Particle Physics University?

Question

I'm a 10th grade passed student and want to know which university in US can be a better choice for me to steer myself in PARTICLE PHYSICS and ASTRONOMY.

Also please take the trouble to let me know what is the criteria to get in. When does the term start.
(I'm from India and as such is void of the basic of studies in the US)

I've considered a choice of the STANFORD UNIVERSITY, I wanna know the details of the same. Is the choice a good one, or something else runs better.

Answer 1

At this point, I wouldn't worry necessarily about going to the absolute best physics/astronomy schools. Why? Because you have to make it through undergrad first. You could go to any variety of schools for undergrad, and with good enough scores, you can then worry about finding the best programs. The best graduate programs are of course:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford University
California Institiute of Technology

Other decent undergraduate programs include:
Cornell University
University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign

The latter two schools aren't too hard to get in. As for graduate programs at the top three schools... it's harder than hell. You probably won't find too much in the way of criteria for admissions, but you can check the websites anyway.