Hello, I am a very indecisive person and I need help picking a school from the ones listed above. I’m majoring in bio for each school and I want to do genetics research in the future or something along those lines. I also love theatre and still want to perform and sing as an extracurricular in college. I would like a warm community and pleasant location as well. As of right now, I am learning towards bates due to its prestige, bio program, location, and because it offers various theatre opportunities but my main drawback is that it’s a small school with a small theatre community, but I still want competition from people and people pushing me academically and theatrically. I love the theatre of Brandeis and it’s a great research school but the location isn’t as great. The other schools I haven’t research as much so please add ur input and please help me with deciding!
What is better about the location of Bates vs. Brandeis?
Kenyon is - hmmmm - more rural and Burlington (UVM) is a small city - and the school is in the city. Santa Barbara is out West - in a beach community. It’s a much larger public than the rest.
Perhaps that would help you in your decision.
Any budget issues?
I wouldn’t say Bates is any more prestigious than any of the others - except one could argue UVM. They’re all top notch.
Did you see the genetics major at UVM?
If you have such opinion about the two you mentioned, I 'd hate for you to choose another without seeing.
You’ll mainly be on campus - so I’d likely choose Brandeis if you were deciding amongst the two.
Best of luck.
B.S. in Molecular Genetics | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences | The University of Vermont
Hi! Thanks for your advice! I meant to say that Bates location isn’t the greatest compared to Brandeis, because Brandeis has a lot more access to places compared to Bates which just has Lewiston basically. I don’t have any budget issues, so I’m grateful enough to be allowed to choose between these school. Also I’ll research more about UVM’s genetic major!! Thanks for your help!!
So if this was in error - that Brandeis is a better location - seems to me, based on what you said, that you can comfortably choose Brandeis.
I don’t think for bio prestige matters - but I would say that Brandeis is an overall “bigger”, not better name - but every name you listed, if you were worried about prestige, is at a top level except maybe UVM.
But prestige, frankly, should be low on your list IMHO.
But seems to me you could comfortable hone in on Brandeis.
Congrats.
Have you visited any of these schools ?
If location is a strong priority preference, then very few would rate Bates College above Brandeis, UCSB, or U Vermont. Many might assert that Bates has the worst location among your list of 5 schools.
For location, UCSB, U Vermont, and Brandeis are clearly ahead of the other two schools.
The top choice for competition with peers would be UC-Santa Barbara–especially regarding theatre.
Can’t speak on the other school, but my son is at Brandeis, their music and theater programs are great. Moody street in Waltham has great food and Boston is easy to get to (my son goes most weekends he is free). He has loved almost every professor he has had, though not in bio. Which school did you like the vibe of better? Small has it’s advantages, but Brandeis is by no means a large school.
If that is your real name, I would encourage you to reach out to change it.
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Desirability of a college’s location is not a purely objective criteria. This depends on the student and what they are seeking in a college location. Sure, many students prioritize being in or near a large urban area. For those students, Bates would be a poor choice. But, lots of students who do end up choosing Bates and other similar schools (Bowdoin, Colby, Hamilton, Colgate, Middlebury, etc.), believe that access to the outdoors and all that entails (proximity to skiing, hiking, camping, beaches and generally being surrounded by natural beauty) is the most important factor.
Agree with you about location – I think also for the colleges you mention (small liberal arts like Hamilton and Bates and Bowdoin), being on a tight-knit campus allows students to get to know each other better. There’s no temptation to spend all your time in the city, but you can still make road trips and find a larger city within an hour or two. So, I guess it depends whether you want a beautiful leafy quad where you can walk to all classes or a busier urban vibe where you might be driving in to class and living off campus?
UVM has a molecular genetics major, while the other 3 have biology and you could gain experience in genetics within the biology major. You can get to your career from any of these schools.
Have you visited? Do you have any preferences- size, etc? The major at UVM looks interesting.
My daughter is at Brandeis and she LOVES it! As many others said, the location is amazing. It has all of the advantages of a tight-knit campus school, plus very easy access to Boston. My daughter and her friends are able to go in all the time and have been to sporting events, museums, comedy shows, restaurants - and today even the marathon! On weekends there is a shuttle that picks up right at the Brandeis dorms and takes students into Boston for free. It’s also close enough to take ubers, or the commuter train line. The town of Waltham, while not particularly sexy, is easily accessible and has lots of restaurants, grocery stores, etc so you never feel stuck on campus.
kenyon immediately jumped out to me as an “odd one out” in terms of lack of overall reputation for biology/genetics in particular (not as familiar with bates so don’t want to speak to it). just looking at the bio department website you’re not going to have nearly as many professors (Biology Faculty | Kenyon College), many of whom are shared with environmental studies, or as many genetics-specific courses available to you compared to at a larger program at a full university. that also might mean fewer undergrad lab opportunities for genetics/more competition within the department. also doesn’t seem like too many bio majors at kenyon go on to research careers? (After Kenyon | Kenyon College) i have a close friend at kenyon who loves it but if research is your goal i’m not sure a small LAC is going to have as many resources as some of your other choices
Given what is going on today, I think it is a wise idea to ask each school about funding for research.
are any of these schools significantly closer/farther to home for you? is weather a consideration? any major price differences?
how do you feel about ucsb being 23k undergrads? how about uvm’s 12k? brandeis is about 3.6k and bates is around 1.8k. do you have preferences about too large and too small beyond a generally warm community? also, ucsb has a bfa theatre program that is pretty competitive–not sure if that would impact your experience auditioning in terms of competition?
Actually, LACs have plenty of research opportunities. Kenyon in particular has the Summer Program where students collaborate with professors on projects (including in bio), while receiving a generous summer fellowship:
My daughter’s friend was a bio major there and now has a research position at a major university. Of course, LACs will have smaller departments when compared to larger universities, but it doesn’t mean that the opportunities are limited there.
As for theater, Kenyon has a very active theater scene but it’s pretty competitive to get roles in the theater department productions. There are more opportunities at student productions through various clubs.
It’s funny but when I read your desire for “a warm community and a pleasant location” plus your interest in theater, Kenyon is the one that jumped out at me - unlike several other posters. This is NOT from personal experience but from hearing reports from several students whom I’ve known who have gone there.
Obviously this is going to have to be a personal decision, so I’d encourage you to visit the two you haven’t visited. Vermont is small as state flagship universitues go (11,500) and is heavily female (64:36 female:male ratio). Burlington is frequently rated as one of the top college towns in America, but you have to like winter to fully appreciate it.
Brandeis is very small for a research university (3600 enrollment) and is also more heavily female (58:42) female:male ratio). Of course its location in Waltham, MA puts it in Greater Boston, “Collegetown, USA”.
Bates and Kenyon are both quite small (1700 enrollment) and in small towns with Kenyon again being more heavily female at 56:44 female:male. Bates stands out as the exception in gender distribution at almost exactly 50:50 female:male.
100%.
All of these schools are perfectly fine for biology majors who are interested in genetics. Your choice may be different than my choice or somebody else’s choice…because we all look for different things in a school.
Think about size, location, weather etc. Talk to students and ask questions. Visit if possible.
As noted, I would ask about research funding given all of the cuts.
This cannot be overemphasized in your situation.
…unless we’re talking about campus beauty. Then the rural LACs would shine.
Personal preference as Burlington & Santa Barbara are among the most beautiful locations in the country and both campuses are very attractive. UCSB reaches out to the Pacific Ocean.