Phd admission Definition and 54 Threads

I am a 2nd year BSc Physics student in India. But due to a change of interests, I now want to become a mathematician. I wish to do my PhD in the TOP programs in the world. (I want an inspiring environment full of people more capable than me.) My uni doesn't allow a major switching, and I can't...

Hey everyone, I am a senior physics student at MIT. I had a bad sophomore year, due to some personal issues, that dropped my GPA quite badly. My GPA as of speaking is around 3.7/5 which I think will rise up to 4.2 after the fall semester ends and hopefully around 4.5 by the time I graduate. I am...

Hello, I am a second-year Data Science and Physics major at Northeastern University (My school has combined majors that are like double majors but cut a few classes out of each major). I am also considering switching to Math and Physics (I've linked the requirements for each major if it's...

I want to pursue a PhD in physics in the US or Europe. I applied last year to a small number of unis and got rejected. Now I wanna expand my list. So, PLEASEEE share the list of unis you applied to! T_T

I go to a good private undergraduate institute with a small physics program (~#50 per US News, but I am not sure whether that's reliable). I am in my 2nd year and my GPA is around 3.6 after messing up my sophomore year. I am doing better now but at most I will graduate with a GPA ~ 3.85 (with...

TL;DR Summary: In summary. I have BSc in Chemistry with honours and want to make research in more theoritical physics oriented field. I don't afraid the studies and the hours needed but I want opinions for the best possible option (MSc or 2nd BSc), in terms of usefulness for my PhD application...

My PhD has 9 months left supervised (funded) and a year after that to write up in the thesis (unfunded but I am currently looking at other options for that and may be able to get around 6 months of it funded). My PhD got off to a very weird start to be honest. First of all it started during...

I'm currently in the process of applying to grad schools and I'm having second thoughts (and honestly even second guessing) on my odds of admission and opportunities in grad school. I'm a senior at a liberal arts college. Physics-Astronomy combined major and a Math minor. I'm an international...

Hey guys it would be great if you could take a look at my statement of purpose for a physics PhD program included below. The "Future Work" section at the end is where I talked about the specific program and faculties and how it will be a great fit for me. Any comments, criticism, advice is...

I am an international student attending very small college in US, currently senior. My dream since I was little was to study in engineering field. Unfortunately, because of financial difficulties (being an international student limited scholarship opportunities), my only choice for undergrad was...

Hello everyone, This is my first time posting here. I'm currently a rising senior double majoring in physics and math at a top 10 (maybe top 15) research institution. I'm quite worried about my admissions prospects and I'm wondering whether my application is competitive or not. More exactly, I...

I will apply for a Ph.D. in Astronomy in the fall of 2023. I want to have a realistic evaluation of my profile to see if I am over-ambitious or not. I think I am out of reach for the "big four" universities. I will donate money to two of them only and will be targeting other top schools...

I have a math degree and currently pursuing a BS in physics, I've been offered a job as a data scientist with occasional machine learning stuff. 1) Would this be helpful for my career in physics? If yes then how? (I'm aware that machine learning is being used in various areas of physics, but...

I already have an MSc from outside the EU. But, I also have an incomplete CS degree from Poland which I dropped out of. European Ph.D. schools often ask for a CV, not "all the transcript from all the attended programs" as they ask in North America. Therefore, can I skip the information...

Hello, and thanks so much in advance for any advice. I’m currently a third year physics undergraduate student who’s looking for what programs I should apply to for my PhD. I’m not sure I should bother applying for anything top 20 but wanted to get a second opinion on my applications...

Hello everyone, I'm currently a physics undergraduate that just completed her second year of college. I love working physics problems and have always been passionate about going into physics research. My plan is to graduate and then go to a great/top grad school for my PhD that would allow me...

Hi Everyone, I applied for some PhD positions in astronomy this year and was unsuccessful. I was wondering if anyone could offer up some advice for improving my applications for next year. To give you some context: I gained my Master's in Physics with Astronomy from the University of...

Hello! I am planning on applying to physics PhD programs in the fall. My first two years of undergrad I averaged Bs in my lower division classes. Last two years I got a majority of As and A-s in my upper division courses. Those first two years I had some extremely personal extenuating...

Hello guys (and girls), I'm from Europe and I was wondering whether any of you know how hard it is to get into the top US CS PhD programs as compared to getting into physics. I think I've once read on Quora that getting into engineering is way harder since this area of research does not receive...

This is a draft of my SoP that I plan to send out to the Perimeter Institute for Perimeter Scholar Program. The program is designed for a 10-month duration focusing on theoretical physics. Please give opinion and suggestions for improving my statement of Purpose. ' Motivation and Research...

Hello everyone! I recently got an interview request from OSU's Astronomy Ph.D program and was wondering how I should prepare for it. Thanks

Hello everyone! I'm an international student applying for Ph.D programs for fall 2020 (mostly Astronomy, specifically Cosmology; but some are in Neutrino Physics). My qualifications: Undergrad institution: US univ ranked 100+ by US News with very good neutrino Physics program Cumulative GPA...

Excuse me guys. I have been in some stress while choosing to pursue a career in Medical Physics. I would like to enroll for PhD course in Medical Physics concentrating on Radiology/ Oncology. However, I found it hard to choose between CAMPEP accredited institutions. I have a BSc in Physics with...

Hello, I am currently a high school physics teacher in Chicago. I am thinking about going back to school to get a PHD in Physics. I currently have a B.S. in Applied Physics and a secondary education license. I would like to find a way to go back and get a PHD. I cannot afford to quit my job...

I'm starting to write my statement of purpose for Physics and Astronomy graduate schools, but I'm not yet dead set on which field I want to specialize in. Considering this, is it ok for me to write something along the lines of, "I want to either do field 1 with professor I or do field 2 with...

Hi all, I am interested in advancing my education in theoretical physics, specifically topics concerning quantum field theories and quantum gravity. However, I have a somewhat rocky background as an early undergrad and while my Master's degree was achieved with great success in the classroom...

Hi! I'm currently applying for a masters program in theoretical physics, more specifically in String and Quantum Field theory. I will apply for Oxford, Kings college, Imperial college and Perimeter Institute among other universities and institutions. However, I also want to go to Uppsala...

Say by the time I complete my undergraduate studies, I also complete topics taught in M.Sc. by myself. So, without formally doing an M.Sc., can I join PhD after B.Sc., given that I am sure that I am as able as a student who has formally completed masters? My field of interest here is physics...

Dear all , I'm interested in applying for PhD programs in physics this summer. I'm mostly interested in high energy theory. There are two things that concerns me : 1- I didn't take any physics / math course during my undergraduate years "In fact I graduated from medical school" but I studied...

Hi all, It's a few short months before grad school applications are due, and I find myself in a bit of a dilemma. Prior to my junior year, I knew what I wanted to do is physics research for my career, and I'm particularly interested in biological and condensed matter physics. My skills are more...

I am planning to do a PhD degree in physics since I have recently completed my masters degree, my research field was mainly on cosmology but I am getting interested in some fundamental aspects of physics, like GR and QG. I have tried to apply to some universities in Germany and failed to be...

I have a masters degree in physics and I want to apply for a PhD position especially in Germany. What are the necessary steps that I should take and how can I apply for a scholarship? I have looked online but some information are a bit confusing and lacking so I hope someone could layout a rough...

Hello Everyone! I am Sharvari from India, interested in quantum and non linear optics and wish to pursue PhD in this domain. I am looking forward to active discussion on the grad school discussion forum as I will be applying for grad schools this year.

Hi all, Maybe most people would say that physics grad schools (PhD) programs don't care about your GRE writing score, but I have a sort of quick question: how much effort should I put into the Writing sections. I took my first GRE earlier this month, but messed up both of my writing sections...

Hey everyone, I'm an American senior Physics major and I've been looking at New Zealand (and possibly Australia) for grad school. I wanted to ask if anyone could describe the system over there and answer a couple questions. First, is a bachelors good enough to start the PhD without doing a...

I am applying for a PhD possition at DAMPT, Cambridge University. How many interviews are there? And for the academic one, with the possible supervisor, does he test your knowledge? Which are the most common questions? I have a strong research, very good letters, a good motivational letter but...

HI all, I am physics student at his last year in Italy. I'm in one of the very top uni in Italy and Europe(with very strong research). I was able to enter this uni by a very hard test, similar to the physics olympiads. I was the typical top student that sometimes gets top grades and other times...

Hi Before closing, I apologize for too long passage calling for the advise. I thought I need to give the potential advisors as precise information as I can. I graduated from a university in South Korea with major in Electrical engineering and minor in physics. I decided to change my major to...

I am not sure if I can write the ps in the form of a story-telling of how I became interested in the graduate field of study, which naturally talks about my research/other experience in the chronological order, or directly jump straight into chunks of paragraphs (of course with transitioning...

This summer I did some research and had positive results but my part contributed to a small portion of the big grant. My PI told me we could submit to some "side" journals to get publications but I am not sure if this is necessary because the admission committees will see my poster I created...

General Tips on What to focus on, what to avoid? :woot: 3 Specific questions: Should I keep it in ONE page? I have been helping on a grant which has been approved by NIH, how much details of the project should I include in the resume: the detailed goal of the grant, grant number, etc? Should I...

Firstly I'd like to apologise as I know this is a pretty common topic to post questions on! Basically I recently graduated with a first class (72% average) from the University of Southampton (Russell group, but obviously not Oxbridge level) and am planning to spend a year out applying to PhD's...

I am a junior in college studying physics, math, and computer science who has been heavily involved in research, year round, for the past 2 years and have already started taking graduate classes. I feel like before I start a phd program I would really like a year or two off. How do professors...

Hi, I am a 27 year old Physics Masters student and I have completed one year of my Masters degree in theoretical high-energy/cosmology from one of the top universities in Canada. I would like to apply for PhD admission to the top 20 universities in the US for a phd in theoretical...

Hello, My name is Emre and I am a MSc student in mechanical engineering.I am looking for PhD in US.My research interests are mechanical vibrations,rail vehicles,finite element method and control theory.In fact I have 2.68/4 GPA in Undergrad and 3.79/4 GPA in Master.So if anyone has any advice...

Was wondering if anyone could give me some stats about the University of Hawaii. I'm tentatively looking at them for particle astrophysics or neutrino physics. Anyone know what the acceptance rate is/how hard it is to get in? Any reviews of the school? Should ranking concern me? They seem to do...

I have a Master's degree in Physics and currently have PhD offers from the Purdue University (Department of Physics and Astronomy) and UIUC (Biophysics and Quantitative Biology Program). I am mainly interested in Computational Biophysics and Image Processing. How do the two programs compare in...

Hello everyone, I'm a physics student and have got a matter that has been bothering me, therefore I would like to hear your opinion and perhaps your experiences. So now I have been doing my master thesis and I plan to find a PhD position after graduation. The problem is I want to take a topic...

Hi I was wondering how much will having a masters degree actually help with getting into a PhD program? Is it sort of a minor boost or will it actually make me substantially stand out vs other candidates. If more specifics are needed I will have a BE in Electrical engineering and a Masters in...

Hey guys, So I just finished my third year of the 4 year MSci Physics with Theoretical Physics course at Imperial College and am currently on an average score of 68%. Now I really feel like it'll go down to the wire with regards to whether I get a first or not, especially as they've now (this...