Got into both so far and most of my remaining schools are reaches so I’m pretty sure I’ll be left with these two. How do these chemistry programs stack up (ignoring cost)?
While UIUC is particularly known for its chemistry, both are excellent. You should choose the school based on other factors. Which one do you like more?
I live really close to Davis and I’d rather go farther from home (Davis is kinda stale to me). I was also born in Illinois so I’d love to return there. If I don’t get into any other of my reach schools I’ll probably visit there for a tour or smth.
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Since you said to ignore cost, I assume that your family will be able to pay full costs for UIUC for 4 years, without any loans?
What other CA state schools did you apply to?
What do you think you’d like to do after college? Are you considering graduate or professional school?
if you’re interested in doing research, UIUC - world class research and facilities there.
For CA I applied to the other UCs (mainly Berkeley, LA, and SD) and I applied to a couple of reach privates (Stanford, JHU, Northwestern, Cornell). If I don’t get into those I’d probably be choosing between Davis and UIUC.
I might go to grad school but as of now I want to go into Forensics
That’s true, but Davis is also excellent. There really isn’t a meaningful difference at the undergrad level. My spouse is a chem professor and has collaborators at both schools.
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I’m asking about this because it’s important to think about your earning potential right after graduation. Chemistry degrees don’t necessarily translate into high paying jobs. And depending on the type of graduate schooling, costs can range from providing a modest stipend (chemistry PhD) to costing tons (med school).
That might factor into your decision on how much to pay for undergrad.
Will your family pay full cost of 4 years at UIUC without needing loans?
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I’m also a Chem professor. I stand by the statement. I’m certainly not saying Davis is subpar in any way but the research opportunities are not comparable imo.
Not sure how one can ignore costs, especially for a major that will likely require grad school or end up with a minimal or lower paying job. If you said ChemE, it will be different.
For an undergrad, both will be fine.
Davis as a town is cool. I would never go to UIUC without visiting. Campuses are polarizing and you have some who love UIUC on this board and others like me (and not just me) who think it’s the most depressing school and town out there - run down, etc.
So if ROI is a factor, you’d choose Davis.
If it’s not and you want out, then go check out UIUC before committing and see - can I spend four years here?
Given the major, the where likely matters little…especially at the UG level.
Congrats on your acceptances.
PS - yes, UIUC is reputed in many circles - but I can find a ranking that shows Davis is moreso.
See attached.
The point - both will be great.
The UIUC last report from 2022 -2023 showed 46% employed and 48% in school - with a $62.5K median salary - but note these #s include a CS / Chem degree which will skew the #s higher. Meaning a pure Chem will be lower (hence it’s median was a tad over $70K).
I don’t see a placement report for Davis.
Unfortunately, neither has the latest type of reports that are interactive - which are most helpful.
Congrats on your success and best of luck.
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That list is pretty wild, leaving out some of the top Chem programs in the country (undergrad/grad). I looked at the Methodology and would like to know a lot more about what accreditations they are looking for since that is the only thing they rank as “Very High” on their criteria.
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Well it can’t be worse than US News criteria - which is - who is popular with competing Deans. I mean, it’s methodology for departmental rankings is beyond ridiculous. I believe they do an undergrad rank. The US News one for Chem is grad I believe.
The reality is - in most cases - the outcome will be as strong as a student. Both mine chose safeties over high ranked they got into - my son against my wishes and yet he works with kids from that reach and came in at the same salary from his lowly ranked SEC school. And my daughter, at a 2nd tier regional, was hired for a selective program loaded with Ivy kids (and more).
So I think a 17 year old thinking their outcome is going to be drastically different at UIUC or UC Davis - or frankly U of Arizona or U of Oregon - is just not a reality of life. If they’re a go getter, they’ll do well relative to other kids that aren’t.
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I agree with all this. We admit students from every tier of school into our graduate program - there is not strong correlation between undergraduate institution and readiness of students for graduate study. I would certainly guess the same for readiness for jobs, etc.
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Yeah, I agree that UIUC has the stellar chem reputation, of course. You’re certainly correct about that. I’m also a science prof, so we have some similar perspectives. But I think sometimes high schoolers and their parents tend to focus on the research reputation (and rankings) at the expense of other things.
Some think that just because a chem department at one school has a more prestigious research output than a chem department at another (also very good) school, that this correlates directly to the quality of instruction and research opportunities that an undergrad will receive. Some may disagree with me, but in my opinion, those prestige differences either aren’t very meaningful for an undergrad, or the quality of instruction / research opportunities for undergrads is dependent on variables that don’t correlate well to prestige.
Will the international prestige of the research coming out of the UIUC chem department really mean that this student receives a better education than they would at Davis? I don’t think I could say one way or the other. Some of the best undergrad education in chemistry is found at colleges and universities that are far from household names, because the professors are great at their jobs and care about the students. There are research opportunities at nearly every school, small or big. Certainly Davis will have a ton. So there are many compelling reasons to attend UIUC, but based on research reputation alone, I’m not convinced that the undergrad chem education is remarkably better than any other huge R1.
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UC Davis has a graduate forensics program : General Catalog - Forensic Science (Graduate Group)
Many of the courses can be taken with instructor permission