Hey guys, I am currently a junior and my GPA is a 4.03 Weighted, 3.80 UW. I want to bump up my grade through the first semester of Senior year so I want to find some schools that offer EDII but also has a great physics program. I saw that NYU offers EDII and has a pretty strong but hard physics course. Can y’all let me know of any other ones?
Undergrad physics is pretty standardized- look for schools that you like overall and then check out the physics dept. I haven’t heard anything that says that NYU’s physics major is particularly better than those of most other comparable schools.
Not your question, but I don’t think that any GPA bump you will get in 1st semester is going to move you to another level of admissions.
If aspects of your record beyond your GPA match its student profile, look into Hamilton, which is strong in physics and the supporting discipline of mathematics. Improbably, Hamilton recently graduated more physics majors (15) than the much, much larger NYU (13).
https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/elise-lepage-18-an-apker-physics-award-finalist
https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/departments/Home?dept=Physics
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Hamilton&s=all&id=191515#programs
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=New+York+university&s=all&id=193900#programs
Why do you think you need an ED 1 or ED 2 place? Start with that. If you are a strong applicant, chances are that you will get in somewhere that you do like with just rolling and RD admissions.
Because of the overall decline in physics majors over the last few decades, this suggestion may not apply to the current environment. Currently, many physics departments seem mainly to provide service courses for students pursuing other disciplines. Nonetheless, a few physics departments appear to be thriving as destinations in themselves. For an indication of this, the OP can research through IPEDS to identify which colleges graduate physics majors in disproportion to their enrollments. With respect to additional ideas based on this criterion, the OP could look into Carleton (24 physics graduates in a recent year), Bowdoin (18) and Reed (17). Further research along these lines should reveal other promising options.
UChicago.
Harvey Mudd
In particular, note whether the core junior/senior physics courses are offered at a reasonable frequency (once every two years is the bare minimum; every year or every semester is more desirable).
quantum mechanics (often two semesters)
electromagnetism and optics (often two semesters)
intermediate / advanced mechanics
statistical and thermal physics
intermediate / advanced lab
Also, check what kind of other junior/senior level physics elective courses (atomic physics, solid state physics, astrophysics, plasma physics, etc.) there are.
“bump you will get in 1st semester is going to move you to another level of admissions.”
It’s actually pretty important especially if you have a 3.8 and you want to get in to NYU or Chicago. Showing good grades with rigor would be needed.
OP - NYU, Chicago, Harvey Mudd would be where you want to target, those are fantastic schools for physics. good luck!
Regarding Harvey Mudd, note that, of the Claremonts, Pomona produced the most recent Apker Award recipient.
NYU has never produced an Apker winner.
For those unfamiliar with it, the Apker Award represents the American Physical Society’s highest recognition for undergraduate research in physics.
https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201808/apker.cfm
https://www.pomona.edu/news/2018/10/22-eric-cooper-18-wins-top-honor-physics
Yes, 1st semester grades will be important - but OP has a 3.8UW GPA. The most that the GPA can increase is probably 0.5. Imo that is v unlikely to move the OP to another level in admissions terms- and certainly not enough to build your whole college application process around.
yes the gpa that gets evaluated will be 3.8, my point was that if it raises concerns the college has the first semester grades and rigor. one of the reasons to use ED2 is so you an show first quarter or semester grades or improve your test scores.
For NYU the “typical” GPA is 3.7, OP is in good shape there assuming it’s a good courseload.
"Regarding Harvey Mudd, note that, of the Claremonts, Pomona produced the most recent Apker Award recipient.
NYU has never produced an Apker winner."
Not sure why you need to denigrate the college the OP wants to attend, maybe as a first choice, but yes that is true. Pomona is a good choice too, but if OP’s list is Chicago, HMU, NYU, you may not want to add another reach
Maybe Williams.
The OP does not attend NYU, which creates a different dynamic from that suggested. The title of the thread pertains to the best schools for physics. Very few students major in physics at NYU relative to its enrollment (1 out of 473), which makes me wonder on what basis it was reinforced as a school to “target” (reply #10).
https://communications.williams.edu/news-releases/10_13_2015_apkeraward/
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Williams&s=all&id=168342#programs
Note that Williams does not offer an ED II plan, however.
Note that I posted an outdated assessment of U.S. physics departments up-thread. Though the 1990s represented a decade of decline in terms of degrees awarded, trends have been up since then. Compared to especially popular fields in academia, however, physics departments remain lightly enrolled:
Average Annual Physics Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded, by Type of Institution
Liberal Arts Colleges: 6.1
Regional Universities: 8.0
National Universities: 19.5
For the most active programs, @Joshuacho138, consider seeking schools with departments that graduate more physics majors (per type of institution) than listed above.
(Source for data: American Institute of Physics.)
“Very few students major in physics at NYU relative to its enrollment (1 out of 473), which makes me wonder on what basis it was reinforced as a school to “target” (reply #10).”
Well you say the same for Berkeley, 110 physics out of 29K is like .4%, but they have two active Nobel Laureates, but according to this should not be considered because of the low number of students. If you’re including Apker, shouldn’t you also include Nobel’s to get a good view of the dept? It may be more indicative of graduate school strength of course, but still should be considered.
As a science teacher, I can’t stand it anymore and have to point out the math errors. Forgive me.
The most the student’s GPA can increase is 0.05, not 0.5.
There were 115 physics bachelors graduates at Berkeley out of 8727 total bachelors graduates in 2019. Including astrophysics and geophysics graduates, there were 144 physics graduates. NYU graduated 13 physics majors out of 6154 total. The density of physics majors at Berkeley was about 8X that of NYU. I am not convinced that the number of graduates in a discipline is a proxy for the quality of the education or the department though.
OP asked for quality physics schools that offer ED2. Berkeley doesn’t offer ED2.
Times Higher Ed rankings puts UChicago at #10 for physical sciences and NYU at #44, so I’d argue that both schools qualify for OP’s list.
This is crazy low. Until this thread, I never realized what an unpopular major this seems to be in the US. In the UK, Cambridge alone graduates around 120 students a year from its 4-year physics degree (some leave after the 3rd year, which is bachelors level in the UK).