UC Berkeley vs Cornell vs Cambridge (UK) [for Physics related studies]

Twoin18
Sun, 07 Apr 2024 23:45:42 +0000

NatSci at Cambridge is only broad in the first year and then becomes much narrower unless you don’t want to specialize (but most of the best students will do). It is certainly not “liberal arts”, you are unlike to write a single essay in three years.

Some students who want to end up in physics PhD programs start on the math side (math with physics: https://www.maths.cam.ac.uk/undergrad/files/maths_with_physics.pdf) others start with NatSci and usually (but not always) do Chemistry in addition to Physics in the first year. The former will mostly be theoreticians, the latter experimentalists, but that’s not a given. For entry to a PhD you could take Part III math in year 4 instead of the MSci if you want to be a theoretician.

Let me know if you have more questions about Cambridge. Unless you want to stay close to home, I think it would be hard to pass up, even for Berkeley.