<p>My daughter is applying to W&L, and is weighing the benefits of a small liberal arts college against a large research university. More specifically, she's wondering if W&L has a strong physics department, well funded, respected by the administration, focused on the education of the undergrads by professors (not grad students) who know how and want to teach. If anyone can comment on the physics program, or more generally the strength of sciences at W&L, that would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Student presentations at Parents Weekend were impressive (no baking soda volcano projects here). My husband is an engineer and said his company would love to get their hands on kids who have strong science and tech skills and can also speak and write! Interested students (not just upperclassmen) have numerous opportunities to do research during the academic year & summers. No grad students, so all classes are taught by professors. Very high percentage of W&L applicants to med school are admitted. Sorry, don’t know anything about physics department funding. Has your daughter looked at Rice?</p>
<p>Thanks for your perspective. Yes, Rice is on the list (a long, long list), but it’s a bit far geographically.</p>
<p>I wondered about this question too…does anyone else have anything else they can share?</p>
<p>I was a chemistry student at Washington and Lee, and took several of physics and physics/engineering classes. From my interactions with several of the physics professors, they are enthusiastic about teaching undergrads and are good teachers as well. There are no grad students to compete for attention, and there are also no TA’s. I knew many students who did research both in the physics department and at other institutions during their time at W&L. Receiving funding for research at W&L is routine in all departments, and there are also at least 30 grants available from W&L each year for summer research both at other institutions in the US and abroad.</p>
<p>The chemistry department is quite strong, and yaupon is quite correct that the med school acceptance rate is very high. While W&L doesn’t have the instrumentation that a larger institution would, in my opinion the personal interactions and opportunities to do research and receive grants for summer study far outweighs that. What I found most valuable about W&L as a liberal arts school is the great amount of interaction that I had with professors, particularly my advisors but also with those in other departments. I spoke with three different physics profs in deciding where to apply to graduate school, even though I had only had one as a professor. I hope that helps!</p>