Civil Engineer wanting to pursue a PhD in physics or astrophysics

[Terp]

Hi everybody,

I'm in somewhat of a career conundrum. I'm 24, I've graduated from the University of Maryland in May of 2010 with a BS in Civil Engineering. I've been working for the past year for a fairly prestigious engineering firm, and while I do like my work, I've come to decide over the past three or four years that it's not what I'm passionate about. I've always been fascinated with the universe and the possibility of what's out there. I have probably watched every single physics or astronomy documentary out there.

This leads me to the point of this thread...I really want to pursue a graduate degree (PhD) in astrophysics. I'm at the point where I would like to start looking into what it would take to pursue a doctorate in astrophysics. The problem is, I have a civil engineering undergrad. I don't feel I have the undergraduate background to go straight into a physics graduate program. At the very least, I'd want to take all of my undergraduate math and physics classes again because I have forgotten a lot of it (all the calculus and ordinary/partial differential equations at least); I could probably do this at a community college. My math skills are solid but not anywhere near where I'd want them to be for a physics grad program.

Does anybody have any suggestions for somebody in my situation? I really would appreciate any input.

Thank you!

[eri]

You can't take most of the physics classes you'd need to apply to a PhD program in astronomy at a community college. At the very least, you should take calculus-based physics I and II, math methods for physicists, classical mechanics, modern physics, thermodynamics & statistical mechanics, electricity & magnetism, quantum mechanics, and linear algebra. And it would be a very good idea to get some research experience in astrophysics before committing to a grad program in it - it might not be exactly what you were hoping it would be, and better to find out early. If you're still in the College Park area, UMD would be a great place to take these courses - you don't need to enroll for another degree, you can take them as a non-degree student by just paying for them individually. Although it might be hard to get someone to take you on as a research student that way.

If you are in the UMD area, NASA Goddard is having an open day tomorrow (for the first time in 3 years) - the public can come visit the center, talk to astronomers and engineers, learn about careers at Goddard and what it's like to do astronomy, and about all the research going on in at Goddard. It would be a great resource. They're open from 11 am - 5 pm, rain or shine. They'll be running free shuttles from the Greenbelt and New Carrolton metro stations (no public parking at Goddard). They're expecting a few thousand people, so if you do go you might want to go early.

[lisab]

This question comes up regularly. Here's a good thread on it:

http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=64966