Applied Physics?

[llsop]

Anybody applied to Applied Physics anywhere?

Waiting to hear from AP at Harvard ... they're late this year according to gradcafe.com

[KDP]

I'm waiting for Harvard AP too...and Cornell AP also
anyone else?

[jackal]

waiting on those two and stanford's AP program. got notification of admission into caltech AP (there was a visit/interview day last week).

[phun]

I was waiting from stanford and caltech, but it seems I'm on the waiting list for caltech at best.

[vivace]

i've been accepted to Caltech also. Still waiting on Cornell and Stanford applied physics

[schmit.paul]

i got accepted to columbia applied physics/applied mathematics recently. I'm waiting for my official notice of admissions from Princeton Plasma Physics (I was told by a professor there it should be coming in the next week or so), at which point I'll probably turn down the Columbia offer (for anyone that happens to be waiting to hear from them).

[KDP]

I just saw an entry for acceptance to Harvard AP on gradcafe...did anyone else get notified?

[KDP]

Did anyone hear anything from Havard AP or Cornell AP? it seems like they're so late this year! the wait is driving me nuts! bahhhhhhhh

[xtripledot]

anyone know what's going on with stanford applied physics? i've heard of 5 admits total (gradcafe) all on or about 2/26 - 2/28. no one has posted anything about rejections.
has anyone heard anything about another round of offers and when that might be?

[vivace]

I've received an acceptance from Stanford (I didn't post on gradcafe though). Their open house is on April 6. Still no word from Cornell! It is certainly getting late. I'm a bit worried.

[llsop]

Got "unofficial" acceptances from Cornell and Harvard App.Phys. today, via email.

[KDP]

whoa. two in one day? congratz.

were the emails from your potential advisors or were they just general acceptance emails? any mentions on when they would actually send out the formal letters?

[vivace]

yay! I got my cornell acceptance today too. A hard copy of the acceptance will arrive within the next day or so, the email says. Their open house is March 30-31.

[llsop]

Actually for Harvard I got a phone call from a potential advisor. After we'd talked, she then emailed with info on the open house (Mar 18-19).

Official notification will be mailed by mid-march.

[KDP]

To the people whom have gotten emails from Harvard and Cornell.

Can you guys let us know when you actually get the official letters? so that some of us could stop checking our mails even after two weeks later....
it sounds like my chance at cornell is slim since the email sounded like general 'acceptance' notification. however, the harvard ones sound more like individual faculties contacting people at will (so there's a chance that some accepted people might not have been notified by email yet. and certainly im hoping to be one of them. so i'm checking my mail like 5 times a day!)

so please let us know.
congratz!

[llsop]

I emailed Harvard AP admissions and told them that I got into MIT so if I could hear from them soon as well. Not that I intended to put pressure, it's just that I had to book my flight to Boston, and the later you book the more expensive it gets. I knew that Harvard usually hold their Open House around the same dates as MIT, so I was in a rush to finalize my travel plans. I'm not sure if that sped up getting the news for me, but anyway, I got an email from the admissions office this morning.

Maybe you could give them a call? It IS getting rather close to the open house dates for reasonable travel arrangements to be made.

[KDP]

i got accepted to Cornell AP just now!!! this is amazing!!
it was by email.
Good luck everyone

[xyzabc]

Is there a list of rankings for Applied Physics? Or what's the general consensus?

[KDP]

I would say that the top ones are Stanford, Caltech, Cornell and Harvard. but i wouldn't know what's the 'rank' among them....they all have top-notch research projects.

maybe the decent ones are Columbia, Yale, Virginia? hmm...

what do you guys think?

[kptnblaubar]

Hi,

Err.. well I'm a CS Engineer looking at getting into Applied /Engineering Physics.
I just gave my GRE and got Quant - 800 and Verbal - 640. I'm willing to slog for the GRE Physics subject test. Do you think I have any chance?? Can i apply at Cornell, Harvard , Caltech, and other good schools?

Please advise.

Thanks and cheers.

[sophia_xuqing]

Hey, does anybody apply to the Applied physics program of
U of Michigan–Ann Arbor?

It is really strange that we have only applied physics as an undergraduate major name, but here I found that Applied physics can also be a ph.d program.

[tnoviell]

Yeah, personally I think getting a masters of ph.d in applied physics is one of the best things you can do for career opportunities.

[sophia_xuqing]

So what about condensed matter physics? optical physics? material physics?
are they all belong to applied physics??
my undergradute is in applied physics, and now the master's degree is in theoretical physics, do you think doing ph,d in applied physics would be difficult?

[grae313]

applied physics is just that: applied physics. You can do condensed matter, materials, and optics, or any other physics subdivision through applied physics as long as it is not theoretical or I guess atomic/high energy. All "applied" means is that you are doing research towards engineering real and useful things that industry is interested in. If you have background in any sort of physics, you can do research into the APPLICATIONS of your science, and this is applied physics.

[highbounce]

I have fortunately got into Cornell and Yale's applied physics programs and Princeton's EE. They are my top choices right now and I plan to visit all three of them. However, I would really appreciate some opinions on these schools. My area of interst is experimental condensed matter, especially in solid state/quantum devices. Is Cornell's applied physics really a tier above Yale's? I am actually leaning towards Yale because their research is more relavant to my insterest. But at the same time, I am really attracted to the flexbility at Cornell where I have a lot of options regarding whom I want to work with.

[sravanskarri]

@highbounce:

Congrats. I believe Yale is really good for expeimental stuff particularly Quantum devices. I have seen few reasearch papers where professors from Princeton EE have collaborated with Yale AP. In fact few of them graduated from Yale. Good luck!

[grae313]

My biased opinion:

Yale is good in quantum computing, but if you have interest in anything else besides this, Cornell is the place to be. Cornell's nanofabrication facilities are the best in the country, and I formed this opinion after touring Berkeley, UCSB, and Stanford. The number, variety, and quality of instruments combined with their availability to students is unparalleled. We have top professors, amazing resources, and fantastic people. Yale has strong names in that one field, but does not have a comparably strong reputation overall in physics. At Cornell you will have the best equipment there is available to you 24/7 and the freedom to work with any professor in any department who will accept you as a student in their lab.

[highbounce]

My biased opinion:

Yale is good in quantum computing, but if you have interest in anything else besides this, Cornell is the place to be. Cornell's nanofabrication facilities are the best in the country, and I formed this opinion after touring Berkeley, UCSB, and Stanford. The number, variety, and quality of instruments combined with their availability to students is unparalleled. We have top professors, amazing resources, and fantastic people. Yale has strong names in that one field, but does not have a comparably strong reputation overall in physics. At Cornell you will have the best equipment there is available to you 24/7 and the freedom to work with any professor in any department who will accept you as a student in their lab.

Ahh, why does this have to be such a difficult decision? (don't get me wrong, I am foremost beyond excited that I actually have the luxury of making a choice among these wonderful schools). Yale is extremely strong in quantum computing which is what interests me the most at the moment. Although this interest is very strong, it is almost a whim, a result of reading a few articles on a lazy summer day. I have done research in condensed matter but absolutely nothing related to anything close to solid state quantum computing. I don't know if I am justified in worrying that If I lost interest in quantum computing, Yale would not be able to provide me with as many good backup choices as Cornell would. On the other hand, Cornell has a strong presence in many areas that I am interested in, but not the area I am most interested in currently Also I feel that New Haven might have a little more to offer than Ithaca in terms of social life?

[MacCutcheon60]

It might tip the scale that with Yale's Applied Phys Dept., you're guaranteed an RA position from the start with a one semester 10hr TA job sometime in your second year to expose you to teaching. Good luck.

[sravanskarri]

Thanks for that info Grae. Intentionally left the feedback for Cornell to you.

@highbounce:
I have heard few bad things about NewHaven about crime rate but nothing surpasses research interests. Good luck!

[sravanskarri]

Any one heard from Harvard AP/ Engg Sci recently ?

[ddubs]

Any one heard from Harvard AP/ Engg Sci recently ?

Well, the open house was this past Sunday--Monday.

[michael]

Harvard applied physics:

Thank you for your interest in SEAS. We cannot give out official
admissions decisions via email for security purposes. However, we can say
that you likely would have been contacted by a faculty member by this
time had you been admitted. We encourage you to consider your other
options carefully.

[grae313]

Harvard didn't send me a rejection letter until mid April. Don't hold your breaths, guys.

[TrueBLUE]

Can a person admitted in physics work with professors enlisted in the applied physics department, for example at Cornell?

[noojens]

At Cornell, easily.

[grae313]

At Cornell you can pretty much work with whoever you want in any department (within reason). We have physics students working with applied physics, astronomy biology, chemistry, and various engineering professors.

[TrueBLUE]

Thanxx a lot noojens and grae313. Has greatly helped make my decision. So Cornell it is for me!!

[grae313]

Thanxx a lot noojens and grae313. Has greatly helped make my decision. So Cornell it is for me!!

Nice! Cornell is a great place and our grad students are happy. Don't forget to notify other schools of your decision so that they can hopefully admit someone else off the wait list.

[Tosh]

Is applied easier or harder to get in than physics?

[CKtalon]

Applied tends to be easier.
Even a Cornell professor told me once that getting into the Applied Program is much easier than the Physics program.

[highbounce]

Applied tends to be easier.
Even a Cornell professor told me once that getting into the Applied Program is much easier than the Physics program.

I am glad that I knew that

[Tosh]

A lot of people seems to say so.. but wouldn't applied be harder since those who major in materials science, engineerig and chem could also apply to AP?

[sravanskarri]

A lot of people seems to say so.. but wouldn't applied be harder since those who major in materials science, engineerig and chem could also apply to AP?

He meant getting into AP Cornell is easier than getting into Physics, Cornell with a Physics background. I am sure having good Physics back ground helps more than EE/MSE to get into any AP program.

[Tosh]

How about Columbia? Is AP easier or Physics?.. I guess it depends on the size of the programs at Columbia.. anyone ahs any idea of statistics about it?

[lsun]

Hey, guys, I have been torn deciding between Harvard AP and Berkeley's applied science and technology program(AS&T). Though I have a strong potential advisor in Harvard whose research interests match mine very well, I am worried that the student community in Harvard might not appreciate engineers and applied scientists enough. I am an international student who attended MIT for masters, and I really enjoyed the MIT style(unfortunately I didn't check out Harvard SEAS then). Some seniors in Harvard told me that Harvard students are more driven towards Wall Street(/fortune), and I don't think i will like this kind of environment. I spent 4 years of my undergrad juggling among research opportunities and extracurricular activities, which might have given an "impressive" resume, but i didn't really enjoy much of the undergrad life. Now going for graduate studies, I just want to concentrate on what i'm passionate about and surround myself with friends of similar passion, just like when i was in MIT(unfortunately, I got rejected by MIT).

Does anyone here know anything about the academic environment in Harvard SEAS and UCB Engineering? Which one is more similar to MIT in terms of the "craziness", the down-to-earth attitude and the "nerdiness" of the student community? I will really appreciate any information!

[sravanskarri]

[

Does anyone here know anything about the academic environment in Harvard SEAS and UCB Engineering? Which one is more similar to MIT in terms of the "craziness", the down-to-earth attitude and the "nerdiness" of the student community? I will really appreciate any information![/quote]

UCB Engg is good, I am not sure if it really matches MIT( nerdiness,craziness etc). In fact Caltech is more similar to MIT in that aspect.