Hey guys, can you tell me which will be better for me among RIT & Lehigh if I want to do undergrad in Physics?
and from which it will be easier to get into Top graduate school?
Thanks in advance.
Please if anyone has any opinion, put in here. It will be very helpful for me.
Are you sure you don’t want the University of Rochester in the mix? UR would be a very nice choice for physics.
I would agree with the University of Rochester comment above. RIT is a very good school but I think of it more as a coop school. U of R is more known for research and has graduate students as well.
Lehigh is strong in physics and materials science and polymer sciences than RIT and easier to get into grad school too… I don’t like RIT. Its got a lot of different focuses, with the school for the deaf and photography. RIT is getting better in CS but physics not so much. Everyone at RIT gets a co op but they are mostly located in upstate NY and
may not be the type of job you would want, and if you want a PhD in physics, there is no reason to take five years and work many semesters, to get a bachelors degree, which RIT will require. RIT is strong in photography and optics but does not offer a lot of graduate degrees, so the physics teachers are not research scientists but more or less physics teachers.
RIT math is somewhat watered down, which is totally not good if you want a PhD in physics. Look at the test scores to get into RIT and compare them to Lehigh or U of Rochester.
U of Rochester is better as is Lehigh for physics. U of Rochester is stronger than Lehigh for physics, because of their optics focus. See the latest physics Nobel Prize winner, did the winning work at U of Rochester.
U of Rochester has a nicer campus closer to downtown Rochester compared to suburban RIT. If you do choose RIT,
bring a car. Its hard to get around there.
@mahin1729 I don’t know about the schools you posted specifically, but I wanted to share our ds’s experience which is at odds with the ideology behind @Coloradomama’s posts. My ds did not attend a U at all known for physics. It was just your avg public U not ranked in the top 100 schools. He participated UG research/REUs, a 4.0, a top PGRE score, and excellent LOR. He had a very successful grad school app season with multiple excellent acceptances and fellowship offers. He is now at top 5 grad program in his chosen area.
He is a highly motivated student. He is where he is bc of his work ethic. Point being that you should not rely on your school name. You need to be willing to work hard to pursue high levels of achievements.
You may want to ask the OP where he wants to go to graduate school. I think some PhD programs are within reach from RIT and others will not be. The bigger problem I see is weak mathematics classes at RIT because its a hands on approach. With weak math, even if one gets into Cornell PhD program, it will be a huge struggle. Public state school programs almost always have much better mathematics classes than RIT, which is geared to train engineers, photographers and deaf students. RIT does a lot of things well, but I think the math is just too easy for someone who wants a PhD in physics. Also to get a physics degree, at RIT he may not be able to take advantage of summer NSF sponsored REUs he has to work, as thats required at RIT. I don’t know where RIT physics undergrads work, but it seems it will not help much in the final goal of getting into a PhD program, but maybe. If the job is at NIST in Gaithersburg, or a DOE lab, that would help. Does RIT have those connections? Not that I know of. RIT has a tight connection to the NSA in Maryland, very good place to work for mathematicians, but its highly secretive which again may not lend itself to writing good essays about physics, so much, if OP is even interested in the NSA. . REU’s help a lot, because they give a student physics research experience.
Public schools are much much stronger than RIT for both physics and mathematics. I would go to a large public school any day over RIT, if my goal was a PhD in physics.
Study this RIT physics curriculum and compare it to any state school curriculum. What I see is
that its very light on physics and math compared to the average state school curriculum.
https://www.rit.edu/programs/physics-bs
Compare the RIT physics curriculum to Lehigh University’s physics curriculum.
Apparently you may be able to finish RIT in four years, but I just don’t recommend it.
I don’t know a lot about physics (or math) at RIT. I agree University if Rochester would be a better choice. It doesn’t make RIT a poor choice. I know quite a few people who have attended RIT and they all are happy. But, they are all engineers or CS majors.
@Coloradomama do you have some inside knowledge about RIT? Did one of your kids attend? Sometimes, schools have a reputation for being one way, and it turns out the common knowledge is an incomplete story. So, just wondering.
I have a friend who taught EE at RIT. He is retired now. I also talked to graduates who studied
interior design at RIT, but not current students in physics.
I studied the physics curriculum at RIT and not happy with it, for a client I was helping. Also as I said above the math is too hands on compared to other options, in my opinion. I opened the math websites, and looked at the problems. Its just more watered down and not proof based math, which physics requires. RIT is changing though and I am not trying to dis it, at all.
I am just comparing it to other schools in physics. RIT has a very small graduate program and was traditionally a school for teachers and co op degrees as well as creative endeavors. In that sense its a very interesting place.
RIT has a green focus too lately. I have looked it over pretty carefully. I just do not see it as a strong way to
prepare for a PhD in physics. I would go to ANY public university physics program including U of Alabama,
which I don’t like either, over RIT, because the math will be stronger.
This also may help understand the difference between RIT and Lehigh. RIT offers algebra as a starting point with mathematics. Lehigh is higher level and expects students to learn algebra in high school. I am not talking about linear algebra but basic high school algebra. RIT accepts students who have not mastered algebra and
takes them step by step though high school math then college math. This is good for a student who is way behind in math. Not so good for a student who is advanced in math. Still RIT has added a lot of math and physics professors lately so fit before you decide where to go to college.
RIT also offers technology degrees for students who are not strong in mathematics.
Here is their placement exam for math placement. This is good for a lot of students. Not good if
you have a strong math background in high school. Too many RIT students will be far behind you.
https://www.rit.edu/science/sms/mpe
U of Rochester and Lehigh expect a lot more math preparation.
click through the very top photos to see the breadth of work at Lehigh University in physics.
Compare the curriculums in physics class by class between RIT and Lehigh.
https://physics.cas2.lehigh.edu
They are very different schools with different goals. Many RIT students become engineers.
Lehigh offers a more thorough physics program for a student who wants a PhD. More like the large
public programs that offer top notch physics labs etc. And the math that goes with physics is available too.
RIT is changing though. its wanting to attract more very top math students. I hope they can do that.
Optics and imaging is a strength at RIT. Notice that the faculty are from computer science, chemistry, physics and cognitive science (psychology) who work in this center of excellence at RIT. RIT has had a longtime focus on photography, and optics and measurement science. That might be good but its narrow compared to the physics focus at Lehigh or any public university physics department across the USA.
https://www.cis.rit.edu/faculty-and-staff/cis-core-faculty
I am not trying to discredit RIT. I just think that one needs to understand what it is and what it is not.
I can only imagine the comments re Alabama if ds had asked the question his sr yr. For him it was irrelevant what others thought bc UA was free and he really connected with the dept. Bama offered him everything he could have asked for, naysayers aside. He had an awesome UG experience.
I have no clue about the commentary on RIT. OP, you should address all concerns directly with the dept. If you could not accept an REU, that would be concerning unless they can assert that you will have equivalent research opportunities. You definitely need to ask questions.UG research is absolutely vital for grad school. Our ds actually took both emags through the EE dept bc they were stronger than the physics versions. Not sure that an engineering focus is all negatives. I can’t say much about the math comments bc ds entered at such a high math level that I think he had finished a math minor before freshman yr, or if not, by freshman yr. So, I don’t know how much their math impacted him.
The onus is on the OP to seek out the info that impacts the UG to grad opportunities.
If you are seeking undergraduate research opportunities, you would have lots of options: https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/undergrad-research-programs.
that particular list of US research programs is not sorted by physics research, though and many colleges on that list
may not have strong physics major or even strong sciences in general.
Well, Yes, but from within that group, the OP could find great options for strong physics programs with excellent research opportunities.
Thanks, everyone for your opinion. Especially, @Coloradomama for your effort. I know U Rochester is great for physics. But as an international applicant, I need a lot of aid. U Rochester does not provide that much if I’m not wrong. Whereas, RIT is less expensive and generally provides a decent amount of aid I guess. That is why I didn’t consider U Rochester. I know Lehigh’s engineering physics is good, but what about theoretical physics. I mean if I want to do research in Theoretical Physics?
A concern with respect to theoretical physics at Lehigh might relate to the relative paucity of students pursuing this area. Fewer than one percent of Lehigh students (8 in total) recently graduated with a general physics major.
You might want to consider some well-funded LACs – e.g., Williams, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Hamilton, Swarthmore, Haverford, Reed, Harvey Mudd, Carleton, Grinnell – for excellent theoretically-based physics departments with associated research opportunities.
@mahin1729 As an international student, you really need to ask questions about UG research opportunities. Most REUs are not available to international students, so understanding your research options will be even more important.
Since you mention FA, you might also want to consider schools that offer automatic merit to international students. I know Bama offers automatic merit to internationals, but I don’t know about others. I know that UGs at Bama work with the IceCube collaboration. Not sure about other options there.