<p>DS has a choice between the three. We would very much appreciate any input, regarding</p>
<p>a. The rigor of the programs and how well they prepare an undergraduate for grad work.
b. Accessibility and supportiveness of the faculty
c. How aggressive does one have to be to seek out research experiences (S wants to go on to a PhD), or are they readily available?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your replies.</p>
<p>I know Princeton’s physics department is really strong. Don’t know much about the other two, though.</p>
<p>S considered Harvard, Columbia and Princeton (among others). In the end he did not apply to Columbia or Princeton, although he had great visits there and really enjoyed talking to the profs. His reasons had little to do with the strengths of the programs (although he would put Princeton and Harvard above Columbia) and more to do with other factors. He did not care for Princeton’s suburban setting, the eating clubs, and Princeton’s reputation for drinking (as described to him by a Physics concentrator). I know others who have absolutely loved Princeton, so it is a very personal question.
There was one prof whom S did not care for, but on the whole, S had a great experience. His advisor was extremely supportive. S is now in grad school–as is his friend who had a fabulous time at Princeton!</p>
<p>DD is a freshman Physics concentrator at Harvard. Very few people on a forum like this will have personal experience to compare/contrast the programs across these colleges, so I will only speak of her experience at H. Like your son, she hopes to continue on and earn a PhD which was a major reason that H was her top choice. Due to her lifelong commitment to her performing art, she never participated in math or science competitions in high school. Knowing that many of her classmates would have competed at the highest level she was unsure of which sequences of math and physics classes that she should start with. She scored 5 on the AP Calc A/B and Physics B/C exams. During orientation week she met with both Professors Georgi and Moren who are the physics undergraduate advisors and they each advised her to shop the highest level physics class (Physics 16) and since she was focused on physics and not math, to take Math 21A. The higher level math sequences (23A or 25A or 55A) are much more proof based where 21A is focused on the more practical math that a physicist needs. She loved Physics 16, but it was clearly a challenging course. It is taught by Georgi and he is very accessible. She formed a study group which met weekly at Leverett House where Georgi is also the House Master. She found her classmates to be very collaborative and everyone supported each other. Math 21A was less challenging, but again she liked her prof. She was quite successful in both classes and is taking the next course in their respective sequence now and also enjoying them.</p>
<p>As to research, again due to her arts pursuit she has no previous experience. Over winter break she reviewed the research being done across the department and sent an e-mail to one prof asking if he would be willing to take her on as a volunteer in the lab. He interviewed her when the semester started and brought her onto his team. He encouraged her to take her lab work for credit which is what she is doing. She is having a great experience working with the grad students on the team and she meets with him weekly. He suggested that she could stay on campus over the summer and get paid to continue the research, but she has other plans for the summer. </p>
<p>In all, she is loving Harvard, loving physics, and finding all of the opportunity and support that she hoped for.</p>
<p>“She formed a study group which met weekly at Leverett House where Georgi is also the House Master.”</p>
<p>Howard Georgi is the MAN! My senior year was his first as Master. All the Leverites love him so much.</p>
<p>I second response #2. And congratulations to the OP and S/D! What an accomplishment!</p>
<p>Thank you all for your replies, and keep them coming!</p>
<p>Definetely princeton</p>