Graduate Definition and 1000 Threads

I am in my last year as an undergrad and will be graduating in the spring with a BS in Physics. I personally have terrible grades this including overall GPA and major specific GPA (currently around a 2.2 for both). At this point, bringing my GPA up is nearly impossible without some post...

I'm about to finish my Production Engineering master studies and I'm planning my next move. I do have some previous working experience but don't feel like I've developed specific skill-set yet. Not sure what I want to do ether but I kinda like product development. My main requirements for the...

A bit of background: I am currently a fifth year Mathematics and Chemistry double major with a minor in Physics. My interests (as well as my degree plan) has greatly evolved over the course of my undergraduate career, and I am in my final year with a great interest in furthering my knowledge of...

I'm a computer science student in the UK. People are telling me that an industrial year placement is crucial for getting a job when you graduate. For various reasons I can't do an industrial year. What are my prospects like in terms of getting a job? I basically have nothing to add to my CV...

Dear Physics Forums friends, I am a college senior at US pursuing the mathematics and microbiology majors. Getting to the core of my question, I am curious if the graduate programs in physics (at least in US) also consider applicants from no official background in physics. I started out as an...

In graduate school for physics, the competition in certain fields(for example High Energy Theory) is very intense. Does anyone know how the situation is in fields of mathematics. So, which areas of mathematics are the most difficult to get into for grad school ? I would be particularly...

Hello, Sorry for the longer post, but I would appreciate any advice offered. I have been reading this site ever since starting my undergrad in physics, first time posting. I am posting as I have been having trouble gather info/opinions on a situation I find myself in and am looking for...

What are strong graduate programs for researching foundations of quantum mechanics?

Dear Physics Forum personnel, I will be taking my first graduate course (as an undergraduate) in mathematics starting on this Fall Semester. The course is about the algebraic topology (Hatcher, Spanier, Massey, etc.), which I am very excited to take as I love the topology. I am curious about...

Hello all- I'm looking for some general advice and thought this would be a good forum. I fell in love with physics after my sophomore year of undergrad. As a Psychology major who hadn't even taken a math class since my junior year of high school, the Physics department cautioned me against...

Hi! I have a question related to graduate (PhD admission). I am about to finish my MS in Europe and am applying to a university in Canada for my PhD. The university requires 2 reference letters. Two people have said that they will write me letters, and I can see on my application account when...

hello everyone, i am currently a physics undergraduate in europe and i am thinking about possible graduate studies either in usa or europe.i want to study theoretical particle physics(string theory,quantum fileds,cosmpology etc.). my first choice is a phd in usa. but as an alternative i am...

Hello all, I am a rising sophomore physics undergraduate and I have a few questions regarding taking graduate courses as an undergraduate. Currently I am signed up to take Quantum Field Theory and a graduate classical mechanics course in the fall. Now graduate courses are expensive, about $1000...

Does learning graduate level math make one better understand undergrad math? For example, after taking real analysis, does one better understand calculus?

Hi, I have a Bachelors in Aeronautical Engineering and am looking forward to getting a Masters Degree in Engineering. But the catch is that I have not been able to find schools that conduct the research I am interested in. I am particularly interested in Gas Turbine Research, specifically...

Hello, I could use some objective feedback on what tier/rank of graduate schools that I should apply to. I am looking to do a PhD in Physics. About me: I have worked in 3 research labs, obtained a 3.0 GPA at a top 30 school, and published a paper. Thank you for the help. :)

I am going to be applying to graduate programs for theory in the fall, and after discussing research with a few of my professors, my top research topic choice is Conformal Field Theories. Are CFT's a large enough area of study to be the focus of research for a graduate student? Also, will saying...

Hi, so currently I am stuck in a situation where I currently accepted a job offer and had 5 other interviews which I never heard back from any yet. (I will have to say no if I hear back I guess and there was one I really was hoping to get but its going to be too late now). These were for data...

hi, I would like to be bursting with semiconductors' topic, I aim to know all it's theory and applications, also see all derivations of it's formulas, so Could you give me some suggestions to comprehend this topic well?

How hard was it to get in? How was your experience? I currently study finance(1 year done) and I got accepted to the University of New Haven on scholarship. I plan on taking extra classes in math and physics, so if I decide to pursue a degree in astronomy I will have the pre reqs done...

So, I've heard that rankings do matter if you want to go to academia; however, I've also heard that a PhD from the University of Hawaii in observational astronomy will be more valuable than one from MIT. So, where can I find universities' rankings by program (for example, cosmology or...

This is silly, you can say it's silly and I respect that. It also seems like a thread that I would roll my eyes at and say "if you have to ask this, you probably are." The situation is as follows. I'm a second-year graduate student working in an experimental lab. There is a postdoc here who is...

Hi all, I'm starting my grad work in September and I'm trying to decide which courses to take. I'll be doing an M. Sc. in Chemical Physics, and potentially a Ph. D. My undergrad was in Chemistry, with minors in Physics and Math. My tentative choice of thesis topic is coherent control...

Math grad student here. I'm currently finishing up my first year in a PhD program, and I based on my experiences so far I can definitely say graduate school is something I want to continue. I spent my first year taking courses in preparation for prelims rather than doing research, but I did well...

Hello everyone, I have a couple of questions. I'm an incoming graduate student starting in the fall, and working with a group at my future graduate school this summer. I do not want the pity of anyone in my department (especially as a new student) so I'm aware that the answers I get here may be...

Hi, Little about me: I'm a fourth year physics major(graduating fall 2017). I currently have a 3.6 gpa with 164(verbal) and 165(math) . I took the physics GRE and got a 800 which sucks and I would like to score above a 920 which I am studying for next year. Two publications with a fair amount of...

Hey Everybody, A while back I made a thread about being a BS Physics graduate trying to go back to school. After changing universities, I finally graduated this May with my MS in Engineering (Electrical). While searching for jobs, I noticed there is a dilemma regarding specific jobs. I don't...

This may be a silly (and, as a first year grad student, premature!) question, but I am wondering about the possibility of going into the Peace Corps after getting my Ph.D. in physics. My field of study is condensed matter physics, and I have begun working with a group doing some nanotechnology...

I have transferred from community college, so I am supposed to finish in two years. However, some people can petition to stay for three years I believe. I'm an undergraduate physics major thinking of staying for three years, where there is guaranteed financial aid during that time frame, to take...

Hello, I am in a situation and need some guidance and help and would appreciate your input. So I graduated May 2015 from a state school with Astrophysics bachelors and applied for graduate school for Fall 2016. Here are all my scores - Overall GPA - Less than 3.3 PGRE - Less than 600 GRE...

Hello all, a friend of mine is considering switching to an engineering technology degree but still plans to attend graduate school for engineering. This just got me thinking, what would the draw backs be? How easy or hard would it be for someone in a engineering technology program to go to...

Hello, I'll try to keep this quick and to the point. Feel free to ask if you have any questions. I'm 24 years old now. I finished my physics B.S. last year. I studied in Utah and did research for my university for 8.50$ per hour. I've been living in poverty since I was 18 trying to become a...

I have recently passed the Electronics Engineering Licensure exam in the philippines and I'm plannning to pursue a career in chip design preferably mixed signal or digital. I have applied at different semiconductor companies. The problem is they don't design the IC's here, they only conduct...

I've been accepted by the PhD program at my safety school (where I am completing my undergrad), and have been declined admission at my reach schools. While my safety school's offer is solid, I would prefer to attend a better school in a different city. I am still completing research for my...

If I opt for a programme eg astrophysics in a uni for masters can I also take classes and have credit for some other course eg quantum mechanics during the same ?

Can anyone recommend good study resources before entering graduate school? I'm going from an "unknown" state school to Cornell, and I'm worried about being underprepared for courses. I have taken two semesters of E&M and Quantum (Griffiths), one semester of mechanics (Fowles & Cassiday) plus...

Would you be able to provide an assessment of the high energy/string theory theoretical physics ranking of the four programs below: Graduate program in University of Florida Graduate program in University of Alberta Graduate program in UC Davis ICTP Postgraduate Diploma (High Energy, Cosmology...

I am an international student and I was admitted to UT Arlington with 100% tuition scholarship for fall 2016. The reasons why I couldn't make it to a better university are lack of guidance and lack of funds. But now, I will have all the guidance in the world since I'm going to an American...

Hello, my name is Charles and I am experiencing some doubts about my physics career; I am hoping that other people here have felt the same and can give me some advice. I am presently at a crossroads career-wise and am rather lost. I have just accepted an admissions offer with very good funding...

Hello, This was part of my midterm exam that i couldn't solve. Any help is extremely appreciated. Problem: The K.E. of a rotating top is given as L^2/2I where L is its angular momentum and I is its moment of inertia. Consider a charged top placed at a constant magnetic field. Assume that the...

MIT University is good for taking both graduated and undergraduated physics courses ?

Here's a long shot... I go to a very small school with only ~8 graduates per year. Of those 8, 4 or 5 will apply to graduate school, and every year only 1 or so will be accepted. I'm preparing to approach the chair of the department to propose a one-hour seminar every year (or semester) to...

Hi PF, I have applied to several graduate schools and heard back from all but 3, and it is getting pretty late in the game as far as my decision is concerned. That being said I want to know whether or not I have been accepted to these 3 schools ASAP in order to reach my final decision. So my...

Hi everyone, I'm currently a third year Economics major hoping to switch to the Economics and Mathematics by the end of this year. Considering I should have been a Physics major in the first place, I have started taking Physics course starting from my third year in an attempt to eventually go...

Hi everyone! I'm brand new to this, but hopefully I'll pick it up quickly... I had a very general question about going to graduate school for physics. I'm a junior undergraduate going for my B.S. in general physics, so naturally I'm thinking about grad schools at this point. I've got a 3.98...

So, next year I will attend college for B.S in aerospace engineering with a minor in Astrophysics. I would very much like to continue and do graduate studies in physics, not engineering, and I was wondering if this was possible? Thank you very much for your time.

Hello, I've seen lots of friendly people giving good advice here and wanted share my current graduate school situation with you guys and see what your opinions/advice are. I recently graduated with a Physics B.S. and loved it. I have a strong interest in atomic physics and radiation interaction...

Hi everyone, I recently graduated with a Geo-science degree and I am currently working towards a GIS certificate. I expected to be able to access lots of new jobs, but this has not been the case. I expected to work in the Oil and Gas industry after college, but that industry is enduring massive...

Hi, When I finish my undergraduate physics degree here in the USA, I would like to go on to get a PhD abroad, in particular in the United Kingdom. I have noticed that a lot of Universities in the US have programs that allow a BS in physics to go directly into a PhD program, rather than getting...

I am a final year undergrad and applied for graduate programs in various universities for Fall'16 admission. I recently got an admission offer from one of the programs. The admissions chair cc'd the offer email to potential supervisors I mentioned in my application. Here's the email from one of...