<p>I have a rising senior interested in studying physics and eventually pursuing a phd in theoretical physics or astrophysics. I also have a rising junior interested in a BS degree only at this time. We will have an overlap of them in college though and want to take that into consideration now. Younger son is leaning toward an in state public university, but I do not want to end up shutting off future options for him (financially). Both kids have strong stats but younger son is less likely to strive for a challenging school (his own words--he works hard to manage his stress lvl and does not want to get overwhelmed in a highly competitive school).</p>
<p>Physics son: 4.0 gpa school does not weight or rank.<br>
5's in AP CS, Physics C, Calc BC and APGovt
Subject test: physics 800, math 2 780
Has met National Merit cutoffs.
2180 SAT I don't recall exact distribution. 690 in math was his lowest score despite being a strong math student (will have great recs from teachers). He is dyslexic and works slowly. This was first sitting on SAT but he plans to take the ACT early fall.
Will take linear algebra, calculus 3 and modern physics at the local university senior year.
Has participated in robotics, taekwondo, science and programming groups, summer research (interning in a physics lab this summer). Not into timed contests or lots of clubs. Won first place in a science competition across four states. Definitely an introvert. Enjoys academic discussions, political ideas and problem solving. Not into sports teams, party scenes or fashion. </p>
<p>Each child has 100k dedicated for college. We can pay an additional 20-25k per year total (not per child). We do not have a straightforward EFC situation. We have property we could sell for college tuition (had been our plan all along- the 100k per child does not include this property ) but there are a few issues with that). Household now is 110k. I am going back to grad school myself and ideally our income will go up right as the kids finish undergrad. </p>
<p>Schools he plans to apply to:</p>
<p>University of Iowa--in state safety
Iowa State U--in state safety
Grinnell--we visited and the small school and emphasis on faculty interaction appealed to him. Thinking low reach? Not really sure how to characterize the reach factor so these are our guesses for each school.
University of Chicago -- because of strong physics program and it is not too far from home. -- High reach
Cornell -- because of astrophysics dept. -- high reach
Carlton -- because seems similar to Grinnell --reach</p>
<p>We are looking for MATCH school suggestions, ones that will offer merit in particular. Schools with ug research opportunities a plus. He is ok with either Iowa school as a safety and sees no reason to apply to a lot of other safeties. He doesn't want to apply to a ton of reach schools either. Finding match schools around 35k now is the challenge. Please let us know your suggestions.</p>
<p>Among small LACs, consider Oberlin, Reed, and Harvey Mudd for physics.</p>
<p>A physics department should offer the following junior/senior level courses:</p>
<p>Intermediate/advanced mechanics
Electromagnetism (often 2 semesters)
Quantum mechanics (often 2 semesters)
Statistical and thermal physics
Advanced lab
(there may also be electives like astrophysics etc.)</p>
<p>Because physics is not that popular a major, some small schools have small physics departments that offer the above courses only once every two years, or even less frequently. It is more desirable for most of them to be offered at least once per year.</p>
<p>Consider the following other public universities for physics and relatively low out-of-state cost (although you/he still might not consider them worth the premium over Iowa State): Stony Brook, Ohio State (if National Buckeye scholarship), Minnesota, Arizona (with scholarships), Arizona State (with scholarships).</p>
<p>With National Merit Finalist, Texas A&M, Arizona, Arizona State will be quite inexpensive (full tuition or better scholarship).</p>
<p>If its any help, I absolutely loved the cornell astrophysics and astronomy department. I eventually turned it down for duke for different reasons as a whole but I was really amazed by that department. Really warm and friendly and a place where your son will definitely be cared for. The program has a small number of students (in the range of 10 I think) and offers a wide array of astro courses. They even control the Mars rover from cornell. Really check them out</p>
<p>If he is looking at grinell, he might consider other strong LAC’s where his geographical diversity might be more valuable. Aside from ones mentioned above, look at Wesleyan they have won a big prize for undergrad research in physics twice in recent years. I know someone who was wait listed at grinell and accepted to Wes this year. Also Lawrence University comes up a lot because they are a top 10 producer of physics PhDs for some reason, seems they put a lot of effort into mentoring. Easier to get into maybe they give merit.</p>
<p>^ to add onto the BrownParent’s post, I’d just like to add that for some reason - LACs (like Lawrence) are leading the way in the % of their students that go onto receive doctorates for some reason. Not exactly sure why.</p>
<p>Reed may also be an option if that appeals to you. Supposedly very rigorous, though. Harvey Mudd?</p>
<p>Just be sure that the upper level physics courses are offered at the institutions you are considering. These elite LACs may not have the popular prestige in the US overall, but they are well-known by grad schools - so it won’t be that weighing down the possibilities of getting into grad school. You’ll want to make sure that they can get the necessary higher-level courses…research opportunities…internships etc. Such things are not as easy to come across at a LAC - yet for some reason, LACs are sending unusually high amounts of people to grad school.</p>
<p>There is probably a student self-selection effect at LACs, where the students are less pre-professionally oriented (due to fewer pre-professional majors offered). Also, more isolated small schools (including LACs) may have less employer recruiting to lure graduates away from the PhD path.</p>
<p>Good chance that your son will get merit aid from Grinnell. If he likes the insular LAC environment he should look at Williams–well respected physics program (including astrophysics) and excellent overall academics. Good track record record for graduate school admissions. Like many northeast schools, no merit, but generous need based aid. </p>
<p>My recs for smallish schools: caltech, harvey mudd, carleton, reed, chicago, swarthmore, haverford, case western, RPI, Grinnell, Williams, rochester, amherst. The research opps will be there at all these schools. In my experience, RPI is the least expensive for you, probably; Case is fairly generous; Haverford and Swat can be really nurturing places. The same warnings about depth of course offerings apply, however; do check them out for the courses that @ucbalumnus recommends and their frequency of offering. I would be remiss if I didn’t put a plug in, however, for my alma mater UC Boulder and my favorite physics professor, Nobel Laureate Eric Cornell:</p>
<p>Thanks all for the suggestions. We are looking through them, including course selection and efcs. Still reach heavy. Any thoughts on additional match schools appreciated. Also, he is not set on a LAC. It is one of the few schools we have visited and it looked appealing but other options are welcome too.</p>
<p>Son spent some time researching suggestions from this post.</p>
<p>We have spent some time looking into course offerings too and are trying to make sure enough options are available.</p>
<p>He has added Harvey Mudd and Wesleyan to his reach list and U Rochester and RIT to hopeful matches. He is still working on preliminary list which he will hopefully narrow down further. BTW, Reed didn’t appeal to him mostly due to references if interpretive dance I think. May have been a mailing.</p>
<p>Any other suggestions for match schools appreciated. Any suggestions for other schools similar to University of Rochester (strong sciences, likelihood of merit aid)?</p>
<p>Mudd is a great choice, but it is another high reach on his list. Just saying this because you were looking for more match schools. I think the acceptance rate was 13% this past spring, and it is lower for men than women. Great school (I have a kid there), but just want to make sure you are clear on the difficulty of getting in. He will need a higher math score, too (SAT I or a strong ACT) – the 25-75% SAT I Math range for Mudd is 720-800. I see you said it is a reach, so as long as you are aware.</p>
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<p>I do not see Swat as “nuturing”. Academics are brutally difficult there.</p>
<p>Shouldn’t Columbia be on the list too (some famous Nobel Prizes in Physics were earned there)? And Columbia’s financial aid might be better although it is hard to predict how parent assets are calculated at some of the more generous schools.</p>
<p>He would be a match for UCSB, which has excellent physics. No merit aid though for OOS.</p>
<p>Take a look at their College of Creative Studies program. He would also be a match there, and the opportunities in that selective program are endless.</p>