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Deciding between Univ of Maryland, Ohio State, and Univ of Rochester

Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2017 9:59 pm
by uwlaxphysics
I finished my last graduate school visit and it still hasn't made my decision any easier. I was wondering if anyone has had experience at Rochester, Ohio State, and UMD and could give advice?

A little about me:
-Interested in plasma physics, high-energy-density physics, and laser-matter interaction
-While I'm leaning to those above topics I'm open to other areas of research and so I'm drawn to bigger schools that give me many research options to sample
-Worked at Lawrence Livermore National Lab and studied high-energy-density physics
-My end game: To work at a National Lab. Therefore connections from research groups to national labs are a big deal.

Other things to consider:
-Ohio State offered a first-year fellowship
-Rochester is the "lowest" rank, but offers access to LLE and is the only university that studies high-energy-density physics

Re: Deciding between Univ of Maryland, Ohio State, and Univ of Rochester

Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2017 2:32 pm
by cosmosis
Rochester undergrad here. One of my grad friends works for a plasma professor and she did an internship at Sandia and will go there to do her thesis. I would recommend maybe getting in touch with the specific professors you are interested in and ask them what type of national lab opportunities are available.

Re: Deciding between Univ of Maryland, Ohio State, and Univ of Rochester

Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2017 12:47 pm
by harrisa
All I can speak for is University of Maryland because I attended their open house. I know that they are connect to NASA Goddard which provides a connection for you to work there during grad school and possibly after.

Re: Deciding between Univ of Maryland, Ohio State, and Univ of Rochester

Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 7:26 am
by matscientist
U of Maryland has a strong plasma physics group, Professor Thomas Antonsen and others.
https://www.ece.umd.edu/faculty/antonsen
Maryland also has a very top math and CS program, lots of biophysics, and quantum physics too.
Being close to Washington DC is a big plus for funding and U of Maryland's rank is very strong in physics.

Ohio State is also strong in math and physics.

Rochester, is way weaker for PhD programs but good for undergraduate programs in physics and optics.

Re: Deciding between Univ of Maryland, Ohio State, and Univ of Rochester

Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 7:36 am
by matscientist
U of Maryland does research in high energy density plasma physics and related areas.

http://ireap.umd.edu/UFOS/ Professor Kim

http://ireap.umd.edu/faculty/kim-ki

Other related areas:
http://ireap.umd.edu/research

U of Maryland will get you to your goal of working in a national laboratory. Other two choices may also, but department rank really matters a lot
in landing physics postdocs and permanent positions at national labs.