<p>What top tier schools have strong math and physics department?</p>
<p>-Thanks</p>
<p>Caltech, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, and Harvard are the "top five" (IMO).</p>
<p>Uhh...pretty much all of them. MIT, Stanford, CalTech, Cornell, Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Rice...</p>
<p>i heard maryland had a nice physics program...and i doubt math is weak...
so maryland would be great if you are not a ivy league caliber student...</p>
<p>in response to worldchanger, it's just that I've been reading fiske reviews for some of these and they don't even mention math or physics and seem to focus much more on other majors (for everything except HYPS and Cal, that is)... Is it just not being mentioned or do the other schools you listed have significantly weaker programs?</p>
<p>For what it's worth, USNWR ranked graduate programs in Math and Physics in 2006. But, any top school (national university or LAC) will likely have strong math and physics departments.</p>
<p>Mathematics (Ph.D.)
Ranked in 2006*
Rank/School Average assessment
score (5.0 = highest)
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 5.0
2. Harvard University (MA) 4.9
Princeton University (NJ) 4.9
Stanford University (CA) 4.9
University of California–Berkeley 4.9 </p>
<p>Physics (Ph.D.)
Ranked in 2006*
Rank/School Average assessment
score (5.0 = highest)
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 5.0
Stanford University (CA) 5.0
3. California Institute of Technology 4.9</p>
<p>Brown University
California Insititute of Technology
Columbia University
Cornell University
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
University of California-Los Angeles
University of Chicago
University of Illinois-Urabana Champaign
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Texas-Austin
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Yale University</p>
<p>^ Good list. But, I imagine you'll get resistance from the Duke and Rice supporters in 5...4...3...2...1...</p>
<p>I forgot those two. Rice and Duke definitely belong on the list, as do Dartmouth and Penn. </p>
<p>I also did not include some LACs, like Carleton, Harvey Mudd, Pomona and Swarthmore to name a few. </p>
<p>Mathematics is one of the most traditional majors. Almost any good university or college will have a good Math department. Physics is a little more resource-dependent. Cutting edge physics departments have access to very expensive labs.</p>
<p>Thanks for responses! Anybody wish to address post 5 q?</p>
<p>Gourman Report undergraduate rankings for Physics:</p>
<p>Caltech
Harvard
Cornell
Princeton
MIT
UC Berkeley
Stanford
U Chicago
U Illinois Urbana Champaign
Columbia
Yale
Georgia Tech
UC San Diego
UCLA
U Penn
U Wisconsin Madison
U Washington
U Michigan Ann Arbor
U Maryland College Park
UC Santa Barbara
U Texas Austin
Carnegie Mellon
U Minnesota
RPI
Brown
Johns Hopkins
Michigan State
Notre Dame
SUNY Stony Brook
Case Western
Northwestern
U Rochester
U Pittsburgh
Penn State University Park</p>
<p>Gourman Report ranking for undergrad math:
Princeton
UC Berkeley
Harvard
MIT
U Chicago
Stanford
NYU
Yale
Wisconsin Madison
Columbia
Michigan Ann Arbor
Brown
Cornell
UCLA
Illinois Urbana Champaign
Caltech
Minnesota
U Penn
Notre Dame
Georgia Tech
U washington
Purdue WL
Rutgers NB
Indiana U Bloomington
U Maryland College Park
Rice
UC San Diego
Northwestern
Texas Austin
carnegie Mellon
Johns Hopkins
Washington U St Louis
Ohio State
SUNY Stony Brook
Penn State
UVA
RPI
Illinois Chicago
U Colorado Boulder
U Kentucky
UNC Chapel Hill
Dartmouth
U Rochester
U Utah
SUNY Buffalo
Tulane
USC
UC Santa Barbara
U Massachusetts AMherst
U Oregon
Duke
Louisiana State Baton Rouge
U Arizona
case Western
Michigan State
U Pittsburgh
Brandeis
US Air Force Academy</p>
<p>from US News</p>
<p>Undergraduate engineering specialties:
Engineering Science/Engineering Physics
(At schools whose highest degree is a doctorate)
Methodology<br>
1 Cornell University (NY)
2 University of California–Berkeley *
3 U. of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign *
4 California Institute of Technology<br>
5 Pennsylvania State U.–University Park *
5 Princeton University (NJ)
5 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor *
8 Harvard University (MA)
8 Virginia Tech *</p>
<p>LACs for math from Rugg's:
Bates
Bowdoin
Bucknell
Carleton
Colgate
Dartmouth
Davidson
Dickinson
Harvey Mudd
Holy Cross
Kenyon
Mount Holyoke
Occidental
Pomona
Rice
St Mary's (MD)
St Olaf
Trinity (CT)
Union
Wabash
Wellesley
Wheaton
Whitman
Willamette</p>
<p>LACs for Physics from Rugg's
Barnard
Bates
Bryn Mawr
carleton
Centre
Dickinson
Franklin and Marshall
Grinnell
Gustavus Adolphus
Harvey Mudd
Haverford
kalamazoo
Lawrence
Macalester
Occidental
Reed
Rhodes
St Olaf
Smith
Swarthmore
Wellesley
Wheaton
Whitman</p>
<p>Specifically in optics. U of Rochester has one of the top optics programs in the country, if not the world. With both Kodak and Bausch and Lomb nearby, it makes sense.</p>
<p>U Rochester, also has the Lab for Laser Energetics, one of the largest and most powerful lasers in the world, for investigating lasers as a source of energy.</p>
<p>Mudd probably has the best LAC math and physics programs in the country. AWS and Pomona are good as well.</p>
<p>If you're considering research or academia, these undergrad schools produce the highest percentages of future PhD earners in physics:</p>
<p>CalTech
Harvey Mudd
MIT
NM Inst of Mining
Reed
U Chicago
Princeton
Carleton
Marlboro
Rice</p>
<p>For Math & Computer Science (the data is combined):</p>
<p>CalTech
Harvey Mudd
MIT
Reed
Rice
Princeton
U Chicago
Carnegie Mellon
St. John's
Pomona</p>
<p>Source: Weighted Baccalaureate Origins Study, Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium, PhDs granted from 1992 to 2001 (supposedly newer data is available).</p>
<p>I always like to keep track of the Goldwater Scholars. As the premier math/science/engineering scholarship, it gives a good idea of the universities with strong programs. The list as of March 2007:</p>
<ol>
<li>Princeton University 65</li>
<li>Harvard University 64</li>
<li>Duke University 60
Kansas State University 60</li>
<li>University of Chicago 57</li>
<li>Pennsylvania State University 55</li>
<li>University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign 54</li>
<li>Stanford University 53 </li>
<li>California Institute of Technology 52</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins University 49</li>
<li>University of Virginia 48
Washington University in St. Louis 48</li>
<li>Cornell University 46
Montana State University 46</li>
<li>University of Michigan 45</li>
<li>Northwestern University 44
University of Tulsa 44
Yale 44</li>
<li>Brown 43
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 43
University of Kansas 43</li>
</ol>
<p>Note that despite Berkeley's high ranking graduate programs it does not appear on the list.</p>
<p>Also of interest to math majors are the Putnam Competition results. Princeton, Harvard, Duke, MIT, and Caltech have done particularly well in recent years.
<a href="http://www.maa.org/awards/putnam.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.maa.org/awards/putnam.html</a></p>