Undergraduate Degree in Genetics | Best Universities for Study in US & UK

There is a wide range of career opportunities for people who choose to study a genetics program in their higher education studies.

Some career opportunities include healthcare scientists, pharmacologists, clinical researchers, research scientists, and geneticists.

Because of this, many people are trying to research what the best schools are to study genetics.

Most undergraduate programs offer genetics as a concentration in a variety of biology majors.

So, here is a list of the best universities to pursue a higher education studying Genetics at an undergraduate level in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Top 10 Universities for Undergraduate Degrees in Genetics:

1. Harvard University

Undergraduate Degree in Genetics

This private university is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and contains a Molecular and Cellular Biology major the head tutor and professor of the program is Professor Vlad Denic. As of December 2017, there were a total of 150 students enrolled and concentrated in the program.

The program emphasizes the intersection of modern research in cellular biology with medicine and society. In addition to this, the concentrators of Molecular and Cellular Biology will acquire an understanding of the scientific logic as well as the approaches as they continue to explore a wide range of contemporary subjects. These subjects include biochemistry, cell biology, genomics, molecular medicine, and global health. The program allows students to experience both rigorous coursework as well as hands-on research in order to explore many of the central questions of modern biology and medicine.

Graduation rate: 97.6%
Acceptance rate: 5.6%
Tuition: $45,278

https://www.harvard.edu

2. University of Cambridge
This university is located in Cambridge, England, and offers genetics included in its Natural Sciences Major. This major offers a wide range of physical and biological science subjects packed into one demanding course. The first year is a broad course year, the second year involves increasing specialization, and the last two years offer the possibility of total specialization for the students.

The course outline is organized by teaching material in various ways. Each subject includes lectures, seminars, practical classes, and supervision. Also included in the course outline are research projects and field trips. Lectures are different from supervisions in that the university arranges them and takes place in the departments both on and off of campus, while the Director of your studies arranges supervisions and take place in the colleges.

Graduation rate: 32.8% within the first four years
Acceptance rate: 21%
Tuition (UK/EU students): US$12,300
Tuition (International non-EU students): US$ 25,575- 38,920

https://www.cam.ac.uk

3. Stanford University
This university is located in Stanford, California, and offers an undergraduate major program in Biology. This program begins as a broad, introductory course to biology in the first year but then branches out into more specific areas of the study of biology in the student’s later years. Students have the option to add honors within their Biology major. However, they must apply and complete the requirements needed first in order to do honors in Biology at Stanford University. The college offers research opportunities in genetics as well that include topics such as stem-cell behaviors, cell patterns, genetic evolution, and population genetics. Students can also go through the Stanford Genetics and Genomics Certificate Program by taking online classes. Although this school is challenging to get into, it is known for the law, engineering, business, and medicine.

Undergraduate Degree in Genetics

Graduation rate: 94.2%
Acceptance rate: 5%
Tuition: $46,320

4. University of Oxford
This university is located in Oxford, England, and offers around 100 major academic departments that four academic divisions oversee. These divisions include Medical Sciences, Mathematical, Physical, and Life Sciences, Humanities, and Social Sciences. The study of genetics fits into the Medical Sciences department because included in this department is also the Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics, and the head of this department is Professor David Paterson. This university undertakes research in science by reassembling physiological processes at the molecular, cellular, tissue, and systems levels of organization. They maintain that their students are the future of research, and this is why the university will provide them with the appropriate opportunities needed to become the next generation of doctors and scientists.

Graduation rate: 98.7%
Acceptance rate: 17.5%
Tuition (UK/EU students): US$12,300
Tuition (International non-EU students): US$ 21,600-31,800

http://www.ox.ac.uk

5. University of Washington
This university is located in Seattle, Washington, and offers a major program in Molecular and Cellular Biology. This program study provides broad and flexible training in the life sciences. Additionally, it opens opportunities related to technology development, and it encourages team building as well as leadership. Inside of this major program study is an area of interest known as Genetics, Genomics, and Evolution. Moreover, in this area of interest, the faculty study the organization of genes into genomes. They also study how these organizations change with evolution in systems ranging from genetic and developmental models all the way to complex human diseases.

Graduation rate: 83.9%
Acceptance rate: 53.3%
Tuition In-state: $11,839
Tuition Out-of-State: $34,143

https://www.washington.edu

6. Yale University
This private university is located in New Haven, Connecticut, and it offers a program of study known as Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. This program of study includes the study of genetics, and the Director of the department is Douglas Kankel. Additionally, students who are majoring in this program study each receive a varied liberal education in a diverse range of fields. The major offers opportunities for independent research and this research may be conducted under the supervision of any faculty member in any department at Yale University with the correct approval. The main focus of research in the field of genetics is studying genetic material’s structure, function, and regulation. However, there are laboratories for molecular and biochemical genetics, developmental genetics, molecular and classical cytogenetics, somatic cell genetics, and behavioral genetics.

Undergraduate Degree in Genetics

Graduation rate: 96.5%
Acceptance rate: 6.7%
Tuition: $47,600

https://www.yale.edu

7. John Hopkins University
This university is located in Baltimore, Maryland, and is classified as a private research university. Its program study that coincides with Genetics is Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department conducts research that helps students to find fundamental properties of biology. This can help them discover new and useful research regarding the public health field. Both the staff as well as the students work to find biological bases of normal and abnormal cellular processes. Additionally, they both collaborate in order to become trained, experienced, and professional scientists in the biomedical field. The students learn to provide these new insights through research as well as teaching.

Graduation rate: 93.4%
Acceptance rate: 14.1%
Tuition: $48,710

https://www.jhu.edu

8. University of Sheffield
This public university is located in Sheffield, England, and offers a program of study in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. This program allows you to focus only on genetics or to combine it with another molecular bioscience subject. This department at the University of Sheffield is ranked in the top 5 in the United Kingdom for biological research, and it is ranked number 1 for biomedical research. This facility uses the latest technology in order to understand better how molecules are based as well as how they have an impact on human health and the environment. Some topics of research that the school focuses on aim to look into societal problems, including food security, antibiotic resistance, and healthy aging. Both the students and the faculty at the University of Sheffield benefit from having access to the latest technological equipment and facilities in order to expand their knowledge.

QS Global World Ranking: #75
24,429 total students enrolled
Tuition In-state: 9,000 GBP
Tuition International: 17,625 GBP

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk

9. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
This private institute is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and offers 30 departments across five schools. One of those departments is the Department of Biology. This department focuses on the molecules included in cell biology in order to understand the molecules’ impact on both the environment as well as human disease. They have over 60 world-renowned faculties. Some areas of research in genetics include gene editing, heredity, evolution, cancer, disease, DNA repair and replication, horizontal gene transfer, genetic variability, aging, pathogenesis, and epigenetics. Students are required to take a seminar for independent research to graduate from the program. Moreover, the Department of Biology’s core mission is to understand molecular biology at every level, ranging from the molecules of cells to organisms and their interactions with the environment.

Graduation rate: 91.6%
Acceptance rate: 8.3%
Tuition: $46, 704

http://www.mit.edu

10. University of Glasgow
This university is located in Glasgow, Scotland, and offers a program study in Molecular Cell and Systems Biology. They believe in multidisciplinary working, and their strengths include cell engineering, plant science, molecular and cell biology, genetics, transgenic, and functional genomics. Some of the program’s research areas include molecular genetics, plant science, protein structure and regulation, molecular pharmacology, cell engineering, synthetic biology, and biological systems. Their broad scope of work involves collaborations within the University’s College of Medical, Veterinary, and Life Sciences and with mathematicians, computer scientists, and engineers across the university.

European Teaching Rankings 2018: #31
World University Rankings 2018: #80
Tuition In-state: 1,820 GBP
Tuition Out-of-State: 9,000 GBP
Tuition International: 16,350 GBP

https://www.gla.ac.uk

Abby Drexler is a writer and media specialist. She regularly produces content for a variety of genetics and science blogs.

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