shot in tranfer?

thanks in advance.

Halcykon

As a prefrosh, I can only tell you what I gathered from BDD, and it may be far from the truth. Don't quote me on this!

a/b) From what I hear, Yale's science program is smaller than other colleges like Princeton. The pros of this is that you get to know your peers and professors much closer, and there is less competition. The cons of this is that you'd possibly be missing out on more opportunities. Plus, the liberal arts seems to be more focused on at Yale.

But in response to this, I know a freshman Yalie (premed) who will be interning at London this summer. So as far as I see, opportunities won't be hard to find.

Despite its small program, it's still top-notch academically speaking. Science programs generally don't have grade-inflation, and classes (like orgo) are still challenging. Yale is also expanding its science programs with decisions such as the recent Acquisition of Bayer Complex

c) no idea. Good luck!

svalbardlutefisk

Despite what Halcykon said above, Yale's science programs are among the best in every field (except engineering), and are particularly strong in biology, where Yale probably has one of the top 5 graduate programs in the country. What this amounts to for undergrads is that a biology major at Yale will be at no disadvantage compared to a biology major anywhere else.
Research opportunities at Yale, both working for faculty and using Yale money to do your own research, are tremendous. There is a ton of research going on at Yale, and, again, since biology is one of Yale's strengths, you will have no trouble finding research opportunities in it.
On the other hand, I would give you very little shot at being admitted as a transfer student. Yale has a tiny transfer admissions rate, and a 3.5 GPA is probably not going to cut it. That doesn't mean you shouldn't apply, but realistically, you are very likely to be rejected.

T26E4

"but realistically, you are very likely to be rejected." And this is not due to the shortage of great candidates but just the huge nos. of applicants (700-800) for the painfully small number of vacancies -- around thirty or so each year it seems.

Halcykon

Yeah, like I said I don't go there yet, so I don't know everything.
An Ivy league education is an Ivy league education, no less.