- #1
Jack21222
- 212
- 1
I'm currently wrapping up my two year degree at community college and am looking to transfer to a 4 year university in a year. I'm looking to major in astronomy/astrophysics, but I'm not sure what the difference is between those two terms. To me, they almost seem interchangeable. Some universities have an astronomy program. Some universities have an astrophysics program.
Are there any general differences I should take into consideration? Or are those two terms for roughly the same line of study? Would a graduate program in, say, astronomy have any preference between astronomy or astrophysics for the undergraduate program?
One thing I have noticed: When I tell somebody I'm studying astronomy, I might as well have said "astrology." However, if I use the word "astrophysics," their jaws drop.
Lastly, and this is only a semi-related question... How important is the "prestige" of the undergrad school in getting accepted into a graduate program? The specific example I'm thinking of is University of Maryland's Astronomy program vs Towson University (a much smaller school) and their Astrophysics track in their physics department.
Towson would be much cheaper, but nobody's ever heard of Towson. Would that impact how grad schools would look at me?
Thanks for taking the time to read all of this.
Are there any general differences I should take into consideration? Or are those two terms for roughly the same line of study? Would a graduate program in, say, astronomy have any preference between astronomy or astrophysics for the undergraduate program?
One thing I have noticed: When I tell somebody I'm studying astronomy, I might as well have said "astrology." However, if I use the word "astrophysics," their jaws drop.
Lastly, and this is only a semi-related question... How important is the "prestige" of the undergrad school in getting accepted into a graduate program? The specific example I'm thinking of is University of Maryland's Astronomy program vs Towson University (a much smaller school) and their Astrophysics track in their physics department.
Towson would be much cheaper, but nobody's ever heard of Towson. Would that impact how grad schools would look at me?
Thanks for taking the time to read all of this.