Which University should I go to for my undergrad in physics?

[CrysPhys]

There are issues with that. In order to come to the US, I would require a visa. I only get a visa when I have an I-20. I-20 is a document I recieve from the university after I accept my offer letter and pay a deposit.

So short answer : no I can not visit US colleges before my final decision. Which is exactly why I am so cautious in choosing what's best for me, both academically and socially.

What about a tourist visa?

 

[Maddy467]

What about a tourist visa?

1. The entire visa process and visiting would be expensive, let alone the flight tickets.
2. It takes 2-4 weeks and Stony Brook's decision has to be accepted by May 1st.

So yeah, I would be relying majorly on online sources ig. Thank you for the suggestion though! However, visiting as an international student is not a good option for me.

 

[Maddy467]

All right guys... News for you all. After some careful thought and several talks with respective students from different colleges, I've enrolled at Rutgers. It's a good school; all of them are, be it Rutgers, Stony Brook, U of Arizona or Arizona State.

Rutgers, at least to me, seemed like a fun place to go. It's got a good faculty. The Honors College community is nice. I talked to the Dean and he was such a nice guy! I heard of him earlier but didn't believe people until I interacted with him myself. It leaves me with less debt than Stony Brook and U of A. It has a good alumni network, good resources, internship programs and a nice location. Overall, I would have good exposure to Academia if I would work hard. Also, there is a good option to go into industry research as well.

Regardless, places like Stony Brook (great academics), U of Arizona (great astro and optics programs), and a good mention - Arizona State University (did not consider it much but it's a well growing University in the field and I also had the most amount of scholarship here.) would have been great as well! All have their strengths and weaknesses. But yeah, I am not to look back at it now. I'm happy with my decision and am working towards my Visa process and stuff. Eager to go to college and learn cool stuff!

Thank you everyone for your help and advice!

 

[WWGD]

All right guys... News for you all. After some careful thought and several talks with respective students from different colleges, I've enrolled at Rutgers. It's a good school; all of them are, be it Rutgers, Stony Brook, U of Arizona or Arizona State.

Rutgers, at least to me, seemed like a fun place to go. It's got a good faculty. The Honors College community is nice. I talked to the Dean and he was such a nice guy! I heard of him earlier but didn't believe people until I interacted with him myself. It leaves me with less debt than Stony Brook and U of A. It has a good alumni network, good resources, internship programs and a nice location. Overall, I would have good exposure to Academia if I would work hard. Also, there is a good option to go into industry research as well.

Regardless, places like Stony Brook (great academics), U of Arizona (great astro and optics programs), and a good mention - Arizona State University (did not consider it much but it's a well growing University in the field and I also had the most amount of scholarship here.) would have been great as well! All have their strengths and weaknesses. But yeah, I am not to look back at it now. I'm happy with my decision and am working towards my Visa process and stuff. Eager to go to college and learn cool stuff!

Thank you everyone for your help and advice!

Your wave function collapsed on a good school.

 

[Maddy467]

Your wave function collapsed on a good school.

Ahahah!
Well, even though it did, The uncertainty of what's gonna happen in the future still has a lower bound. Gonna take my chances though!

 

[CrysPhys]

Thank you everyone for your help and advice!

You're very welcome. It's nice (and too rare) when a student comes back to let us know how things have turned out. Good luck in your future studies at Rutgers. [And it's irrelevant now, but it was Iowa State, not Arizona State, on your list of candidate schools, correct?]

 

[Muu9]

Take 271 and 275 your first semester unless you have calc-based physics credit already

 

[Maddy467]

You're very welcome. It's nice (and too rare) when a student comes back to let us know how things have turned out. Good luck in your future studies at Rutgers. [And it's irrelevant now, but it was Iowa State, not Arizona State, on your list of candidate schools, correct?]

Both of em lol... I applied to Arizona State, University of Arizona, Iowa State, Rutgers, Stony Brook, UBufallo, and got accepted with scholarships to all. Rejected from Purdue, UMaryland and UIUC though. Probably should've applied early. My fault I applied fo the regular decision. Just wasn't educated enough on the process until then. (funny how I later came to know universities like UMaryland have an acceptance rate of 2-3% for RD)

 

[Maddy467]

Take 271 and 275 your first semester unless you have calc-based physics credit already

sure thing... we do have coursework as rigorous as calc 2 here in India though

 

[Muu9]

sure thing... we do have coursework as rigorous as calc 2 here in India though

I meant physics 271 and 275. You can take the full credit proficiency exams for math 131 and math 132: https://www.math.rutgers.edu/academics/undergraduate/proficiency-exam

 

[Maddy467]

I meant physics 271 and 275. You can take the full credit proficiency exams for math 131 and math 132: https://www.math.rutgers.edu/academics/undergraduate/proficiency-exam

I have absolutely no idea about how and when to give the proficiency exams the site contradicts itself. First, it says there were these placement tests for freshmen. But now they aren't valid proficiency exams for full credit. Nevertheless, I can't take the placement test anyway, I am exempted because of my SAT score for some reason lol. Anyways, I'll check it out sometime later. Thank you!

 

[Muu9]

I have absolutely no idea about how and when to give the proficiency exams the site contradicts itself. First, it says there were these placement tests for freshmen. But now they aren't valid proficiency exams for full credit. Nevertheless, I can't take the placement test anyway, I am exempted because of my SAT score for some reason lol. Anyways, I'll check it out sometime later. Thank you!

Ask on the Rutgers subreddit

 

[gwnorth]

Congrats and best of luck on your undergrad journey.