AlexthePhysicsMaster

Hello, I can only talk about high energy -- don't know anything about condensed matter. UMass - Amherst is the top of this list any way you slice it. They have 10 high energy experiment professors, and work on several of the big experiments, including ATLAS. I don't know direct figures on funding, but these are all public schools, so rankings are correlated to funding. As for climate, it depends what you like -- Boston is not terribly snowy or cold (no more than, say, Pittsburgh), though such areas are close at hand. I don't know what "international availability" is. I would say CSU, Houston, and Kansas are all pretty much the same on the "second tier" CSU is ranked better overall, but I'm not convinced that there's a real difference. All three have tiny HEP departments -- I would say look up the individual professors and perhaps e-mail them. At this level, the departments are so small that if you happen to piss off the one or two HEP professors there are, you may have to transfer out. It's therefore a good idea to make sure there's someone that you'd like to work for, before signing up. As for climate, I've been to Kansas and Houston -- Houston seems like a nice place to me, though it's commonly thought to be the worst city in Texas. Traffic can be a problem and the it's very humid (even in March, when I was there). On the other hand, the cost of living is quite low. I've also been to Kansas, it's obviously hot and humid also, but less than Houston, I would say - it's also not in an urban environment like Houston is. I imagine colorado is similar to Kansas, never been there. Mississippi and Wayne State are "unranked" universities -- I don't know if they even do High energy physics (and neither will anyone else who's interviewing you for a job). That doesn't mean you shouldn't go there -- but I can't imagine picking one of those schools over Amherst! In short, Amherst is far and away the best option on this list! For HEP, it's an obvious choice -- the only reason I would choose one of the other schools is if there's a very specific sub-sub-area of research you are interested in, and one of these schools happens to specialize in it. Just my two cents!

I would say UMich, Cornell, and Columbia are the top tier for HEP-ex. Cornell is the most reputable overall, though UMich is known for particle physics. I would say: Cornell, UMich, Columbia > JHU, Rochester, Rutgers > Boston. Cornell definitely has the best name, but I don't know how it's particle physics is; while UMich's name is slightly less impressive, but it's well-known for particle physics. Columbia is somewhere in between. In short, I would reject everywhere but the first three, and then go from there based on visits. Best of luck!

Well, there are really two issues here. First, your application has to be selected by the physics department. After that, it has to be approved by the graduate school. For the first step, they will be seriously concerned about your score. I *strongly* suggest sending a letter explaining that you were sick, and referencing your (hopefully) strong scores on other math tests, math grades, etc. I would also tell them that you're planning to retake it. After you retake it and get your score, I would again e-mail them and give them an unofficial score at that time. The second step is really where I'm worried -- the graduate school may reject you out of hand if your scores are too low. Obviously, this is why you need to retake it. Even if the physics department is reviewing applications in the next week or two, the graduate school may not look at them for another few weeks or months. This is also why you need to tell the department that you are retaking it -- they may be perfectly willing to accept you, but decide not to because they think the graduate school will veto their decision. Finally, i would suggest studying for the math test -- I understand that you were sick, but it's very unusual to score THAT low! So in short, YES, you must retake it, but also stay in contact with the departments. Good luck!