<p>i am a high school junior from iowa. </p>
<p>I am looking at small private in state colleges. </p>
<p>I want to major in chemistry and a possible double major in chem and biology. </p>
<p>coe and simpson seem to have good programs but what do i need to be looking for and comparing between them all?? </p>
<p>any advice or insight would be very helpful!!!</p>
<p>There are certain criteria to get started: size, location, public/private, religious… Sounds like you already know some key pieces. “small private” tells me a lot. Actually, that sounds like a Liberal Arts College (LAC). Privates, by definition, are not state funded. Most every liberal arts college offers chemistry & bio majors. Next, where would you like to study: iowa–near home? Northeast, West? South?</p>
<p>Other considerations include financial aide. Public schools are vastly less expensive, but generally not small. Privates may offer good aide, but you’ll have to determine details about that. (how much your family can contribute, merit aide, etc.)</p>
<p>I don’t know coe or simpson so I can’t guide you about those. But, work on isolating certain aspects as i mentioned above, and then look at “comparative colleges”. Check out general big fat college books in your library or collegeboard.com (Specifically do their profile survey and investigate different colleges that come up, known as comparative colleges). Hope this helps.</p>
<p>You might ask about what opportunities the colleges offer for undergraduate research and what kinds of jobs their graduates get. You also might want to meet with professors at the colleges you are interested in and see how helpful they are and look at the classes and see what typs of interesting things they offer. </p>
<p>I also thought the process of comparing schools and programs was difficult, but when my daughter visited schools last year, the professors were very helpful about the programs at their schools. Some of them were also very happy to talk about the other schools she was looking at, not in a negative way, but just good information. You might also look at that beautiful big school in Ames–my alma mater.</p>
<p>*what do i need to be looking for and comparing between them all??
*</p>
<p>basics to start: cost, size, location, m/f ratio, faculty:student ratio, in-state/oos, diversity, what do graduates do (% in grad school/% with jobs), …
You might also want to investigate particular classes you could take. Look at a course catalog.
I like the idea of asking about research opportunities too.</p>
<p>EllieJean stated that she wants to stay in Iowa. However, there are several nice colleges in the region. Beloit, in Wisconsin, just finished a new science building and I think that it is in the process of improving sciences offerings.</p>
<p>All good ideas. I would add one more thing. Think about a radius in terms of how far away from home you are willing to go. Then find the colleges within that radius which might open up a few more options. Talk to your parents and see if you can visit (before the end of your junior year into summer) a couple of the ones that interest you the most. Take a look at Cornell, Grinnel, Drake and Luther if you haven’t. Those are all reputable, in Iowa and smaller schools. St. Olaf and Carlton are in Northfield, MN but not sure if that woud be in your radius. Knox in Galesburg, IL and Lake Forest College on the north side of Chicago, might be in your circle. Good luck, keep coming back and asking questions. By the end of your junior year you will have your ACT test taken and a pretty good idea of what your GPA will be which will help you pin down things, too.</p>
<p>Also find out how much your parents are willing to pay per year for your college, and then scrutinize colleges’ financial aid and merit info to make sure there’s a good chance you can afford them. Above all, make sure that you have a financial safety – a school you know you will be accepted to, can afford, and would enjoy attending.</p>
<p>Consider Cornell College (it’s actually older than the Ivy).</p>
<p>Thank you all for information. </p>
<p>this will help greatly. :)</p>
<p>Another school that is not far from Iowa is Truman University in Kirksville, Missouri (straight south of Ottumwa). It is an honors college in the Missouri state system and is not a huge school. It might be worth a look; I think that it has a very good record for graduate school admissions.</p>
<p>I also look at how many students graduated with a degree in the major of interest. I look for a critical mass of people which indicates to me that the area is well funded by the college or university. LAC sizes are usually around 20 for a good major, public universities can have 6 as a good size. I look up the statistics at the Department Of Education/College website. google doe college. Coe has more biology that chemistry and Simpson has biochemistry graduates. While there is nothing wrong with being the only student pursuing a study area or major , IMHO i think having companion students helps with academic collaboration.</p>
<p>Socially, take a look at how important frats and sororities are; how many kids stick around on weekends; how much there is to do on campus; and the drug/alcohol use.</p>
<p>*Also find out how much your parents are willing to pay per year for your college, and then scrutinize colleges’ financial aid and merit info to make sure there’s a good chance you can afford them. Above all, make sure that you have a financial safety – a school you know you will be accepted to, can afford, and would enjoy attending. *</p>
<p>NSM is exactly right. Some privates are costing $40-55k per year, so you need to make sure that you’ll have all the funding to attend. Do you know how much your family can contribute each year? Do you know what their EFC will be?</p>
<p>It’s sounding like you’re considering going pre-med. If so, it isn’t necessary to spend too much (go into big debt) for undergrad for pre-med. You’ll likely have big loans ($200k+) for med school, so it can be a good idea for a pre-med student to minimize loans for undergrad.</p>
<p>What are your stats?</p>
<p>EllieJean, Coe is good school that doesn’t get much love on these boards. Strong in sciences, in particular Physics, art and general liberal arts curriculum. And they are very good with financial aid. The Coe students stand up with the likes of Grinnell and Carlton (they are in the same academic consortium). </p>
<p>Look for the Private College visit days, (they usually come some time in August and are heavily promoted through out the state). This a good week to visit a number of the schools all at once. Most schools do special programming that week, including lectures, etc. and it makes it easy to compare them to each other. One plus to visiting that week is if you visit a certain number of Iowa Private colleges that week and register you get admission fees waived at each of the schools.</p>
<p>Thank lololu </p>
<p>that was very helpful and i am think about doing visits in the spring and the rep from coe said that she would arrange for me to meet the chem prfessors and such </p>
<p>it helps that they are good with financial aid my parents are willing to pay some and i will get scholarships due to my acedmics but i will still loans or aid somewhere
but thank you for your info :)</p>
<p>EllieJean, a lot of schools have merit aid charts or calculators right on their web sites, so you can get a good idea of what they’ll offer you with your scores and stats. The numbers vary a lot, even for very similar schools…one school may offer you $4000 a year while a very similar school may offer $14,000. It is also helpful to see what their “top” number is…if you need $20,000 a year to make it work and the most they offer per year to anyone is $15,000, you know there may be a problem.</p>
<p>sites such as collegedata.com can help.
US News &W.Report is famous for selling rankings. Personally I don’t buy into their rankings much, but they are an excellent source for finding schools other than the “biggest of the big” names.</p>
<p>Luther has a new science building that opened in the fall of 2008.</p>
<p>[Facilities</a> - Biology - Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, U.S.A.](<a href=“http://www.luther.edu/academics/majors/biology/facilities/index.html]Facilities”>http://www.luther.edu/academics/majors/biology/facilities/index.html)</p>
<p>*it helps that they are good with financial aid my parents are willing to pay some and i will get scholarships due to my acedmics but i will still loans or aid somewhere
but thank you for your info *</p>
<p>Ellie…it often surprises many students to find out that MANY colleges do not give scholarships for academics. And, for those colleges that do give scholarships, having a high GPA is not enough, you’ll also have to have a high SAT or ACT score (often a very high SAT or ACT is needed).</p>
<p>Also, financial aid isn’t based on what your parents are “willing” to pay. It’s based on what the colleges think that they SHOULD pay. This is often a surprise for many families. IF the colleges think that your family’s income/assets are high enough that they SHOULD pay much/most of your college costs, you won’t get much financial aid at all.</p>
<p>You should also look at the strength of science programs at each of the schools you consider, as well as the other areas you may choose to major in if chemistry doesn’t work out for you. I say this only because it’s very common for students to change majors and it is important to have flexibility and choices. </p>
<p>I would also try to find out the employment rate of chemistry majors from that school, and where they take jobs in recent years; as well as the graduate school placement rate (and where they have been placing). Finally I would find out (usually available on line), if the degree you would receive in chemistry will be certified by the American Chemical Society.</p>
<p>If you have a narrowed list, and a specific major in mind, I would find the students at each school who are involved in the Chemisty major society on campus (usually that info is available on line), and email them questions. Ask them what is great and not so great about their chosen school for their major, what their professors are like and how well they know them, opportunities for doing research, how big the classes are, and so on. Current students are usually much more useful than website brochures.</p>