Michigan vs. Chicago vs. Berkeley vs. Cornell

I am deciding between the colleges in the title for an astrophysics (or similar) major. I live in South Dakota so location is sort of important to me (closer is better) but not if one college is better than the other.

I will most likely be researching a lot at these colleges, so the best researching school could be the best.

Also, my personality is different. I’m a full-on INTJ personality (look it up) and I enjoy time to myself and once in awhile will enjoy times with others (single room!).

I would like the overall campus to be very modern and have a lot of modern technology that will make me say “cool” when I first arrive!

Academics also matter and I know Berkeley has a lot of Nobel Prize Winning staff on board, which is something interesting!

Thanks!

Recommending other schools is also appreciated!

Your target majors would be physics or astrophysics probably and any one of the universities will be fine for an undergraduate degree. Yes, you will do some research but the specific quality of the faculty in research is not really relevant for an undergraduate degree. Pay more attention to this for a Ph.D.

The basic facts are that physics curricula are more of less the same at any research university and they all prepare you well for graduate school. You should choose your undergraduate university based on other factors, such as overall cost, academic environment and fit, not research.

As for recommendations, just about any university will provide you with the ability to move into a graduate program as long as there is a full physics curriculum. That is one full year of upper division, classical mechanics, electrodynamics, and quantum mechanics.

Which graduate school is the best out of those?

It really depends on the specific field you end up studying. They are all very good and all relatively large so they cover all the bases in physics. You can probably find very good advisors at each on and you can certainly find advisors at each school who are not all that great.

Check the net price calculator at each school. Berkeley and Michigan are unlikely to offer good financial aid to out-of-state undergraduate students.

…and if that leaves Chicago and Cornell, well, you can’t make a wrong choice.

Academically, all four are great. And if you change your mind (and major), well, all four have a great many programs that are top-shelf. So the “save!” factor is high.

But you definitely would want to add some matches and at least one safety, because Chicago and Cornell are hard for everyone to get into, while Michigan and Cal are tough in OOS admissions. The matches and safety should be schools you like - or at least wouldn’t mind attending - and can afford.

Which school would you guys choose?

If you mean as a safety, you can choose any number of schools. Most universities have physics degrees at the undergraduate level and the curriculum is more or less the same everywhere. Students form even less well-known schools can get into solid graduate programs if they have good grades and letters of reference. We have had students form our program at Illinois institute of Technology get into just about every “top 20” graduate program in physics. What is needed is a full physics curriculum and the possibility of doing on-campus research. A full curriculum in physics includes 2 semester of Junior/Senior leverl quantum mechanics, classical mechanics, and electrodynamics. Alternatively, you can find program which give you a degree in Astrophysics. This is not quite as full of the basic physics courses but will provide you with more astronomy background if you plan to go into an astronomy graduate program.

The bottom line is that you can do fine at any university you choose iun physics if you put the effort into your studies and do the rightthings to get strong reference letters and research experience. Find a school that fits you and gives you an affordable option.

In terms of strength of graduate programs in physics: Berkeley > Chicago = Cornell > Michigan

In terms of their astronomy departments: Berkeley > Chicago > Cornell > Michigan

In terms of placing undergraduate students into top PhD programs it seems Cornell > Chicago > Berkeley = Michigan