Biology major

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The print edition of the Princeton Review includes a sampling, "Great Schools for Biology Majors." It names colleges and universities such as Amherst, Swarthmore, Bowdoin, Hamilton, Middlebury, Vassar, Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth, Pomona, Carleton, UChicago and Duke. However, the entire list is long and might best be viewed directly.

For example, if woman's colleges may be of interest, then it would be important to see that Wellesley, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, Spelman and Agnes Scott appear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The print edition of the Princeton Review includes a sampling, "Great Schools for Biology Majors." It names colleges and universities such as Amherst, Swarthmore, Bowdoin, Hamilton, Middlebury, Vassar, Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth, Pomona, Carleton, UChicago and Duke. However, the entire list is long and might best be viewed directly.

For example, if woman's colleges may be of interest, then it would be important to see that Wellesley, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, Spelman and Agnes Scott appear.

As does Scripps.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have insight into what majors are useful for jobs in biotech/pharma industry (Takeda / Sanofi / Moderna / etc)? Child is currently thinking biochem & premed, but we’d like for them to have a backup plan if premed doesn’t work out. I’ve heard biomed engineering is not necessarily that helpful for undergrad — better to do EE or ME and then specialize in grad school. DC is not so interested in engineering tho. Would biotech or bioinformatics or some other double major help employability more than biochem? Are jobs at those companies the ones in the $60K-$80K range referenced earlier, even with grad degrees? (Neither parent is familiar with this field, so trying to get the lay of the land!)

[Anonymous]

"Does anyone have insight into what majors are useful for jobs in biotech/pharma industry . . . ?"

Look into data science as a major with an applied domain in the biological sciences. Such an approach may lead naturally to the completion of a major and a minor or to two majors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:May be better to be at the top at a school a level or two down from the list. Watch Malcolm Gladwell “Don’t go to Harvard” for reference.

Not nearly as simple as that. As Malcolm Gladwell clearly says in the video and many other times he has faced similar inquiry, Harvard/ivies are fine for those who have the goods to be top-quarter. There is nothing implicitly wrong with elite unis, it is merely the fact that if you are going to be below average at these places, your trajectory could change compared to being top-group in an easier peer group.

The key is being honest in one's assessment of your student to be able to decipher which schools are realistic for them to excel above the middle of the pack, particularly in STEM where the courses are graded on curves. Non-stem courses are more subjectively graded, often 80% A- and above, and almost no Cs, not too much to worry about. Then again, elite/ivy give average STEM students B+ for intro, A- for upper levels, while typical publics have much lower curve sets, making "average" elite STEM majors likely better off than top-quarter students at schools with easier peer competition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Does anyone have insight into what majors are useful for jobs in biotech/pharma industry . . . ?"

Look into data science as a major with an applied domain in the biological sciences. Such an approach may lead naturally to the completion of a major and a minor or to two majors.

Thanks, helpful