Direct Entry to PhD Program -- Advice Please

[Mordred]

For your second point, the reason for five years is precisely what @gwnorth mentioned. I got accepted into our Co-op program, which has both industry and off-campus research positions at TRIUMF (mostly particle physics rather than quantum), requiring an additional full year. This leaves me with the question of whether that extra year is worth it since I am already participating in summer research (

I too did an undergrad internship at TRIUMF back in 88, 89 yes it is definitely worth it. I even found simply being in the position of Control system operator was an eye opener. It's one thing to learn from literature but it's quite an eye opener seeing the practical applications.

It's an excellent facility you will find that you will be working in a very friendly and helpful environment with lots of local seminars lectures you can arrange to attend at the other nearby universities etc.
I should mention TRIUMF is heavily involved in medical cyclotron applications. Though through smaller cyclotrons than the main facility. Whichever model they are currently using.

 

[CrysPhys]

I am purely interested in the finance internship as an experience since I am currently already in a physics summer research program. This left me wondering if another summer with a different project/supervisor is truly worth it (for the research experience/LOR since no name on publication). The internship I am hoping to apply for next summer would be a quantitative researcher position at a top proprietary trading firm on Wall Street. Due to its high competitiveness, application and preparation will start in the upcoming months. The chances are slim, but if (a very small if) I was admitted, how would that compare to "something related to physics" in the eyes of the graduate school admission committee?

If your immediate goal is to position yourself as strongly as possible for admissions to a physics PhD program, then apply for an internship related to physics research rather than finance. The finance internship, however, could be useful for providing you with exposure to and experience in a future Plan B option. Statistically, most physics PhDs do not end up in academic physics research careers.