<p>Siemens</a> Winner</p>
<p>Intel</a> Runner-Up</p>
<p>IChO</a> Gold Medalist</p>
<p>Putnam</a> Fellow</p>
<p>Thanks, Yelopen!</p>
<p>you missed one!</p>
<p>[A</a> prefrosh goes to Washington | Yale Daily News](<a href=“http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2010/jan/27/a-prefrosh-goes-to-washington/]A”>http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2010/jan/27/a-prefrosh-goes-to-washington/)</p>
<p>Our Math/Science son just chose Yale (SCEA, 2015) over several others (including a top-ranked physics school). </p>
<p>While discipline-specific rankings provide some guidance (one ranked 10 is likely to have more research potential than one ranked, say, 60), at the undergraduate level, this ranking seems to have little value. Professors at any of the elite colleges (research universities and LACs) should know enough to guide undergrads! This realization is one reason the decision was hard for my son. He liked every one of his choices and felt like he would receive an outstanding education at any of them. He also felt that every place would be a good fit for him!</p>
<p>Having decided on Yale, he is getting excited by the range its course offerings from Hellenic studies to South Asian studies.</p>
<p>This is my first post. I am writing mostly to suggest to prospective undergrads not to put too much emphasis on discipline-specific, graduate school rankings in making decisions.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link, Texaspg.</p>
<p>@Parent2015: I completely agree. I came to the same realization while making my own decision (Yale vs. Stanford). Rankings are based on graduate school, and they have little effect on the overall undergraduate experience. I personally felt Yale had a better undergraduate focus and student environment and also, crucial to an undergrad science major, an extreme availability of great research opportunities. It also didn’t hurt that I’m passionate about music and love the humanities, from English to Art History, as well.</p>
<p>I totally disagree with this assessment. I don’t recommend picking Yale over Stanford, Harvard, or Princeton for physical sciences. Not every ranking is based on graduate school rankings, so don’t generalize. And in terms of career prospects, the other schools win hands down. Yale is fabulous for many things, but their physics and math departments are not two of them. Just because a college is trying hard to attract certain students doesn’t mean they are better than other colleges. You have to look behind the marketing hype.</p>
<p>Look, I was worried about this, but I still chose Yale. The truth is that ALL of these universities are exceptional. ALL of them have brilliant students. ALL of them have amazing facilities. Yes, Yale doesn’t have the same history… but there’s no saying that the career prospects with a Yale BS with research are bad. To the contrary, I thought that the opportunities provided by Yale give an edge.</p>
<p>The only meaningful Math/Physics rankings I have seen are based on graduate programs. Here’re the current US News Physics rankings for some random schools. You can look up others. Harvard #1, Princeton #5, Cornell #7, Columbia and Yale: #11, Brown #30, Virginia: #40. Here’re current US News Math rankings: Harvard and Princeton #2, Columbia and Yale: #10, Cornell: #13, Brown: #14, Duke #24, and Rice #30.</p>
<p>Here’re some colleges that are not ranked in the above list, but appear to be outstanding in Physics and Math: Carleton and Williams. Check out where Williams professors got their degrees and where Williams Physics alumni have gone in the last few years!</p>
<p>The professors at most of these places have their degrees from top places and they know their physics and math. If anyone thinks that they are not good enough to teach undergrad physics at the highest level and challenge students to excel in research, I really don’t know what to say. </p>
<p>I maintain that discipline-ranking difference, unless it is overwhelming and vast, makes little difference for undergrad education. There are several other important reasons to pick one college over another, but this is not a primary one. It gets discussed often, unfortunately, because (ranking) numbers are easy to compare.</p>
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<p>If you can locate a department ranking system that’s not based on research output/impact but rather on things that actually matter to undergrad science majors (teaching, availability of research opportunities), I would be interested to see it.</p>
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<p>Where’s the evidence?</p>
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<p>I’d say around the top 10 is pretty fabulous. I never claimed that Yale is better than peer schools for math and physics (though in terms of research opportunities, I do think Yale is one of the best), but if someone likes Yale a lot, they should not be deterred by the fact that Yale is #10 and HPS is in the top 5. I think distinguishing between the elite schools in terms of academics is silly.</p>
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<p>Yale is not only trying hard, but succeeding. Do you really think your opinion of Yale’s science departments trumps those of all the stellar science students (like those mentioned above) who have come here and absolutely loved their time here?</p>
<p>To further dispel the notion that Yalies do not excel in science:</p>
<p>[Two</a> Yalies win Goldwater | Yale Daily News](<a href=“http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2011/apr/25/two-yalies-win-goldwater/]Two”>http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2011/apr/25/two-yalies-win-goldwater/)</p>
<p>An anecdote I heard from a Yalie at bdog days:</p>
<p>Somehow he started talking to some of his friends at MIT, comparing science at Yale and there. He mentioned that if you wanted a research/lab position you could easily get it at Yale - as simply as emailing a couple of profs. His friend was shocked - at MIT apparently because there were so many science focussed undergrads getting research time with profs was very hard. Yale, with fewer science majoring undergrads and very importantly far fewer masters/doctorate students taking the research positions it was very easy.</p>
<p>While the overall quality and quantity of research in Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science etc is probably better at MIT, Stanford, Harvard, and other “top science schools” than at Yale, we must ask WHO is doing that research, and whether undergrads will ever get to see the profs involved. Because of Yales undergrad focus it seems that they can. I am not sure whether that is true at the above mentioned places.</p>
<p>Damaris, you seem to just be furthering the ‘general opinion’ without providing any hard evidence for yout claims.</p>
<p>Edit: As you seem to do elsewhere as well;
"Penn is the Social Ivy. Yale is the Gay Ivy. Princeton is the Preppy Ivy according to insiders. "
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/1116198-yale-vs-princeton-vs-penn.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/1116198-yale-vs-princeton-vs-penn.html</a></p>
<p>To second the above, I emailed my physics professor (who was the former head of the department, chair of various physics organizations, very respected in the field of astrophysics and particle physics) about what research opportunities existed for a freshman. He offered me a spot in his lab right then! It is VERY easy for freshman to get involved with research.</p>
<p>I also don’t know by what metric you are measuring “quality,” plenty of Yale professors publish important works in various fields. Yale is arguably one of the best research universities in Solid State Physics and Astronomy, and in math we are pretty awesome at Algebraic Geometry and Representation Theory.</p>
<p>Yeah, I suppose it is just quantity…</p>