<p>I am immensely interested in the new field of chaos and non-linear dynamics, however I don't know which schools are better for this subject. Also is it prefferable to approach this as an Applied Mathematician or as a Physicist?</p>
<p>Chaos theory usually applies more to physics in my mind than mathematics, particularly because it stems from thermodynamics (really physics-y) and because of all the various times physicists use it. Applied math is quite similar, however, so I'd say if you're interested more in the theoretical work do applied math, if you actually want to research chaos theory and study concrete examples of it go for physics (interestingly enough, the honors freshman physics class at my school studies chaos theory).
I will note however that interesting as you might find one particular field or theory of math or physics this early on don't specify your interests too quickly! There's a lot of cool stuff out there after all. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I will definitely try and take my time before committing to a specific field or theory. Btw, which school do you attend?</p>
<p>Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. No Applied Math but physics is really good and there's a math/physics degree which I guess is the same thing.</p>
<p>University of Chicago</p>