Physics and other sciences at W&L

Lorelie
Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:26:56 +0000

I was a chemistry student at Washington and Lee, and took several of physics and physics/engineering classes. From my interactions with several of the physics professors, they are enthusiastic about teaching undergrads and are good teachers as well. There are no grad students to compete for attention, and there are also no TA’s. I knew many students who did research both in the physics department and at other institutions during their time at W&L. Receiving funding for research at W&L is routine in all departments, and there are also at least 30 grants available from W&L each year for summer research both at other institutions in the US and abroad.

The chemistry department is quite strong, and yaupon is quite correct that the med school acceptance rate is very high. While W&L doesn’t have the instrumentation that a larger institution would, in my opinion the personal interactions and opportunities to do research and receive grants for summer study far outweighs that. What I found most valuable about W&L as a liberal arts school is the great amount of interaction that I had with professors, particularly my advisors but also with those in other departments. I spoke with three different physics profs in deciding where to apply to graduate school, even though I had only had one as a professor. I hope that helps!