Help with shortlisting graduate programs in HEP-PH/TH

[KH_137]

I will be applying to graduate programs in theoretical particle physics this winter in the US (for the Fall 2025 intake) and I would appreciate some help with finding appropriate programs/schools. My interests (and experiences) are a weird mix of hep-th and hep-ph, so, I would like to look for a school that has a nice blend of theorists and phenomenologists.

I have, of course, looked at quite a few professors I would love to work with (in terms of their research) - the specific professors I want to work with are important, of course, but I would also like a respectable school (simply because the opportunities and academic culture would be better). I know I am not getting into the absolute top departments (CalTech, Berkeley, Princeton, Chicago). The places I have decided on are UMD (College Park), UC Irvine and UC Santa Cruz - maybe also Florida State.

I am also looking at UC Davis and UT Austin - but while there are people I would love to work with, I feel like my background won't be enough to make the cut in most of these places. I really would prefer to go to Maryland since my interests almost completely overlap with the people there, but I know that Maryland is one of the strongest places in the US and is very selective.

I would really appreciate some suggestions on some of the better departments I might have missed and where I might have a good shot of getting in. Thank you in advance!

For background - my GPA is 9.56/10.00 (probably 3.7 or 3.8 out of 4.0; A+ in nearly every physics course at both undergrad and master's level and in all my maths and "maths for physics" courses). I have research experience - both in my country and abroad (not US) - and a publication (J Phys A; nonlinear physics; first author) and an international conference presentation (nonlinear physics). I am currently working on my thesis project on particle phenomenology (might get a publication - but definitely not before application season is over; maybe a preprint, though).

 

[gwnorth]

Your profile seems very strong. I don't know why you don't think you would be a competitive applicant at the programs you have targeted. If you want to apply more broadly, find more professors you'd be interested in working with.

Other than that the only advice I would give is stay away from Florida.

Good luck.

 

[KH_137]

I don't know why you don't think you would be a competitive applicant at the programs you have targeted.

Actually, my supervisor straight up told me that its extremely difficult to get into UMD and while I was free to apply, he would suggest considering UMD more like a fantasy and focusing on more realistic schools (at the same time, he has been suggesting people at Berkeley and Chicago, so I am not sure what is realistic at this point).

In fact, this confusion is the reason I made this post - grad admissions seems extremely competitive and coming from a country with no well developed REU programs, it feels like my chances are quite slim (not to mention the fact that I have had absolutely zero success contacting people in Europe where mailing potential advisors is the norm - I have received no replies at all and I have been mailing people for like a month now). I have been looking at papers and professors at all levels, but there's that off chance I missed some places I could actually get into.

Other than that the only advice I would give is stay away from Florida.

Is there something problematic with the university itself or with the state? I know that Florida has crocs and whatnot and people often joke about it, but I actually got a nice reply from the professor there whose work seemed to match my interests (he told me I should definitely apply to their program). I was considering it as a backup even though there seemed to be only 2 people in particle theory.

Good luck.

Thank you - both for the wishes and the response!

 

[Vanadium 50]

Have you considered waiting a year?

The thing that concerns me is is not what you wrote - it's what you didn't right. Had you said "I am interested in the interplay beween QCD and BSM physics" I'd say "Florida State and Laurs Reina". If you instead said "I am interested in the interface between cosmology and BSM particle physics", Irvine might be the better choice.

But you don't say that. You want some kind of theory/pheno. That is way, way too broad to make an informed choice. (And if you can't, we sure can't).

You need to figure out what you want by reading papers and attending seminars, and time is almost out for this cycle.

 

[KH_137]

You want some kind of theory/pheno. That is way, way too broad to make an informed choice. (And if you can't, we sure can't).

Oh no, I didn't want to get into the specifics. I want to work in BSM physics with a link to cosmology or astrophysics. That is the focus of my thesis work too. The reason I dragged "theory" into it is because I have been working on RS models for the last few months (in this same context - particle phenomenology) and after I wrap this up, I might move on to ADD models and look into similar stuff. I don't want to go into formal field/string/M theory; when I say "theory", I mean this - theories that might be mathematically more formal than the usual, but I will still work on phenomenological aspects and on the cosmological side (though I couldn't say if RS models are considered more formal than usual). I couldn't think of a way to frame it more concisely (or, better, for that matter), but didn't want to make it longer than necessary.

This is the prime reason I am applying to UMD despite being told its not going to work out - one of the founders of the RS model is there himself (and he seems to work on similar stuff from what I saw) and a lot of people work on axion phenomenology and DM. So, I would have a lot of options.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I want to work in BSM physics with a link to cosmology or astrophysics.

Then why Florida State? Neither Okui nor Reina is really doing that. Who are you planning on working with?

I think this reinforces the advice to take the time to look around.

Oh, and Raman Sundrum is a very smart guy, but if you want to work on RS, that was 25 years ago. The world has gone forward since then.

 

[KH_137]

Then why Florida State? Neither Okui nor Reina is really doing that. Who are you planning on working with?

I saw that Okui did some work on black holes, baryogenesis, neutrinos and DM (around 2021 or so I guess). I have some experience in electroweak baryogenesis, so that's what I am aiming for. In fact, I referenced these papers in my communications with him.

Oh, and Raman Sundrum is a very smart guy, but if you want to work on RS, that was 25 years ago. The world has hone forward since then.

Ah yes, that's true - but he works on DM and SM extensions these days, which aligns with what I want to work on. From what I saw, BSM physics usually means taking a set of extra fields as potential candidates for something (usually DM) or fixing a specific set of groups and working out the phenomenology - I am generally interested in these things, of course, but extending spacetime dimensions seems to have interesting effects too, so that's what I meant when I said "theories like RS models".

 

[Vanadium 50]

I think

a) You need to see what people are working on now, not in the past
b) decide accordingly

And it sounds to me like in 3 months or less you may not have time to do a thorough job.

 

[Vanadium 50]

One other bit of homework. Many professors put their funding history on their CV. This is important.

One professor at one school on your list gets about $25-30K per year. This needs to cover:

• His summer salary
• His travel
• His postdoc's salary and travel
• His students' tuition, stupend and travel

If this doesn't sound like a lot, that's correct. This means his students are likely TAs for their entire period in grad school. You really want to understand this before jumping in.

 

[KH_137]

@Vanadium 50

Thank you for your suggestions. I appreciate the clarity.

I see what you mean now. My primary experience is in astroparticle physics, not QCD, but from what little I have seen of it, I probably will enjoy it just as much. My specific area of focus is ALPs which have both a QCD aspect and a cosmological part to them. I have worked more on the latter, but that was because I hadn't yet taken QFT II. My applications will be based on the astroparticle part of it since that best utilises my specific experience and skills and I know for a fact that I enjoy it.

The US system makes you take courses first, so I guess my aim was to use that period to consider other options, in case I felt the need to. But, you're correct - FSU is not a good option for that. I guess part of my rationale for it was desperation since contacting people is really depressing due to the lack of replies - but the only reason I sent a mail was because of those papers on baryogenesis. And, since he replied encouragingly, I kept that on as a plan. FSU was also a suggestion from my supervisor - I guess I didn't really question the choice too deeply since he would know better than me.

However, I usually contact people after being thorough with their recent publication history (and specific papers). I checked my list again but I don't think this has happened elsewhere - the people I have listed are more or less in the interface between cosmology and particle physics.

Thanks for your suggestions again, this has cleared up some of my own thoughts - do you have any other place you could suggest?

(Also, there are no temporary positions in theory in my country for just Master's people, meaning I'd be essentially outside academia for an entire year if I take a drop, which won't look good for any applications. I cannot really afford the drop - in fact, I was more inclined towards a PhD in Europe for something similar, because their PhDs finish early)

 

[KH_137]

One professor at one school on your list gets about $25-30K per year. This needs to cover:

• His summer salary
• His travel
• His postdoc's salary and travel
• His students' tuition, stupend and travel

If this doesn't sound like a lot, that's correct. This means his students are likely TAs for their entire period in grad school.

You're right - I need to do more research on funding. I haven't yet decided where to apply apart from those 3, so this isn't something I had thought about (yet). Thanks for the advice - I was so stressed with just getting into a program that I started overlooking some extremely crucial aspects.

 

[Orodruin]

I have had absolutely zero success contacting people in Europe where mailing potential advisors is the norm

This is definitely not the norm in Europe. What makes you think so?

As director of a European PhD program, I can tell you our PhD positions are advertised publicly and you have to apply to an open PhD position. No professor here (at my university) will be offerIng you a PhD position based on a contact initiated by you. At most they could tell you if they currently have positions announced or are planning to announce a position in the near future. There is also no “application season” for PhD positions. Positions are announced when the funding and supervision is available.

Also keep in mind that Europe is not homogeneous in this. There will be a different system in each country with similarities and differences.

I get the occasional e-mail from some student asking for PhD supervision but it is never from a European student and many times quite unrelated to what I actually do.

 

[KH_137]

As director of a European PhD program, I can tell you our PhD positions are advertised publicly and you have to apply to an open PhD position. No professor here (at my university) will be offerIng you a PhD position based on a contact initiated by you. At most they could tell you if they currently have positions announced or are planning to announce a position in the near future. There is also no “application season” for PhD positions. Positions are announced when the funding and supervision is available.

I framed it a bit wrong - but essentially yes. I haven't been asking for PhD positions, per se, but rather if they will be offering a position in the future. This is mostly in Germany. The other country I have looked at is the UK where the faculty profile often mentions if they are actively looking for students - these are the people I have reached out to (though, to no avail). Or, there is, as you mentioned, often a list of projects on offer.

I also reached out to a certain faculty who had advertised a position last year who got back to me with an interview offer. But that is the only single reply I got. I don't think I have been doing anything wrong in that sense because I have had a couple of interviews scheduled in both the UK and USA. But this is out of a lot of mails.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I don't think I have been doing anything wrong

You mean apart from the spamming?

 

[KH_137]

You mean apart from the spamming?

Well, I know what you mean - but I have been invited to "informal interviews" in the US too. And, this is at the stronger places - UCs, for instance.

I know everyone keeps saying that admissions are centralised in the USA, but this seems to vary a lot by department (and, in fact, most of my seniors who got into graduate school in the US were interviewed by faculty before they submitted any applications - in physics). It's impossible for me to know what each department does individually from the outside.

No one particularly enjoys emailing and not getting anywhere most of the times (and I don't send cold mails - I go through their publication history and go through a couple of papers I find interesting; I usually include questions/ideas I have about the papers in the mail). I am sure its extremely annoying for people to have hundreds of such mails in their inbox, and I know that most of those mails are spammy and lack effort. But its also true that some people do get into places after such informal contact and as long as that continues, so will this. Of course, I would personally prefer if such informal contact was not a thing simply because its too much of stress, but its not in my hands.

The state specifically but the university as collateral damage. The Governor of Florida, Ron Desantis, has been waging war on higher education. Faculty are fleeing the state in droves.

Thanks for the heads up! I actually figured it out after your somewhat ominous message yesterday, but wasn't sure if this was exactly what you meant.