Since you’re interested in getting a doctoral degree, I used this resource to help brainstorm some schools. It indicates how many alumni from an undergraduate college went on to earn a doctorate, and you can narrow it down by broad fields (like biological and biomedical sciences). You can look at a time range (I looked at 2000-2018, the last year in this resource’s data set) particular states, etc.
At a big state school, there are tons of options outside of Greek life. Few of them will have more than 30% of the student body participating in Greek life (if that), which means that 70+% of students will not be. I went to a school known for its party scene and about 27% of students participating in Greek life, and it wasn’t even a blip on my radar.
Although the Midwest was notably not included when you mentioned your geographic preferences, three of the seven out-of-state schools on your list were in that region (UMich, Wisconsin, and UIUC). Thus, I’m giving myself some flexibility to add some midwestern schools because they have some excellent schools that don’t get quite as much attention simply because they are in “flyover country.”
These are some big state schools that are producing a lot of students who have gone on to earn a doctorate in the bio sciences, leaving me to believe that there are excellent opportunities for interested students at these schools. The number in parentheses behind each school is the number of bio doctorates earned from its alumni between 2000-2018. The schools are sorted by my guesses as to your chances of admission:
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
Likely (60-79%)
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Rutgers – New Brunswick (762)
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U. of Massachusetts – Amherst (455): Part of the 5-college consortium that allows students to take classes at Amherst, Mount Holyoke, Hampshire, and Smith
Toss-Up (40-59%)
Lower Probability (20-39%)
Low Probability (less than 20%)
That being said, however, there are a number of opportunities for undergrads at schools that have few or no graduate students. When looked on a per capita basis (whether the total undergrad population or the number of graduates in a field in the most recent year, both of which are available at College Navigator), you can see that they produce a lot more students on a percentage-wise basis who go on to earn a doctorate. This resource has done some of those calculations for you: Top Feeders to Ph.D. Programs
If you’re open to checking out smaller schools, here are some you may want to consider. Once again, they are sorted by my guesses as to your chances for admission; I also suspect you would be likely to receive very good merit aid at a number of them as well.
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
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Allegheny (PA ): (189)
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Cal Poly – Humboldt: Mid-sized (162)
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Ithaca (NY): Mid-sized; students can also take classes at Cornell; (115)
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Kalamazoo (MI): (131)
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Ohio Wesleyan (129)
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Ursinus (PA ): (121)
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U. of Puget Sound (WA): (111)
Likely (60-79%)
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College of Wooster (OH): (107)
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St. Olaf (MN): Students can also take classes at Carleton (235)
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SUNY Geneseo (NY): Mid-sized; (189)
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Whitman (WA): (117)
Toss-Up (40-59%)
Lower Probability (20-39%)
Low Probability (less than 20%)