<p>I'm thinking abt majoring in astronomy or other related majors like astrophysics
but I simply can't find any rankings by astronomy major</p>
<p>does anybody know anything abt top universities for astronomy?
any recommendation or suggestion is welcome. thx</p>
<p>UArizona
Hawaii
Harvard</p>
<p>Cornell University - Arecibo Radio Observatory, radio astronomy</p>
<p>Texas-Austin</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins---the Hubble Space Telescope is managed from the campus and NY Mayor Mike Bloomberg donated the largest building on campus--The Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy. Hopkins is also #1 in funded research from NASA.</p>
<p>Wesleyan, if you're interested in an LAC:
Winking</a> Star: First Step Of Earth-Like Planet Formation Observed</p>
<p>Caltech, Princeton, UC Berkeley, Harvard, Chicago, Arizona, MIT, Cornell, Texas, Hawaii</p>
<p>seems that JHW does not offer UG degree in astronomy?</p>
<p>nor does Hawaii...</p>
<p>thank u all for the info
hope I can gather more information</p>
<p>Not sure about rankings, but I know Stony Brook has a program. Stony Brook is a good science and research university and part of the SUNY system</p>
<p>astronomy as a major as an undergraduate may not be vital to becoming an astronomer? Grinnell College in Iowa has a really good science program and lots of support and funding for physics -they also help with internships and they have connections for future study (also they have a great little observatory and no big city lights!)</p>
<p>If by JHW,deneb meant JHU--the Department of Physics and Astronomy offers only one undergraduate major--which is physics. You can, however, take as many astronomy courses as would an "astronomy" major elsewhere. Also, The Chronicle of Higher Education identifies Hopkins' department as #6 in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Chronicle</a> Facts & Figures: Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index</p>
<p>"astronomy as a major as an undergraduate may not be vital to becoming an astronomer? "</p>
<p>Yup. A physics major (or other hard science major, sometimes) is just fine for gaining admission to a grad program in astronomy. Keep an eye out for programs that offer and encourage undergraduate research opportunities, which occur at far, far more schools than are listed above.</p>
<p>made a typo. I did mean JHU
thank u, bonanza.
I thought I should find something in The Chronicle of Higher Education.</p>
<p>SlitheyTove, I see what u mean, but is it better if I start as an undergraduate?</p>
<p>about Wesleyan and Grinnell, I'm not sure if they provide good astronomy programs as those universities do</p>
<p>Top 15 in astrophysics/astronomy from NRC:</p>
<p>1 Cal Tech 4.91
2 Princeton 4.79
3 Cal Berkeley 4.65
4 Harvard 4.49
5 Chicago 4.36
6 Cal Santa Cruz 4.31
7 Arizona 4.10
8 MIT 4.00
9 Cornell 3.98
10 Texas 3.65
11 Hawaii Manoa 3.60
12 Colorado 3.54
13 Illinois 3.53
14 Wisconsin 3.46
15 Yale 3.31</p>
<p>deneb - Taft Armandroff, Wesleyan Class of 1982 is director of the W.M. Keck Observatory at Mauna Kea. His degree was obviously no barrier. You also have to consider how much actual observatory time is alloted to the average undergrad at some of these universities whose reputations are based strictly on their grad programs.</p>
<p>D & I visited Wesleyan this summer and the director of admissions made it very clear that while they don't admit students by prospective major per se, they are "especially interested" right now in increasing the number of science majors. It's worth a close look.</p>