Rankings by major · 399 schools scored
Best colleges for chemistry & biochemistry
Every school we cover is scored 0–100 for chemistry & biochemistry. The score blends how graduates in the major do four years out against the national norm for the same major, the strength of the student body, how many undergraduate courses the department lists, and the size of the program. Small programs (under five graduates a year) are capped. 80 and up is a standout program, 65+ strong, 45+ solid. Many chemistry & biochemistry students go on to graduate or medical school, which early-career pay undercounts, so read this one alongside the school's overall strength.
The top chemistry & biochemistry schools: Princeton University, Harvard University, Washington University in St. Louis.
| Rank | School | Score (0–100) | Tier | Graduates per year in the major | Share of the class | Pay vs. national, same major | Acceptance rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Princeton University Princeton, NJ | 98 | Standout | 80 | 6.4% | – | 4% |
| 2 | Harvard University Cambridge, MA | 97 | Standout | 76 | 4.5% | – | 4% |
| 3 | Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO | 94 | Standout | 74 | 4% | – | 12% |
| 4 | Wellesley College Wellesley, MA | 92 | Standout | 40 | 7.1% | – | 14% |
| 5 | University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI | 91 | Standout | 332 | 4.1% | 1.03× | 16% |
| 5 | Emory University Atlanta, GA | 91 | Standout | 97 | 4.6% | 1.21× | 10% |
| 5 | Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH | 91 | Standout | 88 | 6.8% | – | 35% |
| 5 | Tufts University Medford, MA | 91 | Standout | 57 | 3.9% | – | 11% |
| 5 | University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN | 91 | Standout | 45 | 2.1% | – | 11% |
| 5 | Rice University Houston, TX | 91 | Standout | 36 | 3.5% | – | 8% |
| 11 | Yale University New Haven, CT | 90 | Standout | 46 | 3.2% | – | 5% |
| 12 | Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN | 89 | Standout | 100 | 5.8% | – | 6% |
| 12 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL | 89 | Standout | 87 | 5% | – | 4% |
| 12 | Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD | 89 | Standout | 49 | 3.4% | – | 8% |
| 12 | Wesleyan University Middletown, CT | 89 | Standout | 34 | 4.2% | – | 16% |
| 16 | Northeastern University Boston, MA | 88 | Standout | 115 | 2.6% | 1.38× | 5% |
| 17 | The University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX | 87 | Standout | 393 | 3.8% | 1.01× | 27% |
| 17 | University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI | 87 | Standout | 264 | 3.5% | 1.08× | 45% |
| 17 | University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA | 87 | Standout | 251 | 2.7% | 1.12× | 9% |
| 17 | Duke University Durham, NC | 87 | Standout | 33 | 1.8% | – | 5% |
| 17 | Pomona College Claremont, CA | 87 | Standout | 32 | 8.8% | – | 7% |
| 17 | United States Air Force Academy Colorado Springs, CO | 87 | Standout | 27 | 2.6% | – | 14% |
| 23 | University of California San Diego La Jolla, CA | 86 | Standout | 364 | 4.1% | 1.16× | 29% |
| 23 | Wake Forest University Winston Salem, NC | 86 | Standout | 69 | 5.3% | – | 22% |
| 23 | Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME | 86 | Standout | 39 | 8.8% | – | 7% |
| 23 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA | 86 | Standout | 28 | 2.5% | – | 5% |
| 23 | Haverford College Haverford, PA | 86 | Standout | 17 | 5.6% | – | 12% |
| 28 | University of Washington Seattle, WA | 85 | Standout | 367 | 4.2% | 0.92× | 39% |
| 28 | Boston University Boston, MA | 85 | Standout | 174 | 3.7% | 0.98× | 13% |
| 28 | University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC | 85 | Standout | 115 | 2.4% | 1.00× | 17% |
| 28 | William & Mary Williamsburg, VA | 85 | Standout | 41 | 2.6% | 1.20× | 34% |
| 28 | Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA | 85 | Standout | 29 | 2.3% | – | 29% |
| 28 | Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA | 85 | Standout | 25 | 1.5% | – | 11% |
| 34 | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA | 84 | Standout | 84 | 2.9% | – | 5% |
| 34 | Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA | 84 | Standout | 53 | 2.3% | 1.15× | 16% |
| 34 | Davidson College Davidson, NC | 84 | Standout | 24 | 5.2% | – | 13% |
| 34 | University of Rochester Rochester, NY | 84 | Standout | 24 | 1.2% | – | 42% |
| 38 | University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA | 83 | Standout | 129 | 1.5% | 1.27× | 11% |
| 38 | University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA | 83 | Standout | 98 | 2.2% | 1.05× | 17% |
| 38 | Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA | 83 | Standout | 78 | 1.9% | 1.11× | 13% |
| 38 | Middlebury College Middlebury, VT | 83 | Standout | 52 | 7.9% | – | 11% |
| 38 | Cornell University Ithaca, NY | 83 | Standout | 45 | 1.2% | 1.22× | 9% |
| 38 | University of Richmond Richmond, VA | 83 | Standout | 33 | 4.3% | – | 22% |
| 44 | University of Massachusetts–Amherst Amherst, MA | 82 | Standout | 210 | 3.3% | 1.19× | 60% |
| 44 | University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA | 82 | Standout | 106 | 2.2% | 1.03× | 59% |
| 44 | Colgate University Hamilton, NY | 82 | Standout | 62 | 8.3% | – | 14% |
| 44 | Brown University Providence, RI | 82 | Standout | 53 | 3.2% | – | 5% |
| 44 | Amherst College Amherst, MA | 82 | Standout | 52 | 10.3% | – | 9% |
| 44 | Brandeis University Waltham, MA | 82 | Standout | 51 | 6% | – | 40% |
| 44 | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY | 82 | Standout | 42 | 2.7% | – | 63% |
| 44 | Carleton College Northfield, MN | 82 | Standout | 38 | 7.9% | – | 20% |
| 44 | Columbia University New York, NY | 82 | Standout | 34 | 1.5% | – | 5% |
| 44 | Bates College Lewiston, ME | 82 | Standout | 32 | 6.7% | – | 13% |
| 44 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL | 82 | Standout | 29 | 1.4% | – | 7% |
| 44 | Georgetown University Washington, DC | 82 | Standout | 25 | 1.4% | – | 13% |
| 56 | University of California, Davis Davis, CA | 81 | Standout | 251 | 2.9% | 1.10× | 44% |
| 56 | University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN | 81 | Standout | 149 | 2% | 1.07× | 80% |
| 56 | University of Miami Coral Gables, FL | 81 | Standout | 89 | 3.1% | – | 19% |
| 56 | Villanova University Villanova, PA | 81 | Standout | 34 | 1.9% | – | 28% |
| 60 | Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY | 80 | Standout | 50 | 7.7% | – | 19% |
| 60 | Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO | 80 | Standout | 35 | 2.9% | – | 61% |
| 60 | Smith College Northampton, MA | 80 | Standout | 34 | 5.7% | – | 21% |
| 60 | Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA | 80 | Standout | 21 | 5% | – | 7% |
| 64 | Williams College Williamstown, MA | 79 | Strong | 29 | 5.7% | 0.78× | 9% |
| 65 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL | 78 | Strong | 158 | 1.9% | 1.08× | 42% |
| 65 | Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA | 78 | Strong | 150 | 2.1% | 1.07× | 55% |
| 65 | The Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA | 78 | Strong | 148 | 1.4% | 1.12× | 61% |
| 65 | Creighton University Omaha, NE | 78 | Strong | 43 | 3.6% | – | 92% |
| 65 | United States Naval Academy Annapolis, MD | 78 | Strong | 37 | 3.3% | – | 9% |
| 65 | Occidental College Los Angeles, CA | 78 | Strong | 29 | 6% | – | 45% |
| 65 | Trinity University San Antonio, TX | 78 | Strong | 25 | 4.3% | – | 26% |
| 72 | Stony Brook University–SUNY Stony Brook, NY | 77 | Strong | 171 | 3.7% | 0.99× | 49% |
| 72 | Purdue University–Main Campus West Lafayette, IN | 77 | Strong | 123 | 1.5% | 1.04× | 50% |
| 72 | Rutgers University–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ | 77 | Strong | 90 | 1.1% | 1.18× | 58% |
| 72 | University of Tulsa Tulsa, OK | 77 | Strong | 23 | 3.3% | – | 62% |
| 72 | Hamilton College Clinton, NY | 77 | Strong | 21 | 4.3% | – | 14% |
| 72 | Spelman College Atlanta, GA | 77 | Strong | 21 | 4.3% | – | 24% |
| 72 | Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX | 77 | Strong | 17 | 0.9% | – | 48% |
| 72 | Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA | 77 | Strong | 17 | 0.8% | – | 14% |
| 80 | North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC | 76 | Strong | 100 | 1.5% | 1.13× | 42% |
| 80 | New York University New York, NY | 76 | Strong | 74 | 1.1% | 1.16× | 9% |
| 80 | University of Denver Denver, CO | 76 | Strong | 71 | 5.3% | 1.07× | 85% |
| 80 | Kenyon College Gambier, OH | 76 | Strong | 36 | 7.8% | – | 31% |
| 80 | Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA | 76 | Strong | 29 | 3.3% | – | 29% |
| 80 | Whitman College Walla Walla, WA | 76 | Strong | 23 | 6.8% | – | 38% |
| 80 | Barnard College New York, NY | 76 | Strong | 19 | 2.6% | – | 9% |
| 80 | Reed College Portland, OR | 76 | Strong | 18 | 6% | – | 29% |
| 80 | Connecticut College New London, CT | 76 | Strong | 16 | 3.8% | – | 37% |
| 89 | University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA | 75 | Strong | 188 | 3% | 1.24× | 38% |
| 89 | University of Nebraska – Lincoln Lincoln, NE | 75 | Strong | 102 | 2.4% | 0.99× | 87% |
| 89 | University of Maryland Baltimore County Baltimore, MD | 75 | Strong | 69 | 2.6% | 1.15× | 72% |
| 89 | University of Delaware Newark, DE | 75 | Strong | 34 | 0.8% | 1.22× | 71% |
| 89 | College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA | 75 | Strong | 26 | 3.4% | 1.43× | 18% |
| 89 | Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA | 75 | Strong | 26 | 1.9% | – | 48% |
| 89 | Colorado College Colorado Springs, CO | 75 | Strong | 17 | 3.4% | – | 18% |
| 89 | Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr, PA | 75 | Strong | 15 | 5.1% | – | 29% |
| 97 | University of Florida Gainesville, FL | 74 | Strong | 163 | 1.7% | 0.86× | 20% |
| 97 | University of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD | 74 | Strong | 71 | 0.8% | 1.23× | 45% |
| 97 | St. Olaf College Northfield, MN | 74 | Strong | 46 | 6.6% | – | 43% |
| 97 | Franklin & Marshall College Lancaster, PA | 74 | Strong | 30 | 5.5% | – | 28% |
299 more schools are on the full chemistry & biochemistry ranking.
How this ranking works
Updated October 13, 2026. Sources: early-career pay for graduates of each program, by field of study (College Scorecard), graduates per year in the major (IPEDS), undergraduate courses listed in each department's current catalog, and the student body's test scores. Inputs that are missing for a school are dropped and the rest reweighted; programs with fewer than five graduates a year are capped at 30. Scores are relative to the other schools covered, from 0 to 100.
To cite: prefrosh.ai, "Best colleges for chemistry & biochemistry," updated October 13, 2026, https://prefrosh.ai/majors/chemistry. For a specific student's chances at these schools, use Chance me, which reads odds from the student's own high school's admissions chart.
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