I want to study theoretical physics. I am considering applying to Columbia but I find their education very strange. There is an engineering school and a liberal arts school. The engineering school makes little sense for a theoretical physicist since I will need a strong foundation in pure mathematics as well as an extensive knowledge of physics, including quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics and other things engineers can’t comprehend. The liberal arts school makes no sense because, although presumably one will eventually be able to take the necessary courses in math and physics, one has to endure the core curriculum which is heavily laden with humanities - sociology, philosophy, literature, and other BS subjects…
Somehow, Columbia manages to rank as one of the top Physics institutions in the world. Seems like it might make sense for an aspiring physicist to go there.
Can you afford to study full price overseas? If you want just to study physics with no humanities or other gen eds, you might find the British system would suit you better than the American one.
There are many thing I like about Columbia but I wish I could just study physics there and not humanities subjects. JustoneDad: Columbia ranks among the top in physics because its graduate school is exceptional.
Poopyhead, do you mean Columbia, the place where the Physics building is a national landmark because that where American scientists first split the atom? LOL.
Since you clearly are talking about an undergraduate degree, then you need to know that it is almost all theoretical and, more importantly, the undergraduate physics degree in the U.S. is almost identical in content at any U.S. university. I have been a physics professor for over 30 years and I see a lot of graduate applications. All students take the same courses with mostly the same books. Furthermore, as others have pointed out, U.S. universities all require some general education courses. This is not the same in Europe, for example, but there is an extra year of high school in most European countries and a national examination that needs to be passed to complete high school. This is not so in the U.S. and so there is a long tradition of general education making up a significant part of the curriculum.
Finally, you say that you want to be a theoretical physicist. You should understand that you will only reach that goal after 5 to 6 years as a Ph.D. student taking advanced physics classes (all theory) and learning the trade of a theoretical physicist through your research for 3-4 of those years. Speaking about studying theoretical physics as an undergraduate is just simply not correct, no undergraduate has the tools to be doing real theoretical physics.
What does this mean for the question of whether Columbia is a good place to study physics as an undergraduate? The answer is that it is a fine place, as are many, many other universities. It Columbia gives you what you want in your overall undergraduate education then it is the place for you. If you find a university which better matches your ideas of an undergraduate education, then I am pretty sure their physics program will be more than fine too.
Yes, I intend to become a theoretical physicist, after years and years of study.
The thing about Columbia is if you look at their website, Columbia is sort of special among the top ranking schools in that it makes you do more humanities than normal, regardless of the major OR you do the engineering school. But the engineering school website shows degrees for engineers only. So it really does seem that if one wanted to become a mathematician, one will need to take lots of pure mathematics courses which are not offered at the engineering school, and thus one will need to take lots of humanities.
By the way, at which of the top school can I take essentially only math and physics classes. I am thinking that at MIT and Caltech you can BS the humanities requirement is minimal, and even then you can BS your way out of it by taking classes like history of science.
Columbia is well known for have a rigorous core curriculum. If you have no interest in becoming a well-rounded student and just want to delve into physics, Columbia may not be the right school for you.
And before someone points out the writing requirement, writing is a part of physics and math - you expect to write grants and publish your findings, don’t you?