Physics vs Applied Physics

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  • There are applications, personal statements, letters of recommendation, visiting schools, anxiety of waiting for acceptances, deciding between schools, finding out where others are going, etc.

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bronco199
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2008 10:44 am

Physics vs Applied Physics

Post by bronco199 » Thu Jul 03, 2008 9:57 am

So, for most top schools, their admissions websites say you can only apply to one dept. Which means you have to pick, before applying, physics or applied physics. For those of you who have already applied, what went into the decision making process? Why choose physics over applied physics, or vice versa? (especially for schools like Harvard , Stanford, CalTech...which have good dept.s in both pure and applied physics)

VT
Posts: 314
Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2007 12:30 pm

Re: Physics vs Applied Physics

Post by VT » Fri Jul 04, 2008 5:42 pm

I do not understand why Harvard's engineering or applied physics program is so higly rated. If they were any good, would not they be on a top 10 list of the US news ranking( the engineering program) given that they already have a name factor associated with them.
I am not discouraging anybody from applying to Harvard. In fact, I am applying there too and you already know why.

excel
Posts: 257
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 2:33 am

Re: Physics vs Applied Physics

Post by excel » Fri Jul 04, 2008 11:24 pm

Speaking of Harvard, it has a relatively small engineering & applied physics school, but I believe what little it does have is of high quality. So, I think applied physics at Harvard would be a good option only if one is particularly interested in the research of particular applied physics faculty members.

blueeverest
Posts: 38
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:09 pm

Re: Physics vs Applied Physics

Post by blueeverest » Sun Jul 06, 2008 6:48 pm

[deleted]
Last edited by blueeverest on Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

FortranMan
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2008 12:42 am

Re: Physics vs Applied Physics

Post by FortranMan » Fri Aug 29, 2008 3:05 am

funny, I thought Applied would be more popular because of the higher probability of getting a job, at least in industry.

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noojens
Posts: 187
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:59 pm

Re: Physics vs Applied Physics

Post by noojens » Wed Sep 03, 2008 2:06 pm

Some applied physics programs don't require the physics GRE :P

sirius
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2008 2:01 am

Re: Physics vs Applied Physics

Post by sirius » Mon Nov 10, 2008 3:29 am

There are a lot of applied physics projects that are theoretical. I would take a look at the course lists for both departments and also research. For instance, I am interested in atomic physics, and basically am choosing which department of the two includes this in their department's research.



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