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Emily
Student
Naperville, Illinois
3
Questions
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Is it easier to get into more prestigious universities if I applied as an astrophysics major rather than a physics major?
I'm a highschool student trying to decide what type of major to apply to.
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3 answers
Andrew Au
Professor of Mathematics & Statistics, Retired
149
Answers
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Andrew’s Answer
There is no astrophysics program in undergraduate school. Astrophysics is a subdiscipline of physics in graduate school. Therefore, you can only declare physics as your major as an undergraduate.
There are different criteria for admission in “prestigious” universities. However, there is a general attempt to soar up enrollment in STEM area for women and minorities. Therefore, a major in physics or engineering may constitute an advantage for admission.
Nonetheless, maintain a high GPA and complete AP Math and AP Physics courses would be very helpful in your college quest.
There are different criteria for admission in “prestigious” universities. However, there is a general attempt to soar up enrollment in STEM area for women and minorities. Therefore, a major in physics or engineering may constitute an advantage for admission.
Nonetheless, maintain a high GPA and complete AP Math and AP Physics courses would be very helpful in your college quest.
I'm not totally familiar with the US education system, but I don't think that's quite accurate. It may be true at some institutions, but I'm fairly sure there are US undergrad programs that offer an astrophysics major.
It's also certainly not the case internationally. Here in the UK, it's a bit different as we don't really have a major/minor system - you apply to a particular program when you apply to university; but astrophysics is certainly an undergrad option.
Joseph Neilson
Personally, I did a BSc program in Physics with Astrophysics (which I suppose is a bit like Physics major with Astro minor, but it doesn't really work like that); and when I was applying, some of my other options did include straight astrophysics (or "astronomy"/"cosmology") degrees which would have been equivalent to a straight astrophysics major.
Of course, the content of these programs is largely a set of core requirements similar to a physics major, plus a set of astro-specific additional modules, but they are awarded as degrees in astrophysics rather than just physics.
Joseph Neilson
Martha Kramer
Corporate Training, Communications
227
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Stamford, Connecticut
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Martha’s Answer
Hi, Emily, what is the thinking behind your question - that they want to maintain smaller majors so they would be more likely to admit you? This is risky. With all else being equal (grades, scores, activities, essay, interview, etc), a student declaring a smaller major might get in, but the next year not get in. There are so many factors in the admissions process, which is largely undisclosed, that I would not use this to decide your major.
This is especially true if you don't have a track record of courses and activities to back up the astrophysics major. That could signal an attempt to game the system, which would be a negative with admissions officers.
So how should you decide?
- First, check if the school even has an astrophysics major. Some do; some have astronomy instead; some have a concentration within physics, etc.
- Check the requirements and the course choices for both majors and see which appeals to you more
- If you are interested in research, see which provides more and/or better opportunities for research
- If you truly don't know if you want astrophysics for a career, go with physics. You would study a lot of physics in either case and the general major would give you more options
The link below provides more criteria for deciding between the two majors. Also realize that colleges consider your declared major in admissions as a best guess. For most majors, you don't actually declare until later in sophomore year.
Good luck!
College Vine - https://www.collegevine.com/faq/21997/physics-vs-astrophysics-which-major-should-i-choose
This is especially true if you don't have a track record of courses and activities to back up the astrophysics major. That could signal an attempt to game the system, which would be a negative with admissions officers.
So how should you decide?
- First, check if the school even has an astrophysics major. Some do; some have astronomy instead; some have a concentration within physics, etc.
- Check the requirements and the course choices for both majors and see which appeals to you more
- If you are interested in research, see which provides more and/or better opportunities for research
- If you truly don't know if you want astrophysics for a career, go with physics. You would study a lot of physics in either case and the general major would give you more options
The link below provides more criteria for deciding between the two majors. Also realize that colleges consider your declared major in admissions as a best guess. For most majors, you don't actually declare until later in sophomore year.
Good luck!
Martha recommends the following next steps:
Joseph Neilson
Radiation Detection Physicist
195
Answers
England, England
Updated
Joseph’s Answer
From my recollections of applying for degree courses on the UK side of "the pond", I don't think there was much difference in the advertised grade requirements. I chose a BSc "Physics with Astrophysics" program because I was more interested in the astro side of things, not because of any difference in how easy it was to get in.
If anything, I'd have thought that narrowing your field down narrows down your options to avoid modules you find challenging - and maybe some admissions processes might make a narrower and more challenging field like astrophysics be slightly more difficult to get into to make an allowance for that. I know I personally started to find some of the final year astro modules a little too abstract to get an intuitive understanding of, but I don't know whether admissions decisions take that sort of thing into account.
What I did notice was that in a year when the astrophysics option was undersubscribed, they did make more exceptions for students that didn't quite make the advertised grades, making it slightly easier to get into - but that depends on what courses everyone else in the year applied for, and can't be relied on to always make a difference.
If anything, I'd have thought that narrowing your field down narrows down your options to avoid modules you find challenging - and maybe some admissions processes might make a narrower and more challenging field like astrophysics be slightly more difficult to get into to make an allowance for that. I know I personally started to find some of the final year astro modules a little too abstract to get an intuitive understanding of, but I don't know whether admissions decisions take that sort of thing into account.
What I did notice was that in a year when the astrophysics option was undersubscribed, they did make more exceptions for students that didn't quite make the advertised grades, making it slightly easier to get into - but that depends on what courses everyone else in the year applied for, and can't be relied on to always make a difference.