<p>Hey. I got accepted into Johns Hopkins University, and they're giving me a pretty damn good financial aid package. It is for this reason that I'm thinking about JHU.</p>
<p>On the flip side, I was also accepted to Cornell and Carleton; I know my financial aid for Carleton, and have yet to hear from Cornell.</p>
<p>Essentially, my big question is, how does JHU compare to both of those in its Physics education/department? Are the research opportunities comparable for undergrads? I've heard so many things about its amazing medicine research programs (not that those interest me), but I know nothing about whether it is similarly amazing for Physics; I'd think it really excels in Biology and Chemistry.</p>
<p>So yeah. Essentially, should I forego Cornell or Carleton in lieu of Johns Hopkins if I KNOW I want to be a physicist, and eventually get a graduate degree (doctoral), &c? I'm looking at this question in terms of quality of such an Physics education, in addition to things like "How hard is it to actually be considered in taking part of a research program" (i.e. do graduates get priority, making it insanely difficult for an undergrad to do anything)?</p>
<p>The Physics Department at Hopkins is awesome and I am not just saying that because the school pays my bills. The focus on research in all the natural sciences is great at JHU, and this does translate into a unique Physics Department. Beyond that, the department is in one of the coolest buildings on campus - the Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy. </p>
<p>As an aside, is it true that the JHU physics department controls a bunch of space ships, including the hubble? </p>
<p>I know that the physics department at JHU really takes care of their own and all the physics majors I met seem happy. I'm not sure if this is a common thing at all dep'ts but at JHU the freshmen physics majors have their own intro to physics class (so they have a lot fewer people in the class (<30 probably)). The Physics building is <em>HUGE</em> and awesome inside.</p>
<p>Plus the applied physics laboratories are part of JHU.</p>
<p>Overall, I think the physics majors get a lot of attention from the department and are treated pretty well. You should find a current physics student and try to talk to them, maybe the admissions dep't can help you out with that. Good luck.</p>
<p>I'd really like to get into contact with some students at JHU and ask them directly about the physics program and research opportunities. Does anyone know how I can do this?</p>