Physics GRE Discussion Forums

Hi,

I hope someone can help me decide between Minnesota and Rutgers. I appreciate any idea comparing Minnesota and Rutgers in general quality of their graduate physics program and in experimental condensed matter. I have offer from both of them and I really have a hard time to find which one is better.

Thanks.

Close one! I like Minneapolis, so perhaps I am biased... Have you visited or identified professors you would want to work with? What area of CME are you most interested in, or are you not yet sure? Tough call, but I'd rather live a chunk of my life in Minneapolis than Jersey, but that may be different for you...

No I didn't visit the schools. some faculties don't have a good research websites and also you can not always know them from their website. I am interested in superconductivity and nano physics, however I am open to new interesting researches.

alphanumeric wrote: Tough call, but I'd rather live a chunk of my life in Minneapolis than Jersey, but that may be different for you...

I'm guessing you've never been to New Brunswick. The area is actually pretty nice, you're a short ride from NYC, P-ton is not too far away. In general your opportunities to collaborate simply by proximity to some quality places is much higher at Rutgers. Can't speak with much depth about the programs since I never attended either but Rutgers would get a + from me for immediate area and surrounding areas, just a higher quality of outside-life if you ask me.

I think visiting is very very important to get a real sense of what they are doing research-wise, as websites can be outdated! But you also want to see how well you get along with the faculty members and if you can spend a big chunk of your life in said city.

If you are unable to visit, I'd really recommend emailing some profs at each school and set up a skype call and talk to them! It could also be useful to email their graduate students and see if they would be willing to talk to you about graduate life in the department, the city and what it's like to work for Prof. X. Usually, the faculty/department has an idealized opinion (i.e. how things "should" work) about their graduate courses, exams, requirements etc. while the graduate students have a more realistic one (how things actually work!) and can tell you what's good and bad!