MIT Applied Physics vs Princeton Physics Ph.D.

[scarman]

Hello everyone.

I have been accepted to two really great physics schools for my Ph.D. - MIT and Princeton. However, the admission to MIT is through the EECS department’s applied physics route while Princeton is just traditional physics (I also applied to MIT’s physics program but have not heard back from them. Considering all the acceptances that were sent out on Friday, I will assume that I have been rejected).

My area of focus at the current moment is experimental condensed matter (CME) and quantum computing (QC). In this respect, MIT is stronger, but I am anxious about how the decision might affect a career path in academia.

Ultimately, I want to be a professor of physics somewhere. I do NOT want to be a professor of engineering (I don’t have anything against engineers, I just would prefer to teach pure physics topics over engineering topics). Consequently, I don’t want an applied physics degree if it is going to significantly hurt my chances of getting a great physics postdoc or teaching position in the future, even if the degree is from MIT.

I should also mention that I’m not entirely set on CME/QC - I very much enjoy these topics and most of my experience is in these areas, but I also have interests elsewhere. In particular, atomic physics (AMO, both experimental and theoretical) as well as condensed matter theory (CMT) seem fascinating to me. It does not seem likely that, if I were to do applied physics at MIT, I would be able to study theory. I’m sure I could squeeze in experimental AMO though. On the other hand, Princeton excels in theory altogether. 

As a disclaimer, I do not yet know of all of the academic restrictions at MIT’s applied physics route. That is, I don’t know whether or not I would be allowed to take pure physics courses (e.g., E&M, quantum, QFT if I go into CMT, etc) as an EECS student. This probably doesn’t matter too much if I go into experiment, but I better have access to these classes if I decide to go into theory (assuming I can even work with theorists as an EECS student).

Lastly, I don’t know anything about how happy Princeton’s graduate students are versus MIT’s graduate students are, but this is obviously a big factor into where I go (how will I be able to do great research if I’m miserable?)

 

Thank you you in advance for helping me come to a decision!

[h-bar]

Lots of research group websites have listings of where their alumni go. Checking those out should give you a good idea of career prospects if you choose either program. It's also a question you can ask PIs in person if you plan to visit.

Thinking harder about the research available at each institution might also help guide your decision. I can't speak on CME/CMT, but AMO is basically non-existent at Princeton (based on website, they only have two non-emeritus faculty + four postdocs). If you're seriously interested in keeping the AMO door open, then Princeton might not be the best.

Also, are these two schools the only options available to you? There are some programs of comparable caliber that are more likely to give you both the career prospects and the research flexibility that you want.

Best of luck!

 

Edited February 12, 2018 by h-bar

[TheMostPowerfulApplicant]

MIT Course 6 hands down

[lessconfused]

Can I ask, what decision did you end up making? I don't know if MIT EECS actually has Applied Physics anymore. The closest I see on the application is Materials and Devices. I'm also looking at Yale's Physics versus Applied Physics, so very curious about how to decide which to apply to.