Hey, I was accepted in to Gustavus Adolphus College recently with a pretty good scholarship and am thinking about attending but I’d want to know a bit more about the college. Mainly, how well do minority students fit in and would it be a good choice for someone majoring in physics?
Congratulations to your scholarship!
I don’t know anything more about their physics program than they publish, but I can give you a few general pointers. It should be pretty obvious that the physics program at a small liberal arts college is not “nationally competitive,” nor does it aspire to be. The real question is whether it fits with your background and goals.
Take a look at the suggested course sequences in the physics advising guide: https://gustavus.edu/physics/documents/CurriculumandAdvisingGuide.pdf
That’s a solid 4-year plan assuming that you will start with calculus 1 and basic introductory physics. However, if you have already taken AP Calculus and AP Physics (or an international equivalent), you may decide to skip the first year courses. Which would put you into the lucky or unlucky position to run out of advanced courses for your senior year.
At American research universities, it would not be uncommon for the stronger physics and math majors to start taking graduate-level courses in their junior or senior years. That would simply not be an option at a small college.
Also notice that the upper-level electives are taught on a 2-year rotation. That will limit your course options even more.
How much does this matter to you? If you are a hard-core physics geek and you think you may want to get a PhD, then it should matter a great deal because Gustavus Adolphus does not seem to have the resources to make you a competitive PhD applicant. If you want to study physics more leisurely and you also want to dabble in other fields, and then change gears when you enter the job market, their physics department may be a better fit for you than a more research-oriented department geared towards mentoring aspiring physicists.