Is stony brook a good enough school?

[kap09c]

I was accepted for theory. I was wondering if Stony Brook is a good enough school to end up with a career in academia one day. What are your thoughts?

[r4ve]

isnt stony brook known for theory? im pretty sure theyre like top notch for stuff like string theory or theoretical particle physics

[kap09c]

isnt stony brook known for theory? im pretty sure theyre like top notch for stuff like string theory or theoretical particle physics

It is good for theory but it's not "prestigious". I've never seen any profs with a PhD from there so I'm worried that it might be career ending. Hopefully you're right!

[photomagnetic]

career ending? eh

[TakeruK]

Here is their alumni list: http://www.physics.sunysb.edu/Physics/a ... umni.shtml (use the years on the left side navigation bar). I think the most efficient way would be to go back to e.g. 2000 to 2005 and google all of their graduates' names and see where their PhDs end up 10-15 years after graduation.

[tsymmetry]

Shoucheng Zhang went to Stonybrook. He is one of top condensed matter theorists in the world. He was nominated for the 2013 fundamental physics prize.

[bfollinprm]

Statistically, no school is good enough to end up with a career in theoretical physics.

Stony Brook will do as well as any other school in preparing you for the lottery that is post-doc and faculty appointments.