How to get admission into Master's in Astronomy after electrical engineering

[Harshil]

Hello,

I am Harshil from india. I have completed my Bachelor's in electrical and now i want to do Master's in Astronomy, so i have few questions please answre it...

1) Can i get the admission in MS/Msc astronomy if i have done electrical engineering?

2) If the answer of first question is yes then which University(in any country) is best to do MS/Msc in astronomy (after electrical)

3) I want to study Astrophysics, Stars, galaxies, high energy physics, galactic astronomy, interstellar astronomy, stellar astronomy, Cosmology, observational astronomy, exoplanets etc... So which University provides these all courses in their masters...

Please provide the information...

Thank you

 

[Vanadium 50]

Please provide the information...

That's a lot of work you've dumped on our laps. Can you tell us what research you've done on this?

 

[Harshil]

I have searched some universities which provides MS/Msc courses in astronomy as shown in below image

above listed universities provides astronomy courses but i have to confirm that these universities accept those students who has done their Bachelor's in electrical? because in the eligibility criteria they written that for graduate study in astronomy you have your Bachelor's in physics, astronomy, astrophysics and some time engineering is acceptable but which engineering stream...

So i want to know that Which University provide me astronomy course after electrical engineering which coursework cover Astrophysics, Stars, galaxies, high energy physics, galactic astronomy, interstellar astronomy, stellar astronomy, Cosmology, observational astronomy, exoplanets etc.

If there are other universities listed above then suggest me...

 

[DEvens]

Don't despair. My prof when I did my PhD in physics had an undergrad in mechanical engineering. It is possible.

Preliminary advice: The support staff at a university are very important to you. Be very nice and extremely polite to clerks, secretaries, and similar. They can answer the simple questions that the profs won't be bothered with. If you need a form or should apply for something, they will know and be able to help you.

Generally questions about getting admitted to a graduate program will depend on the university. Different programs at different universities have different competition. Some places are incredibly popular and so turn down all but the very top students. Others are less popular.

So you need to search around for schools that catch your interest, and contact them directly. Google will help you here. Most schools have some kind of web site. Find the contact info for the school, probably something like graduate admissions or registrar or something like that. Ask them about specific programs and requirements. Ask about what you need to put in your application.

Don't forget to ask what language you will study in at the school. If you don't speak a language they teach in, that's probably a bad fit.

Different degree programs will have different requirements. Astronomy and other related subjects you mention will almost certainly require you have substantial mathematics, at least calculus for two years. They will also be likely to want you to have taken certain physics classes, things like classical mechanics. It would help if you knew at least a little relativity, at least special relativity. But the specific degree at the specific university will have different requirements. They will know better than we can. You need to contact them directly and ask.

Students studying in a country other than their home country have challenges. Often the fees for foreign students are considerably higher. So the question is one of how you will pay and how you will pay to keep yourself living. Food, clothes, a house or apartment. Graduate programs sometimes have financial support. You often have to apply for such things. That means you need to find out what support exists, which again means you should contact the university directly.

If you have a specific university in mind, there are probably lots of students from your home country already there. You should search out a student's association for them. At the university I went to there were several different such groups, China, India, Russia, some others. These students exchange such things as how to adapt to the local culture, what scholarships to apply for, how to fill in the government forms and the school forms, and where to get "cooking like at home."

 

[Harshil]

Don't despair. My prof when I did my PhD in physics had an undergrad in mechanical engineering. It is possible.

Preliminary advice: The support staff at a university are very important to you. Be very nice and extremely polite to clerks, secretaries, and similar. They can answer the simple questions that the profs won't be bothered with. If you need a form or should apply for something, they will know and be able to help you.

Generally questions about getting admitted to a graduate program will depend on the university. Different programs at different universities have different competition. Some places are incredibly popular and so turn down all but the very top students. Others are less popular.

So you need to search around for schools that catch your interest, and contact them directly. Google will help you here. Most schools have some kind of web site. Find the contact info for the school, probably something like graduate admissions or registrar or something like that. Ask them about specific programs and requirements. Ask about what you need to put in your application.

Don't forget to ask what language you will study in at the school. If you don't speak a language they teach in, that's probably a bad fit.

Different degree programs will have different requirements. Astronomy and other related subjects you mention will almost certainly require you have substantial mathematics, at least calculus for two years. They will also be likely to want you to have taken certain physics classes, things like classical mechanics. It would help if you knew at least a little relativity, at least special relativity. But the specific degree at the specific university will have different requirements. They will know better than we can. You need to contact them directly and ask.

Students studying in a country other than their home country have challenges. Often the fees for foreign students are considerably higher. So the question is one of how you will pay and how you will pay to keep yourself living. Food, clothes, a house or apartment. Graduate programs sometimes have financial support. You often have to apply for such things. That means you need to find out what support exists, which again means you should contact the university directly.

If you have a specific university in mind, there are probably lots of students from your home country already there. You should search out a student's association for them. At the university I went to there were several different such groups, China, India, Russia, some others. These students exchange such things as how to adapt to the local culture, what scholarships to apply for, how to fill in the government forms and the school forms, and where to get "cooking like at home."

Well i found that University of British columbia in Canada accepts electrical engineer for their Master's course as shown in image

And the coursework provide by the university is shown in below image...

But i have few questions...
1) If i will get admission in this university then university teach me all topics (astronomy dynamics, galactic astronomy, high energy physics, stellar astronomy, observational astronomy, astronomical statistics etc.) they have written in their coursework or i have to select particular one topic for my graduate study...

2) They have written that "This course is not eligible for D/Fail grading" what is meaning of this statement...

 

[jtbell]

1) If i will get admission in this university then university teach me all topics (astronomy dynamics, galactic astronomy, high energy physics, stellar astronomy, observational astronomy, astronomical statistics etc.) they have written in their coursework or i have to select particular one topic for my graduate study...

There should be something on the website titled “Requirements for the degree” or something similar, telling you how many credits you need and which courses (if any) are specifically required for all students. You would choose other courses (“electives”) according to your interests, to complete the required number of credits.

 

[Harshil]

There should be something on the website titled “Requirements for the degree” or something similar, telling you how many credits you need and which courses (if any) are specifically required for all students. You would choose other courses (“electives”) according to your interests, to complete the required number of credits.

Thank you jtbell for information ...
can you provide me the information related to my second question...

 

[Vanadium 50]

can you provide me the information related to my second question...

Here's what I did. I went to the UBC website, typed it "Credit/D/Fail Grading", and the very first link was to the explanation: https://students.ubc.ca/enrolment/courses/creditdfail-grading

This is the sort of thing UBC expects its students can do on their own.

 

[Harshil]

Here's what I did. I went to the UBC website, typed it "Credit/D/Fail Grading", and the very first link was to the explanation: https://students.ubc.ca/enrolment/courses/creditdfail-grading

This is the sort of thing UBC expects its students can do on their own.

Thank you vanadium 50...

 

[DEvens]

The UBC Indian Students Association has a Facebook page. Probably it would be valuable for the original poster to at least look at that page. They can very likely give you all kinds of hints as to how to be happy at UBC.

https://www.facebook.com/ubcutsav/
They probably can tell you the things that neither you nor us even know you should ask.

 

[sunrah]

View attachment 249537...which coursework cover Astrophysics, Stars, galaxies, high energy physics, galactic astronomy, interstellar astronomy, stellar astronomy, Cosmology, observational astronomy, exoplanets etc.

If there are other universities listed above then suggest me...

I can tell you about the Sussex course from personal experience. It's a good department, but the course is quite standard. Tbh many students seemed bored/struggling and I found some of the teaching to be less than inspiring. (One lecturer would regularly finish class after just 20 minutes because "it's Friday guys".)

Anyway it focuses heavily on stellar/galactic/extragalactic. There is strong focus on interstellar medium as well as galaxy formation. There is no planetary science or exoplanets, so if that's what interests you then look at Birmingham, Keele or Open Universities imo. (For solar/plasma physics maybe UCL, Queen Mary or Glasgow.)

There are cosmology options: General Relativity, Cosmology, Early Universe. The GR reader is an excellent teacher.

The research at Sussex is world class, but PhD places are very limited imo. They are involved with several projects like Dark Energy Survey.

However, to get into the MSc is quite easy. These days getting into any MSc in the UK is pretty much just like walking through the door and saying "Hi!". They will probably accept your engineering qualifications, just contact the course convenor and seek his advice. They may just want to talk to you to see you'v learned the right stuff. TBH I found that I had done a lot of the course work at undergraduate or just through private study.

If you have any questions I don't mind answering. In general it was ok if I'm honest. The only advice I'd give is choose wisely when it comes to your thesis project. The level of commitment and support you will get from your supervisor will vary considerably from person to person, so be sure you can handle the material on your own, but this probably applies to all MSc courses.

 

[KevinMcCabe]

Although in their criteria they have mentioned you can have engineering background and still get accepted, I think because you are changing your subject you should be able to strongly demonstrate why you are a suitable candidate for this position. Apart from here in the forum, have you got any professional consultation from somewhere else?

 

[Harshil]

Although in their criteria they have mentioned you can have engineering background and still get accepted, I think because you are changing your subject you should be able to strongly demonstrate why you are a suitable candidate for this position. Apart from here in the forum, have you got any professional consultation from somewhere else?

No yet i haven't met any consultation apart from forum...

 

[Harshil]

I can tell you about the Sussex course from personal experience. It's a good department, but the course is quite standard. Tbh many students seemed bored/struggling and I found some of the teaching to be less than inspiring. (One lecturer would regularly finish class after just 20 minutes because "it's Friday guys".)

Anyway it focuses heavily on stellar/galactic/extragalactic. There is strong focus on interstellar medium as well as galaxy formation. There is no planetary science or exoplanets, so if that's what interests you then look at Birmingham, Keele or Open Universities imo. (For solar/plasma physics maybe UCL, Queen Mary or Glasgow.)

There are cosmology options: General Relativity, Cosmology, Early Universe. The GR reader is an excellent teacher.

The research at Sussex is world class, but PhD places are very limited imo. They are involved with several projects like Dark Energy Survey.

However, to get into the MSc is quite easy. These days getting into any MSc in the UK is pretty much just like walking through the door and saying "Hi!". They will probably accept your engineering qualifications, just contact the course convenor and seek his advice. They may just want to talk to you to see you'v learned the right stuff. TBH I found that I had done a lot of the course work at undergraduate or just through private study.

If you have any questions I don't mind answering. In general it was ok if I'm honest. The only advice I'd give is choose wisely when it comes to your thesis project. The level of commitment and support you will get from your supervisor will vary considerably from person to person, so be sure you can handle the material on your own, but this probably applies to all MSc courses.

Thank you sunrah for information... I will search for universities mentioned in your post and then if i have query i will ask here...

Other then this if you have any suggestions regarding this course you can suggest me...

 

[kathan_26]

I can tell you about the Sussex course from personal experience. It's a good department, but the course is quite standard. Tbh many students seemed bored/struggling and I found some of the teaching to be less than inspiring. (One lecturer would regularly finish class after just 20 minutes because "it's Friday guys".)

Anyway it focuses heavily on stellar/galactic/extragalactic. There is strong focus on interstellar medium as well as galaxy formation. There is no planetary science or exoplanets, so if that's what interests you then look at Birmingham, Keele or Open Universities imo. (For solar/plasma physics maybe UCL, Queen Mary or Glasgow.)

There are cosmology options: General Relativity, Cosmology, Early Universe. The GR reader is an excellent teacher.

The research at Sussex is world class, but PhD places are very limited imo. They are involved with several projects like Dark Energy Survey.

However, to get into the MSc is quite easy. These days getting into any MSc in the UK is pretty much just like walking through the door and saying "Hi!". They will probably accept your engineering qualifications, just contact the course convenor and seek his advice. They may just want to talk to you to see you'v learned the right stuff. TBH I found that I had done a lot of the course work at undergraduate or just through private study.

If you have any questions I don't mind answering. In general it was ok if I'm honest. The only advice I'd give is choose wisely when it comes to your thesis project. The level of commitment and support you will get from your supervisor will vary considerably from person to person, so be sure you can handle the material on your own, but this probably applies to all MSc courses.

Hello,
My name is Kathan. My case is exactly similar to Harshil. My question is that should I apply for Msc program Or derect Phd program afert completing undergraduate degree in electrical engineering.