I was accepted into UNC Chapel Hill, Maryland, and UIUC for physics in the fall. Can anyone lend some insight on which program would give me the best chance for acceptance into graduate school or what the research opportunities are like at each university? I currently live in NC which makes UNC considerably less expensive but it seems that their physics program is significantly smaller than both Maryland and UIUC. I prefer the area around UNC to any of the other schools but I’m afraid that since the department is not as much of a focus, I will have fewer opportunities there. UICIC has the highest ranked program (US News #9) but Maryland seems to have more research opportunities with NASA Goddard only fifteen minutes away. I was waitlisted by UCLA, UMich, and Reed so I’m still holding out hope for an acceptance from one of them but as of now I’m torn between UNC, Maryland, and UIUC. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Does anyone have experience with the programs at any of these schools?