What's in an undergraduate physics ranking?

College Search & Lists
1

I’m trying to decide between UC Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon now for an undergraduate simultaneous degree/double major in physics and electrical engineering. From the rankings I’m seeing for physics, UC Berkeley is placed around #1 or #2 consistently, while Carnegie Mellon is anywhere between #36 and #100. But the stats for CMU physics majors look comparable to those of Berkeley physics majors, and CMU physics majors seem to have a higher mean graduating salary and prospects for grad school that are just as good.

So why is UC Berkeley so consistently and so much higher ranked than CMU? What do these rankings really mean?

2

Those rankings focus on graduate school and faculty research quality. They don’t mean much for undergrads. You need to learn the basics before you get into the top end theoretical work. Physics 101 is not going to be different at either school and the other students in the program will be comparable.

So go where ever you think you would be happier, and consider which is financially more viable for you.

3

Rankings for undergraduate physics programs do not exist to the best of my knowledge.