#Reed vs. UChicago for Particle & Nuclear Physics

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

fluid holly
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Schools:
Reed college (Portland OR) vs. UChicago (Chicago IL)

Intended major:
Reed: Physics
UChicago: Physics or Molecular Engineering - Quantum

Similarities: Similar academic rigor, more (per capita) of Reed gets phd, both schools have wonderful programs with physics - Reed has the only undergraduate-run nuclear reactor in the world. UChicago is partnered with Fermilab and they have a huge variety of particle accelerators (linear & synchotron) plus DUNE plus more.

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Reed
Pros:

  • No adjunct faculty
  • Better student vibes
  • Nearly garunteed access to Nuclear Reactor, RO/SRO as an undergrad, NRC licensing
  • Smaller school so more support from faculty and advisors
  • Public transport

Cons:

  • Rain (PNW weather)
  • VERY far from home (Tennessee)
  • Smaller city
  • Expensive (low aid)

UChicago
Pros:

  • Fermilab!
  • Large city + school in city
  • Public transport
  • Larger school so more courses and rigor possible
  • Prestigious?

Cons:

  • Expensive (low aid? not sure yet)
  • Statistically very depressed students
  • Maintain high grades for final HS semester
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Tiebreaking considerations:

  • Campus! I've had the opportunity to visit Reed but not yet UChicago. Specifically, what's the vibe of the incoming students?

Addendum:
I didn't apply to a single college in the south, I'm looking for a big city, and my favorites are NYC, Boston, Chicago, LA, Berkeley, and Portland. How does it feel to be in Chicago? Is it closer to the vibe of NYC or of another city? How's the weather (I know, the Windy City, but compared to PNW?)

I am incredibly excited about both schools and if anyone has any further questions or comments, it'd be greatly appreciated!

sudden jacinth
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hi! so i'm from the chicagoland area, i am decidedly Not doing stem so i can't really help you there but what i CAN help with is weather. it does get really cold in the winter (and very windy bc of lake effect), it can be solid 20-40 degrees F all throughout december to february, in january it can dip down to -20s with the windchill. chicago gets really cold. we haven't gotten that much snow the last couple years though. it's been a pretty cold spring so far too, we've been averaging highs of 40s-50s, and it looks like it'll be the same until may. fall is really nice tho, comfortable 50s-60s throughout mid october to mid november, then it gets cold fast. in the summer it gets hot, but it doesn't feel as warm thanks to the wind

compared to PNW? i've personally only been to seattle in the spring pre-covid, so all i can say is that it definitely rains a lot less in chicago & its a lot less foggy. overall if you're good with the cold, i'd say uchicago, but then again that's my chitown bias coming out LOL

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oh! vibes! i visited uchi campus in the summer and from what i know of the people there (i have a friend who's there rn), it's a very academically rigorous environment. seems to be a work hard play hard vibe to me ngl. uchi does run on a quarter system i believe so you're working a lot, and there's also a bit of grade deflation apparently if that matters to you for grad school? it's a massive academic powerhouse tho so its great for research (which reed is too by the sounds of it). you'll meet a lot of great people tho who are all looking to learn

fluid holly
sudden jacinth
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also personally im a sucker for a pretty campus and uchicago has some really gorgeous buildings

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if you're looking for a big city tho, chicago's just amazing all around. lots of entertainment & good food, kinda like nyc except less of the weed smell

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aid for uchi is ... well. debatable. some people get great aid and some people get terrible aid — flat COA is 88k i believe

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oh and, going by what you said about not applying to a single school in the south — you probably already know this, but chicago is very blue politically

fluid holly
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I grew up in Berkeley then moved to a blue city in a red state

sudden jacinth
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honestly i think you'll be amazing no matter where you go, but if you're looking for that campus + big city lifestyle, uchicago is the one

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reed having a undergrad run nuclear reactor sounds insanely cool tho

glass cipher
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kinda interesting cuz both of these schools have very academic grinding culture

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with reed radiating more of an LAC vibe

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while uchi giving more big uni vibes

flint sparrow
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uchi physics is insane from what ik

spark pelican
bronze burrow
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Hi! Congrats on having some great choices! I'm a senior studying physics at Harvard, so that's the perspective I'm coming at this from. I just applied to PhD programs this year. I do primarily astrophysics theory research but I have worked in particle theory before too.

Better student vibes
elaborate on this?

Expensive (low aid? not sure yet)
you should try to resolve this ASAP, could be the most important factor of the decision making process.

Larger school so more courses and rigor possible
I think most high schoolers underrate this, especially if you're thinking of grad school. though not necessary, it's nice to have some graduate coursework under your belt going into phd admission and that's usually very hard at a LAC. even otherwise, having more electives is nice for figuring out what kind of physics you want to do in the future.

it sounds like you are considering at least to some extent graduate school? if so, while it's cool that Reed has a student-run reactor, Chicago's particle resources are orders of magnitude more useful both for doing undergraduate research and connecting to folks in the field. At Reed, the best you'll be able to do is REUs over the summers. Those are fine and do work but it's not as flexible.

fluid holly
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Also I believe that more phds come from Reed than do UChicago (per capita)

bronze burrow