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Safety Schools in Plasma Physics

Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 11:30 am
by HappyQuark
I'm planning on applying to a number of schools based on my interests in non-linear systems and plasma physics. I've done quite a bit of research and have started applying to a number of these schools but I'm realizing that I don't have nearly enough safety schools in the list. I've done some sleuthing and so far have only found faculty at two safety schools which specialize in this area, in fact Dartmouth and the University of Delaware. If anyone can recommend a few more safety schools in plasma physics, I'll give you a kiss, a high five or just a friendly pat on the back.... it's your choice. Here is my current list of non-linear dynamics/plasma schools

The first number represents the schools rank in physics (General) while the number in parenthesis marks the schools rank in plasma physics specifically. I'd like to find a few more programs roughly between 30 and 100

N/A - Cornell Applied
N/A - Columbia Applied
14 (5) - UC San Diego
14 (7) - UMD
19 - Johns Hopkins
19 (4) - UCLA
19 - U Colorado, Boulder
30 - UC Irvine
30 - Northwestern
70 - Dartmouth
77 - University of Delaware

Please include which display of affection/appreciation you prefer so that I can keep track of what I owe to each contributor.

Re: Safety Schools in Plasma Physics

Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 3:24 am
by satyad18
HappyQuark wrote:I'm planning on applying to a number of schools based on my interests in non-linear systems and plasma physics. I've done quite a bit of research and have started applying to a number of these schools but I'm realizing that I don't have nearly enough safety schools in the list. I've done some sleuthing and so far have only found faculty at two safety schools which specialize in this area, in fact Dartmouth and the University of Delaware. If anyone can recommend a few more safety schools in plasma physics, I'll give you a kiss, a high five or just a friendly pat on the back.... it's your choice. Here is my current list of non-linear dynamics/plasma schools

The first number represents the schools rank in physics (General) while the number in parenthesis marks the schools rank in plasma physics specifically. I'd like to find a few more programs roughly between 30 and 100

N/A - Cornell Applied
N/A - Columbia Applied
14 (5) - UC San Diego
14 (7) - UMD
19 - Johns Hopkins
19 (4) - UCLA
19 - U Colorado, Boulder
30 - UC Irvine
30 - Northwestern
70 - Dartmouth
77 - University of Delaware

Please include which display of affection/appreciation you prefer so that I can keep track of what I owe to each contributor.
I'm searching for a couple of safety schools in Gravitational physics having one/two profs working on LQG. How about this: I try to find safety schools for you and you find some safety schools for me! Sounds like a good deal. :wink:
And ya, a high five would just be fine. 8)
By the way, how about University of Iowa?

Re: Safety Schools in Plasma Physics

Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 3:50 am
by satyad18
Try Colorado State University, Drexel University, Emory University as safeties for Non-linear systems.

Re: Safety Schools in Plasma Physics

Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 10:44 am
by HappyQuark
satyad18 wrote:Try Colorado State University, Drexel University, Emory University as safeties for Non-linear systems.
Drexel will make a good addition to my list and I'm not sure how I missed Colorado State. Thanks!

Re: Safety Schools in Plasma Physics

Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 12:49 pm
by satyad18
HappyQuark wrote:
satyad18 wrote:Try Colorado State University, Drexel University, Emory University as safeties for Non-linear systems.
Drexel will make a good addition to my list and I'm not sure how I missed Colorado State. Thanks!
:)

Re: Safety Schools in Plasma Physics

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 7:04 pm
by CarlBrannen
HappyQuark wrote:I'm planning on applying to a number of schools based on my interests in non-linear systems and plasma physics.
When I was a grad student I became interested in non-linear systems and that brought me to the plasma physics "Q-machine" lab at U. Cal., Irvine. I built some lab equipment for Nathan Rynn. I would have thought their plasma department would be ranked.

Re: Safety Schools in Plasma Physics

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 8:39 pm
by HappyQuark
CarlBrannen wrote:
HappyQuark wrote:I'm planning on applying to a number of schools based on my interests in non-linear systems and plasma physics.
When I was a grad student I became interested in non-linear systems and that brought me to the plasma physics "Q-machine" lab at U. Cal., Irvine. I built some lab equipment for Nathan Rynn. I would have thought their plasma department would be ranked.
I was pretty surprised myself. From what I can tell, Irvine has a very strong plasma department and puts a lot more focus on the subject than just about any other school, perhaps with the exception of princeton, UCSD and maybe UCLA.

Re: Safety Schools in Plasma Physics

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 10:43 pm
by grae313
but how big is their endowment and how many Nobel laureates can they list as adjunct or emeritus professors? Silly rabbit, rankings are for ranked schools.

Re: Safety Schools in Plasma Physics

Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 11:38 pm
by Minovsky
This thread is a little old, but I am also looking for "safety" schools in plasma physics. Some of the schools already listed have been helpful in my search.

I've been looking at William & Mary as a possible choice for plasma, does any one have any opinion on this? I'm having difficulty gauging what their plasma program is like since their pages for it aren't well maintained. How competitive is W&M to get into? I don't see many people applying there, so I assume the competition is on the lighter side of things?

Re: Safety Schools in Plasma Physics

Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 11:58 pm
by HappyQuark
Minovsky wrote:This thread is a little old, but I am also looking for "safety" schools in plasma physics. Some of the schools already listed have been helpful in my search.

I've been looking at William & Mary as a possible choice for plasma, does any one have any opinion on this? I'm having difficulty gauging what their plasma program is like since their pages for it aren't well maintained. How competitive is W&M to get into? I don't see many people applying there, so I assume the competition is on the lighter side of things?
Whoanonstop is probably the one to ask on this question, but I will say that when I was researching plasma programs I managed to completely miss W&M and felt like a complete and total ass after I realized it. For me, it was too little to late but if you're interested in Plasma, W&M really ought to be one of your apps.

Re: Safety Schools in Plasma Physics

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 12:42 pm
by WhoaNonstop
Minovsky wrote:This thread is a little old, but I am also looking for "safety" schools in plasma physics. Some of the schools already listed have been helpful in my search.

I've been looking at William & Mary as a possible choice for plasma, does any one have any opinion on this? I'm having difficulty gauging what their plasma program is like since their pages for it aren't well maintained. How competitive is W&M to get into? I don't see many people applying there, so I assume the competition is on the lighter side of things?
There are two people that I know of who do plasma physics at William & Mary. As far as the difficulty of getting into W&M, let me put it this way. I did a lot of research on schools before I applied to them and most of my schools were chosen because I felt they were "underrated". Schools where an average applicant would actually have a chance. Even though my profile turned out to be stronger than I expected, I still ended up applying to these underrated choices. I feel W&M is greatly underrated and quite honestly the competition getting into W&M seems small. I believe that most of the people deciding to apply to W&M probably choose other "prestigious" name universities and end up going to those instead. If you're looking to get into a school that has a good reputation all around, a decent physics program, and less competition, W&M should definitely be on your list. Among Domestic students I'd say the average PGRE scores are somewhere in the 600s or 700s, which is easily capable by most people.

-Riley