<p>I want to ask about university of colorado at boulder in general physics (undergraduate). Can any one help me, please?. And if their better colleges in physics tell me about it, I want a college which creat a student with understanding minds ( I mean good stuff of teaching ) and not very hard in study and exams ( I mean normal exams and simples ).</p>
<p>I hear MIT is pretty good. You won't find easy exams there, though!</p>
<p>In all seriousness, however, you are going to have a rough time finding any classes in a Physics major that have simple exams. Physics in itself is very difficult. I was thinking about self-studying Physics too; I am frightening myself now! ;-)</p>
<p>I've heard lots of good things about Boulder's progam. Physics will be a challenge anywhere, but Boulder would be easier than top schools (while still having a quality program). </p>
<p>And everyone I know who went there loved it.</p>
<p>People really love UC-Boulder. Lots of grads decide to put down roots there.</p>
<p>It's a strong school, and the reputation is that of a fun place, especially for those who like outdoors activities (i.e. mountain climbing, skiing, etc.)</p>
<p>No offense, humo99, but if you want to get into a good college, you are going to have to be willing to work hard and do challenging problems. If you want simple exams then you might as well go to a community college or a second-tier state school in the middle of nowhere. Also, I sincerely hope that the English you speak and use in your school writing is of better quality than the English in your posts here.</p>
<p>i also want some LACs good for physics. I am really interested in physics but I also like many other subjects so basicaly want to keep my options open for now so no techs. the problem is -it seems that only big universities and tech schools have strong physics program.
Can anyone give me a few suggestions? I know about swrthmore, pomona( gives very little aid to int stu!), harvey mudd(only 6 majors available!) any other?</p>
<p>Safeties too!</p>
<p>Humo, Boulder actually has a well respected Physics department. Furthermore, Boulder is a great college town and the campus is lively and spirited.</p>
<p>Swetaaa, there are many LACs and LACish schools that have excellent Physics departments. </p>
<p>Amherst College
Brown University
Carleton College
Haverford College
Middlebury College
Oberlin College
Pomona College
Princeton Unversity
Reed University
Swarthmore College
Williams College</p>
<p>Alexandre- </p>
<p>thank you</p>
<p>Everyone-</p>
<p>Any safeties( must have good phy program ofcourse)?</p>
<p>My D is majoring in physics at Boulder and is enjoying it. Did well her first semester without killing herself. Things will get more interesting as the classes get more specialized and only students majoring in the field are left. The opportunities there are astounding - astrophysics, biophysics, etc. 3 Nobel laureates in the dept. CU has 60 physics faculty. Middlebury has 7. Tons of research opportunities, and $ for undergrad research. As a state institution aid to intl may be limited, but its a very white campus so there may be interest in diversification.</p>
<p>I live in upstate New York and a good physics college locally is URochester. They have a really good optical physics program.</p>
<p>
[quote]
CU has 60 physics faculty. Middlebury has 7.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Last year, 11 physics majors graduated from Middlebury--that's fewer than 2 students per professor. How many physics majors graduated from Boulder last year?</p>
<p>Swetaaa -
Also look at Lehigh. I'd consider it a liberal arts university.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Last year, 11 physics majors graduated from Middlebury--that's fewer than 2 students per professor. How many physics majors graduated from Boulder last year?
[/quote]
23 (I assume you can do the rest of the calculation).</p>
<p>Boulder's website says there were 33 undergrad physics majors in 2007. And you forgot to include the 38 masters and doctoral degree candidates working toward degrees in the physics department. But that's still a very low number considering the size of the faculty. Why does Boulder need so many physics professors if so few students are majoring in physics? I suppose to teach introductory classes to the 25,000 undergrads.</p>
<p>humo90:</p>
<p>Alexandre provided a solid list of smaller schools offering generally superb physics curricula that will provide the great teaching environment you say you're seeking. But all will be academically challenging programs, you must understand. The two usually go hand-in-hand.</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd was left off his list and I'm sure he'd agree it should be there. Along with Carleton, Reed and Swarthmore, these 4 consistently sit among the top 10 producers of physics PhDs per capita annually. As a follow-up to the previous two posts, Carleton currently has 30 students in the class of 2009 declaring physics as a major. This absolute number, similar to Colorado's, quite remarkable for a school less than 1/10 the size. Says alot about the environment supporting challenging majors often found at smaller schools.</p>
<p>1190, I don't think the number of students majoring in Physics at a university is an indication of the support students get from the administration and faculty. At large state universities like Boulder, you are likely to have students concentrate in over 100 fields of study. At smaller schools like Carleton, given the limited faculty size, students can only chose from 30 or 40 majors (at the most). Furthermore, many students at Boulder who would have majored in Physics if they had no alternative chose to major in Engineering at Boulder's large and respect college of Engineering.</p>
<p>Finally, I am not sure that Carleton's having as many Physics majors as Boulder is a good thing. Boulder has a Physics faculty with dozens of professors and huge research projects that can easily accommodate 30 students. Carleton has fewer than 10 Physics professors. Doesn't it make more sense that Boulder is better equipped to offer support to</p>
<p>Alexandre:</p>
<p>If you re-read my post, you'll see it was solely a comment on small school offerings in physics (as was yours, by the way) - not on the advantages/disadvantages posed by LACs v. uni's.</p>
<p>But, to answer the question you now pose, no it doesn't necessarily hold when Boulder's staff is doing much more than just teaching undergrads. Carleton's two sections this term of intro physics have 22 and 29 kids in them. You and I know Colorado's classes enroll many multiples of this. Are there advantages to be found in a small classroom taught by full-time faculty whose tenure was based on teaching excellence? Of course. Are there advantages to the greater depth of a large university department? Of course. As much as I am a great supporter of the LAC experience I don't believe for one minute it's for everone nor do I believe that an equally strong education can't be found at a mid or large sized school. Obviously, different strengths/weaknesses. Different strokes....</p>
<p>I do believe that the "weed-out" phenomenon typical of intro sciences at most mid/large schools discourages too many potential majors. I also believe this is less endemic a problem at LACs.</p>
<p>One article from the Chronicle of Higher Education you may have seen addressed the question of encouragement of women, specifically, into physical science majors and on to PhD. It compares the experiences at a LAC (yes, Carleton) with a large state flagship (Wisconsin) primarily from the perspective of profs at Wisconsin. FYI.</p>
<p>Are there a rank for top 50 in physics for undergraduate or grduate universities ?</p>
<p>Add William & Mary to the list esp for a LAC type school</p>