UHM 3 Institute for Astronomy University of Hawaii Ifa Hawaii Form

As a former employee of the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy I agree with Jay Byrne that it is a great place — but it’s at the graduate level, while the University of Hawaii at Hilo astronomy program that you’ve asked about is at the undergraduate level. So, first things first!I never attended UH-Hilo, but I worked at observatories on Maunakea for almost a dozen years, which meant working with some of the astronomers who taught undergrad classes, such as Marianne Takamiya. I’ve also known many of the students over the years, and have worked with some of them as well. The alumni page appears to only list people back to those who graduated in 2007, but I knew some earlier ones.What really sets UHH apart from other undergrad astronomy programs is its proximity to the Maunakea observatories. Multiple observatories have their offices right at the top of campus, along with ‘Imiloa, the astronomy and Hawaiian culture center. So if working at observatories sounds like a good experience or résume builder to you (and it certainly has been for me and a lot of people I know), it’s a really great option. There are a lot of opportunities to become involved in research as an undergrad. HmmmTwenty years ago, it was small enough that it didn’t have much of a reputation, but over the years since its graduates have wound up good places. There’s a 2003 graduate at the Space Telescope Science Institute (you know, the folks who run Hubble), and a couple others from around then worked at Japan’s 8.3-meter Subaru Telescope. A 2006 graduate is now a PhD studying dark energy; another worked with the Chandra X-ray space telescope at Harvard, did a PhD in England, has written some books in scientific computing, worked for Netflix, and is now in charge of “Siri Platform Science & Insights” at Apple. More recent grads are operators at various observatories on Maunakea and elsewhere; the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona recently hired one who had worked at a couple observatories on the island.An astronomy degree doesn’t always guarantee that you’ll spend your whole career working in astronomy, as that Apple example illustrates. Another alumna I know was hired by Epic, the electronic medical record company.Somewhere along the way (probably around 2007), grad schools started taking UHH more seriously. David Trang did his PhD at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology in Manoa; local girl Heather Kaluna was the first I know of to come out of UHH and do hers at the Institute for Astronomy.There’s now an undergrad program at Manoa as well, but it’s only a few years old so I don’t know what kind of reputation it has just yet. It sounds like you’re in-state (good for tuition) but maybe from a different island (so you’d need housing)? The cost of housing should be a bit lower in Hilo than Honolulu, if that helps any.