Grad Definition and 1000 Threads

Last semester really killed my GPA (went from a 3.7 to a 3.35). I'm deathly afraid that this screwed me over for graduate school, so I'm trying to find ideas for something I can fall back on if this doesn't work out. I'm a math major with a very heavy concentration in physics (in fact, I would...

So it's often said that the prestige of the grad school does matter when it comes to getting a postdoc at a prestigious institution (and that the prestige of the postdoc matters the most when it comes to getting an assistant professorship). One thing I've noticed though - a lot of foreign...

Info to consider I will be taking more than enough physics courses to satisfy a physics major at the Univeristy of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma State University. SWOSU does not offer a physics major, but offers an engineering physics major. Thus, I will only be able to satisfy a physics minor. I...

I know that Penn State and Georgia State were both free-to-apply several years ago, but they both seem to have put in application fees since then. What about other programs? In addition to Physics/Astronomy, I'm especially interested in interdisciplinary programs that take students from all...

Usually my professors emphasize to students that they should be concerned more about understanding the material, and then good grades will follow. But for some reason that doesn't seem to be happening to me, and I'm concerned because grad schools will only see the letter grade. For instance, I...

I'm in my 3rd year and I just switched my major over to computer science from physics, as this allows me to keep my career options much more open. This means I've already taken the required lower division math/physics classes for a physics major. Now, I know it'd be hard to get accepted to a...

Dear, here is a statement of purpose that I have prepared for an admission in postgraduate in USA. Please any comment is welcome. ____________________________________________ From many years ago, the discovery and invention of new material has enhanced the world’s development. For...

A little background: I'm finally going back to school to finish my degree. I'm a sophomore and need to decide which path will be the most valuable. I'm a practical person with a Physics/Math envy. I understand the material most when I get to the experiment. Endless book learning will make me...

I am a fresh BSME graduate with an overall GPA of 2.8/4.0. After filtering through a bunch of job sites online, I must say that I am getting a little discouraged because I see requirements of 3.0+. It is unfortunate because after getting my act together my final two semesters were ~3.3. I...

What do people know about this? I want to leave the US for various reasons as soon as a finish my undergrad degree, what opportunities are there for a funded Ph.D. program abroad? I plan on applying to most non-US schools, I'm mostly interested in the other Anglo-phone countries but have...

I've been applying throughout the UC system and one thing common to their application process is their absolutely stupid essay requirements. Now, maybe if you're in some fail-major like psychology or sociology or ethnic(racist)-studies, these stupid essays might make sense. They want the same...

I'm planning to study physics for grad school, but my parents didn't let me take a BSc in Physics. I'm currently on my second year in mechanical engineering (5 yrs). As of now, I have no interest in engineering--no plans on working in that field. I'm thinking whether I should switch majors to...

I'm currently a senior at the Coast Guard Academy (graduating in May). My degree is in Applied Math (specifically Operations Research) but am looking to get a grad degree in physics or applied physics in a few years. What courses am I missing to A. get into a physics grad program and B. have...

I did my undergrad in math and physics (in the US) and would like to go on to graduate school. However, I am having a little trouble deciding on a program and was wondering if anyone could recommend any schools. My motivation for going to grad school is really just that I want to thoroughly...

So, I asked for recommendations from 1) a professor with whom I do research, 2) a professor whose algebra class I took, and 3) a professor with whom I do research and whose topology class I took. I notified them all before Thanksgiving, and finished my applications in early December. But one...

are most of the biosciences majority-female? and are a lot of them receptive to physics students? (seeing that many have to study long hours and some of them get pretty desperate?). Heh, where do they often hang out? Maybe bioscience grad students are some of the best potential partners for male...

First of all, I apologize you guys for posting another thread like this; I know there are millions of threads that ask something like this already, but it would be great if you can read and respond to another one. I am applying to 11 graduate schools in mathematics. I have enjoyed studying...

"Normal" Grad School Grades I'm just finished my first semester of graduate school and I had a question about grades. I did ok this semester, not as good as I'd like but above 3.0. However, I'm a little confused about grades in grad school. As a an undergraduate I had around 3.8, but didn't...

I know if you work in some major cities the life expenses would be scary, but wouldn't your salary also be much higher than those less prosperous places? Also, about those loans and mortgages... shouldn't you be able to pay them back within months?

I'm in the process of getting my application to grad school completed and have a number of "5000" level classes that I'm not exactly sure how to classify on my my applications. Is it appropriate/acceptable to list ALL of them as "graduate" classes that I've taken as an undergraduate...even...

Hello, I live in Canada and am going to university for physics next year. I am looking at University of Toronto, and the University of Waterloo. Currently, I would like to pursue a graduate education afterward. I am wondering which university would better prepare me through their coursework and...

Hey Guys. I'm coming up on my senior year and I am looking to apply to grad school, to receive a Ph.D. in physics. I've been doing a bit of online research, comparing schools and getting an idea of the ranges of gpas/scores for admitted students. After reviewing places that have struck my...

Hello There! I am currently an undergraduate student at a state university in Pennsylvania. I went originally to study secondary education mathematics, however after meeting other education majors, and everything that encompassed the 'education major' I learned I was far more intelligent...

Anxiety about ME grad school from a BS in Physics. Help greatly appreciated! Hey all, so it is that time of the year to apply to grad schools and I am having some serious anxiety about it. I am applying to Phd programs in ME from a BS in physics and am very unsure about where to apply. I have...

Hello. I am currently a physics major attending a university where there is no true engineering degree. I was wondering if one who is pursuing a degree in physics would even have a chance of getting into a program involved with chemical engineering. To me, it seems the further along, physics and...

Applying to just ONE grad program? I'm applying to just ONE grad physics program, and a top 20 one at that (my husband is at this school, and we have a young kid, so it's this school or no school...we don't have the resources/freedom for me to commute or live elsewhere or pay tuition...

Is it possible to get into a physics grad program without a bachelor's?

I know it's frequently done. Just a question - what sorts of questions do these professors ask when they reply to these emails? (and are there certain professors more likely to reply than others - maybe profs looking for grad students or professors in less competitive fields?) Do they ever ask...

Hey everyone! I am finishing my very first semester of grad school in physics and I'm just trying to get a feel if my emotions and thoughts are normal for a beginning grad student in physics. I'm taking beginning grad courses in classical, quantum, and EM. After this semester, I know I find...

Im currently a senior at a large state university (LSU), and have been studying economics(major) and math(minor) and have a 4.0 so far. Recently i decided i did not want to pursue economics, and became much more drawn to the pure sciences. I decided to stay in school and study physics and bump...

if i were to get my BS in mechanical engineering, would that make it difficult for me to go to grad school for aerospace engineering? obviously it would be preferable to major in aerospace but since there arent too many schools offering the major and even fewer allowing transfers (im in junior...

Hello everyone, I'm currently a senior in high school. Due to financial circumstances and other reasons, there is a good chance that I might be headed to a community college next fall. I'm planning to go there for the usual 2 years, and transfer to a state school and major in math, hopefully...

Unusual Background-->math grad school? Hey guys, I have a bit of a weird background but wanted to get your take on what I should be doing to give myself a chance at grad school (if I decide to go back). I'm working next year at a well-known investment bank (think Citi, JPMorgan, etc) but...

I have been back and forth between math and physics for grad school, they are both such beautiful subjects and I know I would love research in either one for the rest of my life. However, I was doing some thinking, if I like both of them, why just do one of them? So I started thinking about the...

The book we're using for mechanics is "Theoretical Mechanics of Particles and Continua" by Fetter and Walecka. I've never had as much trouble understanding physics as I am now. I am absolutely confounded when it comes to Lagrange multipliers, Euler angles (and other rigid body stuff) and...

Since I got credit in calc I and II before going to college (along with getting many of my geneds out of the way), I'm going to have a lot of room for extra math courses. What's required by my college's physics program is Calc I, II, III Diff eq Applied Linear Algebra After, that I'm...

So I'm applying to mostly tier 1 grad schools for bioorganic chemistry (UCLA, Princeton, Texas A&M, University of Texas, Purdue, UNC, and University of Arizona) and I'm worried about my GRE scores. I got a 470 verbal 670 quantitative and 4.0 in analytical writing. I'm retaking them but I'm a...

Hey all, I basically am at a crossroads. I recently received my undergraduate degree in physics, and now I'm looking at either attending graduate school or some other unknown. To me graduate school is the preference, but my GPA is quite low at 2.759. I will apply to two different medical...

I'm currently a first year graduate student at a school that has research in AMO, Condensed Matter, Astrophysics and Particle physics (theoretical and experimental). I would like to conduct research over the summer but I'm having difficulty figuring out what I would like to research. I would...

Hi, I'm currently studying towards a physics degree at undergraduate level in the uk with the aim of then going on to do an MSc in maths before hopefully gaining entry onto a phd programme in either maths or a mathematical area of physics. Given this intention i am trying to gather a...

Hi Physics Forum, lurked around a bit and need some advice. I've never particularly liked any branch of my academics, however I excelled in my English classes and I thought the most natural thing to do was declare it my major. I absolutely hate academic reading though, as I see it mostly as a...

I am a senior math major in the US who would like to go to a graduate school in mathematics. I am still in a process of finding where to apply. Most of the schools that I have been looking so far are in the U.S., but recently I realized there are some decent schools in Canada as well (U British...

What are some decent grad schools for mechanical engineers without a perfect GPA? I would like to start researching my options but I really have no idea where to start

I have a decent GPA (3.6) but have taken no classes in Chemistry and advanced Computer Science (can only code python!). The Physics GRE is incredibly intimidating to me and many topics that it covers are not offered at the liberal arts college I attended. I predict a receiving a poor score and...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/business/04research.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=print It looks fairly likely that cuts will happen. Now, the stimulus did manage to shield universities from the recession (although some physics grad students did tell me that the recession still managed...

Hello all, I would like some advice on a issue. I'm a senior undergrad determined to go to grad school for physics. Now my GPA is ok, and hopefully I won't completely bomb the GRE's - that's not what I'm worried about. My problem is this: I'm an international student from a country that...

I am (hopefully!) going to be entering grad school in the fall. I will be going for a PhD in applied mathematics. Many grad schools recommend that you take a course in probability before entering (it is strongly hinted that doing so will improve your odds of admission). Here's where the...

I am a junior at Gonzaga University, I have a 3.25 gpa as a Mechanical Engineer. I switched majors from business to mechanical engineering 2nd semester freshman year without having taken any calculus courses in HS or really any idea what I was getting into. I am still on track to graduate in 4...

So I'm about to apply to grad schools in physics and applied math, but had a few questions about what to say in my application. I got my undergrad degrees in them last December, but took some engineering classes (in mechanical/aerospace engineering) the following semester, and have done some...

I am planning to take my first grad course next semester in statistics (analysis of variance) and am debating if I should take grad combinatorial optimization as well. I handled 4 upper div. courses this semester pretty well (ODE, real analysis, probability theory, advanced linear algebra) but...