BSc Physics: University Options for a second bachelor's degree

[Guts_Vin]

Hi guys,

I'm 26 years old, from India. I passed my 12th grade (high school) in 2016 with Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. Subsequently, I completed a BA in 2021, with a triple major in Psychology, Journalism, and Literature. Then I worked as a journalist for about two years. And then another few jobs here and there to support myself till I had a concrete plan.

Now I am preparing to apply for a BSc in Physics, whereafter I wish to pursue an MSc in Physics, and eventually PhD. These goals are purely epistemophilic, and a desire to join fellow cohorts in the frontlines of research and academia.

To brush up, refresh my foundation, as well as to improve my scores, I am giving high-school level exams in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics through the National Open School (NIOS).

However, NIOS will only provide me a marksheet, and not a typical "passing-certificate". Which means, I will find myself with a high-school passing certificate in PCB and a government accredited high-school level "marksheet" with scores in PCM (acceptance of which is subject to individual university requirements)

If you ask me why. Because it has always been my inherent obsessive passion and longstanding goal, but in my school days I just never got the opportunity or right guidance to even know how to pursue it. Now I don't wish to waste anymore time.

My options, so far, are down to the following:
Arizona State University (in person)
Arizona State University (Online)
Melbourne University
IPSP at Leipzig University (BSc or BSc Hons)

I would like to keep my options as affordable and efficient as possible. I am looking for a full-time, proper BSc degree, no shortcuts. I would definitely like to transfer my BA credits, to cut short credit hours in non-core electives and general studies, if possible. Any country will do. Courses in English preferably, if not, worse come worst, heck I'll even learn an extra language.

Please help me by suggesting ANY AND ALL universities that I would be eligible for (with or without the NIOS marksheet), and any other options that I may be unaware of.

And feel free to lay all your advices on the table so I may come to an optimal solution.

Please please please do respond, I have been busting my butt trying to figure this out, and time+money is, naturally, of the essence.

 

[Vanadium 50]

ANY AND ALL universities

That's a pretty tough ask. "Do my research for me - and DON'T YOU DARE MISS ONE!"

In the US alone, there are 750 or so physics degree-granting colleges and universities. Many will not award a 2nd bachelors degree, but many will.

Can you pay for this? That may be the deciding factor. There isn't enough money to pay for everyone's first degree, let alone their second. Being an international makes this even harder.

 

[Guts_Vin]

"Do my research for me - and DON'T YOU DARE MISS ONE!"

Sorry if it came off like that.. I was simply using a tone of urgency.. because just like you said, there's countless colleges, but few offer the opportunity of a second bachelor's.. with that in mind, I figured, statistically speaking, there might just be people who happen to have a list of colleges that do offer that opportunity.. either from previous experience, or just general information.. I can't possibly be the first person, or the only person currently, in this situation.. I'm sure it's not fairly uncommon for folks to segue from one field to another :')

 

[Guts_Vin]

Can you pay for this? That may be the deciding factor.

which is why I am looking for "any and all" options available worldwide.. to eventually, and effectively, narrow down to the best option within my limitations

 

[Guts_Vin]

Do my research for me

I did do an extensive bit of research from my end, for a fairly long time.. and now I am here, one of many nets to throw.. please don't misunderstand me

 

[Vanadium 50]

My guess is there are 500+ such colleges in the US, so probably at least 2000 worldwide. Keeping a list would be a full-time job.

I think you are going about this backwards. If you need someone else to pay for this, you should figure that out, and then see which of the options has a physics program. In the US, the number of colleges that a) award 2nd bachelors, b) have need-blind admissions, and c) meet full need for internationals is zero.

 

[Guts_Vin]

My guess is there are 500+ such colleges in the US, so probably at least 2000 worldwide. Keeping a list would be a full-time job.

I think you are going about this backwards. If you need someone else to pay for this, you should figure that out, and then see which of the options has a physics program. In the US, the number of colleges that a) award 2nd bachelors, b) have need-blind admissions, and c) meet full need for internationals is zero.

yes sir, I'm still doing the grunt work of finding colleges and personally contacting them.. hence the list of three colleges so far.. the post on this forum is just a wider net to catch as much useful information as possible.. not just sitting back and expecting strangers on the internet to do all the work for me of course.. please do share whatever comes to mind at any point of time.. thanks again :)

 

[Guts_Vin]

If you need someone else to pay for this

I'm sorry, I didn't understand what you mean by this. Of course I will be paying for my own education, which is why I'm open to any country really, not just the US (which would be an exorbitantly high expenditure).

I'm from India, and unfortunately, our higher education system is still quite rigid and non-welcoming to students from different circumstances, everything's a rat race. So, I'm not even eligible to sit for entrance exams, because I didn't have math when I first completed high school. Therefore, I have no choice but to broaden my choices to options abroad.

If you're referring to scholarships, then I don't think I'm worthy enough for the usual ones given out. But I am keeping an eye out for any financial aids kinda scholarships available that I could be lucky enough to catch (that would be awesome, no doubt ), and I'll be working hard to win merit based scholarships during my course as well.

But first things first, I gotta at least have a list of colleges to choose from and start applying. Then I'll worry about the rest. Wish me luck

PS: please forgive me for the shabby form of my previous replies. i was typing in a hurry while studying

 

[Vanadium 50]

Picking Arizona State as an example, a 4-year degree costs $180,000, which is, I believe 15 million rupees. That is a lot of money. If you have that, great. Most students do not.

 

[gwnorth]

OP if you'll be needing to pay full freight (or at least close to it) for your degree, I suspect that the US and Canada will not be viable financial options. International tuition will be very high. I normally would suggest Germany but while graduate degrees are offered in English it's less common for undergraduate programs to be. Still there is this program that has a long running thread on this sub and you may be able to find others.

https://www.physes.uni-leipzig.de/e...national-physics-studies-program-ipsp-honours

Tuition Fees
There are currently no tuition fees for a first degree programme at our university.

Semester Fee
You pay a fee every semester, which consists of different parts:

• Student body: €8.50
• Studentenwerk: €80.00
• Mobility fund: €2.00
• MDV public transport pass: €165.00

The semester fee is € 255.50 for the winter semester 2023/24. Students who have withdrawn from the student body do not pay the student body contribution.

Further information can be found on the website of the Student Office.

Best of luck

 

[Muu9]

https://www.open.ac.uk/courses/physics/degrees
I suggest you also ask degreeforum.net

 

[bhobba]

You put Melbourne University in there, so you must be considering Australia.

Australia, known for its love for international students, offers many opportunities. Our universities have a high-quality education ranked third in the world after the UK and the US. However, we love to milk international students. There have been many programs on Australian TV that modern Australian universities will find it hard to survive without overseas students. Some universities have up to 60% overseas students, but many, including my old alma mater, QUT, are lower at about 20%. That probably has to do with the University of Queensland having a higher ranking (35 in the world, if I remember correctly - but it tends to change yearly). Those who know tertiary education in Australia know that in many areas, like applied math and computer science, supposedly lower-ranked schools like the QUT where I went have better degrees.

While this has not impacted overseas admissions, Australia has a housing shortage. Professionals like computer programmers with jobs are now found in tent cities that have sprung up around the place. So please ensure you work with the university you'd like to attend about housing.

The University of Queensland is our highest-ranking University, and I am in Queensland, but it is not the university I recommend starting at.

You are a mature student who would benefit from a research degree that integrates research from year 2 and in the final year half the year is spent on a major dissertation:

https://www.griffith.edu.au/study/degrees/bachelor-of-advanced-science-honours-1330

You meet entry requirements since there are no prerequisites, and a Bachelor's degree is higher than a Diploma. You can start immediately if you'd like. After that, you can continue to a Master's at the UQ, which takes 1.5 years. You can even go directly to a Ph.D. if you wish. The main thing in Australia is they want to see proof of your ability to do research, not so much your GPA, etc. Of course, you will need reasonable marks, but your research will be the major consideration.

Thanks
Bill

 

[Vanadium 50]

But will the schools in Australia cover the OPs tuition?
And if so, how does a country of 26 million keep from being overwhelmed by students from India and China? The number of high school graduates in those two countries exceeds the entire population of Australia.

 

[bhobba]

But will the schools in Australia cover the OPs tuition?

No. They use it as a cash cow.

Far from everyone in countries like India goes to Australia; those that do get a good education, but are ripped off. Still if you think the quality of education is worth the cost is a personal decision. The 35th rated university in the world just up the road from where I lived is a good sign.

If you want my opinion - dont come to Australia except for a year abroad or something like that, the universities just rip overseas students off to make up for how stingy our government is funding tertiary education, which IMHO is false economy.

Thanks
Bill

 

[Vanadium 50]

My question was somewhat rhetorical - if Australia did pay for every Indian and Chinese student who wanted to come, the country would be overrun.

And why are internationals getting "ripped off"? College is expensive*. If governments want to subsidize it for their own citizens, why is that a problem?

* Divide a college's total budget by its total students and you get numbers in the tens of thousands of dollars. That's what it costs. Sure, it can be subsidized by governments, but that's just how the bills are paid. The bills are still there.

 

[bhobba]

And why are internationals getting "ripped off"? College is expensive*. If governments want to subsidize it for their own citizens, why is that a problem?

Yes, the government charges and subsidises its citizens. However, overseas students pay more than the actual cost. In a sense, ripped off is the wrong word - the institutions can charge what they like. They charge international students more because the government does not pay them enough money to run the university, so they take up the slack by charging international students more. It is simple logic on their part. And the government, if the university can get by paying them less, then in a sense, they have an obligation to the taxpayer to do so.

Australia now has an interesting system of subsidies for local students. It depends on your major. A history major pays, with the subsidy, $10k py (45k without the subsidy). Believe it or not, the cheapest major is math at about $4k with the subsidy. Mathematical physics, actuarial science, statistics, etc., are all counted as basic math. Taking another major with it raises the cost, but not much (if you choose wisely, e.g. econometrics is still counted as math). Whenever Australians ask what degree they should do, I always say math. With a math degree, you can be admitted to a Master's in just about anything. For example, engineering is often done as a 3-year master's. Still, it is two years if you take specific electives, not necessarily in Engineering, but mostly math and some sciences like electrical systems. Systems engineering, for example, usually accepts a math degree with a significant amount of operations research.

While I believe in free tertiary education for local students, nobody can, in my opinion, complain about the cost of a math degree.

Thanks
Bill

 

[Vanadium 50]

Again, I don't see this as "ripping off" anyone. Australia is exporting education. No different than exporting coal or cases of Fosters. They have more people wanting it than they have seats for them, so their options are to ration it, possibly with a lottery, or to raise the price until supply meets demands. They have chosen the second path, and used these funds to lower tuition for their citizens - whose taxes went to building the universities in the first place.

Is "only rich foreigners can go" really any worse than "only lucky foreigners can go"?

In the US the University of California system does the same thing with out-of-state students. Who benefits? Poor Californians. Is that such a bad thing?

If Canberra is going to subsidize someone to go to college, shouldn't it be Katherine from Katherine (Or Adelaide from Adelaide, or for that matter Sidney from Sydney) before someone from some other country?

 

[jtbell]

Katherine from Katherine

Wow, I've learned something today!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine,_Northern_Territory

And don't forget Elizabeth from Elizabeth...

 

[Vanadium 50]

Wow, I've learned something today!

We aim to please.

And don't forget Elizabeth from Elizabeth...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth,_New_Jersey

"Gateway to Newark"

 

[bhobba]

If Canberra is going to subsidize someone to go to college, shouldn't it be Katherine from Katherine (Or Adelaide from Adelaide, or for that matter Sidney from Sydney) before someone from some other country?

By choosing the right degree, anyone can easily get a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP), which means they are subsidised. It is even easier if you are part of a disadvantaged group like Aboriginals. It is degrees like optometry, pharmacy, and physiotherapy that don't have enough CSP places, and you end up paying the total price. By far, the most cost-effective option is first to do a degree that is easy to get a CSP place in (math or stats is one of those, and as mentioned, they are cheap) and a small number of prerequisites as electives (eg for physiotherapy the prerequisites are one course in human anatomy and one course in human physiology)

Sometimes, you may have to start in one degree and transfer (keeping credits) to a combined Bachelor's and Master's degree. If you do poorly (under a credit average), you are unlikely to get a CSP— over that is very likely.

Thanks
Bill

 

[bhobba]

Wow, I've learned something today!

A must-tourist destination if you visit Australia:
https://www.savannahway.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Katherine-7-day.pdf

Travel by the Gahn for an unforgettable experience:
https://www.journeybeyondrail.com.au/journeys/the-ghan/

Believe it or not, it has two university campuses, part of Charles Darwin University. Engineering is a very popular major.

I must mention right next to where I live - The Scenic Rim - named one of the top 10 places in the world to visit:
https://nightfall.com.au/lonely-planet-glamping-scenic-rim/

On the map, I live in Redland Bay.

When I was a kid, nearly every weekend, my parents would drive me and my best friend to Mt Tambourine with my dog - Scamp. Lunch was often at St Bernard's Hotel:
https://stbernardshotel.com.au/

Paradise - but watch for the ticks and stinging trees.

Thanks
Bill