Applied Physics/Kettering University Questions

[NextElement]

Hey guys, I was just accepted to Kettering University in Michigan for Applied Physics! I really like the school because of its co-op experience, you spend one quarter of the year taking classes, the next in a co-op with a company, and the rotation continues. However, I was wondering how good this is for grad schools, which I'm assuming I will need to attend to have a chance of employment in Applied Physics. Can you all do me a favor and check out the program website to see if it is up to par in terms of preparing for grad school?

http://www.kettering.edu/academics/departments/physics/undergraduate-degreesprograms/bachelor-science-applied-physics

Also, has anyone heard of Kettering before? Everyone I've talked to seems to have never heard of it, but it looks pretty legit. Thanks!

 

[Physics_UG]

Hey guys, I was just accepted to Kettering University in Michigan for Applied Physics! I really like the school because of its co-op experience, you spend one quarter of the year taking classes, the next in a co-op with a company, and the rotation continues. However, I was wondering how good this is for grad schools, which I'm assuming I will need to attend to have a chance of employment in Applied Physics. Can you all do me a favor and check out the program website to see if it is up to par in terms of preparing for grad school?

http://www.kettering.edu/academics/departments/physics/undergraduate-degreesprograms/bachelor-science-applied-physics

Also, has anyone heard of Kettering before? Everyone I've talked to seems to have never heard of it, but it looks pretty legit. Thanks!

Kettering is an excellent school for preparing yourself for an engineering career in industry because of its mandatory co-op program. However, grad schools prefer to see research experience from perhaps an REU somewhere as opposed to industry experience. Maybe you can do an REU instead of an industry co-op for a couple semesters to get some research experience. One of the students in my EE PhD program did his BS at kettering in EE. He has graduated from the PhD program and now he is a professor at a well-regarded research university.

 

[Physics_UG]

Oh, also keep in mind that kettering is not in the best location. It is in Flint, which is a pretty crappy place to live, imo.

Another problem with Kettering is it just doesn't have the name recognition outside of Michigan (where it is highly regarded), despite being an excellent school. It just doesn't have the recognition of a place like U of Michigan - Ann Arbor, for instance.

Kettering is pretty competitive to get into. If you could get into Kettering you could probably get accepted to somewhere like UM-AA as well. You can still do co-ops every other semester at UM but it might take longer to graduate (like 5 yrs instead of 4)

I am sure you will be fine with a kettering degree though. It is a really good school.

 

[NextElement]

I've also gotten accepted into IU-Bloomington's Applied Physics program. Would this be a better option? I was attracted to Kettering because of the co-ops, but I'm in-state for IU and it would be a lot cheaper I assume. I am interested in materials science/engineering ultimately.

 

[Physics_UG]

I've also gotten accepted into IU-Bloomington's Applied Physics program. Would this be a better option? I was attracted to Kettering because of the co-ops, but I'm in-state for IU and it would be a lot cheaper I assume. I am interested in materials science/engineering ultimately.

IU-Bloomington is quite good as well and you can still do internships there. I am not sure what kind of industry there is in Bloomington though.