<p>Hi I am an international student and I am strongly considering applying to Carleton. I think I quite like the ambiance for academics at Carleton. But since I am thinking of majoring in physics, I should get to know more about the physics program at Carleton. So I invite any physics major who attended or is attending Carleton to share their experience of the physics program and research at Carleton.</p>
<p>debarghya9 - If you don’t get what you are looking for through CC, try sending an email to Carleton directly. They’ll put you in touch with someone by email. Or at least they did for me.</p>
<p>My impression is that Carleton’s physics department is very good, and from the department’s website it looks as though there are good opportunities for research as well. </p>
<p>But I second what griffen said - definitely email someone at Carleton, maybe the department head or find a student majoring in physics. I have found that people there are always extremely nice and love to talk to you about the school or answer questions you have.</p>
<p>Right, I’ll email my question directly to <a href=“mailto:admissions@carleton.edu”>admissions@carleton.edu</a> then.</p>
<p>Carleton is strong in all sciences. From what I read, they send the most amount of physics majors to get phd’s in physics among all small liberal art schools.</p>
<p>Physics department is probably the best department at Carleton, and seems to be one of the best undergrad physics programs in the nation. You will have a lot of research opportunities over summer break (not sure about winter). Actually, my friend is doing a summer physics research right now, and he is liking it a lot.</p>
<p>^ Is it so?</p>
<p>I didn’t know that. I liked the college for a long time but I didn’t know that the physics department was so highly rated. That makes want to go there even more!</p>
<p>Physics is a great department at Carleton. I’ll second equillibrium’s comments about the large number of summer research positions and add that academic term opportunities abound as well. </p>
<p>“the best department”? I have a feeling you wouldn’t even have to leave the physical sciences to find arguments here. A large number of chemistry and geology majors would pretty quickly jump up to argue this honor should go to their departments. One of the best at Carleton? No argument.</p>
<p>Haha yeah. At such a high level it’s really hard to say which one’s the best and all that, but be assured that it’s really great, and if you want to study physics (especially with a view on a top grad school after your bachelor’s) this is a pretty good place to be at.</p>
<p>Two Carleton physics professors write this blog (listed on Carleton’s blog aggregator page): [Confused</a> at a higher level](<a href=“http://arjendu.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/]Confused”>http://arjendu.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/)</p>
<p>If you have time to peruse it, you might find their comments about course planning and research with undergraduates to be helpful in understanding Carleton’s physics program.</p>
<p>Great link dietcokewithlime. thanks for that</p>
<p>^^ Yeah thanks for that.</p>
<p>Hi, below is a good link. It shows what Carleton Physics majors do upon graduation.</p>
<p>[Carleton</a> College: Physics and Astronomy: Advising and Career Counseling](<a href=“http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/physics/handbook05_06/advising_career/]Carleton”>http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/physics/handbook05_06/advising_career/)</p>
<p>They send many students on to grad school…and many of the grad schools are quite good. The Oxford and Cambridge in the list are Rhodes and Churchill scholars, for example.</p>
<p>Carleton Physics will usually find some sort of independent study for most of their students in the junior and Senior years. Also, most qualified physics majors got research internships between the junior and Senior years when I was there.</p>
<p>My only complaint is that there was some unhelpful pressure to apply to a physics grad school. This wasn’t for me. I went to grad school in a different direction. Physics is a very tough field to succeed in as are most pure sciences…Many of my fellow Carleton physics majors really do succeed though…more than I ever expected them to :). While many physics majors really do quite well, some seem to be trapped in an endless series of post-docs, adjunct positions, and visiting teacher positions. This is something that all students who would consider going into the physics profession should speak to their profs about.</p>
<p>It might have changed since I was there, but I would have liked more encouragement and preparation to go into a field other than physics (i.e. medicine, engineering, law, etc.).</p>
<p>[REED</a> COLLEGE PHD PRODUCTIVITY](<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/ir/phd.html]REED”>Doctoral Degree Productivity - Institutional Research - Reed College)
Top ten schools to produce PhDs in given fields</p>
<p>Take these with a grain of salt, but they are rankings that do provide perspective on the success of Carleton graduates. There is a list for Physics.</p>