Grad school Definition and 1000 Threads

I wanted to post this question because I know a lot of the posters here are professors themselves. So I'm applying to math phd programs and I've been asking profs to write me rec's. My question is why professors insist that I waive my right to see the recommendations. I asked them if they...

Hello everyone, On most university websites, the admission into a masters program requires a honours in BSc. Does this mean you have to graduate with honours or just a degree will do? I have been getting answers from both sides so I am not really sure. Thanks DoubleMint

I'm looking at (physics) grad schools "ranked" between 10 and 40. How common is it to start working at grad school in some capacity (TA, RA, etc.) over the summer before classes start? I could stay at my undergrad institution this summer and keep doing (paid) research. But that would...

Grad School Admissions Question – GPA and “Whole Person Concept” I’ve searched through many of the different grad school threads on the forums and cannot find exactly what I am searching for, or I’m completely missing it. Going into spring semester, I am a little over 50% through my degree...

Hey all, I'm starting uni in 2010, and am still somewhat unsure of what I want to study. In Canada, I can dual major in Mathematics and Computer Science, my two main interests, which I can't do in Norway. My question then, is.. If I dual major in Math & CS, will I be able to apply to grad...

Would earning a B.S in Mathematics and a B.A in Physics look better for graduate school consideration, or a B.S in Physics and a B.A in Mathematics?

I am currently a third year student at uchicago, and I have a question relating to grad schools and gpas. I feel like a jerk for throwing out my numbers, but it is relevant to my question. My cumulative GPA (including all sorts of non sciencey classes) is a 3.6, my physics only gpa is a 4...

Hello, I didn't do so well on two of my breadth courses this semester (half credits) so I went to a calculator and calculated that my highest potential (being realistic) GPA for this year would be in the 3.3 - 3.5 range (although 3.2 is also a possibility). What is considered a "good gpa"? And...

I am currently pursuing a BS in pure math. I have recently developed an interest in pursuing graduate studies in physics/astronomy, and I have decided to at least minor in physics. I am wondering what courses I should make sure to have to prepare for graduate school if I cannot double major...

Hello. This is a long post, so some of you may find it a bit boring, and you probably won't want to read all of it. I've read some of the posts related to my questions, but my situation is a bit funkier so I decided to make my own post. Thanks for reading. Questions start with bold numbers...

I'm nearing completion of my undergraduate education, and despite my initial excitement about physics, I seem to have hit a wall and been completely demotivated. I want to go on to graduate school in physics, but my undergrad experience has me second guessing this desire. I've been met with...

I am looking to go to grad school for applied physics next fall. I'm applying to mostly mid grade schools (University of Virginia, University of Maryland at Baltimore County as well as a few smaller ones) and I had two questions: First off, I came from a small liberal arts school where GRE...

Hey all Currently i am in my sophomore year at University A. University B is also close by and has a better reputation for my major. I have been thinking about transferring to University B to finish out my undergrad but University B is one of the schools i have been considering for grad school...

I just started my first year PhD program this semester, so I've been here for almost 3 months now. Adjusting to grad school was harder than I thought, especially when there's not much help from the department. Settling in a new place and depending totally on my self (financially) took some time...

I can think of at least one negative thing about having a physics final exam worth 60% of the overall grade. Namely, you can perform well year-round only to receive a bad case of test anxiety when it matters most. I just took such an exam, and am now almost certainly (>95% chance) going to fail...

I am in the process of applying to PhD programs in Materials Science, and I am having trouble deciding how to round-out my selection of graduate schools. I have been working very hard this semester to prepare graduate application materials and investigate programs in which I would be...

I'm about to apply grad school and I'm trying to get an idea of the field I would like to go into within physics. I'm pretty good with theory but I really prefer hands on work. I would also like to specialize in a topic in which it is easy to find research work that is not related to defense...

So, I was wondering if I could get some ballpark idea of how good I might look to grad schools. I have a 3.55 overall GPA at a top 10 physics school (don't know what my major GPA is right now). I have half a year of research experience, and I've worked with a theorist too. I haven't taken...

Hi, I will be applying for graduate school soon. I plan to make the move in 2011. My interests are still a bit broad. I am interested in eventually learning plasma physics for advanced spacecraft propulsion. I haven't found a graduate level program yet though that is working on soemthing...

UCL grad school -- astrophysics plus engineering Hi, I am thinking about applying to the UCL grad school in something combining astrophysics/instrumentation/planetary. Is UCL any good? I am an non EU European, and I see that UCL has better studentships than Oxbridge --- around 15k compared...

So yes I was wondering is it better to apply for transfer to another PhD program in physics right away or after acquiring a Masters?

Hello everyone, I graduated with a BA a couple years ago. I traveled in Asia for a year, then worked for a year, and got into some math on my own in the process. I returned to school last year to load up on as many tough courses as possible. I've taken/will have taken linear algebra, abstract...

Hi, What is the absolute best grad schools in the US or Europe for String Theory, M-Theory and LQG? I tend to learn better in a classroom environment, so I'm sort of looking for a grad school which actually has relevant courses, and not just a European-style research university where I...

So I'm in my first year of Grad school, where there is a crap load of groups I would like to join. Things like plasma physics (fluid dynamics has always interested me and I'm taking a class on it now), single-molecule detectors, one-way nanopores, and a crapload of things from the engineering...

Hi, I'm currently working on Mathematics (3rd year) and doing Physics alongside. My Universities Math department is ranked well among other top 30 (50?) Universities in US but the Physics department sucks, it really does. I'll have to stick with this university for my remaining undergrad...

How crucial is it to have a strong extracurricular background when applying for graduate school at an Ivy or similar university? I'm involved in a few environmental conservation projects and will soon volunteer for a week-long paleontological excavation project led by my university and the city...

Hello all. I am wondering what my chances are of getting into grad school. I realize there are other posts on the topic, but everyone is in a different situation so I think this is warranted. I have what the university calls a combined honors mathematics and physics BSc degree from the...

Here is my deal. I went to college once and graduated with a BS in chemistry. I worked for a couple of years and decided to finish a physics BS. I want to go to grad school for physics. I would like to study AMO physics. Bose-Einstein Condensates in particular. However, I am open to many areas...

What are my Grad school prospects?!? Ok so i kind of have a unique story. I have bachelors in Mech eng and Math from university of illinois champaign and a bachelors physics from loyola chicago all in 4 years. I would have went phd physics but i thought i wanted the money and went...

I'm applying for graduate schools (3 of them) and obviously I need to send my undergrad transcripts. But they do say all post secondary education. I took dual credit classes in High School that I got Longview community college credit and UMKC credit for. Do I need to list this these colleges in...

Hello, I know this has been asked many times... but I am greatly worried about the verbal GRE session. English is not my first language but I've been around long enough to be considered a fluent speaker. Realistically speaking, I'll probably get around Verbal: ~450 (what if I completely bomb...

Hey all, I'm applying to grad school this fall, and I'm starting to think about my application essay. I'm going for biomedical engineering (specifically imaging), and most of the essay topics are similar (Why is this program right for you? Why do you want to study it? etc.) I just bought...

At the moment I am planning to pursue a bachelors with the end goal of obtaining a masters and potentially a PhD in either the areas of Geophysics, Planetary science, or maybe even Astrobiology. The University I would be attending for the BS degree does offer a BS in Geology and Geophysics, but...

I had a couple of questions about getting ready for grad school, mainly about taking the GRE(physics & general). I'm starting my 4th year this fall and will be applying to grad school next fall, since it's taking me 4 and a half years to graduate. As far as the GRE, I was planning on taking it...

My first two years of attending the university i basically flunked out. I was in a bad personal situation that just messed me up. I shouldn't have been going to school at all. But, I did. I had may be a .75 gpa or something. Needless to say, I was academically dismissed from the school...

I'm talking about engineering grad school (MS). When I say entrepreneur I'm talking R&D for new products/technology/small start-up. Would it be more useful to: A. Keep an existing full time job while going to school part time (paid for by the company with 3 years service after degree)...

Hey all, I just graduated from a small-ish northeastern private liberal arts university known more for it's law and communications departments than it's science education. It's a fairly respectable school but a small physics department, about 50 students in total. I plan on taking a year...

Sorry, I just realized that this should be in the Career Guidance forum. I find the topic of my recent dissertation uninspiring, and I want to go into something completely different for my career. My dissertation was on very specialized and superficial analysis techniques, but I would much...

Hello PF. I have a bachelors in pure math. I've always gone back and forth between physics and math, but math always challenged me more. Not that physics isn't a challenge, just that math as an undergraduate challenged me more. So I always left the physics classes after the freshman ones...

Hello all, How does an internship compare to research experience for grad school? I ask this because I am trying to finalize my private loan plan. If I do an internship for next summer, I will probably end up having to figure in the summer's rent and utilities into my loan for the place I am...

So I'm currently a Physics/Math major with an interest in biophysics. Since biophysics is such an interdisciplinary field, some graduate schools have this area in their biology department, while others have it in their physics department. I looked at MIT's biology site and it says that they are...

I've taken all the usual undergrad math courses needed for undergrad physics: calc, diff eq, linear algebra, etc. However, when I read some of the discussions on this board, or when I look at more advanced books, I'm completely lost by the math! What math do I need to understand? I hear...

So I will be graduating spring 2010 with a degree in biomedical engineering and have decided that i definitely want to get into grad school. Currently as it sits i have a 2.8 at the University I am at right now and a 3.1 at the community college i went to before hand. It averages out to be about...

I've bolded the essentials of this topic. My background as an applicant to grad school is not very strong at all. Here are the main obstacles I'm facing: -No relationships with professors -No research experience -Mediocre grades at the first university I attended I am a transfer...

Would someone be so kind as to enlighten me here? My wife and I were discussing grad school application deadlines (which are still a way off, but it's fun to daydream) and she commented on how early they were at most of the schools we were just glancing at. January 31st was a common date, or...

i have a much better question, that doesn't often get asked: i have a high gpa, excell in my classes, could probably score very well on the gre and pgre, but i hate research so far. and yet i still feel like i should go to grad school. what am i to do?

From EE to Applied Physics...grad school app, undergraduate courses, no research Hi, I'm a senior undergraduate majoring in Electrical Engineering with a CGPA of 3.84/4.0 (normalized to a scale of 4 -- at my college its on a scale of 10). I'll be entering my final year in a few weeks from...

Say two students both express interest in becoming experimentalists of some sort. They both have research experience with experimentalists, comparable GPA's and GRE's, even similar letters of rec. However, one of them took two computer science courses, and the other didn't. Would admissions...

Hello all, I'm entering a graduate program in materials science and engineering in the fall, and I was wondering if anyone had any generic or specific advice (or heads up) about grad school based on your experiences. Thank you.

Hello all, My background is in physics, and I'm entering a graduate program for materials science and engineering this fall. I was wondering if anyone had any generic or specific advice before starting. Thank you.