- #1
mege
Hi All,
Just some quick background that may be relevant before my question: I am 29 years old and am back in school after not knowing what I wanted to after high school. Originally, I did well some terms and not so well other terms starting out, and I ended up taking a ~5year break. In my most recent year or so of 'cleanup' at a local CC has resulted in A-grades in Calc III, DiffEq, and a few other General Requirements (with 1 B+ in a Humanities class). I applied to the local Big State university for Physics and just signed up for classes for the Spring term (early admission transfers get to register before seniors). My ultimate educational goal is to obtain a PhD in Physics with a focus in Astronomy (or whatever it may be called at the particular graduate school) to research, teach, or be involved at whatever level I can or is available. I realize with my educational background I will not be in competition for a top program, but with a strong last few years and a good GRE/pGRE I hope I can be a good candidate for a moderate/good program. There seems to be a lot of Undergrad research that is done in other Physics and associated fields here, so I plan to make the most of those opportunities as well. I don't want to overstate my accomplishments to this point, and I know that I have a long road ahead still - but I do have confidence and a plan.
However, there's now a snag.
Originally, in my planning last year with an advisor at the local Big State U, there was a small Astronomy department and they had 4 upper-level undergraduate astronomy courses offered on rotation over a 2 year period to facilitate an Astronomy-track Physics BS. I found out today (and it's a revelation to my advisor since I met with her this time last year) that several of the Astronomy professors have left/retired/vanished/whatever, and it's unlikely they are going to offer these courses any longer. She said that details were still in the works, but they have even removed the Astro-track degree from the UG Bulletin (damn me for using a '10-11 paper-copy for planning!). Currently, I am on a non-specific Physics BS track - and this has me a bit worried. The upper-level courses I would take are: Mechanics, Thermal Physics, 2 semesters of E-mag, 2 semesters of Quantum, 3 semesters of an advanced lab, and a selection from some application-based classes.
My question is this: what are my options to pursue a PhD in Astronomy without having Astronomy-specific undergraduate classes?
I am discussing this with my advisor still and for at least the spring I will be attending local Big State U, but I want to see if there are any other opinions out there. I could identify three different scenarios:
1) This lack of Astronomy-specific courses will not be a deal breaker to get into a (moderate) PhD Program and I could continue undergrad without significant PhD-app penalty at this university.
2) This lack of Astro-specific courses will be a huge dealbreaker and if I do wish to pursue a PhD I should transfer to (yet) another school to finish a Physics BS that offers undergraduate Astronomy courses.
3) I could pursue a MS after this undergrad as a stepping stone to a PhD. (I know it's not neccessary, but it could be an easier way to accomplish the Astro course work en route to a PhD)
Thanks for your time, and I look forward to any opinions ya'll may have on this.
Cheers,
--M
Just some quick background that may be relevant before my question: I am 29 years old and am back in school after not knowing what I wanted to after high school. Originally, I did well some terms and not so well other terms starting out, and I ended up taking a ~5year break. In my most recent year or so of 'cleanup' at a local CC has resulted in A-grades in Calc III, DiffEq, and a few other General Requirements (with 1 B+ in a Humanities class). I applied to the local Big State university for Physics and just signed up for classes for the Spring term (early admission transfers get to register before seniors). My ultimate educational goal is to obtain a PhD in Physics with a focus in Astronomy (or whatever it may be called at the particular graduate school) to research, teach, or be involved at whatever level I can or is available. I realize with my educational background I will not be in competition for a top program, but with a strong last few years and a good GRE/pGRE I hope I can be a good candidate for a moderate/good program. There seems to be a lot of Undergrad research that is done in other Physics and associated fields here, so I plan to make the most of those opportunities as well. I don't want to overstate my accomplishments to this point, and I know that I have a long road ahead still - but I do have confidence and a plan.
However, there's now a snag.
Originally, in my planning last year with an advisor at the local Big State U, there was a small Astronomy department and they had 4 upper-level undergraduate astronomy courses offered on rotation over a 2 year period to facilitate an Astronomy-track Physics BS. I found out today (and it's a revelation to my advisor since I met with her this time last year) that several of the Astronomy professors have left/retired/vanished/whatever, and it's unlikely they are going to offer these courses any longer. She said that details were still in the works, but they have even removed the Astro-track degree from the UG Bulletin (damn me for using a '10-11 paper-copy for planning!). Currently, I am on a non-specific Physics BS track - and this has me a bit worried. The upper-level courses I would take are: Mechanics, Thermal Physics, 2 semesters of E-mag, 2 semesters of Quantum, 3 semesters of an advanced lab, and a selection from some application-based classes.
My question is this: what are my options to pursue a PhD in Astronomy without having Astronomy-specific undergraduate classes?
I am discussing this with my advisor still and for at least the spring I will be attending local Big State U, but I want to see if there are any other opinions out there. I could identify three different scenarios:
1) This lack of Astronomy-specific courses will not be a deal breaker to get into a (moderate) PhD Program and I could continue undergrad without significant PhD-app penalty at this university.
2) This lack of Astro-specific courses will be a huge dealbreaker and if I do wish to pursue a PhD I should transfer to (yet) another school to finish a Physics BS that offers undergraduate Astronomy courses.
3) I could pursue a MS after this undergrad as a stepping stone to a PhD. (I know it's not neccessary, but it could be an easier way to accomplish the Astro course work en route to a PhD)
Thanks for your time, and I look forward to any opinions ya'll may have on this.
Cheers,
--M