Help me edit my list : Bio/Chem/Enviro Science, small classes, safe, collaborative and nerdy [MA resident, 3.8 GPA, 1490 SAT]

College Search & Lists
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I would strongly urge you to have your parents run the Net Price Calculator (NPC) at the schools I put in the low probability bucket. If the NPC doesn’t spit back a price of $60k or lower, then you know you need to eliminate those schools, and you can let the board know so that schools that don’t offer merit scholarships are no longer suggested.

The other schools I suggested all offer merit aid, so though they may range in difficulty to get the price below $55k, all of them have the possibility of doing so. This site might be helpful to gauge the likelihood of getting merit aid and the average size of the package: Merit Aid by Institution – College Transitions

Not all colleges are in it, but probably all the shools I put in the likely, toss-up, and lower probability categories are (and a few of the extremely likelies). For those that are not found on that aggregator’s site, if you refer to the school’s Common Data Set (.e. College Name Common Data Set) and look at section H2A it will give you info on the merit aid at the school (you may need to do some division to get the percentage without need who received merit).

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Right, Biochem and Molecular Biology are examples of interdisciplinary fields like Environmental Science, so that is where differentiation starts to show up more. Same with something like Neuroscience or Cognitive Science, and so on.

And just like with ES, it can be a little hard to automatically identify good Biochem LACs, because they could structure and report it different ways. And for that matter, not all Biochem is specifically focused on Molecular Biology.

So Grinnell, say, has a popular Biological Chemistry major, but it looks like they only have one advanced elective specifically tagged as Molecular Biology. Wesleyan offers more molecular courses through its MB&B department, including at the introductory, intermediate, and advanced level.

So off hand, Grinnell looks to me like a fine choice for a more general Biochem program, but Wesleyan would be the better choice if you were specifically interested in Molecular Biology.

And so on. The more specialized your interest, the more likely you will find material distinctions in resource allocation.

Edit: Just a BTW, but Wooster, say, is another example of an LAC that has really leaned specifically into Molecular Biology:

Again like Wesleyan, but not Grinnell, they offer molecular courses at each level, including through their BCMB department. I note I am not offering an opinion on whether any of these programs is better or worse, just pointing out that it is readily apparent whether a given LAC has devoted resources specifically to Molecular Biology, or just Biochem generally, or just Bio and Chem–once you really dig into their department pages and course lists.

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43

With any of these schools, particularly the private schools, do not be immediately put off by the pricetag. Some will offer you good merit aid that will make it fall into your price range. For any school you are interested in you can google to find out how much merit aid (on average) they give out and to how many people. Google “common data set” + the name of the school.

For example, since I plugged WPI earlier, google “common data set WPI” and the top link for me is a data report from 2022-2023 school year. Open that and you get this: https://www.wpi.edu/sites/default/files/2023-02/WPI_CDS_2022-2023_2-27-23.pdf

It will give you all kinds of data related to applicants and accepted students etc. But to see merit and need based aid, go to section H, Financial Aid. (It’s the same exact set up and format for every college, always Section H for Financial Aid.) If you scroll to section H2a it will show you the number of students who received non-need based (e.g. merit) aid. At WPI for this year it was 574 students, with an average award of $21,437.

Section G of the report has total expenses. Last year for WPI that was $56,000 for tuition, plus an average of $16,688 for room & board and $1096 for other stuff. So total of $73,784. That’s a big number and scary. But if you get that average merit award to defray the cost, then it becomes $52,347, which is within your budget.

You can do this for any college. So if you see one that sounds great, but you are worried about what the listed price says for tuition + room/board, remember to check and see what merit looks like for them, it might be more attainable than you think.

Good luck!

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44

Wesleyan is amongst the very best LACs in the country for the hard sciences. It is routinely amongst the very top 2 or 3 LACs in research spending. Consult the NSF data. Of the schools on your list, the ranking (which includes the research behemoths) for research spend would be as follows:

Cornell #14
Wesleyan #349
Haverford #442
Bowdoin #522
Colby #531
Middlebury #542
Hamilton #573

In fact, the LACs closest to Wes in this respect are Bryn Mawr #359, Amherst #383 and Wellesley #400. Williams is at #418 and Harvey Mudd is at #488 fwiw.

https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=rankingBySource&ds=herd

The usual criticism of LACs offering insufficient advanced coursework in math and other science subjects for spikey students is minimized at Wesleyan because of its small PhD program. There is always a ton of research activity there too, due in part to the graduate programs and due in part to research spend. It gets a lot of research grant money for a school its size.

In physics, an area of excellence for Wes, they have won two Apker awards and have had two finalists in the PhD granting division of the award, meaning their winners and finalists were competing against Harvard, MIT, Cal, etc. (there is a non-PhD granting division, in which the other LACs tend to compete)

And a new science building is on its way, and it is going to be stunning:

image

Don’t misunderstand my post. You can receive a fine, tippy top, science education at any of the other LACs. But Wes is far from just a humanities school. Far, far from it.

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45

Yeah, but that’s not the point. He’s responding to a student interested in the sciences who has a list of NE LACs (and one R1) that omits a LAC nationally known for its strength in the sciences because she thought of it as a school mostly focused on humanities. In that context, it makes total sense to point out Wesleyan’s noted strengths in this area (or that of some other misunderstood college).

And, the point I raised about research spending isn’t nothing. When my D was at Wes, her R1 experience in a consortium of top northeastern US colleges (including Williams and Swat) put her in a position to appreciate just how much research activity there was at her home campus relative to the other consortium institutions. It was notable and something that the professors at the other consortium schools would reference not infrequently.

IDK. Yes, agreed, you can get a fantastic science education at any of the top LACs. But I think it’s a mistake to gloss over the details and not recognize that they’re not interchangeable. There are things that these schools do better than others. Who would argue, for example, that Middlebury isn’t super spikey in languages, or Williams in Art History? Or Wesleyan in Film?

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46

I agree, as we discussed further above in the same post and subsequent posts, there can be many material distinctions between the science programs of different LACs.

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I agree with your point that most (if not all … I haven’t really done an inventory in my head about it) that the top LACs will have general strength in the sciences (and in the other areas you list). Said another way, you’re not going to make a huge mistake. But if you fall in love with something one level down in specificity and miss, you might feel it if you wind up understanding that LAC X is super good at it.

I’d hate to discover I really want to study a language and get my PhD and previously blew off applying to Middlebury.

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Wow, thank you so much! This really helps me see Wesleyan in totally different way! Thank you!

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To the extent that these attributes can be identified through a related survey, it’s probably a good thing that Hamilton and Bowdoin appear in the site linked below, in which the results were derived from questions on these aspects:

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Based on this thread and my research tonight, which included a look at the likelihood of merit aid, these are the schools I am adding to my list for a closer look:

Binghamton
Wesleyan
Bucknell
William & Mary
URochester
UDelaware
Union
Dickinson
Hobart William Smith
Ithaca

Any additional thoughts?

I can’t thank you enough for all the help and discussion!

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51

Good luck!!

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Agree - I think most colleges require key cards to access dorms and academic buildings. We’ve been to Bates College many times. Have always felt safe around campus. It’s charming, with the pond and the walking trail, and the beautiful quad. Bookstore, Chase Hall, etc, have always been open to visitors when we’ve been there. Bio/chem are very popular majors at Bates. My daughter just completed two science classes and a math class and the professors were excellent in all three. Would definitely recommend!

Edit: Short list of small colleges strong in sciences and high med school acceptance rates (if interested): The Best Liberal Arts Colleges for Medical School (2024) — Shemmassian Academic Consulting

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53

I was also gonna recommend Conn Coll to OP!

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54

Have you looked at Connecticut College? It is a very good school- not a reach and might provide you with a good merit scholarship.

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Within the general realms of biological sciences and environmental studies, Connecticut College may be most notable for its top-notch botany program and nationally recognized arboretum.

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I think they would be reaches for this student.

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Conn Coll is also on the water, which provides more opportunity for marine biology if that is of interest. OP, I think you should take a look.

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Put UMASS-Amherst on the list. I’ve got a kid there in life sciences with great relationships with professors, started research as a freshman, etc. so much great stuff happening there in STEM. Lots of ways to make it small.

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Thank you! Adding Conn College and UMass-Amherst.

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I would look at Juniata College as a safety. They meet everything on your list and environmental science is a real strength there with a special off-campus semester at their lakeside field station. Also historically very strong for chemistry, they rank high on the per-capita feeders for PhD programs in chemistry. Generous with merit.

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