<p>Hello, has anyone studied physics at Amherst? What are research opportunities, faculty, and upper division courses like? </p>
<p>I'm currently studying at Miami Dade College and am looking to transfer up North, aside from academic rigor, I'm looking for a school situated in an area that has mountains and hiking paths nearby. Anything to get away from the plane that is Florida. </p>
<p>Also, any suggestions for other schools that meet this criteria? (Good physics and mountains)</p>
<p>It is a rather small department; most upper division courses are offered only once per year instead of every semester. Also, it does not appear to have the capacity to offer the second semester upper division E&M and quantum mechanics courses, or various upper division physics elective courses (e.g. atomic physics, solid state physics, plasma physics, astrophysics) that larger physics departments offer.</p>
<p>Amherst itself is less than a mile from UMass which likely offers all of those courses. I wouldn’t let the lack of upper div offerings dissuade you from applying to the school.</p>
<p>Definitely look at Williams. Excellent physics (and math) and surrounded by mountains. Very selective, though, especially for transfers. You might also look at Hamilton.</p>
<p>Colorado College generates slightly more PhDs in physics than most of the NESCAC schools other than Williams. It may be a more realistic transfer target than some of them (although transfer admission rate in 2011-12 was only about 10%). It definitely has more serious mountains nearby than the bumps in the ground back east.</p>
<p>The Amherst 5-college consortium is attractive, though.</p>
<p>Amherst has an excellent physics department. As others have pointed out, the college is small, so the number of physics courses offered is not as large as at a big state university, such as UMass or UC Berkeley. Nevertheless there are enough courses to provide a strong physics major. For example there are two semesters of classical mechanics (116 or 123, and 343), two semesters of E&M (117 or 124, and 347), a “modern physics” course and a quantum mechanics course (225 and 348), a statistical mechanics and thermodynamics course (230), and an intermediate lab course (226). These courses form the core of any strong undergraduate physics major. I would not worry about the fact that most of these courses are offered once a year, rather than every semester.</p>
<p>Several of the Amherst physics faculty are particularly impressive. Both David Hall and Larry Hunter have won the APS award for research at an undergraduate institution. See for example the website for Hall’s research lab.
[Hall</a> Labs](<a href=“http://www3.amherst.edu/~halllab/]Hall”>Hall Labs - Amherst Physics)
Undergraduate students can work closely with the physics faculty, receiving outstanding research training.</p>
<p>Amherst College makes a special effort to reach out to transfer students from community colleges. The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has given the college generous funds to support transfer students. I suspect that Amherst would be more affordable to the OP than UMass.</p>
<p>I also echo momrath’s recommendation for the physics department at Williams College, Amherst’s traditional rival. Apply to both and see what happens.</p>
<p>Larger physics departments may have two semester upper division sequences in E&M and other topics, in addition to introducing them in the lower division courses.</p>
<p>True, some large physics departments do offer two-semester upper division sequences in classical mechanics and E&M, but some do not. For example Harvard offers one semester of each of those subjects (Physics 151 Mechanics and Physics 153 Electrodynamics) at the upper-undergraduate level. If you want to take more mechanics or E&M at Harvard you have to move on to graduate-level courses. The question is how many mechanics courses and E&M courses are enough for an undergraduate.</p>
<p>Despite its small size Amherst offers a rigorous physics major that can prepare students well for graduate study or for other endeavors. Rather than offering more upper-level physics courses than most students will take, it focuses on getting students involved in research with its talented faculty. A larger fraction of Amherst physics majors go on to earn PhD’s than physics majors from UMass for example. I would not steer a student away from Amherst College and toward UMass if he wants to major in physics.</p>