Aspiring Astrophysicist

warblersrule
Wed, 30 Sep 2015 02:55:29 +0000

MadoxMcGrae:

my favorites being U Chicago and Columbia.

If they’re your top choices and you truly don’t have a preference, consider applying early to both. (If admitted ED to Columbia, however, you are obligated to attend.) Needless to say, admission to both has become extremely difficult.

For other options, do a search for posts by @harvard andberkeley, a very knowledgeable poster who has posted a lot of helpful information about astronomy, physics, and astrophysics programs. Sample posts:

harvardandberkeley:

I have a a BA in Astrophysics from Harvard and a PhD from Berkeley.

The top research universities for astro are (in no particular order):
Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, Columbia, Yale, Chicago, Caltech, MIT,
Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Cruz, Arizona, Hawaii, Texas, Colorado, Illinois, Wisconsin, UMass, Maryland, Virginia.
(Note the good mix of elite private schools AND flagship publics).

Good small colleges for astro include:
Williams, Pomona, Harvey Mudd, Wesleyan, Vassar, Wellesley, Middlebury, Carleton, Reed, Smith, Amherst, Mt. Holyoke.

By the way, Stanford has absolutely phenomenal PHYSICS, but almost NO ASTROPHYSICS (though they are just starting to get into it).

harvardandberkeley:

I have degrees in physics and astrophysics…

Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, UPenn, Brown, Carnegie Melon, Chicago, Northwestern, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, UVA, UNCCH, URochester, UMD, Rutgers, Swarthmore (larger LAC with OUTSTANDING physics)

harvardandberkeley:

Now, the HONEST reality is… the undergraduate physics curriculum is pretty much the same at all research universities… in term of quality of education, all of the schools you list are excellent for undergraduate physics.