What college should i go if i want to go the biology/premed route, which program is the strongest???
None of the 3 is clearly better than the others for every premed student. They all offer all the courses you’ll need to satisfy your premed requirements (as virtually every other LAC or research university does.) They are all respected, highly ranked schools. “Biology/premed” is broad enough that if you compare any two highly ranked colleges, neither one is likely to be “strongest” in every respect. For example, maybe one will have better-taught organic chemistry courses, but the other will have better pre-med advising. It is unlikely that anyone on this forum is familiar enough with all three colleges to be able to compare them knowledgeably at that level of detail.
Middlebury is a small liberal arts college in a small, rural, northern New England town.
Berkeley and Michigan are two huge public research universities.
So Middlebury is very different from the other two.
One of its weaknesses is that it will offer fewer biology courses and professors.
One of its strengths is that it will have much smaller classes, which will always be taught by professors (not by graduate students.)
Have you visited all three? Have you at least done overnight visits to other LACs and large research universities? If you cannot even decide whether you prefer a rural LAC or a big state flagship, then you may as well choose based on cost. Which one would be least expensive for you? If the net costs are all about the same, do you have any preference for location? Which is closest to your family?
The answer to you question is that Berkeley has the strongest program for biology, but all three are excellent for pre-med. Finances and fit should be your biggest concerns at this point.
All are great choices for pre-med. So you should decide (as others have noted) based on finances and whether you are more attracted to a LAC or a big University. Your choices are the very top of both categories, so you can’t go wrong. But it is a question of the best fit for your temperament.
“So Middlebury is very different from the other two.”
Actually tk, all three are different from each other. Michigan and Cal may both be large research universities, but that’s where the similarities end. They have very little in common.
daydreamers90, you have three excellent options. If finances are not a factor, I would go for fit. Explore all three options as best you can and go to the college/university that meets most of your criteria. Medical schools will not favor applicants from one of those colleges/universities over those from the other two.
I’d change the word “program” (to “department”, maybe).
Berkeley may indeed have the largest number of excellent scholars producing the most ground-breaking research.That doesn’t necessarily mean it provides the best instruction to undergraduates in the average biology class. I don’t think any of us could say for sure which of the 3 does that.
^^^^^Fine, biology department it is.
“Berkeley may indeed have the largest number of excellent scholars producing the most ground-breaking research.That doesn’t necessarily mean it provides the best instruction to undergraduates in the average biology class. I don’t think any of us could say for sure which of the 3 does that.”
That is true of course. Perhaps if Berkeley were a private university it would get a bit larger boost from some posters here?
They’re all great. Something to know about Berkeley is that the premed courses are very competitive. It’s got a great name and it’s an excellent school, but definitely evaluate what environment you will learn best in. I have no idea what the competition level is like in the other two.