Physics GRE Discussion Forums

hi everybody,

I´m a physics international student and i m planing to spent a year in a exchange program in the US. Most of the universities i have the possibility to go to are not very famous (at least i dont know very much about them ), so i would appreciate some help choosing the best ones for physics.

The options are:

-American university
-Boston university
-Florida international university
-George Washington university
-Georgetown university
-missouri-sant louis university
-Ohio state university
-sant louis university
-Skidmore college
-Syracuse university
-Tufts university
-University of colorado at boulder ( I think this is the better option)
-University of texas at san antonio
-University of miami
-wayne state university
-san diego state univ

Thanks,

Preuton wrote:hi everybody,

I´m a physics international student and i m planing to spent a year in a exchange program in the US. Most of the universities i have the possibility to go to are not very famous (at least i dont know very much about them ), so i would appreciate some help choosing the best ones for physics.

The options are:

-American university
-Boston university
-Florida international university
-George Washington university
-Georgetown university
-missouri-sant louis university
-Ohio state university
-sant louis university
-Skidmore college
-Syracuse university
-Tufts university
-University of colorado at boulder ( I think this is the better option)
-University of texas at san antonio
-University of miami
-wayne state university
-san diego state univ

Thanks,

What's your research interest (condensed matter, amo, particle, nuclear, etc), and experimental or theoretical?
If you don't know what you're interested in you should read through the research section of the schools and see if anything peaks your interest.



If you're not planning on doing research and just going to take classes, you can look at the rankings that are listed on these sites.
http://graduate-school.phds.org/rankings/physics
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandr ... s/rankings

thanks for that page is very usefull, as i see the best options are colorado, ohio and boston. I was specting to see geortown university in the ranking as it have great reputation in other fields

Preuton wrote:thanks for that page is very usefull, as i see the best options are colorado, ohio and boston. I was specting to see geortown university in the ranking as it have great reputation in other fields

Colorado, Ohio State, and Boston for sure.

If you are interested in AMO, Colorado for sure.
If you are interested in Nuclear, Ohio State for sure.

-Riley

I think syracuse will be a very strong option too.

Since the OP doesn't seem to be aware... UC Boulder is the best university in the country for AMO according to rankings, for whatever they are worth. I would tend to agree with them here, though.

I have to put several places in order of prefernce so i didnt wnt to know just wich one was the best , but wich ones were the best.

I can fill up to 10 universities, i´m thinking of

colorado
ohio
boston
syracuse
GW
tufts

i dont know if i should add any more, cause althoug i wanna live the experience the rest seem to be a lot worser that my current university, do you think it could be harmfull in curriculum a year in somwhere like san diego state?

Preuton wrote:I have to put several places in order of prefernce so i didnt wnt to know just wich one was the best , but wich ones were the best.

I can fill up to 10 universities, i´m thinking of

colorado
ohio
boston
syracuse
GW
tufts

i dont know if i should add any more, cause althoug i wanna live the experience the rest seem to be a lot worser that my current university, do you think it could be harmfull in curriculum a year in somwhere like san diego state?

Honestly, if you can get into Colorado, Ohio State, or Boston, I'd choose one of those first. I'd fill the rest of the list with places you'd enjoy living for a year. It won't hurt you much if you go somewhere like San Diego State, just get involved in some research while you are there and everything will be fine. Wherever you end up, make sure you do some research.

-Riley

Something i may had forgotten to say is that the exchange year will be my senior year , still undergraduate. But i suppose the reputation will be similar. I´m planning to apply to US for phd , as i have very good grades here probably will be applying to top 10-20 .

how much difference will be between attending one year to tufts (top 100) or attending one year to san diego state ( havent see it in any ranking)?

By the way in the US in the last year of undergraduate do you havr to do domething like a mini thesis?

thanks

Preuton wrote:Something i may had forgotten to say is that the exchange year will be my senior year , still undergraduate. But i suppose the reputation will be similar. I´m planning to apply to US for phd , as i have very good grades here probably will be applying to top 10-20 .

how much difference will be between attending one year to tufts (top 100) or attending one year to san diego state ( havent see it in any ranking)?

By the way in the US in the last year of undergraduate do you havr to do domething like a mini thesis?

thanks

There will be a very small difference in attending a "top 100" school and San Diego State (which doesn't have a Doctorate program, that is why it isn't ranked). As I've mentioned before, unless you're going to one of the better ranked schools as mentioned, a decision between schools like this won't be much different. Honestly, there is no number value or anything anyone can give you on that specific question. And I'm not sure, some schools do a senior thesis, some don't. You're in a much better position to answer those questions yourself about those specific schools than any of us are, unless of course in the rare case that one of us actually attends that specific school.

But seriously, stop debating so much about the lower ranked programs, just make sure if you go there you do research.

-Riley