<p>Looking for input on the best colleges to attend for a physics degree. We have a good list going, but all information is helpful.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Physics is a common major so any good college will have a good department. If you're not intereted in graduate physics, then the actual prestige of the department is not very important. </p>
<p>However, if you're looking to go onto graduate physics, the best places for undergrad are Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley, and Cal Tech.</p>
<p>There are some very fine LAC programs in physics as well, which by definition are all geared toward the undergrad experience. Have a look at Harvey Mudd in the west, Swarthmore and Williams in the east. Also consider the Apker Awards for the last 10 years, in evaluating undergrad research opportunities (obviously this is just one of many things to look at). </p>
<p>The Apker Award is the the highest national award for <em>undergraduate</em> physics research, and each year one is given to a student from a school with a PhD program (basically research universities), and one is given to a student from a school without a PhD program (mostly LACs). Here's how it broke down for the last 10 years, by number of Apkers per school:</p>
<p>Research Universities:
CalTech-2
Princeton-2
U of Florida-2
Chicago-1
MIT-1
Stanford-1
U of Rochester-1</p>
<p>LACs:
Williams College-3
Harvey Mudd-2
Swarthmore-2
Haverford College-1
Illinois State University-1
Middlebury College-1</p>
<p>um...CORNELL, it is like #6 in hte country and Cal Berk is amazing as well.</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd has received excellent reviews and ratings. A team of faculty review members from Williams, Swarthmore, and Caltech examined it in February 2004, and had this to say:</p>
<p>The physics program at Harvey Mudd College is truly excellent and among the very best at undergraduate institutions across the country. The curriculum has been carefully conceived and is effective in providing an outstanding education to students, the faculty are skilled teachers who are extremely accessible and wonderfully supportive to students, the research experiences offered to students are top-notch, the department is an important contributor to the excellence of the institution, and the people in the department enjoy an esprit de corps that allows them to work together quite effectively. In short, the department enjoys the admiration of the administration, the faculty in other departments, the students, and now this review team.</p>
<p>In reviewing one of the best if not the best physics program at an undergraduate institution, there are no major problems for us to address.</p>
<p>If the quality of undergrad programs parallels the quality of grad programs, then this ranking of graduate physics in US News might be helpful:
Caltech
MIT
Harvard
Princeton
Stanford
UC Berkeley
Cornell
U Chicago
U Illinois UC
Columbia
UC Santa Barbara
Yale
U Maryland CP
U Michigan Ann Arbor
U Texas Austin
UCLA
UC San Diego
U Washington
U Wisconsin Madison
Johns Hopkins
U Colorado Boulder
U Penn</p>
<p>This list overlooks many fine physics programs at LACs because they do not offer physics at the graduate level.</p>
<p>We're trying to figure out the same thing! I got this info from our guidance counselor - it's from the Gourman Report based on undergraduate physics programs--</p>
<p>The following is a list of schools that have been ranked (in order
1-35) in Physics:</p>
<br>
<p>California Institute of Technology Harvard and Radcliffe College Cornell University Princeton University Massachusetts Institute of Technology University of California - Berkeley Stanford University University of Chicago University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign Columbia University Yale University Georgia Institute of Technology University of California - San Diego University of California - Los Angeles University of Pennsylvania University of Wisconsin - Madison University of Washington University of Michigan - Ann Arbor University of Maryland - College Park University of California - Santa Barbara University of Texas - Austin Carnegie Mellon University University of Minnesota Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Brown University Johns Hopkins University Michigan State University University of Notre Dame State University of New York at Stony Brook Case Western Reserve University Northwestern University University of Rochester University of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania State University - University Park University of Colorado - Boulder </p>
<br>
<p>Would appreciate any other input also. I disagree with the poster that said
any good college will have a good department.</p>
<p>This might be interesting to you
<a href="http://www.aip.org/statistics/%5B/url%5D">http://www.aip.org/statistics/</a>
From the American institute of physics
also a little horn tooting</p>
<p>*Reed physics department recognized for achievements</p>
<p>High numbers of graduates and productive learning environment cited</p>
<p>The American Institute of Physics reported in the July 2002 edition of AIP Report that, of the more than 500 U.S. institutions offering undergraduate-only physics programs, Reed College in 1998, 1999, and 2000 produced an average of 17 graduates per year, the third-highest number. Reed trails only the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Naval Academywhich offer primarily technical curriculain this distinction.</p>
<p>The report found that, in recent years, the average annual number of graduating physics seniors at U.S. undergraduate-only institutions is 3.2, and that only 7 percent of these physics programs graduate more than 10 per year. Over the past decade Reeds physics department has maintained its high graduation rate, with from 10 to 15 seniors each year.*</p>
<p>I'll tell you right now what will happen in this thread. LAC trolls will come in posting about how great so-and-so some small liberal arts college is and then some USNWR junkie will post a link to the graduate rankings in support of so-and-so national research university.</p>
<p>Here's the real answer. There are many answers to your question and it all depends on what you are looking for. First off, all of the top physics graduate schools have highly rigorous undergraduate programs. After looking through different course curriculums at different schools, schools like HYP stanford mit princeton cornell caltech berkeley expect A LOT out of their undergrads. Does this mean the teaching itself is good? That's subject to debate. You have your great professors and your not-so-great professors, but one thing is certain: you will graduate knowing your material one way or another. Also, you'll have a lot of exposure to many different sub-fields and will have the opportunity to take a wide variety of advanced physics courses. For many people, research is a vital part of an education. What better way to experience this by working for literally the world's experts and leading scientists?</p>
<p>I'm not exactly sure how the education or facilities are at LACs but my friends and current classmates that graduated from such schools have positive things to say. Although the course offerings are much smaller, you get a lot of personalized attention. I can't imagine LACs have "bad" professors because their focus is on teaching and not on research, which is obviously an advantage for ugrads. On that note, although you can get involved in research it won't be at the level of someone at MIT for example.</p>
<p>I would recommend talking to faculty in physics depts of schools you are interested in and seeing what they say. Ask them to put you in touch with current undergrads and see what they have to say. That's the surefire way of gauging what the "best" ugrad physics school is.</p>
<p>Random statistics like Apker awards and percentage of the student body majoring in physics is pointless and does not tell you much, if anything at all. Also studies like the Gourman Report are flawed and very unscientific (if such a thing can exist for rankings).</p>
<p>Just so you know my background and any biases I might have, I graduated from Cornell as an Engineering Physics major.</p>
<p>Shizz:
Where are you now? Grad school or employed using your physics? (not a challenge--just wondering).</p>
<p>LACs for physics
Amherst
Bates
Carleton
Centre
Dickinson
Franklin and Marshall
Grinnell
Harvey Mudd
Haverford
Kalamazoo
Lawrence
Macalester
Occidental
Reed
Rhodes
Swarthmore
Wake Forest
Wheaton
Whitman
Wellesley
Barnard
Bryn Mawr</p>
<p>driver:
I'm in grad school in a different but related field.</p>
<p>so shizz, ru gonna be like a teacher after ur PhD like at Cornell or Columbia or wherever?</p>
<p>You should definitely check out Ohio Wesleyan after we have a new science center. It is just amazing how much went into it.</p>
<p>You should definitely check out Ohio Wesleyan after we have a new science center. It is just amazing how much went into it. Physics department is very good with some good placements in recent years.</p>
<p>I'm not sure if the rating of the physics department, per se, at the undergraduate level is as important as the overall fit of the college. S was accepted at schools mentioned above (Chicago, HMC, Columbia) but chose a different school based on more general fit. The courses at the undergraduate are likely to be similar, so it's more a question of the quality of academics in general that matters, I think. There will always be a certain amount of distribution requirements, math, physics, chem or whatever, so it's a question of where you feel the best overall education can be obtained. Opportunities for undergraduate research and internships are a consideration. At the graduate level, specific areas of research and/or faculty will be more important.</p>
<p>By the way, he's finding plenty of challenge at his school, where he tested into honors physics and chem.</p>