<p>Well… my D was accepted to Swarthmore and Mudd for this coming fall, plans to major in physics, and picked Mudd. 
Swarthmore does have a very strong physics department, although it is pretty small – we had an interesting conversation with a professor there about his research with a device that simulates the temperature on the surface of the sun (he showed it to us). That said… Mudd is just a more STEM focused school, and it seems like they went a lot further out of their way to show us multiple physics labs (my D was quite taken with the optics lab), have us meet professors and students, and talk abut the specifics of the physics major when my D was at accepted student days. At Swarthmore it is just one of a bunch of majors struggling for college funding and resources, IMHO – we really had to go searching to find someone to talk to about it.</p>
<p>When we asked about funding sources at Swarthmore (were they concerned about government funding cuts to science grants? did they have any plans to address this by diversifying their sources of funding?), the person responding looked puzzled and a bit condescending. He said something like, “Well, we haven’t had any issues yet, so we aren’t worried about it.” Which I thought was a pretty insular attitude in today’s world. Mudd answered this question with some surprise that it was asked, but they had a ready answer that they have been thinking about it and what they have been doing about it. </p>
<p>If you are interested in the astronomy side of physics, then Swarthmore or Carleton might be good schools to consider. I don’t know that Mudd is as strong in that area – just don’t really hear them talking much about it.</p>