<p>Anyone know the best undergrad and graduate physics programs?</p>
<p>Princeton, Harvard, Berkeley, MIT, Stanford, Chicago, Cornell, Columbia</p>
<p>1995 NRC rankings for physics (and other) grad programs:</p>
<p>or if you want to attend a school where people will say where?</p>
[quote]
Reed Physics Department Recognized for Achievements; High Numbers of Graduates, Productive Learning Environment Cited</p>
<p>PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 4 (AScribe Newswire) -- The American Institute of Physics reported in the July 2002 edition of AIP Report that, of the more than 500 U.S. institutions offering undergraduate-only physics programs, Reed College in 1998, 1999, and 2000 produced the third-highest average number of physics graduates per year: 17. Reed, with 1,350 students, trails only the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy--which offer primarily technical curricula--in this distinction.</p>
<p>To put this achievement in context, the report found that, in recent years, the average annual number of graduating physics seniors at a U.S. undergraduate-only institutions is 3.2, and that only 7 percent of these physics programs graduate more than 10 per year. Reed's physics department has maintained its high graduation rate over the past decade; its senior class has consistently numbered in the 15-19 range each year since 1990....
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<p>Top 20 Grad from US News:
1. Caltech, MIT
3. Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley
7. Cornell, Chicago
9. UIUC
10. Columbia, UCSB
12. yale
13. Maryland, Michigan, Texas
16. UCLA, UCSD, Washington, Wisconsin
20. Johns Hopkins, Colorado, Penn</p>
<p>Two (great) books used widely in undergraduate physics were written by a professor from Reed</p>
<p>If you are considering LACs with strong physics departments too, you can't forget Harvey Mudd (although the setting is quite different than Reed).</p>
<p>Carleton and Maclester are two more schools with good physics programs</p>
<p>My daughter chose Williams College specifically for math and physics, it's definitely worth a look. The faculty is young, energetic, brilliant, superbly credentialed, and really on a roll, producing 3 Apker Awards in the last 6 years, which has been called the "Heisman Trophy" of undergraduate Physics research awards. Going back 10 years, the only other school with that many is Princeton (2 are given each year, one to a school with a PhD program, one to a school without). </p>
<p>Over the same period, 2 Apkers each were earned by Harvey Mudd, U of Florida, CalTech, and Swarthmore. Stanford, Haverford, Chicago, Illinois State U, MIT, U of Rochester, and Middlebury each earned one. Not the be-all and end-all by any means, but it does say something about the quality and accessibility of undergrad research.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.aps.org/praw/year.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://www.aps.org/praw/year.cfm</a></p>
<p>I'm considering programs in texas since I want to stay close to home. Are they ranked high? Oh well. Does it really matter where I get my undergrad education? Physics faculty have a reputation for being unfriendly anyway(in large schools).</p>
<p>I doubt it's a matter of being unfriendly, rather that they are preoccupied with their own research and graduate students. That's the big advantage of going to a LAC for undergrad. There the profs need you to help on their projects. We didn't look at all in the west, so I know nothing of programs in Texas. If you want to stay near home, you should go to the link provided by Emeraldkity in post #4, click on the link to 2003 roster of physics programs, scroll down to the Texas schools, and start checking the facts provided about each program there, and also visiting their websites. [I just did that, and it looks as if your only undergrad options in Texas will be at the big universities]. Most physics profs today have their own web pages through the school, and provide a great deal of information on their areas of expertise and their current research projects. From the list provided in #5 above, it looks like Uof T must have a pretty respectable program, so maybe you should start looking there.</p>
<p>Yeah, UT does seems to have a great physics program with some undergrad opportunities.</p>