<p>I'm looking to major in Physics or Math, possibly both, as an undergrad. I want to know which schools, other than the obvious MIT/CIT/Ivies, are known for their undergrad physics and math departments. If it helps, I plan to ultimately obtain a PhD in Astrophysics and to become a college professor. So, I would prefer to attend a school that is reputable among graduate schools.</p>
<p>I’ve got essentially the same goals right now myself. I’m planning on transferring as a physics/math major to pursue a phd in astrophysics. Some other excellent schools to look into are University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. University of Colorado at Boulder has an excellent astronomy department as well, with a lot of good connections, and opportunities to use high end facilities/observatories. Berkeley is another great one to look at.</p>
<p>I’m a non-traditional student, and transferring from a community college…UIUC is my main target.</p>
<p>duke, uchicago and holy cross.</p>
<p>Rice, Chicago, Cornell, CMU?</p>
<p>See older threads on same topic -
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/348406-astrophysics-schools.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/348406-astrophysics-schools.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1319938-best-astrophysics-institutions-americans.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1319938-best-astrophysics-institutions-americans.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1096413-top-astrophysics-schools.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1096413-top-astrophysics-schools.html</a></p>
<p>The thing that has kept me from applying to CMU is that it isn’t as generous with finaid as other schools I’m looking at. Same goes for Berkeley. Perhaps Berkeley would be more ideal for grad school anyway, though.</p>
<p>Holy Cross is an interesting idea. Do they expect applicants to be involved with their church? Coming from a Mexican family, I grew up a Roman Catholic, was baptized, and had my First Communion, but was never really devoted to church.</p>
<p>State of residency? Cost constraints and financial aid situation? Are you more than a year advanced in math (i.e. calculus BC junior year or earlier)?</p>
<p>Chicago, Duke, Northwestern and Rice are all great universities with generous financial aid packages. But does neintiendoguy have the credentials to get in? It would help knowing his GPA, curriculum details and standardized test scores before giving good advice.</p>
<p>UCB and Alexandre’s questions are very good ones. I’d love to go to UChicago, MIT or Caltech too…but that’s not really in my cards for undergrad. I’m transferring from a CC, so transfer to a top school would be near impossible. Grad school at a top school is always a possibility though. A lot really depends on the specifics…financial concerns, credentials and logistics are a big part.</p>
<p>This chart might be helpful:</p>
<p>[PHD</a> PRODUCTIVITY](<a href=“http://web.reed.edu/ir/phd.html]PHD”>Doctoral Degree Productivity - Institutional Research - Reed College)</p>
<p>From the OP’s chance thread:
Frankly UT should certainly be considered for undergrad.</p>
<p>There are lots of students at Holy Cross who are not Catholic, and lots of “strayed” Catholics as well 
They don’t expect you to be religious in order to go there.</p>
<p>As a Texas resident, two things the OP should consider:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>UT Austin and Texas A&M should definitely be considered. Both are very good for physics and math, and cost and financial aid should be relatively favorable for Texas residents*. There are also National Merit Finalist scholarships at Texas A&M.</p></li>
<li><p>The OP’s class rank is extremely important for admission to Texas public universities. If the OP’s other posting is correct about being in the top 6%, then UT Austin and Texas A&M are admission safeties, assuming a conforming high school course selection.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Assuming that they are affordable, a lot of students would be glad to have safety schools as good at UT Austin and Texas A&M.</p>
<p>*Check the net price calculators at each school.</p>
<p>^ Some students would be glad to have reaches as good as those two schools.</p>
<p>Those are great charts, vonlost, very helpful. </p>
<p>My safeties right now are UT, Baylor, and TCU. I’ve already sent in the app for Baylor, and if I do end up as a NMF that would cover my tuition which would be great. I wish I was more than a year ahead in math, but I’m currently taking BC as a senior. As for getting in, I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I think my admission to some of these top schools are all up to my essays now. I just hope they come out great in order to get some of the attention off of my pretty subpar rank. </p>
<p>Thanks everybody for the help.</p>
<p>Not all schools value class rank, some ignore it altogether, and many others consider it but with less weight than GPA, rigor, and test scores. **Check the Common Data Set **for each school you are interested in and look at the table in Section C that shows what weight each factor is given.
High GPA with an upward trend, and an upward trend in course difficulty plus high test scores - should give you some very good options. Plus a little boost for being first-gen.</p>
<p>Texas A&M has National Merit Finalist scholarships as described here:
<a href=“https://scholarships.tamu.edu/national_scholars/national_merit.aspx[/url]”>https://scholarships.tamu.edu/national_scholars/national_merit.aspx</a>
I.e. about $10,000 per year, so remaining cost of attendance will be about $11,000 per year:
<a href=“https://financialaid.tamu.edu/Cost/COA_Undergrad.aspx[/url]”>https://financialaid.tamu.edu/Cost/COA_Undergrad.aspx</a></p>
<p>Baylor is Southern Baptist, while TCU is Disciples of Christ.</p>