<p>If your daughter ends up going to grad school in Physics she probably won’t need a lot of financial support from you. The norm in Physics and Math is that students get paid to be teaching assistants or assist with research projects. These jobs don’t pay incrediably well but they are generally enough to live on. Many universities even provide health insurance. Other areas (humanities) aren’t so generous.</p>
<p>Correct^^^, a female applying to PhD programs in Math or Physics will be sought after.My H didn’t pay for his PhD at Cornell-he was paid as a TA. His undergrad degree is from MIT, and he also did a masters in public policy at the Humphrey school of Gvt at the U of Minnesota on their nickel.</p>
<p>A follow up to all your help - we visited Williams and met with both the head of the physics department, who took so much time and showed us research with lasers that students are doing and with Colin Adams who was so engaging. Both, when asked, gave us the same information, that graduate work towards a PhD in physics should be fully funded (D might be a TA or something like that which would be a great experience in itself to see if teaching is anything she might like to do) and most often funded in math. The funding was not quite as high in engineering but often an employer will pay for that and in the medical field, expect to pay it all. Masters degrees are also not nearly as well funded. The advantage, pointed out by several people here and at Williams, of an LAC is that students are the sole focus of the profs and students are doing more meaningful research. An advantage of a large research university, it was noted, comes into play if a student is so gifted that he/she would exhaust the undergraduate curriculum and be able to take grad courses as an undergrad. I can’t imagine that would ever be a concern at such a top LAC as Williams unless (and I borrow this term from an Ivy thread) the S is just “crazy smart.” I can’t imagine even liking an Ivy better than Williams. Thanks to opening the idea of the LAC by this discussion on Williams and to some information from OldBatesieDoc, my daughter has also rekindled her interest in Middlebury, and will visit that soon.</p>
<p>Another consideration is a summer research opportunity as an undergrad. Summer research jobs pay pretty well and students from a small LAC may get an opportunity for summer research on a smaller campus. Williams has summer research for students and that can be a nice opportunity that might not happen at a larger school where more students would be vying for a few slots.</p>
<p>Go Panthers!</p>