<p>I have two questions.
First, which school amongst those who accepted me would be the best pick for an undergraduate degree in physics? I'm mainly concerned with program quality and while I'm also very concerned about financial aid almost all the colleges offered about the same in terms of aid (the range was about $6,000) so I'd prefer not to focus on that. I did my own research and already submitted a deposit based on that but I'd like to know what the CC community thinks (though I'm not sure what I'd be able to do about it at this point).
Second, and this one I'm notably more concerned about, which from the schools who waitlisted me would be a better choice for physics (or in general if you'd prefer) than any school who accepted me? That is, no matter who I may have submitted a deposit to, which school(s) would likely top it and would it be in my interest to accept an offer of admission from?</p>
<p>Accepted (7)
Harvey Mudd College
University of Alabama
University of Notre Dame
University of Southern California
University of Virginia
Vassar College
Wake Forest University</p>
<p>Waitlisted (12)
Brown University
Caltech
Columbia University
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Duke University
Johns Hopkins University
Northwestern University
Swarthmore College
University of Chicago
University of Pennsylvania
Washington and Lee University</p>
<p>Thanks in advance if you have a chance to respond (of if you managed to read down to this point but don't feel like responding, thanks for the attempt - it's the thought that counts).</p>
<p>I definitely suggest Harvey Mudd. It rivals top universities for many departments, perfect for physics and excellent for engineering in case you want to do something related to physics if you change your mind.<br>
If you don’t mind, can you post your stats?
Thanks and good luck.</p>
<p>Not Alabama, because the school is ruins now</p>
<p>Wow. You applied to a ton of colleges.</p>
<p>I did apply to a ton of schools, I was/am just very unconfident and wanted to see if I could help my odds (I took the spaghetti-on-the-wall approach to college applications). And yeah I head about what happened to Tuscaloosa. It’s some seriously sad [expletive]. I actually liked the school - it was a decent program and offered me the best financial aid out them all (ie. free stuff, stipend, study abroad allowance, etc).</p>
<p>Though I am glad to hear what you think out of the schools I’ve been accepted too, I’m much more concerned about the waitlists. If any school takes me off the waitlist I’d like to be able to respond to them immediately. I realize it’s a big “IF” but I just want to be prepared.</p>
<p>As for stats, here’s a brief breakdown if you’re actually curious:
SAT: 2190
M - 720
CR - 740
W - 730
ACT: 33
SAT2:
Math II: 790
Chem: 800
UW GPA: 3.92
W GPA: 5.2… or something like that (standard/CP=4, HN=5, AP=6)
Rank: 2/410ish
EC’s: meh
Essays: bleh</p>
<p>Of the colleges that accepted you, Harvey Mudd is a compelling choice. If you choose to go there, you would be able to complement Harvey Mudd science and math courses with Pomona courses. Pomona has a strong math department.</p>
<p>Of the colleges that waitlisted you Caltech has an extraordinary physics program, perhaps the best in the world. Not too far behind is the University of Chicago which also has a very strong math department. Of the Ivies, Columbia has a strong physics and math program. John Hopkins is also strong.</p>
<p>If you’re looking for a larger university experience than Harvey Mudd, then from the colleges that accepted you University of Virginia is the one to consider.</p>
<p>Good luck getting in from colleges on your wait-list, definitely consider Caltech if you make it.</p>
<p>Congrats, you earned many fine admissions and WLs.</p>
<p>Unless you are looking for folks to cough up the usual rankings data or offer opinions based on perceived prestige, it is really impossible to say “if the call comes, take this WL school” without knowing what it’s knocking out and why! I join those voting for Harvey Mudd on your “I’m in” list, but perhaps you selected a different school because it was a better fit for you than Harvey Mudd. </p>
<p>And personal FIT is really what matters when it comes to your WL schools. I can see leaving almost all of them in as contendors, but only you can answer whether any given WL school is a better choice for you than the “in” school you’ve selected depending on what kind of physics program you are looking for (conceptual, applied, heavy on math, quantum, particle, astro, etc.), what kind of academic environment will bring out the best in you, what kind of social life you want from your college experience, big school, small school, urban setting, self-contained campus, Greek system, sports, music, moderate climate, cold, how far from home, etc. </p>
<p>Instead of focusing on your WL schools, I suggest you focus on where you are going. Make a list of features important to you + general school selection criteria. Develop a 1-5 scale for measuring how well a particular school matches up. On a separate sheet of paper, put your chosen school through the “test.” It should score well! Be happy with your choice! Put that score sheet away. Then, if and when that WL call comes in, you can immediately go to that same evaluative rubric and rate the WL school. Pull out your original score sheet for your current school. How do they compare? You might be surprised by the results.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Hmm I suppose I should be less cryptic. The only reason I withheld saying where I decided on was because I was curious what others thought but I suppose I have a decent feel for it now.
I submitted my deposit to Harvey Mudd College and I’m super excited about going.</p>
<p>If it helps (I really doubt it will because I’m by no means certain about any of this - I don’t have enough of an exposure to physics yet for specifics) I’d probably be most interested in going into a theoretical rather than applied track (which is why I’m not chasing engineering) and if I had to pick a field it would be particle physics but I can’t say that with any confidence.</p>
<p>I’m mainly just wondering if any of the schools on my waitlist might be a better choice for physics than Harvey Mudd - so that it would be advisable to consider the other school over HMC. Caltech is the only school I had in mind from the waitlist but I honestly don’t know (as it was hard to see comparisons of undergraduate physics online - and looking at graduate programs doesn’t help as HMC doesn’t have a graduate school).</p>
<p>@TXArtemis
Your “rubric” idea is similar to something I actually did. Sort of. Well I listed a number of factors (mainly those that show up college search engines) and gave each a score 1-10 as to how important it was to me (as well as an explanation as to why I cared so much/little about a factor) and gave it to my guidance counselor to help me find colleges.
Here’s the scores I assigned:
Academic (Programs/Facilities) – 10+
Size – 3
Faculty – 6
Organizations/Clubs/Fraternities/Sororities – 5
Location – 3
Cost (“Sticker price” and any potential aid offered) – 9
Type (Liberal Arts College, University, Vocational, Public, Private, etc) – 6
Athletics – 2
Student Body (male/female ratio, diversity, etc) – 2
Religious affiliation – 2
Name Recognition (I kind of feel bad caring about this…) – 7</p>
<p>As far as how Harvey Mudd scores on each of those I’m not sure really. I guess that’s what I’m here for as I’m not sure how each of my schools do on each of these factors. However the biggest factor for me is and has always been academic program.</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd, from what I can tell you, the food is great there. So is the academics.</p>