<p>I am looking into transferring to Montana State University or University of Montana for physics (undergrad from a 2-year college), MSU has really good solar physics research and UofM have a few cool projects going on as well. My only concern is that the classes may be shaky considering that there are only about 8-9 teaching faculty in either uni. </p>
<p>If anyone has gone to either one for physics or knows anyone that has I would greatly appreciate your opinions on the quality of the department and their undergraduate program.</p>
<p>At The University of Montana, our faculty is top notch and focused on under grads. The professors will know who your are, what you find interesting, how you learn, what your strengths are and how to help you improve your weaknesses. As an undergrad – you want a school that focuses on undergrads, not PHD candidates. At The University of Montana, there is a very strong emphasis on getting undergrads into doing real research- not just graduate students. That will be a big asset on your resume when you apply for graduate school and jobs.<br>
Another consideration for Physics majors is the Math and Computer Science departments. The Math department at the University of Montana includes a focuses on Math education so they are not just doing obscure Mathematical research, they know how to successfully teach Physics students the math we need. The department provides high quality tutoring, free, when you need it.<br>
As for Computer Science, the Buzz-word da jour is “Big Data” and this applies to science even more than it does to business. In 2010, the National Science Foundation funded a workshop addressing Data-Enabled Science. As documented in “The Economist” article “The Data Deluge” in Feb. 2010, Computer programming skills are necessary in today’s world of science and you will get real-world experience at UM. I am an undergrad majoring in Computational Physics. This program is directly applicable to how science is done in today’s world. We are also have the Minerva project coming online. The University of Montana is partnering with Caltech, Harvard, Pennsylvania State and the University of New South Wales to use new methods to study exoplanets. We will be developing new methods that, once perfected, will be used at other observatories such as Keck and Subaru. If you ever find yourself applying for work at any of these, this could be a big bonus.<br>
We also have a nice observatory on Blue Mountain that undergrads are encouraged to use – not just grad students and professors. We have a new 0.4M, research quality telescope on campus that you will be using. We are a friendly group that enjoy and help each other. Our local SPS group holds “sidewalk astronomy” sessions at many of the wonderful Missoula First Friday events down town that are really a lot of fun. </p>