<p>I’m not sure how one measures the prestige of a small college program. It’s a fairly popular program, if that’s any heuristic:
[Wesleyan</a> University Physics Department People](<a href=“http://www.wesleyan.edu/physics/people/students.html]Wesleyan”>http://www.wesleyan.edu/physics/people/students.html) in line with Wesleyan’s closest competitors:
[Williams</a> College Department of Physics](<a href=“http://www.williams.edu/physics/]Williams”>http://www.williams.edu/physics/)
[Swarthmore</a> Physics and Astronomy<em>»</em>People](<a href=“Physics & Astronomy :: Swarthmore College”>Physics & Astronomy :: Swarthmore College)</p>
<p>In terms of PhD production it’s probably more in line with Middlebury, if one believes this widely circulated CC thread:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/559039-top-producers-phds-physical-sciences-comp-sci-math.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/559039-top-producers-phds-physical-sciences-comp-sci-math.html</a></p>
<p>The problem with using PhD production as a marker for prestige is that it doesn’t capture graduates who might have opted for other career choices like medicine, and especially in the case of Physics, we know anecdotally that quite a few have been opting for careers in finance.</p>