Best Engineering School Physics Departments In Country?

Q: I am a rising senior in the U.S. who is looking at engineering colleges. I wish to get a degree in either applied physics/physics or a field in engineering, and a strong minor in econ or finance. My question is, out of the top engineering schools, which schools have the best physics programs? I realize universities like Caltech and MIT have top-notch physics departments, but what about schools like Georgia Tech, U-Illinois at Champ-Urbana, Carnigie Mellon, Harvey Mudd, Cornell, etc? Info about particular departments in a school is difficult to get- and the only school I could check out personally was G.A. Tech. Any comments, suggestions, or direction about these or other similar schools would be appreciated.

A: -Of the schools you mention, Cornell has a particularly good physics department. UICU is very strong in solid-state (condensed matter) physics -Where are you from? If you're in the right state you can get a top notch technical education at a fraction of the cost of the big name private schools. Michigan, Maryland, Berkeley, UIUC, and SUNY come to mind. (All these have

good physics but I only know about the engineering programs at Mich. and Maryland, which are both quite good.) I can never remember if Georgia Tech or Virginia Tech are public schools or not. If they are then in-state tuition should be a good deal. Also note that in most cases (CA being the exception) you can establish residency after a year and pay in-state tuition for the later years. At any rate, go visit schools. I assume since you say you've been to GA Tech that you live in the South. At least make a trip to VA Tech and Maryland. If you can manage, try to make it further up the east coast. Oh, just realized I left Texas off the above list of schools