hi!
I need help to select between Wayne state university, university of Alabama at Birmingham and Tu

Question

hi!
I need help to select between Wayne state university, university of Alabama at Birmingham and Tulane University for Ph.D. Physics.

Erfan Hosseini · Answer

Consider city, cost of living and other factors too

Erfan Hosseini · Answer

Unfortunately I don't, for New Orleans the negative thing for me is hot and humid weather and overall culture (except Jazz)

Erfan Hosseini · Answer

yw;)

Erfan Hosseini · Answer

Check numbeo.com for costs

Shashi Praharaj · Answer

@new dawn University of Alabama at Birmingham will be better than the other two.

Shashi Praharaj · Answer

As far as I know Tulane is good in Medicine, Law and its Business school. As far as other subjects are concerned it is not as good as other faculties. Wayne state also is not very popular among students. Why I told UAB will be better because of its lower fees, very low cost of living, small departmental size leading to chances of  getting TA/RA etc and moreover the Rocket launching Centre of US (most probably NASA) is in Birmingham giving good job opportunities to its students. I may be wrong also. Please go through their university's websites and take a decision. I may be wrong also. @new dawn

Shashi Praharaj · Answer

@new dawn UA, Birmingham is much better.

New Dawn · Answer

Why? Can your please explain?
Tulane is highly ranked among these then Wayne and after then Alabama.
So why uab is better?

New Dawn · Answer

@Praharaj thank u so much for the insight and guidance. I got TA in all the 3 schools, wayne, uab and tulane.thats why i m so confused which school i should consider.  The faculty members working in uab phy dpt for experimental condensed matter are very few (3,4 only) while in tulane the phy dpt works in colaboration with engineering dpt. So the research facilities will be much better in tulane?
Job opportunities due to rocket launching centre (NASA) will be for the students of space physics or engineers. Isn't?

New Dawn · Answer

@Erfan  do u have idea about cost of living in new orleans?

New Dawn · Answer

Fine, thanks a lot for the guidance.

Sameer Patel · Answer

Alabama (Birmingham) and Tulane are both better than Wayne State. But the major question is what is going to be your sub-interest in physics..??

Sameer Patel · Answer

@Praharaj Actually no. It matters a lot what you want to do in physics. Alabama doesn't have a lot of research going on in theoretical physics. Most of the work done there is experimental condensed matter physics. @new dawn If you're aiming towards a theoretical background, I'd suggest you to pick Tulane. It's not always ranking that matters. What matters the most in research is that your and the department (and ultimately your PoI's) research interests match.

Sameer Patel · Answer

And yes, if your interest is in material science, Tulane is a much better choice for you. They have a lot of professors working in material science and the program is integrated with the engineering dept. I say go for Tulane.

hi! I need help to select between Wayne state university, university of Alabama at Birmingham and Tu