Physics GRE Discussion Forums

Did anyone have any particularly bad dealings with Columbia applied physics?
I visited there and got the impression that they don't care about the students
at all and were pretty arrogant. Did anyone else get the same impression?
Does anyone have a different impression? They say you can visit at anytime,
but without being accepted yet, its like they didn't want to deal with me.

Yes! Not only did they seem snotty on the phone, but I did visit a bit ago, and even though I am from a pretty decent undergrad program, I pretty much got the cold shoulder. If a program treats you that way before you've even applied, how are they going to treat you when you're a student???

I totally agree with that. I mean top 10 is good, but its not like they are no. 1 or 2 to
be acting like that. I don't think I would want to be treated like a dog for 4 or 5+ years.
It's not like they have a ton of nobel laureates there either to be so arrogant. Plus,
I thought I saw in gradschoolshopper that half of the first year students are unsupported.
That's incredible. I agree, who would go there.

Not a reflection on the applied physics dept., but when Obama was elected and even
now, there is something about him on the Harvard Law School main page, but not
Columbia. They are so arrogant, they couldn't even spotlight him on the main page
as a successful alum. Geez!

stardust wrote:Not a reflection on the applied physics dept., but when Obama was elected and even
now, there is something about him on the Harvard Law School main page, but not
Columbia. They are so arrogant, they couldn't even spotlight him on the main page
as a successful alum. Geez!

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/08/11/obama.html

It was on the front page for a week. Also front page in the student paper.

I'm at Columbia and know many of the faculty in the Applied Physics department, some of them are very nice. Though there is one or two faculty I don't care for. A friend joined the program as well, as far as I know he was supported the entire first year with a TA ship.

All I saw the next day was front page pics. Harvard had one and Columbia didn't.
Maybe you had to click on a news item for Columbia. Even U of Idaho had a front
page pic of Sarah Palin during the election. Columbia has trees. But, glad to see
the news items were there.

Right out of gradschoolshopper.com
For fall admission, 2007–08, 33 students
matriculated out of 330 applicants, 15 given financial support.


That means 18 students paid $60K a year? Wow!

stardust wrote:That means 18 students paid $60K a year? Wow!

Pretty crazy, eh? I would assume all of those are masters students, however. I hope so, anyway. $60k x 5 =

For those of you at Columbia (or people who know the following question)... Can you please specify the main differences between applied physics and physics there? I guess I'm still deciding which program I should apply to, because Columbia only allows you to apply to one program. According to gradschoolshopper data, more overall people were accepted to the physics department, so I'm not sure if it's even harder to get into the applied physics there or what....

thanks

Maxwell's Demon

Maxwells_Demon wrote:For those of you at Columbia (or people who know the following question)... Can you please specify the main differences between applied physics and physics there? I guess I'm still deciding which program I should apply to, because Columbia only allows you to apply to one program. According to gradschoolshopper data, more overall people were accepted to the physics department, so I'm not sure if it's even harder to get into the applied physics there or what....

thanks

Maxwell's Demon

I think AP is basically just plasma, atmospheric, and solid state, so if you're interested in anything else apply to the physics department (which, despite being bigger, is more selective I believe).

bump from a year ago.

If there are any people who attend or have visited Columbia's Applied Physics program, could you tell me how much breadth and flexibility they offer graduate students?

My interests are shifting towards computational biophysics, and Columbia APAM has no mention of any biophysics related activity in their department. Is it possible to work with professors from Biochemistry or Physics?

I applied there and received nothing yet...

Maxwell's Demon