Reply to S/O: schools w/ great merit and are top producers of STEM PhDs

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, I for one am grateful to you for pointing this out. We are a budget conscious family with a child interested in environmental science with an eye towards getting a PhD. I do think she'll be eligible for merit aid at some of these smaller schools based on strong grades and test scores, but we've been unsure about the strength of these programs in terms of preparing her for a PhD (and also offering the kind of support students need to get into PhD programs, like internships with professors and strong recommendations).

You've given us some good food for thought, though environmental science is not technically one of the listed STEM subjects. But we should be able to find a way to obtain that data and might be able do a similar comparison. Right now her her top choices are Cornell, UC-Santa Cruz, and UMD. But Cornell is a crapshoot even with top numbers, and UC-Santa Cruz is tough out of state. This sounds like a really good approach for finding target and safety options so that she doesn't get penned in with limited options.

I went to a state flagship and have some bias towards them for STEM because I think the research opportunities tend to be really good. So for me, finding out what kinds of research opportunities are available at these much smaller schools is important. Even as an undergrad, real research experience is invaluable as it helps you narrow your are of study to start honing in on what you'll focus on in your graduate program. It's also the best way to develop strong relationships with professors. But I have an open mind. When I went to a state flagship, it cost me 6k/yr as an in-state student with a merit scholarship based on GPA. It's a different world now.[/quote]

My DD is majoring in environmental science at one of the colleges OP mentioned and applied to several of them. That list was definitely informative for us in doing the research. She's not sure if she'll get a PhD but is definitely one thing she's thinking of and know she will at least need a master's degree. DH and DS and I all went to big state Us but DD very much preferred the small schools where you can get to know faculty better, research opportunities are easier/less competitive, and a school that integrates a lot of environmental field work.

Another interesting tool is this visualization that will show you how many students graduate in certain major areas. Good for finding small schools that have robust programs. I was fine with DD going to a small school because she was going someplace where her major is one of the largest programs so they have a good variety of faculty with different research interests and good variety of classes. This came out after she did her research but a lot of the schools she considered rise to the top of the list if you filter to "natural resources and conservation" with student size <3000
https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/jonboeckenstedt/viz/BachelorsDegreesAwardedin2022/Dashboard1[/quote]

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