Grad school Definition and 1000 Threads

I'm a rising junior and will very likely apply to physics graduate school during senior year, but I'm also thinking about applying for a Fulbright Scholarship or other programs that would be a year long and not necessarily involve physics. Everything I found when I searched this forum said...

I'm curious as to where I should apply for grad school in that I don't want to waste my time on colleges out of my league. I'm looking to study density functional theory or alike so I guess physical chemistry or soft matter physics(can anyone really draw the line?). I should be graduating with a...

I got kicked out of my University. Should I still invest farther time and money to get a college education? Do I still have a shot at Graduate school? I got dismissed from the University of California, Davis due to my unsatisfactory grades I got there during my freshmen year. I admit I didn't...

Can you go to math grad school and study applied math that focuses on physics. And also study regular math?

Hi. I am hoping to pursue high energy physics in graduate school. I have a few extra math electives I need to take for my math degree(majoring in math and physics). I was wondering if these classes would be of any real relevance Abstract Algebra Algebraic Geometry Lie AlgebrasDifferential...

I recently got back my final marks for the first half of my courses (3rd year physics in Spain) and am getting a little frustrated at the fact that my marks don't reflect the work I've put into them. Grades in my country's system work as follows: "Aprobado" (5.0-6.9/10) "Notable"...

Hello everyone, I have been a reader of this forum for quite some time and so I've read plenty on this topic. I have a question though... When applying to graduate schools most people first think about rankings (and then all other factors come in - research specialities, location, atmosphere...

So I'm graduating in a little under two weeks with a degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The thing is, having looked at my transcript, I did way way better in my Chem (3.66 GPA) and Physics courses (3.4 GPA, though we were only required to take the introductory level Physics courses)...

I am board certified Dosimetrist (CMD) and have been accepted to a Medical Physics Graduate Program but it is NOT Campep approved. If I attend and graduate will I be able to get into a Campep approved medical physics residency? Will I be dramatically less competitive vs. Phd applicants. I have a...

I am entering the final year of my undergraduate studies. From what I understand, it is fairly common for students to apply to grad school halfway through their final year. However, I am thinking of working for a couple of years before applying to grad school. Would that hamper my chances of...

I am currently majoring in Applied Physics and have an interest in electronic devices and material properties. I am applying to grad school in the fall and having trouble deciding between Material Science, Physics, and EE. I am currently leaning towards EE but was wondering if anyone here had...

Hello all, This is very long and I apologize! I tend to be somewhat thorough, haha. I have a couple of things that have been weighing on my mind that I hope someone may have some insight on. Mainly, I am concerned with my preparation for grad school. Specifically I am worried about my...

I aspire to getting into a reputable US physics grad school. As I'm aware of so far (correct me if I'm wrong), there are 4 main things grad schools look at: (in no particular order) 1. Your GPA 2. Your research experience 3. Recommendation letters 4. Your physics GRE score Do any of...

I should begin by stating that I'm going to be a college Freshman this upcoming fall, and I plan on majoring in Physics. I took Multivariable Calculus at my local community college, and I did not receive too good of a grade in the class because I couldn't attend the lectures (they were at the...

Which of these mathematical courses are useful for theoretical/mathematical physics? Topology/Geometry-related set of courses Topology Integral geometry Topology of Lagrangian manifolds Riemannian geometry Differential forms on Riemannian manifolds Algebra-related set of courses...

Greetings. I plan to apply for the PhD program in physics at the the University of Miami. I want to go there because it is in my home town. Its physics department, it seems, is not stellar. My real disappoinment is the apparent lack of courses: they teach statistical mechanics, quantum...

Hi, I am a rising sophomore at Lehigh University. Currently, I am a Mech E major with an Aerospace Engr minor. My main interest is Aerospace Engineering, and so i plan on going to grad school(the best ones, obviously) in Aerospace Eng. research. However, I need some advice regarding choosing...

I feel very comfortable doing this because I've taken numerical analysis and written a short term paper on numerical approximations for PDEs. I am very strong in linear algebra and have calc I/II. The reason I ask for advice is because I have just graduated from undergrad with a degree in...

I will be starting my first year as a phd physics student in the fall. I'm trying to get everything I need to start my first year of grad school. The one thing I'm not sure of is whether I should get a laptop or a desktop for graduate school. I am going into theorectical amo. Also I plan to...

Greetings! Maybe a silly little question but here goes. Suppose that a couple that are both in the same department and are about to finish their studies at about the same time and both want to apply for some postgraduate program at the same department (or at least the same town/city). Is...

Hi Guys (and Gals), I hope no one minds that I posted this in "Academic Guidance", but I figured this is something you all have dealt with... I'm starting graduate school in the fall and I'm looking to buy a new laptop. I will be traveling on the train/bus with it daily so I want something on...

Before I begin, I am still a year removed from applying to grad schools. However, it never hurts to read up on some information beforehand. How binding and obligatory is the initial declaration of area of interest on the application? In other words, once you get into grad school, can you...

Hello, I am a student currently in my junior year that is starting to narrow down his graduate school search. I am primarily looking at Canadian schools for grad school at the moment, and I was just looking for some advice as to which schools would be the best ones for me to apply to. The...

Hello, I'll be graduating in one year with a BS in Physics and a BS in Applied Mathematics. I've done research in Astrophysics and Photovoltaics, and I'm considering pursuing a graduate degree (either MS or PhD) in Material Science Engineering. I've looked at various school websites and it...

I am a first year student (canadian citizen) at the University of Toronto in Canada- It's a pretty big university so hopefully someone will know their policies and what not. I'll get straight to the point- I totally flunked first year. I failed 2 courses and received a very low gpa. I'm...

Hi everyone. I am a EU national that did a large part of his education in the US. Upon graduating from a US high school, I got into a big IT school of my choice and had a good future ahead of of me. However, due number of reasons including a lack of emotional maturity, wrong choice of major, bad...

Hey, So I was hoping to get anyones opinion on a situation I'm in. I'm currently planning on graduating in 4 years with a honors in mathematics and physics (it would entail a thesis in math and some research credit in physics). I'm on track to complete that, however, I'm currently thinking of...

I understand the importance of letters of recommendation for grad school applications. My question is: ideally, how much should my recommender know about me? I ask this because I study in a top, big research school in which the interaction between the undergrad researcher and the PI is very...

How important is your GPA for grad school admissions? I study in a very competitive college (top 3 in physics) and, for most classes, even though grade inflation exists, getting an A+ can be extremely hard (top 5%) and require substantially more work than getting an A (which isn't that hard). Do...

Hey Guys. I was wondering if having a minor would be important for applying to graduate school in pure math. I realized about 2 months ago that if I want to keep a minor in my degree either: 1. I have to take six courses in the winter semester (2 upper math, 2upper physics, 1 2nd year stats...

So, I'll be going to grad school in condensed matter physics in a couple years, and since my current laptop is on it's last legs I'll need a new computer. However, I do still have a nice monitor which still works. As I see it, I have two options: 1. Get a new laptop, and hook it up to the...

Hi. I've been lurking the forums for quite some time now, but I haven't found an answer to what I wanted to know. I'm currently an undergrad double majoring in Applied Physics and "Computer Systems" (a.k.a., Computer Engineering, they just changed the name) from a "not-that-bad"...

I will be entering my third year of undergrad this fall in the process of earning my Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. My current stats for school such as GPA is 3.74 (no research experience, already taking upper-level undergrad mathematics courses, maybe a few grad courses). However, I am...

I'm a first-year grad student studying physics. I've always heard that grades in grad school don't matter too much; just maintain at least a 3.0 GPA, or whatever the minimum is to maintain funding, and everything's fine. Since "grades don't matter," I haven't put too much focus on...

Ok, so I am currently majoring in physics with he intention of going to grad school for a masters in engineering (not sure which division yet) and then possibly working as an engineer while continuing school and possibly earning a phd at some point. I'm currently a sophomore and have a 4.0...

hey, i am a undergraduate student earning a degree in physics. I am a little unsure as to whether going immediately to grad school, or trying to get a job with a BS in physics will benefit me more when eventually attempting to pursue a career in physics. i understand that the physics careers are...

This summer I am going to participate in a REU program at a top school for my field. I'm not a super spectacular student but get decent grades and do some quality research (but no publications yet). Honestly, I'm not quite sure why they picked me, as several of my peers with better grades (but...

Hi everybody. I'd like to go to graduate school in math or applied math. My question is how my grades in a gem chem course my factor into this. For scheduling reasons I'm in an honors sequence and looking at B's throughout since I'm not a chem major (taking the course fulfills requirements for...

I am in the process of deciding where to attend graduate school for CMT. I have essentially narrowed it down to two schools. Choice 1) pluses: top 10 overall, top in CM, lots of theorists minuses: midwest hell (I'm from the midwest, I desperately want to escape) Choice 2)...

I am a junior double major studying bioengineering and mathematics. I attend a top 15 school initially as only a engineering major but added math halfway through my sophomore year. The farther I get into the mathematics programs, the more I love it. I finished the major requirements, and...

I'm looking at getting a PhD in applied math (applied probability, stochastic processes, or PDEs are my main interests) and I feel like people going to grad school have so much more math than I do. Just wanted to know what is normal for someone currently in their sixth semester. I'm a math and...

Right now I'm working towards completing a BS in Materials Science and Engineering along with a BA in Physics in a couple of years. Although I'm not sure whether or not I want to pursue a Master's in Physics, I want to keep that option open for when the time comes. I've looked at a few grad...

When I was in high school I loved science, NASA and outer space stuff. For some reason even though I loved science, I never really applied or pushed myself academically. When I finished high school I started taking classes at my local community college. I only took a few classes at a time and...

I'm going to grad school in the spring of 2013 or maybe take a grad class in fall 2012 and I'm working on deciding on going for math or physics. Here is a quick version of my story so you know my background. 1. In my early 20's I got really excited about physics and wanted to be a...

Hello, I am a sophomore physics and mathematics double major, and I plan to attend graduate school for physics with a concentration in biophysics, or just biophysics. However, this is subject to change, as I find a lot of areas of physics interesting. I was recently accepted to two REU...

Hello everyone. I am an undergraduate senior anticipating degrees in both physics and astrophysics this spring. Until about a year ago I wasn't particularly sure what I wanted to do after graduation. However, after taking upper division QM and particle physics courses I've developed a great...

I am currently a CS undergrad. my university offers no courses in Abstract algebra or Number theory or Topology or Analysis. recently I have got interested in Number theory in Discrete math course. moreover I was and still am interested in algebra too. but the problem is, can I apply to CS grad...

Is there anyone here that can shed some light on the equivalence between Spanish/EU (ECTS) grades and American GPA? I have been researching this for a while but I haven't found anything official. So far I've come up with these 2 pages, showing similar grade equivalences...

Hey Physicists! This post may be relatively long, but thank you to anyone that will actually read it. I have always been interested in Physics and the way things work in general. During my Freshman year, I barely passed Freshman level Physics, but I did. It was during my second year...

Grad School Advice!Please help! Ok so is it an advantage for me to take graduate courses with my undergrad courses and graduate with 17 credits each semester or should I take it easy with 14 credits because taking graduate courses in my research area of interest (the area i will apply to for a...