Assuming all costs are the same and looking to double major in economics and physics; which would you attended and why? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Hmm … I wouldn’t assume the costs will be the same, because those are two different types of institutions, with very different financial policies. If it were physics alone, I may go with CMU. But with economics in the mix, I’d sway towards Michigan.
Actually anhydrite, believe it or not, Michigan is ranked higher by a larger margin in Physics than in Economics:
Econ:
Michigan #13
CMU #19
Physics:
Michigan #11
CMU #36
That being said, at the undergraduate level, I do not think rankings are all that important. If cost of attendance is the same, I would go for fit.
I knew that on physics, Alexandre. I was waiting for this response. I felt at the undergraduate level, the focus on theoretical sciences may benefit from the smaller, STEM-intensive environment at CMU. Those are the graduate rankings, yes?
What I didn’t know is that CMU is closer to Michigan than I thought for economics. So thank you.
anhydrite, you are presuming that there are a large number of Physics majors and that the OP cannot learn on his own and needs a full tenured professor to spoon feed him information in order to learn complex, university-level Physics material.
In the case of the latter, the OP would not receive the kind of support required, no matter how small the classes are. Small classes at research universities do not mean greater faculty:student interaction or better instruction. Professors are still expected to raise funds for their research, conduct their research, write their papers and advise their 4-6 PhD students.
In the case of the former, Michigan’s Physical science programs (Chemistry and Physics) are small (50 or so Biophysics, Astrophysics and Physics majors per graduating class), and their faculties are large, so Physics classes will not be larger at Michigan than at CMU.
But at the undergraduate level, the OP is going to have to build a foundation in Physics, and for that, the fact that Michigan has a stronger department does not matter. I would go for personal fit.