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ETHZ or Leiden?

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 11:07 am
by Jamesofey
Hi everyone! I'm an international student and really wish to hear advices from you guys. I have received admission to ETHZ's MS in Physics program and Leiden's MS in Astronomy during the application season. I intend to apply to top American PhD program in astronomy after I complete the master program, since I believe doing a master program will help me build a stronger application profile. Which of the two programs do you think is better for my chances to be admitted to American top PhD programs? Also, here I attach my more detailed information.

Thank you!


Personal Profile

Undergrad Institution: Some School in China
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 100
Overall GPA: 86.9
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top (Judging from Dean's list)
Type of Student: International

GRE Scores : (revised or old version?) Revised
Q: 170
V: 151
W: 3.0
P: 990


TOEFL Total: 107/120

Research Experience: 1 year experience of neutrino detector in my school; Currently doing a computational astrophysical project; might lead to a paper on ApJ.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) Some Scholarship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Got A in lots of graduate level courses: General Relativity, Quantum Field Theory...;

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Independently did a review on compact objects.

Re: ETHZ or Leiden?

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 2:51 pm
by TakeruK
Hello! I think both ETH-Zurich and Leiden are well recognized Astronomy programs by North American schools (and of course by schools worldwide too). In addition, many Americans have gone to these two schools for PhD work and successfully found postdocs in the US (I know some!). And, there are faculty members there that completed PhDs in the US so that if you work with these people, they will be known by their colleagues in the US when you apply to US PhD programs.

So, I think you should go where you would have a better fit, for your research and your personal life. I don't think there is an enough of a difference in "name recognition" between these two schools for that to be a factor. And I think some subfields of astronomy are better at one school than the other, so pick the one that fits your interests more!

Re: ETHZ or Leiden?

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 11:59 pm
by Jamesofey
TakeruK wrote:Hello! I think both ETH-Zurich and Leiden are well recognized Astronomy programs by North American schools (and of course by schools worldwide too). In addition, many Americans have gone to these two schools for PhD work and successfully found postdocs in the US (I know some!). And, there are faculty members there that completed PhDs in the US so that if you work with these people, they will be known by their colleagues in the US when you apply to US PhD programs.

So, I think you should go where you would have a better fit, for your research and your personal life. I don't think there is an enough of a difference in "name recognition" between these two schools for that to be a factor. And I think some subfields of astronomy are better at one school than the other, so pick the one that fits your interests more!
Hi TakeruK! Thanks for the advice! Deciding between these two schools makes my head ache :cry:

Re: ETHZ or Leiden?

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2017 12:04 pm
by TakeruK
The good news is that you can't really make a "bad" choice because they are both strong programs :)