I was accepted into GeorgiaTech, UCLA, UCSB, RPI, and Boston University for a bachelor in Physics. I wish to pursue a PhD after my undergrad, so where would be the best place for me to enroll based on the quality of the program. I also cannot visit because I live in India, so I’ll have to decide without visiting.
Thanks in advance
Dud you apply to UCSB CCS? What are costs for each?
Assuming that money is not a factor, here are some thoughts:
Any of them will give you a good enough physics undergrad to get into a top PhD program, so there isn’t a wrong decision. The key will be to get summer internships, so start looking by November of first year.
It’s a minor factor, but Boston, GaTech & UCLA are going to significantly easier to get to (flights) than RPI & UCSB. It only matters a few times a year, but still…
Navigating UCLA as a university is hard going, and imo at Ga Tech engineering is the star & physics is an also-ran, but BU is well ranked and is really proud of their physics program.
I should have mentioned this but I was awarded the Richard D. Cohen Scholarship at BU, and I recieved about 30k aid at RPI and UCLA. I also was accepted into the College of letters and sciences (not CCS) at UCSB
Well that makes it easy! The Cohen covers full need, and just requires keeping an ok GPA, right? Follow the money.
Yes that’s right, but isn’t UCLA ranked much higher?
I can’t seem to decide if the extra cost at UCLA is worth it
Higher rank, but not much higher - and the difference won’t be an issue at undergrad level, and definitely not for the extra cost. Physics at undergrad in the US is pretty standardized- the extras that you get from a bigger program are more elective classes, and (sometimes- it depends on the school) more research opportunities. BU will give you plenty of both. It won’t make a difference for grad school, either: my physics collegekid got into top-10 PhD programs from a not-famous small college. It was down to research experience, physics GRE score & GPA.
Agree with @collegemom3717 - lists of top feeder schools of PhD candidates are filled with smaller LACs - better access to professors, smaller classes, not fighting grad students for research opportunities, etc. For undergrad, follow the money…
^ Excellent post
If you would like a tech-focused school, my feeling would be that RPI would be excellent for physics. If you would prefer a more typically academically diverse school, then UCLA would seem to be a good choice.
Though rankings for undergraduate physics programs cannot reliably be said to exist, you might gain confirmation for some of your potential choices through this one:
http://college.usatoday.com/2015/03/14/top-ten-u-s-colleges-for-a-major-in-physics/
imo, UCLA for undergrad physics is not worth $120K more than BU - especially for somebody whose finances made them eligible for the Cohen Scholarship.
Calling @xraymancs; he can give you good advice about preparing for a grad program in physics.
My two cents is that everyone else is right and that you can prep well and get into a good physics grad program from any of these schools, and since you have full need meet at Boston U you should follow the money!
BU has a very good graduate physics program. You will be able to find many opportunities to get involved in research there during the academic year and in the summer as well. This is critical for you as you cannot access the NSF or DOE summer programs which are only open to US Citizens.
As others have said, the US News ranking of a university has very little to do with the quality of the undergraduate physics degree or whether you can get into a strong graduate program. This is more or less up to you as the student. In order to succeed, you need to:
OP, you won’t get better informed advice than @xraymancs, who is a physics prof & long time CC poster.
BU has v good physics department but UCSB is higher ranked (as is UCLA) . For undergrad you can do really well at BU and have a number of options for grad school
@xraymancs thanks a lot for your advice it was extremely helpful. Also I thought it’d be important to mention that I am a US citizen, but I’m residing in India, so I think I am eligible for NSF and DOE.
Another thing im incredibly fascinated by is relativity, which BU doesnt seem to offer
@ianarp That is excellent. Don’t worry too much about whether a university is doing research in relativity (I presume General Relativity…) because as an undergraduate you will be studying core subjects and these may only touch on General Relativity with an elective course. In our program at Illinois Tech, we have an elective General Relativity courses that is in the Graduate program. Undergraduate students sometimes take this too.
Furthermore, the research that you do as an undergraduate is likely to be computational or experimental simply because theoretical physics requires graduate level courses to really be able to approach meaningfully. Find a university that has a broad range of research opportunities and take advantage of them. Remember that the undergraduate curriculum is pretty much identical at all universities.
I recommend BU