Back to Rankings
Go to major

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 7 4% 43% / 57% 0% $92,685 89 — —
2 Columbia
New York, NY
New York, NY 14 4% 43% / 57% 14% $75,890 67 — —
3 Cornell
Ithaca, NY
Ithaca, NY 34 8% 47% / 53% 12% $60,338 23 85% —
4 Harvard
Cambridge, MA
Cambridge, MA 28 3% 50% / 50% 11% $81,497 80 — —
5 MIT
Cambridge, MA
Cambridge, MA 26 5% 46% / 54% 31% $120,827 99 94% —
6 Princeton
Princeton, NJ
Princeton, NJ 25 4% 60% / 40% 8% $74,859 69 — —
7 Stanford
Palo Alto, CA
Palo Alto, CA 19 4% 47% / 53% 0% $77,693 73 — —
8 U. of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
Berkeley, CA 161 11% 57% / 43% 20% $67,699 70 97% —
9 U. of Chicago
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL 25 5% 40% / 60% 4% $80,460 72 — —
10 U. of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia, PA 24 5% 46% / 54% 13% $89,176 86 — —
11 Yale
New Haven, CT
New Haven, CT 15 4% 53% / 47% 0% $77,664 68 — —

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 31 13% 26% / 74% 3% $69,620 77 — —
2 Purdue
West Lafayette, IN
West Lafayette, IN 89 43% 51% / 49% 18% $59,928 60 100% —
3 Carnegie Mellon
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh, PA 61 11% 62% / 38% 15% $87,177 82 91% —
4 North Carolina State
Raleigh, NC
Raleigh, NC 50 40% 48% / 52% 0% $75,438 83 100% —
5 Texas A&M University - College Station
College Station, TX
College Station, TX 74 52% 45% / 55% 0% $72,127 77 90% —
6 Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA
Blacksburg, VA 125 55% 52% / 48% 2% $72,629 81 92% —
7 Case Western Reserve
Cleveland, OH
Cleveland, OH 34 35% 38% / 62% 12% $63,474 32 89% —
8 Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO
Golden, CO 9 29% 44% / 56% 0% $64,667 62 95% —
9 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY
Troy, NY 10 67% 50% / 50% 0% $77,318 74 — —
10 New Jersey Institute of Technology
Newark, NJ
Newark, NJ 5 69% 40% / 60% 0% $71,333 80 — —
11 U. of Akron
Akron, OH
Akron, OH 8 85% 50% / 50% 0% $61,408 71 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 21 6% 48% / 52% 0% $98,383 91 — —
2 Northwestern
Evanston, IL
Evanston, IL 15 7% 47% / 53% 20% $157,335 99 95% —
3 Duke
Durham, NC
Durham, NC 21 5% 62% / 38% 10% $43,135 2 95% —
4 Rice
Houston, TX
Houston, TX 26 8% 65% / 35% 8% $72,319 59 — —
5 Boston University
Boston, MA
Boston, MA 25 11% 32% / 68% 20% $56,778 18 83% —
6 New York University
New York, NY
New York, NY 29 9% 59% / 41% 7% $71,913 63 — —
7 Emory
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta, GA 91 12% 45% / 55% 18% $64,937 39 86% —
8 U. of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA 18 12% 61% / 39% 0% $53,867 11 89% —
9 Brown
Providence, RI
Providence, RI 20 5% 65% / 35% 5% $83,607 77 — —
10 Vanderbilt
Nashville, TN
Nashville, TN 20 4% 45% / 55% 5% $81,915 75 — —
11 Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO
Saint Louis, MO 36 12% 50% / 50% 0% $75,748 63 — —
12 Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA
Chestnut Hill, MA 19 13% 37% / 63% 21% $72,677 59 — —
13 Tufts
Medford, MA
Medford, MA 19 10% 47% / 53% 21% $74,541 63 — —
14 U. of Rochester
Rochester, NY
Rochester, NY 23 41% 39% / 61% 22% $71,754 60 — —
15 Dartmouth
Hanover, NH
Hanover, NH 15 6% 33% / 67% 7% $85,041 81 — —

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 114 55% 62% / 38% 19% $78,648 82 96% —
2 U. of California, Davis
Davis, CA
Davis, CA 68 44% 46% / 54% 12% $81,776 85 87% —
3 Michigan State
East Lansing, MI
East Lansing, MI 32 83% 44% / 56% 6% $57,345 39 89% —
4 Iowa State
Ames, IA
Ames, IA 41 85% 51% / 49% 7% $65,156 71 93% —
5 Washington State
Pullman, WA
Pullman, WA 16 75% 56% / 44% 6% $66,161 77 — —
6 Colorado State University - Fort Collins
Fort Collins, CO
Fort Collins, CO 30 82% 37% / 63% 10% $80,180 88 90% —
7 Oregon State
Corvallis, OR
Corvallis, OR 42 75% 55% / 45% 7% $70,654 78 93% —
8 Texas Tech
Lubbock, TX
Lubbock, TX 25 69% 40% / 60% 0% $68,194 80 92% —
9 U. of Missouri
Columbia, MO
Columbia, MO 33 77% 67% / 33% 0% $60,646 57 95% —
10 Clemson
Clemson, SC
Clemson, SC 32 42% 38% / 63% 0% $66,215 66 100% —
11 U. of Kentucky
Lexington, KY
Lexington, KY 30 90% 43% / 57% 0% $64,235 66 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 68 9% 43% / 57% 4% $69,795 70 92% —
2 U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL
Champaign, IL 118 37% 50% / 40% 12% $75,224 81 93% —
3 U. of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA
La Jolla, CA 153 29% 43% / 57% 13% $83,272 85 92% —
4 U. of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI
Ann Arbor, MI 29 16% 52% / 48% 10% $75,792 66 100% —
5 U. of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX
Austin, TX 104 22% 41% / 59% 4% $66,779 65 96% —
6 U. of Florida
Gainesville, FL
Gainesville, FL 152 23% 44% / 56% 1% $62,885 70 91% —
7 U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
Chapel Hill, NC 87 17% 52% / 48% 8% $67,202 66 92% —
8 U. of Washington
Seattle, WA
Seattle, WA 76 42% 45% / 55% 18% $68,591 74 84% —
9 U. of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI
Madison, WI 54 41% 56% / 44% 20% $73,896 77 95% —
10 Ohio State
Columbus, OH
Columbus, OH 44 49% 59% / 41% 7% $73,644 77 87% —
11 U. of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, CO
Boulder, CO 23 71% 57% / 43% 0% $67,393 68 — —

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 70 38% 50% / 50% 17% $79,458 83 93% —
2 U. of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA
Irvine, CA 135 29% 45% / 55% 16% $72,001 74 93% —
3 U. of Illinois Chicago
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL 34 79% 44% / 56% 6% $62,220 68 94% —
4 Northeastern
Boston, MA
Boston, MA 25 24% 48% / 52% 8% $95,388 90 96% —
5 U. of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh, PA 54 59% 56% / 44% 4% $71,533 76 98% —
6 U. of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT
Salt Lake City, UT 37 82% 57% / 43% 3% $66,729 74 92% —
7 U. of Delaware
Newark, DE
Newark, DE 37 72% 35% / 65% 8% $75,782 81 100% —
8 U. of Houston
Houston, TX
Houston, TX 23 66% 48% / 52% 0% $74,603 87 93% —
9 U. of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH
Cincinnati, OH 48 85% 52% / 48% 2% $67,758 76 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 41 45% 39% / 61% 2% $78,447 85 94% —
2 U. of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
Charlottesville, VA 128 12% 41% / 59% 2% $69,058 57 97% —
3 Georgetown
Washington, DC
Washington, DC 7 14% 29% / 71% 14% $77,467 70 — —
4 George Washington
Washington, DC
Washington, DC 13 47% 38% / 62% 8% $72,533 62 — —
5 Virginia Commonwealth
Richmond, VA
Richmond, VA 89 72% 44% / 56% 0% $63,326 63 95% —
6 U. of Connecticut
Storrs, CT
Storrs, CT 35 54% 54% / 46% 6% $72,122 77 100% —
7 CUNY City
New York, NY
New York, NY 11 42% 55% / 45% 0% $69,111 86 — —
8 U. of South Florida
Tampa, FL
Tampa, FL 76 35% 43% / 57% 5% $58,727 72 98% —
9 Florida International
Miami, FL
Miami, FL 72 42% 38% / 63% 3% $70,638 85 90% —
10 U. of Central Florida
Orlando, FL
Orlando, FL 47 43% 51% / 49% 6% $56,167 64 100% —
11 U. of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN
Notre Dame, IN 18 9% 56% / 44% 0% $73,515 59 — —

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 28 88% 61% / 39% 4% $55,428 51 97% —
2 Florida State
Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee, FL 16 20% 56% / 44% 0% $63,894 79 90% —
3 Indiana
Bloomington, IN
Bloomington, IN 44 76% 55% / 45% 2% $68,499 69 98% —
4 U. of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA
Riverside, CA 59 86% 51% / 49% 2% $56,178 40 92% —
5 U. of Texas at Dallas
Dallas, TX
Dallas, TX 33 72% 61% / 39% 0% $62,203 60 95% —
6 U. of Kansas
Lawrence, KS
Lawrence, KS 20 88% 45% / 55% 5% $63,985 68 — —
7 U. of Oregon
Eugene, OR
Eugene, OR 21 78% 38% / 62% 0% $63,898 62 100% —
8 U. of South Carolina
Columbia, SC
Columbia, SC 30 55% 33% / 67% 0% $70,138 76 100% —
9 Louisiana State
Baton Rouge, LA
Baton Rouge, LA 34 71% 35% / 65% 0% $79,995 88 93% —
10 U. of North Texas
Denton, TX
Denton, TX 33 81% 42% / 58% 0% $58,789 68 88% —
11 U. of Oklahoma - Norman
Norman, OK
Norman, OK 44 72% 39% / 61% 2% $69,082 77 95% —