<p>From what I've read and researched, it seems that Tufts is very good in the bio sciences; however, I'm wondering how the physics and astronomy departments compare. </p>
<p>Are they well taught and rigorous? Or neglected in favor of bio sciences? How large is the department?</p>
<p>Does it offer a lot of research and internship opportunities for undergrads both on campus as well as off campus so that the undergrad is well prepared for graduate school? And does it offer these opportunities starting with freshman year or not until junior year?</p>
<p>My son is interested in Tufts, mainly for its strength in languages, but would most likely be studying physics (and/or possibly computer science), so I'm wondering if he should consider Tufts.</p>
<p>My son only took Physics 11 so far. The professor wasn’t great. From what I read on professors ranking site the teacher for physics 1 is even worst. And 2 and 12 is no better. I don’t know if it gets better once you take the introductory courses. Thankfully he only has to do those. But I would say so far this has been his least favorite course because of the Proffessor. But you should talk to people who major in physics. Maybe it gets better later. But I personally don’t understand how the foundation can be so neglected.</p>
<p>The physics course catalog is a little limited, after checking the offerings on ISIS; if you want physical breadth, a Jumbo has 3 choices: take “special topics” physics classes, do well in your physics classes and then take graduate classes, or cross-register for other physics classes. I hope you’re happy with taking only 8 physics classes more advanced than Physics 12… or 4 such physics classes and 4 astronomy classes.</p>
<p>Want medical, plasma physics or quantum optics? A Jumbo can only get that through cross-registration, unless, somehow, these subjects are offered as “special topics”. But I cannot comment on the research opportunities. Apparently it is pretty easy but I need confirmation.</p>
<p>Personally, what I can recommend you to do is that you take graduate-level classes as an undergrad, if you want to attend grad school down the road.</p>
<p>Evaluating the Tufts Physics department is an interesting exercise, in that will give you a good background in the various alternatives available for your son. The undergrad department is very small (like a LAC). I believe it graduated seven people in 2012. In contrast to a LAC it contains some world class researchers in a couple of areas that undergrads have access to. I have attached a link to some articles discussing which is better preparation for grad school the LAC model or the large research university model. Tufts is a hybrid between the two models, your son will need to decide if that is a good match. One of Tufts current undergrads just won a Goldwater Scholarship , which is one of the highest honors you can achieve as an undergrad, so the Tufts model works well for some people. </p>
<p>Tufts physicists were involved in the Higgs Boson Discovery so there is some interesting work going on there. In cosmology, Tufts holds a joint seminar series with MIT (which is 4 miles away). There is world class research going on in polymer physics and in Biophysics/materials/optics (with a tissue lab that is shared with MIT and Harvard) and soft bodied robots (which is very interdisciplinary). </p>
<p>There is also the trade off between theoretical and applied physics. Physics majors at Tufts can work closely with the various engineering departments (including participation in research) because all of the groups are small. Engineering is basically applied physics and computers are fundamental to any science discipline, so there is significant overlap. Some of the applied physics courses reside in the engineering departments, so they do not show up when you look at the pure physics course listings. At Tufts there is a major called engineering physics that bridges the two disciplines. The computer science department at Tufts is one of the best in the country. The engineering schools are small, but they are highly regarded and place students in the top grad programs in the country (typically at the masters rather than Phd level because that is where most of the jobs are) and have very good job placement records.</p>
<p>I took introductory physics with a Nobel Prize winner when I was at Tufts (as an EE major). He was not one of my best professors (from an intro teaching perspective). I would not judge upper level physics from the intro courses. It is very different once you get beyond the required courses that all the engineering and other science majors must take.</p>
<p>Good luck, and feel free to ask additional questions.</p>
<p>Unfortunately some of the physics professors at Tufts who teach the basic courses required of engineers and physical science majors, however brilliant they may be in their scholarship, are lousy teachers in the classroom. Caveat emptor.
Research the individual professors before registering for the courses.</p>
<p>This issue tends to be better at pure LACs and can be much worse at elite research universities. I think Tufts represents a good mix for undergrad, but everyone needs to decide on the right mix of leading edge research, course selection and teaching quality for their learning style and objectives.</p>
<p>FWIW, the only physics class I took was Physics 12 with Hugh Gallagher and I thought he was a great professor. I actually really enjoyed that class.</p>
<p>Thank you for your input. I’ll send some of these links to my son and read through them as well. I know he wants a college (preferably LAC vs large uni) that will offer lots of internship and research opportunities from the get go, but maybe the large university is better suited for that. He really likes everything about Tufts and wants to be a Jumbo, just not sure it will be the best for physics and astronomy.</p>