<p>Hi, can someone help me with this? My daughter is applying for Fall 2012 at some of the colleges in US for Biotechnology.</p>
<p>Some options which we have thought of are : University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford, Penn State university, Georgetown university- DC, Northwestern, Evanston, SJSU, NYU Poly, North Eastern Unv and University of Texas at Dallas. </p>
<p>How do these colleges rate in terms of course content and future prospects?</p>
<p>I am not too sure whether to go by standard rankings.</p>
<p>The University of Illinois - Chicago program in Rockford is a medical school. Here in the US, medical schools are graduate programs, not undergraduate. Also, you list Northwestern and Evanston separately – Northwestern is located in the city of Evanston. The list is all over the board. Can you give us your daughter’s stats, any special desires (does she like urban campuses, rural ones, east coast, west coast)? Where are you getting information from currently? We can help you more with more information.</p>
<p>You should also decide/explore what KIND of biotechnology these schools specialize in. My son was turned off to the major when he saw that on his campus biotech is part of the school of agriculture.</p>
<p>I work in biotech. Biotechnology is a broad field that encompasses everything from animal nutraceuticals to cell biology to nanoscale assembles for drug delivery to bioengineering to regulatory affairs. Here is my personal opinion: your child should get a solid degree in a more traditional scientific discipline, such as molecular biology, biochemistry, bioengineering, etc. When we hire for entry level positions and see something like a B.Sc. in Biotechnology on someones resume, we assume that the person took a huge variety of coursework without focusing on anything in depth, so s/he might lack the knowledge required for the job with somewhat specific duties.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone. We are from India and hence are going entirely by websites, blogs and other feedback from seniors from my daughter’s college who are currently studying in the US. My daughter is basically interested in Pharmaceutical biotechnology and will graduate in June 2012 with a degree in Biotech Engineering. She does not have work experience ; we would be interested in a college which would give her a sound base in Pharmaceutical biotechnology. The colleges which I had mentioned have this as part of their curriculum and hence we have shortlisted them. </p>
<p>You could perhaps throw more light on this. We have already checked regarding biotech colleges with agriculture as a base and have not gone for these colleges. </p>
<p>We understand that Wes evaluation is also a must in some colleges (for international students) and would prefer not to seek admission in such colleges. Urban or rural campus would not make a difference for us.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s unreasonable for parents to help with a search for grad schools when it’s another country and the whole system is foreign. I’d go easy on him, MPM.</p>
<p>a 22+ year old college Biotech engineering senior [ i.e. someone who is already a computer savvy student] should be able to do just as good a job at researching colleges online as her parents, regardless of whether they are in their own country or overseas. That is why I added the graduate school links that can be forwarded to her DD.</p>