Undergraduate Physics/Astronomy/Cosmology in Boston Area

[Carraway9]

School sites seem like they don't paint the full picture of a program, so I'd love some inside advice:

I am a transfer undergraduate and was wondering about:

Boston University (accepted)
Boston College (pending)
Brandeis (" ")
Northeastern (" ")
Tufts(" ")

My interests are in astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, and getting into research as soon as I can.

Has anyone worked with graduates from these schools--were they prepared?

Thanks for reading n.n

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Have you been able to visit any of these schools in person?

 

[Carraway9]

Have you been able to visit any of these schools in person?

All but Tufts and BC.

 

[JohnPrior3]

Good choice transferring to Boston (Go Sox!). My pick of the litter here is Tufts. I grew up in Medford and the campus is beautiful. I am a senior physics student at UCSD and I have taken physics courses at Tufts during summers. The department has really great professors. Their engineering department is unbelievable, and with it comes a great physics department. I also support BU because they do a lot of research with MIT and Harvard. I would completely throw away a consideration of Northeastern with your BU acceptance. Their co-op program is great, but it isn't the most beneficial for physicists. You'd rather be in a lab with a professor than interning for a year doing who knows what.

 

[Carraway9]

Thanks for the great advice JohnPrior3 . I was really torn about Northeastern but this really helps.

 

[JohnPrior3]

Thanks for the great advice JohnPrior3 . I was really torn about Northeastern but this really helps.

Obviously don't just take my word for it. I have a friend that got a computer science degree from Northeastern and the co-op was a great chance for him to make a decent pay while building his resume. What are you planning on doing with your Bachelors in Physics? Also, being a transfer student may change the co-op requirement, but I find it unlikely you will find a transfer physics major Northeastern grad on this forum or maybe even the internet. I'd contact Northeastern (upon your acceptance.. I like being optimistic) and figure out what a physics degree from their school would entail. You are eventually going to have to consider which colleges accept previous credits and what is the most cost efficient path. When it all boils down, I truly believe any of those colleges would give you great opportunities. I had a friend who transferred to Tufts after his Sophomore year and there were quite a few issues with accepted credits. I applied to transfer and was accepted to Emory after my freshman year (I was by credits a second semester sophomore) and there was a huge issue with my total credits coming from a quarter system.