Grad School Search

[popjinx]

I am looking into PhD programs in Northern California. There are dozens of schools that offer graduate programs in organic chemistry. Can anyone tell me what north cali universities have good reputations?

 

http://programs.gradschools.com/california/chemistry.html

[thedarkshade]

I don't know in which part of California is it, but I've followed some online lectures of University of California - Berkley , and I found them quite good quality!

They were not actually PhD programs, but I'm sure you'll find something worth it!

 

Cheers,

Shade

[DrDNA]

Historically, Berkeley has had an outstanding reputation in all areas of Chemistry, but especially Organic Chemistry. They recently ranked number one in Chemistry and number two in Organic Chemistry Ph.D. programs (just behind Harvard).

 

Stanford also has an outstanding graduate Chemistry program.

 

In addition, UCSF has an outstanding reputation in Medicinal Chemistry, if your Organic Chemistry desires lean in that direction.

 

The following are highest-ranking chemistry programs in America and their rankings, according to “America’s Best Graduate Schools of 2008” by U.S. News & World Report. These schools were picked from 1,200 colleges across the country based on statistics as well as expert opinion on each program’s academic excellence.

 

University of California, Berkeley

Top-ranking programs: Chemistry Ph.D., Biochemistry (#1), Organic chemistry (#2), Physical chemistry (#1), Theoretical chemistry (#1)

What sets them apart: Facilities include the nearby Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), which houses state-of-the-art charged particle accelerators and the Advanced Light Source – “one of the world's brightest sources of ultra-violet and soft x-ray beams.”

Contact: 420 Latimer Hall

Berkeley, CA 94720-1460

(510) 642-5060

gradadm@berkeley.edu

For more information visit: http://chem.berkeley.edu/grad_info/

 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Top-ranking programs: Chemistry Ph.D., Biochemistry (#2), Inorganic chemistry (#1), Physical chemistry (#3), Theoretical chemistry (#3)

What sets them apart: MIT’s Chemistry Department prides itself on the diversity of their student population. As of late, the department has included students from 20 foreign nations. American students hail from more than 104 colleges and universities around the country.

Contact: 77 Massachusetts Ave, Room 2-204

Cambridge, MA 02139-4307

(617) 258-8304

mitgrad@mit.edu

For more information visit: http://web.mit.edu/chemistry/www/index.html

 

California Institute of Technology

Top-ranking programs: Chemistry Ph.D., Inorganic chemistry (#2), Physical chemistry (#2), Theoretical chemistry (#2)

What sets them apart: Current faculty include three Nobel Prize winners – Rudolph Marcus (1992), Ahmed Zewail (1999), and Robert Grubbs (2005).

Contact: 1200 E. California Boulevard

Pasadena, CA 91125

(626) 395-6110

For more information visit: http://chemistry.caltech.edu/

 

Harvard University

Top-ranking programs: Biochemistry (#3), Organic chemistry (#1)

What sets them apart: The Chemistry Department boasts 278,000 sq. ft. of modern research laboratories spread over four buildings, including their new Naito Laboratory. Harvard University's Libraries are home to over 11.5 million books, 4.9 million titles on microfilm, and 102,000 periodicals.

Contact: 12 Oxford Street

Cambridge, MA 02138

(617) 495-5315

admiss@fas.harvard.edu

For more information visit: http://www.chem.harvard.edu

 

Stanford University

Top-ranking programs: Chemistry Ph.D., Organic chemistry (#3)What sets them apart: Stanford’s Chemistry Department is so confident in their selection process, that graduate students don’t have to take any comprehensive examinations to earn a Ph.D. Instead, they monitor progress through individual discussions with a faculty advisor.

Contact: 333 Campus Drive

Mudd Building, Room 121

Stanford, CA 94305-5080

(650) 723-2501

chem.admissions@stanford.edu

For more information visit: http://www.stanford.edu/dept/chemistry/grad/index.html

 

Northwestern University

Top-ranking programs: Inorganic chemistry (#3), Theoretical chemistry (#3)

What sets them apart: The University has an impressive record of post-graduation results. Of Northwestern’s chemistry majors, about half typically continue their studies in graduate school, 30-40% enter medical school, and roughly 15% become chemists straightaway in industrial or governmental laboratories.

Contact: 2145 Sheridan Road

Evanston, IL 60208-3113

(847) 491-5371

info@chem.northwestern.edu

For more information visit: http://www.chem.northwestern.edu/graduate/

[5614]

Even as a British student I know that Berkley has a good reputation.

 

Other than that I can't really help. But there are league tables etc. that will give you ranks of universities, as well as a detailed breakdown of how that rank is obtained. A quick Google search will give you lots of information. I'm not sure if there are league tables just for N California, but just look through an American university league table and spot out the Cali. ones.

 

 

[edit] ah, DNA's post wasn't there when I started typing!

[hermanntrude]

a word of advice about PhDs:

 

If you don't absolutely LOVE your subject and want to do it despite the odds, don't get a PhD. It's hard work, depressing at times, INCREDIBLY expensive, and when you're finished you'll probably end up doing postdoctoral training which is VERY badly paid, under-rated and comes with a big load of disrespect from your seniors. After that you have three options:

 

1)you can get a job in industry if you're lucky, but a lot of industries won't take a PhD cos they cost too much, and they could geta fresh graduate and train them up for less

2) you can become an academic, work your way up to get tenure and be a famous professor, except of course that this means doing two jobs, neither of which is actually doing any chemistry at all, and you don't get nearly enough pay for it

3) you can become a teacher, which is great, but you would have been better off studying chemistry and an education degree, which would have taken less time and cost less

 

IMO, taking a PhD is very valuable but only if you're dedicated to chemistry or you want to become a professor

[davidchen]

I'm not sure where you are in the admission process. I found a pretty useful website for graduate applicants. They are really geared towards admission decisions, but they also have a web page for Chemistry Phd programs.