Undergraduate Programs with good Math/Physics

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I've played this game before, but I'm switching up the criteria a bit.</p>

<p>I'm looking for a school that has a good math/physics or modern logic department, but has decent academics in all fields. It can be anywhere in the United States, but wherever it's located ought to be interesting, or nice to look at (Rural/Suburban is irrelevant). Financial aid is crucial to me, so I need a school that is generous with grants and loans. I would prefer a diverse student population -- that does not necessarily translate into "quirky", or whichever word school counselors use these days to describe it. An active NDT/CEDA policy debate team is a plus, as is an active outing club, but these are not key. I'm certainly not looking exclusively at top-tier institutions, so feel free to include some names that are not as prestigious or noteworthy.</p>

<p>I appreciate all suggestions that I receive, so thank you in advance.</p>

2

<p>Chicago, Princeton, Harvey Mudd..</p>

3

<p>Chicago fits all your criteria except financial aid. You will not get good financial aid at Chicago.</p>

<p>I'll add Harvard and Stanford to Sheed's list, though. In addition, there are several top LACs that would fit your criteria.</p>

4

<p>Alright well I am a physics major who has researched these fields quite well. </p>

<p>Princeton/Harvard/Stanford/MIT - Very well-known schools in both math and physics, as well as many other subjects. They are, however, very had to get into. Financial aid is considered good at all of these schools, with Princeton having the best. </p>

<p>UC Berkeley/University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign- Public schools, but solid education nonetheless, though you do have the drawbacks of very large classrooms. It, as the previously mentioned, has great research opportunities. Easier to get into though and is overall cheaper. Cal is slightly higher up than UIUC I would say. </p>

<p>Cornell - Large classrooms, but a reputation on par with all of the above mentioned. horrible financial aid however.</p>

<p>University of Chicago - Smaller classrooms than cornell, but equally as bad financial aid.</p>

<p>Caltech/Harvey Mudd - Both science heavy schools very well known to be top in science in engineering. MIT could be mentioned in here, though despite the IT MIT is quite a well-rounded school. Of these remaining 2, Mudd will likeley provide you with a more well-rounded enviornment since you will be around more typical LACs, though it lacks the prestige of Caltech, which is more difficult to get into and has better financial aid. Beware that Caltech is a bit of a sausage-fest though, while Harvey Mudd has an all-girls school across the street in addition to its 40% female population. Mudd itself has pretty good financial aid, on the same level as MIT/Harvard. </p>

<p>Hmm I would also say UCLA, the rest of the ivies (minus yale/dartmouth), UW Madison, U of Virginia, and Carnegie Mellon are good candidates, though I know little to nothing about them.</p>

5

<p>Chicago is great for math. </p>

<p>Also look at Lehigh. I have a friend there who's majoring in physics, and she loves it. </p>

<p>And...normally I don't agree with rankings, but just to give you ideas to look at, of the NRC top 15 for physics, UWashington would be a less selective option to pursue. Illinois and UC Santa Barbara are too, but I wouldn't say that they're as diverse as Wash.</p>

6

<p><a href="http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/070607/anonymousgift.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/070607/anonymousgift.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Don't know if you qualify, but it's good to know about for UChicago.</p>

<p>Rice has given a lot of my Harvard and CalTech-level friends amazing merit packages that they didn't need, as has WashU.</p>

7

<p>Saint Olaf's. Produces more math Ph.D's per capita than any other liberal arts college in the country, I think.</p>

8

<p>More than Reed and Harvey Mudd? WOW!</p>

9

<p>I think Mudd's % is about 40, I am looking up the data as well speak.</p>

<p>edit - A recent study ranked Harvey Mudd College first in the nation in percentage of graduates (40.7%) earning the Ph.D" - taken from <a href="http://www.math.hmc.edu/program/dept-intro.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.math.hmc.edu/program/dept-intro.html&lt;/a> so I think its only referring to math Mudders.</p>

10

<p>How about Reed? And St. Olaf's????</p>

11

<p>hmm google showed me this:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/institutionalresearch/reports/PhDProd_F06.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/institutionalresearch/reports/PhDProd_F06.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>which has Reed at #4 overall and St Olaf nowhere. I have no clue about math only, as I am not sure if that informations has been published. If it had been it would have been thrown into the Mudd/Caltech debates on these forums.</p>

<p>edit- hmm I actually found more indepth ones so perhaps this info needs to be used in aforementioned debates.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.earlham.edu/%7Eir/bac_origins_report/physics.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.earlham.edu/~ir/bac_origins_report/physics.html&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.earlham.edu/%7Eir/bac_origins_report/math_comp.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.earlham.edu/~ir/bac_origins_report/math_comp.html&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.earlham.edu/%7Eir/bac_origins_report/math_stats.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.earlham.edu/~ir/bac_origins_report/math_stats.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

12

<p>Care to share your some stats with us? Unweighed GPA, class rank, SAT/ACT, SAT IIs, APs, etc...</p>

13

<p>Williams is highly-rated for those interested in math, science, and computer-related fields.</p>

14

<p>Berkeley definitely comes to mind for math/physics.</p>

15

<p>Seiken's post is very thorough and covers all the top schools.</p>

16

<p>
[quote]
the rest of the ivies (minus yale/dartmouth)

[/quote]

Where the idea has come from that Yale is no good for the hard sciences is beyond me. I see absolutely no basis for claiming that Brown or Penn are better than Yale at physics or math (in fact, both are probably weaker), or that there is a significant difference between Yale and Columbia in either field, or that Cornell is better in math (though it may be in physics). Of course, this is all for the graduate level anyway. At the undergrad level, any good school will provide a good education in physics and math, and you are better off deciding based on other factors.</p>