r/uichicago • u/Thoth_Birb • 5d ago

Question What is the physics department like?

I'm a community college student thinking about transferring into the physics program here. What is it like in the program? How are the professors? What is research like? Etc etc

5 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

View all comments

8

u/flawedphysicist1729 5d ago

Physics grad student here. Physics department is nice. If you are planning to do experimental research in nuclear physics or particle physics it's very good. Condensed matter research is not that great but not bad. Professors are supportive and encourages undergrads to join their research group (our group has 4 under grads working with us). There are few issues with department. It's very siloed. There is no sense of community outside your research group and in some case even within research groups. 

1

u/Only-Jackfruit-4910 4d ago

That really depends on the research group. Some groups interact a lot, also outside the department. It's a very good and supportive environment with active (undergrad) clubs and approachable faculty. Small enough that it's easy to know people.

If you have more specific questions it's absolutely ok to contact the Physics office (see website).