<p>What is the best university for physics majors between UCSD, UCI, UM, or NW?</p>
<p>If that UM = Univ of Michigan, then it would be the best out of that list BUT UCSD is a hair behind and probably too close to really matter between the two.</p>
<p>I take it UCI is Cal-Irvine. I don’t hear much about that school and Physics.</p>
<p>Northwestern is not quite at UCSD or U-Mich levels but still cannot go wrong going there.</p>
<p>Since you mentioned a couple of UC schools, here is one more UCSB. It’s highly ranked and I have personally worked with a couple of physicists on projects from UCSB and they were basically like “asking the wizard” when it came to answering subject matter questions for engineering.</p>
<p>if you’re a graduate student, I’d go with UCSD or UMich. Northwestern would be great if you do more of an engr side of physics (as opposed to the more obscure particle and what not).
UCI is a fairly new school in terms of how established its professors are; I’ve heard some good things in Phenomenology groups there and computational astro.
UCSB is a godly place for physics and I’ve heard good things about the astro program at UCSC. </p>
<p>But as an undergrad, there are a lot of other factors to consider besides the reputation in just one area…</p>