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Breaking Bad

Chemistry

Quantum Masochists & Chalkboard Wizards

Intense physical and theoretical chemistry focuses. Here, they care less about curing diseases and more about why an electron did something weird in 1927. Highly mathematical, profoundly theoretical.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 Caltech
Pasadena, CA
Pasadena, CA 2 4% 50% / 50% 0% $96,293 91 — —
2 Columbia
New York, NY
New York, NY 14 4% 71% / 29% 7% $80,599 74 — —
3 Cornell
Ithaca, NY
Ithaca, NY 34 8% 41% / 59% 6% $57,872 15 85% —
4 Harvard
Cambridge, MA
Cambridge, MA 30 4% 40% / 60% 10% $90,033 86 — —
5 MIT
Cambridge, MA
Cambridge, MA 17 5% 47% / 53% 24% $113,664 98 94% —
6 Princeton
Princeton, NJ
Princeton, NJ 24 4% 29% / 71% 4% $80,205 77 — —
7 Stanford
Palo Alto, CA
Palo Alto, CA 11 4% 55% / 45% 0% $80,215 76 — —
8 U. of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
Berkeley, CA 177 11% 54% / 46% 15% $58,958 51 97% —
9 U. of Chicago
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL 33 5% 36% / 64% 12% $89,906 83 — —
10 U. of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia, PA 27 5% 26% / 74% 4% $96,573 90 — —
11 Yale
New Haven, CT
New Haven, CT 11 3% 18% / 82% 9% $82,017 74 — —

Plastics, Polymers & Profitable Patents

Materials science and engineering-leaning departments. You won't just study molecules; you'll build industrial-strength polymers, invent new battery materials, and probably break a lot of expensive glassware.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 Georgia Tech
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta, GA 32 13% 31% / 69% 9% $67,184 72 — —
2 Purdue
West Lafayette, IN
West Lafayette, IN 107 43% 54% / 46% 10% $61,775 62 100% —
3 Carnegie Mellon
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh, PA 80 11% 45% / 55% 8% $86,336 81 93% —
4 North Carolina State
Raleigh, NC
Raleigh, NC 57 40% 46% / 54% 4% $77,470 84 100% —
5 Texas A&M University - College Station
College Station, TX
College Station, TX 75 52% 43% / 57% 1% $75,558 80 90% —
6 Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA
Blacksburg, VA 128 55% 49% / 51% 2% $73,982 81 92% —
7 Case Western Reserve
Cleveland, OH
Cleveland, OH 43 35% 47% / 53% 5% $66,401 38 89% —
8 Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO
Golden, CO 10 29% 50% / 50% 0% $63,667 58 95% —
9 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY
Troy, NY 14 63% 43% / 57% 14% $72,849 65 — —
10 New Jersey Institute of Technology
Newark, NJ
Newark, NJ 11 69% 36% / 64% 0% $64,236 68 — —
11 U. of Akron
Akron, OH
Akron, OH 3 85% 100% / 0% 33% $64,938 75 95% —

Pre-Med Darwinian Thunderdome

Biochem-heavy programs where organic chemistry isn't just a subject—it's a blood sport. Expect lots of memorization, weeping over synthesis mechanisms, and classmates fiercely protecting their GPA for medical school.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 Johns Hopkins
Baltimore, MD
Baltimore, MD 30 6% 50% / 50% 7% $92,823 87 — —
2 Northwestern
Evanston, IL
Evanston, IL 20 7% 45% / 55% 20% $160,737 100 95% —
3 Duke
Durham, NC
Durham, NC 25 5% 52% / 48% 0% $44,125 2 95% —
4 Rice
Houston, TX
Houston, TX 25 8% 52% / 48% 20% $75,973 65 — —
5 Boston University
Boston, MA
Boston, MA 23 13% 39% / 61% 22% $53,412 10 83% —
6 New York University
New York, NY
New York, NY 46 9% 39% / 61% 28% $75,426 68 — —
7 Emory
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta, GA 85 10% 60% / 40% 8% $65,584 38 86% —
8 U. of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA 12 11% 33% / 67% 0% $47,551 4 89% —
9 Brown
Providence, RI
Providence, RI 12 6% 67% / 33% 0% $82,644 75 — —
10 Vanderbilt
Nashville, TN
Nashville, TN 17 5% 59% / 41% 24% $86,801 80 — —
11 Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO
Saint Louis, MO 56 12% 50% / 50% 5% $82,774 74 — —
12 Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA
Chestnut Hill, MA 15 13% 53% / 47% 0% $71,244 54 — —
13 Tufts
Medford, MA
Medford, MA 20 11% 50% / 50% 10% $70,779 53 — —
14 U. of Rochester
Rochester, NY
Rochester, NY 26 42% 46% / 54% 19% $71,555 58 — —
15 Dartmouth
Hanover, NH
Hanover, NH 10 6% 60% / 40% 10% $95,363 89 — —

Agri-Chem & Geo

Land-grant powerhouses focusing on environmental, agricultural, and geochemical sciences. You'll analyze soil runoff, test pesticide efficacy, and probably get your boots muddy doing field sampling.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 Pennsylvania State
University Park, PA
University Park, PA 86 55% 60% / 40% 3% $81,350 85 96% —
2 U. of California, Davis
Davis, CA
Davis, CA 59 46% 51% / 49% 14% $74,453 76 87% —
3 Michigan State
East Lansing, MI
East Lansing, MI 26 83% 58% / 42% 8% $57,883 38 89% —
4 Iowa State
Ames, IA
Ames, IA 39 85% 64% / 36% 0% $69,022 76 93% —
5 Washington State
Pullman, WA
Pullman, WA 13 75% 46% / 54% 0% $64,089 73 — —
6 Colorado State University - Fort Collins
Fort Collins, CO
Fort Collins, CO 24 82% 54% / 46% 8% $79,290 86 90% —
7 Oregon State
Corvallis, OR
Corvallis, OR 41 75% 44% / 56% 5% $67,870 73 93% —
8 Texas Tech
Lubbock, TX
Lubbock, TX 38 69% 47% / 53% 0% $71,648 82 92% —
9 U. of Missouri
Columbia, MO
Columbia, MO 31 77% 55% / 45% 0% $63,625 62 95% —
10 Clemson
Clemson, SC
Clemson, SC 25 42% 32% / 68% 0% $67,919 67 100% —
11 U. of Kentucky
Lexington, KY
Lexington, KY 35 90% 37% / 63% 0% $69,863 75 97% —

Mega-Lab Multiverse

Gigantic, broad-spectrum programs that do absolutely everything. You want niche inorganic synthesis? They have it. You want an analytical lab the size of a Costco? Done. You will, however, be student #4,092.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 UCLA
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA 49 9% 43% / 57% 12% $61,649 50 92% —
2 U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL
Champaign, IL 114 37% 47% / 53% 16% $76,918 81 93% —
3 U. of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA
La Jolla, CA 130 29% 38% / 62% 14% $74,057 72 92% —
4 U. of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI
Ann Arbor, MI 42 16% 40% / 60% 7% $75,697 64 100% —
5 U. of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX
Austin, TX 107 22% 40% / 60% 7% $67,484 65 96% —
6 U. of Florida
Gainesville, FL
Gainesville, FL 173 20% 48% / 52% 3% $62,655 69 91% —
7 U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
Chapel Hill, NC 102 17% 55% / 45% 6% $68,078 66 92% —
8 U. of Washington
Seattle, WA
Seattle, WA 52 42% 38% / 62% 12% $62,318 61 84% —
9 U. of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI
Madison, WI 70 41% 59% / 41% 14% $75,609 78 95% —
10 Ohio State
Columbus, OH
Columbus, OH 71 49% 46% / 54% 6% $76,061 79 87% —
11 U. of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, CO
Boulder, CO 28 71% 57% / 43% 0% $64,484 60 — —

Industry Pipeline & Analytical Automatons

Heavy emphasis on analytical chemistry, co-ops, and applied methods. You'll spend thousands of hours staring at GC-MS readouts until you hallucinate, but you'll graduate perfectly trained for local pharma and tech.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 U. of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA
Santa Barbara, CA 11 38% 55% / 45% 27% $71,649 72 93% —
2 U. of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA
Irvine, CA 125 29% 53% / 47% 6% $63,559 55 93% —
3 U. of Illinois Chicago
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL 31 76% 48% / 52% 6% $61,574 66 94% —
4 Northeastern
Boston, MA
Boston, MA 28 22% 43% / 57% 4% $89,733 85 96% —
5 U. of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh, PA 63 59% 44% / 56% 3% $71,955 75 98% —
6 U. of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT
Salt Lake City, UT 40 82% 45% / 55% 3% $67,107 74 92% —
7 U. of Delaware
Newark, DE
Newark, DE 33 72% 52% / 48% 18% $74,871 79 100% —
8 U. of Houston
Houston, TX
Houston, TX 24 76% 58% / 42% 0% $75,865 87 93% —
9 U. of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH
Cincinnati, OH 40 85% 40% / 60% 8% $71,257 79 96% —

Policy, Pharma & Forensics Faction

Medicinal and forensic-leaning programs often situated near government hubs or pharma corridors. You're synthesizing the drugs of tomorrow or figuring out exactly what's in the water supply for the FDA.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 U. of Maryland, College Park
College Park, MD
College Park, MD 49 45% 35% / 65% 2% $73,699 79 94% —
2 U. of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
Charlottesville, VA 117 13% 37% / 63% 1% $68,486 53 97% —
3 Georgetown
Washington, DC
Washington, DC 7 14% 57% / 43% 29% $76,462 67 — —
4 George Washington
Washington, DC
Washington, DC 14 47% 36% / 64% 0% $68,504 50 — —
5 Virginia Commonwealth
Richmond, VA
Richmond, VA 74 72% 36% / 64% 0% $63,491 62 95% —
6 U. of Connecticut
Storrs, CT
Storrs, CT 36 54% 39% / 61% 6% $70,087 73 100% —
7 CUNY City
New York, NY
New York, NY 3 42% 67% / 33% 0% $62,593 79 — —
8 U. of South Florida
Tampa, FL
Tampa, FL 69 41% 43% / 57% 6% $57,325 68 98% —
9 Florida International
Miami, FL
Miami, FL 46 42% 41% / 59% 4% $64,759 79 90% —
10 U. of Central Florida
Orlando, FL
Orlando, FL 45 43% 49% / 51% 7% $54,686 59 100% —
11 U. of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN
Notre Dame, IN 13 9% 62% / 38% 0% $72,494 54 — —

Kinetics & Dynamics Club

The purists. Programs that strike a solid balance across classical disciplines like inorganic synthesis and reaction mechanisms. They aren't trying to be engineers or doctors; they just really, really like chemistry.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 Arizona State
Tempe, AZ
Tempe, AZ 26 88% 35% / 65% 0% $54,648 47 97% —
2 Florida State
Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee, FL 29 20% 55% / 45% 0% $64,566 79 89% —
3 Indiana
Bloomington, IN
Bloomington, IN 44 76% 45% / 55% 7% $70,690 71 98% —
4 U. of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA
Riverside, CA 52 86% 62% / 38% 2% $51,201 23 92% —
5 U. of Texas at Dallas
Dallas, TX
Dallas, TX 24 72% 46% / 54% 0% $62,063 57 95% —
6 U. of Kansas
Lawrence, KS
Lawrence, KS 28 93% 36% / 64% 7% $69,322 76 — —
7 U. of Oregon
Eugene, OR
Eugene, OR 23 87% 39% / 61% 0% $61,549 55 100% —
8 U. of South Carolina
Columbia, SC
Columbia, SC 27 55% 56% / 44% 0% $72,429 78 100% —
9 Louisiana State
Baton Rouge, LA
Baton Rouge, LA 28 71% 43% / 57% 0% $85,607 90 93% —
10 U. of North Texas
Denton, TX
Denton, TX 31 81% 42% / 58% 0% $58,714 66 88% —
11 U. of Oklahoma - Norman
Norman, OK
Norman, OK 62 72% 52% / 48% 6% $75,162 83 95% —