<p>Which school is the best at physics and econ out of these schools.</p>
<p>Probably a tie between Williams and Swarthmore. Both are fantastic in each. Swarthmore has a ton of Econ and Physics grads going on to earn Phd's, and Williams also does quite well in that regard (although Williams sends more econ grads into the private sector than Swarthmore, the ones who choose to pursue Phd's place into the very top programs). Both have amazingly productive econ scholars on the faculty, considering they are liberal arts schools. </p>
<p>I know more specifics on Williams. Williams has an interesting, small grad program in development economics that attracts mid-level diplomats from all over the developing world, and it is also particularly well known for the econ of higher education. Econ is by far the biggest department on campus so there are many interesting offerings. Math (which is obviously a big part of both) is also one of Williams' best departments, arguably the best of any liberal arts school. Two Williams students have won Apker awards, the top undergrad physics honor, in recent years, and a Williams Physics alum won the nobel prize in Econ not so long ago. For more about the success of Williams physics majors, check out "news" and "physics majors after williams" on this page:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.williams.edu/Physics/%5B/url%5D">http://www.williams.edu/Physics/</a></p>
<p>Econ, and especially physics, at all of these schools (and many other top LACs) are very strong and trying to distinguish nuances is seriously a waste of your time. There is no monopoly here. The only way I think such info would help you in the least is if you knew DEFINITELY what you wanted to do with your degree although that is somewhat impossible to know so early... astrophysics, fluid dynamics, biophysics, physics to teach, physics for engineering...? Even in that case, the benefits are small...</p>
<p>For example, I knew I was interested in protein chemistry since high school and was considering some of your schools too. Swat's biology department is strong and well rounded but if you want to concentrate on molecular bio/ biophysics/ biochem, then HC's department is unquestionably stronger (because it's molecular based and offers more amazing resources in this area...). For example, HC teaches students advanced immunology and also hands-on labs with creating monoclonal antibodies- a staple for most biomed research. At Swat, they don't even have 1 advanced lecture in immunology at all let alone a lab for constructing monoclonal antibodies. The fact that Swat has this "huge" educational gap... does it hamper students interested in molecular research as a career?? No, their grads wind up equally competitive at the best MD, MD/PhD and PhD programs too. So, if glaring differences in departments really don't make a difference, why worry about details that you can't see and so must ask about here? What grad/professional schools look for are analytical skills, creativity and research experience... and all the top LACs have this in abundance. You need to find the best fit.</p>
<p>I don't think the number of Nobel prize winners is an accurate marker to assess quality of education, but if you want to have fun with this... HC has one winner in physics in the 1990's and 4 altogether.</p>
<p>If you like miring yourself in details, here are a few more fun fatcs. HC is the only LAC to have a national academy of science member on its faculty (Gollub in Physics). The physics department also counts on its faculty a rhodes scholar as well.</p>
<p>The Howard Hughes Medical institute awards grants to LACs with strong proposals to teach undergrads science... and HC is the only LAC in the last 2 funding cycles to get the maximum award amount... actually, WC may have gotten it too.</p>
<p>I agree with HC alum. At this level of schools, the programs are uniformly excellent. Unless there's something specific you are interested in, like HC alum, differentiating between the quality of the programs is splitting hairs. Visit them all and look for the best fit. You will have a great education whichever you pick.</p>