UChicago Physics compared to Reed Physics.

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
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<p>Love how the forums log you out automatically after like 15 minutes, and inform you of this fact the moment you click "Submit New Thread", erasing all the well thought out and properly edited inquiries a person writes.</p>

<p>So sorry for the now boring question thread, but I'm too lazy to retype everything with sprinkles of humor, and then to edit it for the ease of the reader.</p>

<p>Basically,</p>

<p>Me: Loves academics (more so than anything else). Loves Physics (more so than any other field in academia). Got a 5 on AP Physics (not too important, but at least shows some dedication). Am interested in UChicago and Reed, and basically that is all. Strong science in each, LACs, and very rigorous academics.</p>

<p>Pros and cons of UChicago's Physics department would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone could offer any information regarding summer research prospects through the university or its partners, I would likewise be thankful.</p>

<p>Pros and cons of Reed's Physics department, should you happen to know of Reed (which it seems many UChicago applicants do), and how it differs from UChicago's program, would also be welcomed.</p>

<p>Again, sorry for a boring post; next time I'll prevent raging at CC by ctrl-c-ing the sucker before touching that damned submit button.</p>

<p>I need to decide which to focus in on for early applications, and which to let be a "backup", thus opinions or information regarding my questions is an immense help. Thanks again,
--Nicholas</p>

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<p>Don’t know anything about the strength of the program, but don’t be fooled: UChicago is not a LAC.</p>

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<p>UChicago’s course offerings are probably better/much more extensive, while at Reed you’d get to know your professors better. Reed has a nuclear reactor that is operated entirely by undergrads, which is both a unique feature of the school and something physics majors here seem to be very proud of–it’s really weird. Anyway.</p>

<p>UChi is a major research university and, despite not knowing anything about physics, I could probably hazard a guess at its pros: more upper-level courses, the chimeric notion of maybe one day working directly with some bigshot professor who never actually shows him- or herself to undergrads (lol, I’m probably exaggerating here; I’m sure there are great research opportunities at UChi, and I think all of its professors are required to teach undergrad courses anyway), stronger industry connections, and just the general advantages of a bigger, more research-oriented department.</p>

<p>At Reed you’d get smaller classes, no teaching assistants or other mediators, lots and lots of personal attention and great academic freedom later on–upperclassmen design their own research projects under the guidance of faculty members, get direct and unrestricted access to said faculty members, and are in fact required to complete a very rigorous senior thesis (=research) to graduate. UChi has something like that too, but at Reed, the senior thesis literally becomes your life for a year, and is taken very seriously by everyone. It’s definitely the capstone of a Reed education, and prepares you for grad school extremely well.</p>

<p>At both UChicago and Reed, you’d have to take lots of interesting and intellectually enriching classes outside of your major too. Well, not exactly lots, maybe–I’m sure that at either school, you can design a course plan that drastically shortens the forced journey of self-discovery that is the point of a core curriculum–but definitely more than at most other schools.</p>

<p>Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than me will come along and give you a more relevant answer–ideally, a physicist who maybe went to Reed for undergrad and to UChi for grad school, or transferred from one to the other. I’m sure people like that do exist, and I don’t know, maybe if you get in touch with the physics departments at Reed and UChi and ask for them specifically? They might put you in touch with someone who can answer your questions, I don’t know.</p>

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<p>Oxalis, I realize that the University as a whole is not LAC, however, the undergraduate portion of it has a core requirement and does “force” a person to be diverse with some of their class choices. Therefore, I would consider the undergrad portion of UChicago as an LAC.</p>

<p>Ghostt, thank you very much for the well thought out responses.</p>

<p>Hitting on one point that you discussed, the one that seems to bother me most, would be the lack of selection and breadth in course selection at Reed. While it is absolutely in no way a feeble number, I do worry about whether or not the higher levels of knowledge will be hit on.</p>

<p>But, as you’ve mentioned, much, or all, of senior year is devoted to the thesis project. My sole inquiry with regards to this is how willing you believe that professors would be in offering aid in learning some of the higher level concepts in the discipline that one is researching; or, is it expected that as a senior, one should be capable of learning the things on their own.</p>

<p>See, I feel as if UChicago “holds one’s hand” with regard to Physics, offering many courses to guide one all the way through physics.</p>

<p>Reed, in contrast, seems to place the burden of topics not covered by the school on the student to learn. Now, there is nothing wrong with doing so, and is to be expected from a smaller college such as Reed, but, I do wish to know if the professors are willing to work with students beyond the curriculum offered.</p>

<p>Now, I don’t expect you to know the answer to this, as someone who isn’t a physics major, but, if by any chance you, or another, could elucidate on this inquiry, it would help me to feel more secure in applying to Reed.</p>

<p>Personally, I feel as if Reed would offer the resources to go beyond its curriculum, but conformation of such would ease my tension.</p>

<p>My caution is exercised in being sure that I get the best education possible, both in Physics and in general. Actually getting admitted is another matter, but as stressed before, this is primarily in order to figure out which one will be my early admission choice.</p>

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<p>Take a look at the course offerings (when are specific courses taught) and the number of physics professors at Reed vs. Chicago. (If you don’t hit it off with one or more of the physics professors at Reed, will you be able to “avoid” them later?) D1 had the same dilemma and was accepted at Williams, but she ultimately turned them down for a more “traditional” program at a large public university and completed research projects from her sophomore year through graduating (both with faculty and with staff at NASA). I strongly believe her research opportunities and choices would have been more limited at Williams…as much from the location to the number and breadth of people she would have met there. It was (is) an awesome school, but it just wasn’t the right fit for her.</p>

<p>I’m sure you realize that you’ll probably need to go beyond undergrad for Physics. If you were to be a straight-A student and do awesome, ground-breaking research at either school, you probably would have a relatively easy time getting into grad school. I’m thinking, however, that at Chicago you would have the potential to work with scientists/professors who are much more well-known and their recommendations would carry more weight. </p>

<p>UChicago does have a high “reputation” as a physics powerhouse, FWIW. However, if you feel that you are particularly drawn to the LAC life, and are unsure of the physics thing, then Reed would probably make you a more “well-rounded” person…whatever that means!</p>

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<p>I would think the decision re Chicago or Reed would be based mainly on issues other than physics, since the two schools are so closely matched in terms of outcome, PhD production. The four-year experience will be so different at the two schools. I recommend an overnight visit at each, attending classes.</p>

<p>Checking Chicago class schedules should show if having more professors actually results in a choice of profs for a given course.</p>

<p>If you need financial aid, you shouldn’t apply ED to any school, since you don’t have an absolute favorite. If you end up undecided between the two, and are accepted ED, you’ll never know if the other would have saved you many dollars.</p>

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<p>UChicago has early action, not ED. You can apply early and if accepted, still decide to go elsewhere.</p>

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<p>Chicago and Reed actually have lots in common, including a serious intellectual tone and a high tolerance for the quirky. Obviously, the physics resources at Chicago – which include the federal Argonne and Fermi labs – dwarf those available almost anywhere. The University of Chicago is at the center of a really important physics community. But Reed has a great tradition in physics, and one student can only use so many resources.</p>

<p>Look at the website for the Reed physics department. It has awesome stuff about student projects and what graduates have done. It’s not the University of Chicago by a long shot, but if you feel more attracted to a college that size, or to the Pacific Northwest, I don’t think you are going to get shortchanged on your physics education.</p>

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<p>I’d be interested to know where the OP finally ended up, as someone who’s transferring to Reed to major in Physics this Fall :)</p>

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<p>From another thread it looks like he went to Reed. At least he posted in the results (Reed 2016) thread, and says he never applied to u of c after visiting reed.</p>