<p>what a long winded and frankly misguided ramble tk. Tons of erroneous assumptions per usual. You have not and will not find the smoking gun data to support your claims. Let me break down your arguments one by one again.</p>
<p>“^^ Here’s another “outcomes” link for Colgate (for biochemistry, not environmental bio):
<a href=“http://www.colgate.edu/distinctly-colgate/success-after-colgate/success-after-colgate-results?major=BIOC”>http://www.colgate.edu/distinctly-colgate/success-after-colgate/success-after-colgate-results?major=BIOC</a>
I see Colgate “placements” to Harvard, Yale, Hopkins, Cornell, Bristol-Myers Squibb. On the Hopkins side, I see (among the rest) placements to Baylor, Arizona State, and the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine.”"</p>
<p>I see Colgate had a RESEARCH ASSOCIATE to Harvard, please tell me that’s a Ph.D. student position at Harvard? That sounds like a lab technician.</p>
<p>Again,Colgate had a ASSISTANT SCIENTIST to BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB COMPANY, how is that a Ph.D. student?</p>
<p>.Colgate had a “Ph.D Associate?!?” to Yale. Is that a Ph.D. student as well or is it a post doc?</p>
<p>At least the JHU placement had MD “CANDIDATE” in the title which we can confirm is a JHU Med student.</p>
<p>JHU’'s placement to Yale and Harvard : <a href=“http://www.jhu.edu/careers/students/explore/pgsmajors/2007-2011/Biophysics%202007-2011.pdf”>http://www.jhu.edu/careers/students/explore/pgsmajors/2007-2011/Biophysics%202007-2011.pdf</a></p>
<p>More than the ENTIRETY of Colgate’s alumni through the past umpteen years in ONE department alone as compared to the link you sent. </p>
<p>“Do you think engagement with distinguished researchers at national universities like JHU makes a significant difference in grad school outcomes? The absence of that does not seem to be holding Oberlin or Reed students back from earning doctorates in high numbers from top programs”</p>
<p>The data you’ve supplied does not support this. The link for Middlebury (an excellent LAC) supports my stance as they have TERRIBLE placement to STEM Ph.D. programs and only good placement to humanities/education fields not as reliant on research. How do we know placements at Reed and Oberlin are not just as bad? </p>
<p>“the JHU ISIS listings for 2013-14, I see courses with some very large enrollment limits (General Biology with 215 students, Biochem with 470, Genetics with 320, Cell Biology with 320, Human Brain with 300, Developmental Biology with 300, Stem Cells with 140). The named instructors include quite a few (McCarty, Pearlman, Roberson, Shingles, Fisher, Tifft, Horner, Zirkin, Norris, Perry, Wall, Bader, Zeller) who don’t show up on the list of Tenured & Tenure Track Faculty. They may be grad students, young post-docs, or lecturers who aren’t on a tenure track. They may be excellent teachers (or not), but they presumably don’t have more influence with graduate admission committees than a random PhD-holding biology professor at Colgate.”</p>
<p>Further misguided ramble and egregious assumptons. See McCarthy here - <a href=“http://www.bio.jhu.edu/Faculty/McCarty/”>http://www.bio.jhu.edu/Faculty/McCarty/</a></p>
<p>Must be a non-tenured professor given he was former a former Dean…hmmmmm.</p>
<p>He obviously had a long and distinguished research career who is well known through the academic community. </p>
<p>You’re really grasping at straws here. Let’s leave the OP to receive advice from those on the admissions committee. He/She can easily drop an e-mail to a JHU professor to get confirmation of this as JHU has a very selective top 5 bio Ph.D. department. Their response is far more tangible than any “insight” you can provide.</p>