Safety schools in astro/cosmology?

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dww2012
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2013 8:50 am

Safety schools in astro/cosmology?

Post by dww2012 » Wed Oct 16, 2013 9:04 am

I'm interested in studying cosmology, dark energy in particular--more theory than observation, but I wouldn't turn down an astronomy department that does supernovae or CMB research. Anyway, I've started to compile a list of schools, and I feel like my current list is weighted more towards reaches than safeties. Can anyone recommend some cosmology departments on the less-demanding side of the admissions scale?

For reference, I'm already considering applying to the following:

Reach
Chicago
Cornell
Michigan

Match
Pittsburgh
Case Western
Arizona State
UC Davis
JHU

Safety
???

TomServo
Posts: 33
Joined: Sun Mar 31, 2013 9:55 pm

Re: Safety schools in astro/cosmology?

Post by TomServo » Sat Nov 16, 2013 3:33 am

Have you used gradschoolshopper.com ???

bfollinprm
Posts: 1203
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:44 am

Re: Safety schools in astro/cosmology?

Post by bfollinprm » Sat Nov 16, 2013 8:17 pm

Santa Cruz. I'd say out of that list (based on other 'fits' since I don't know your profile) that PItt and Case are probably safeties. Safeties that may be excellent fits (on the surface they certainly are), but you'll almost certainly get in if you're considering JHU a fit.

bfollinprm
Posts: 1203
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:44 am

Re: Safety schools in astro/cosmology?

Post by bfollinprm » Sat Nov 16, 2013 8:20 pm

Oh, and by the way (so you know what to look for), the best-placed constraints on dark energy in the next 5-10 years will be galaxy/quasar surveys, like Euclid and LSST (SDSS has some of the current best constraints). DE is constrained geometrically (and mostly important at low redshift), so a large volume of well-measured crap is the best bet at constraining it better.



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