Schools Which University for Undergraduate degree in physics

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The discussion centers around selecting universities for an undergraduate physics degree, with a focus on a list of prestigious institutions including MIT, Harvard, and Stanford. The original poster has a strong academic profile, including a 4.0 GPA and high standardized test scores, but lacks research experience. Participants suggest that many other reputable programs exist, such as those at Williams, Swarthmore, and Berkeley, which can also lead to successful graduate school admissions. The importance of a well-rounded application, including extracurricular activities and essays, is emphasized, especially for highly competitive schools. Ultimately, the poster is looking for programs comparable to the University of Michigan without the need for significant travel.
gsingh2011
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I want to obtain a degree in physics. Here is the list of colleges I'm applying to:
University of Michigan
University of Chicago
Cornell
California Institute of Technology
Princeton
Stanford
Harvard
MIT

Are there any other colleges I should consider? Any schools in between Michigan and the Ivy leagues?
 
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That's a pretty ambitious list. You probably already know that unless you have an exceptionally strong application (near-perfect GPA, extracurriculars, essays, recommendations) Chicago, Cornell, CalTech, Princeton, Stanford, Harvard, and MIT are probably out of the question.

There are plenty of good undergraduate physics programs. Williams, Swarthmore, Harvey Mudd, Brandeis, Ithaca, Berkeley, UCLA to name a few.
 
You can do undergraduate physics pretty much anywhere, including liberal arts colleges, and still get into a great graduate program. But without knowing your GPA (unweighted), SAT scores, activities, research experience (did you know half the students who get into CalTech each year have already done research with a college professor while in high school?), and what state you live in (since U Mich is very hard to get into from out of state) it's hard to help you.
 
GPA - 4.0
ACT - 33
SAT Math2/Physics - 800
National Merit Semifinalist

I've taken some college math courses including number theory and graph theory and a few others at Oakland University.

While I haven't done a research project with a professor, my school, which is an IB school requires a 4000 word paper on any topic of choice. My research question investigated the affects of different curvatures of the blades of wind turbines on their output voltage (data was actually collected and analyzed, not just analyzed).

Those are just some major things I can think of on the spot. I have a strong passion in physics that I think I convey well in my essays. I live in Michigan (not to be cocky, but there's no way I'm not getting into U of M...). If there is a program that's only slightly better than U of M's program, then I'm not willing to travel that far. However, if its on par with MIT's program I'm willing to travel.
 
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