Grad school Definition and 1000 Threads

Hi everybody. I am graduating in May with a BS in mathematics. This semester I am taking calc based physics 1 and would like to continue taking physics classes after I graduate with a view to taking the gre physics subject test and getting into a physics graduate program. Would it hurt my...

I have been curious about something concerning universities for a while. I originally got a my BS in Physics at Louisiana Tech University. And right now I am doing Graduate study in Electrical Engineering at Southern University and AM. I am posting to ask if the type of public school really...

Hello forum, I'm a current undergrad student in radiation health physics planning to apply for medical physics grad schools in the US. There are a few things that make me worry: my GPA (3.24 cumulative) isn't superb because my first two year of undergrad was troublesome (my recent performances...

Hi Guys, So I am in a pretty peculiar pickle, by the end of my junior year I will have completed all graduation requirements for both my majors (Physics and Mathematics) and all graduation requirements for the university to grant me my degree. I want to emphasize that I am not overloading on...

I am an undergraduate Physics major, and I cannot decide if I want to go to grad school fro Astrophysics or Electrical Engineering; I love them both. I want to combine the two, and so my ideal job would be working on the electronics and technology used in space. I would love to work on projects...

How much should one weigh a grad school's location when choosing? Especially when it means living close to family and friends? If you had a choice between a rank 25-30 school in mathematics with an advisor who isn't famous, but does research which you are very interested in, and the school is...

I graduated with my BS in physics in 2005 with a 3.75 GPA. Now I'm teaching high school physics and find myself wanting to get an advanced degree. I'd like to get a PhD eventually, but I'm not really sure how to get back into that world. I figured going through my upper-level textbooks and...

Hello all, Sorry for the long(ish) post but please bear with me, I've been reading posts in this forum for a while but haven't posted myself before. I have the feeling this sort of thread crops up a lot but I really feel like I need some advice. So I'm applying for masters programs in...

Hey guys, I've been asking around trying to see what schools on my list are 'reach', 'safety', or 'matches' for my profile. I was wondering if you guys could take a look and let me know if there's something that's too crazy or well within reach (or if I should just wait 'till next semester based...

Hi , I finished my undergrad major in physics this fall. I wish to apply to grad school for next fall, so I need some book review books on physics, I n my university we followed Griffith's intro to QM as textbook, I solved almost all the problems there upto chapt 7, but this seemed a more...

Hello, so I am a freshman at a medium-sized state school that is not particularly known for its physics program (University of Illinois at Chicago). Due to some college credit I received in high school, I am set to graduate anywhere from one to two years early. I am a double major in physics...

I am about to graduate with an aerospace engineering degree. I am planning to go into grad school for Applied physics(probably plasma physics), which I find very interesting. But the main reason I joined the aerospace degree was because I was interested in CFD. But since I could't land any...

I'm applying for graduate school but am from a basically unknown state school. My stats can be found here: http://www.physicsgre.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=5735. I am looking for a low ranked or unranked theoretical cosmology/hep-th school or a similarly ranked observational astronomy program...

I'm applying to grad schools soon, and I'm really nervous about my prospects. I grew up in a really violent and screwed up home situation, and I was pretty much a fish out of water when I came to college. I almost flunked out during my first two years. Once I shook myself out of it and decided I...

My objective is to learn programs and techniques that will prove beneficial to my physics degree. I am going on to grad school to get a physics PhD but I will be staying 1 more year as an undergrad. A CS minor is probably too broad for me because I only want to learn specific programs that will...

Im trying to figure out if I want to go to grad school or to try and find a job. Which is more stressful grad school or working in industry in a stem field. obviously it will be very hard to find a job in stem. would it be better to work in industry and gain experience or go to grad school?

So I'm looking for opinions on the list of grad schools I'm looking to apply for. I am not sure if I am applying to too many "reach" schools or not. I am interested in doing plasma physics, most likely experiment and computation, but theory isn't completely out of the question either. First...

I graduated with my BS in physics/astronomy in 2010, and at that point I was super burnt out on school, and knew that I would not be able to handle grad school, and had no interest at all in doing research. Since then, I have been working in informal science education (including a one year grad...

Would you guys suggest taking more advanced courses in physics or education for a junior and senior course load to prepare for grad school when you're majoring in physics education post undergrad?

I'm beginning to apply to grad schools (primarily in observational or computational cosmology and extragalactic astronomy) but have a deep interest in M-theory and quantum gravity although I haven't been able to study it. I very much enjoy theory and think that I would find studying M-theory or...

I'd like to forget about the whole thing due to poor performance in a couple areas. I'm assuming in the future all that will matter is my grad school transcript and outside of the first year or two of a PhD program I doubt anyone would ask for my undergrad grades, perhaps they would just ask for...

Hey everyone, I'm sorry for posting this sort of thread. However , I'm really freaking out and in need of some advice. I just got my physics gre score today and it's a 700 ( 52%). I thought I did much better on this exam, but it looks like I have made careless mistakes. Last year I...

First things first. I'd give anything to stay in grad school. I never have had an issue with classes and I study on my own all the time. I also still take classes through MOOCs. In fact, I actually dropped out so I could do more physics. I was working in a lab and things were just going...

I'm a physics and likely math major, heading into the second half of the first semester of my sophomore year in college. I started college taking all sophomore classes having placed out of all freshmen courses. I did poorly my first year and this year, thus far I have started off similarly, only...

I am considering doing a one year Masters Program at my school in quantitative finance because: It is a very good program that is offered at my school which I could get into without taking any GRE's qualifying exams, or even application essays It would allow me get a relatively high paying job...

I am a math student, but I was hoping I could find advice on this forum. In my third year, I retook a second-year stats course simply to improve my grade (the only time I've ever done this). I also ended up getting a work study position that same semester focusing on Bayesian statistical...

I had been planning on going to grad school in the field of computer science, but I am having second thoughts from my experiences reaching out to participate in research as an undergrad. I would like to hear your experiences, especially the bad ones/parts.

I was wondering about doing grad school after my bachelors, but I was wondering how that works. Do most people put their professional life while doing it? I was thinking of teaching HS(High school) throughout my time as a graduate student, but it seems pretty overwhelming having a job AND being...

I'm going to finish undergrad in a year and I'm almost sure I can make it to a good university, in fact the best in my country. You may say its too soon for worrying about grad school now but I have reasons for that. I really like physics and I want to stay in it. I mean, after being introduced...

Hi there! I'm choosing my Grad School Applications now. I'm looking for a balance of reach and safety school- all with programs I'd like. Now, when I find a school I like, how can I tell what my chances of being accepted are? Is there a resource I can use to tell how competitive a program...

Hi, I was hoping to apply to some of the graduate programs in Medical Physics this fall and needed some advice/suggestions for the same. It would be great if someone could help me out with the following issues: Is it a good idea to consider only the CAMPEP accredited programs? If I...

I started graduate school this week after getting my BS in May of 2012. I'm having to review a lot of material. Heh. I've finished most of the homework, but I'm a bit stumped on two easy problems. The induction proof is no problem; I just haven't been able to find a formula. The nth partial...

Hi, I'm applying this semester to get into a Phd program, math or possibly physics and am serious about it, however I have only completed a Bachelor level degree and while I studied very hard and know as much as I can it just keeps on surprising me when I see the level of degree of the work...

I did my undergrad in mathematics, and I really enjoyed studying that subject. After graduating, I've been continuing my study in Real Analysis with one of my undergrad professors, and I really feel like I'm blooming into a decent analysis student. This week I'm going to start learning...

Hi, I have heard from multiple sources that you need good research record to be admitted to any top grad school and most of them want recommendations from research groups, on other hand, most professors who do theory consider undergrads not to be qualified enough to help them in any manner...

Hi there, fellow physics forums members & guests. I'm starting the 1st semester of grad school, and I'm faced with a tough choice between two different classes. I could take Intermediate Analysis 1 or Applied Linear Algebra. The only course I've taken involving proofs is Discrete Math...

Hello, I am going to begin my senior year soon as a physics/mathematics double major, and I will be applying to graduate schools later this fall. I am unsure how I rank in the field, and would like to know how people think of my status. Major GPA (physics): 3.52 Major GPA (math): 3.80...

what countries(aside from Canada and USA) have good schools for going to engineering grad school? I'm also looking for a country where the cost of living and tuition of schools is not that pricey. Any ideas? Thanks

I switched majors after my third year to physics. As a result, I have an unordinary schedule. I will be graduating either in summer of 2015 or fall of 2015. I haven't taken the GREs yet, and I am not planning on taking them this coming fall since I am doubling up on physics courses and don't...

Okay, so I had a phone interview and I have an interview for a PhD program in Photonics this week. I know first impressions matter, so I want to know what to wear. I have a campus tour, lunch with the professor, a tour of the facilities etc. Online I'm seeing every suggestion from "not dirty...

hi, I am planning to go to grad school for bme but also interested in electrical engineering. So before going to grad school, i want to take some useful and potential prequisite courses. Are there any you guys can recommend? Thank you!

I will be applying for schools soon in physics, although my bachelors is in chemistry. Although I have decided that I would rather pursue physics than chemistry in graduate school, at the moment, I do not have my heart set on any specific sub-discipline of physics. So, assuming I have absolutely...

Hello PF! Today have not been my day, as in calc 2, which I expected to get an A-, I ended with the final grade B+. A single grade wouldn't discourage me, but I am also taking a different math course (much harder) that I expect to get nothing more than a B- at most. Not a good way to start...

I'm getting ready to apply to grad schools, and I'm having a hard time choosing schools to apply to. I'm an applied math major, and I'm really interested in mathematical/computational biology. I don't necessarily want to study math in grad school, but I'm open to math programs with a more...

Hey guys, I'm going into my third year of college and I really want to go to grad school. Unfortunately, I messed up really badly this year, so my GPA is currently a 2.743. Here's my grade breakdown: Freshman year (fall): General Chemistry I: B+ English Writing: B+ Calculus I: C Intro...

Hi everyone. I'm a twenty-four year old and I just finished college with a degree in biochemistry. I wanted to get into graduate school but I didn't get get in. I was thinking of working for a year and applying again but part of me thinks I'm not ready for more school. I love science but I...

Hi, I'm an applied math major who wants to go to grad school for molecular biology. In my plan, I have included: Intro to cell biology & lab Intro to genetics Intro to microbiology molecular biology & lab advanced cell biology bioinformatics biological sequence analysis intro to...

I am planning to attend the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Pakistan starting this September for my undergraduate degree in engineering. I understand that getting into a grad school ranked in the top 50 after getting my BS would pretty difficult, if not impossible. I also...

Hello all, I'm a third year applied mathematics major. After finishing my undergrad, I hope to transition to an engineering oriented grad program. Preferably it would be in electrical engineering, but honestly I love all engineering. 1) What schools should I look into? 2) With a good...

Hello Physics Forums, I'll be graduating with an Ms in Applied Physics in 2014/15. I could see myself getting deeply interested in high energy theories from SM to SUSY to LGR to string theory. Particularly string theory - even before my first lecture on F=ma I daydreamed about a rudimentary...