What are the top 25 undergrad programs in the U.S.?

What are you looking for?

Culinary, nursing, dance, art, music, engineering, another kind of engineering, underwater basket weaving, classics, biology, information systems, etc...

What are the top 25 undergrad programs in the U.S.?

There are many rankings that float around. However, people seem to really really care about rank so what can you do.

Probably the most common ranking is US News: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php



But don't tell anyone on SDN...they seem to hate US News.

Biology and Biochemistry. Or do they both fall in the same category?

Biology and Biochemistry. Or do they both fall in the same category?

Depends on the school.

Some are biological sciences = ecology, botany, A&P, etc ; biochem is more chem- ochem, physical, quantum, etc.

Others they're the same major but with 5 bio classes and 2 chems in one, and 2 bios and 5 chems in the others.

Okay then, for biochemistry.

Oh you meant actual majors and stuff. :D Ignore me then hahahaha...yeaahhhh.

For those of you who want to be doctors, it may sound cool to everyone that you go to Yale, Harvard, etc. But in hindsight you will probably wish you went to the place where you will accrue the least debt. Go where you will be happy, but if a state school offers you a full ride, at least consider it.

big, little, public, private, sports programmes out the *****, only sport is chess, hot girls, no girls, support programmes, basic training... ???

What are you looking for?

There are many rankings that float around. However, people seem to really really care about rank so what can you do.

Probably the most common ranking is US News: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php



But don't tell anyone on SDN...they seem to hate US News.

I hate these ranking systems. OP find a school where you feel comfortable. See if you can talk to random students while visiting. Ask to talk to students from the program you want to do and see what they think. Ask them how prepared they feel. US News does a great job with numbers, but will never tell you how happy you will be at a school. It's not worth going to a top 20 school if you hate every minute of it.

Um, yeah. US News should be dumped out in the middle of the Atlantic. Don't even bother with it if you're trying to use it to rank schools by academics, because the schools are not ranked solely by their academics. They're rank by the beauty of the campus, how comfortable the dorms are, the quality of the food, which sports division the school ranks under, the average amount of debt a student will graduate with... It's ridiculous. Schools become so obsessed with this list that they'll spend their money on more food options and air conditioning in the dorms rather than on a new science center.

Also, if you look, there are some colleges that opted not to be ranked. For instance, Reed College is an excellent school with an extremely rigorous undergraduate program that is known throughout the work--look at their ranking. You can't find it on the website, but if you buy the report, you'll find that Reed sits in dead last with a handful of other colleges that declined to participate.

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A lot of schools offer "science days", where potential students can come tour the college with an emphasis on science. Look into those and attend as many as you can because they give you a real good feel for what each program is like. Also, do overnights and shadow a student taking some science classes. Talk to someone about research opportunities, internships, studying abroad... You'll never find a way to rank academics. You have to go in and ask questions until you're blue in the face, and then figure out which answers you like best.