- #1
Diracula
- 92
- 1
I have a question regarding how you choose courses to take in graduate school, and the amount of freedom you have in choosing courses. I'm tentatively planning on applying for admissions to PhD programs for 2012, and I'm planning on applying to a mix of biophysics, medical physics, and high energy theory programs. One thing I would like to do is to take courses in both general relativity and quantum field theory irrespective of what field I specialize in or the nature of my thesis topic.
With my background I think I have a much better chance of admission to top schools in biophysics and medical physics as opposed to HEP. Do schools generally allow graduate students specializing in biophysics or medical physics to take GR and QFT courses? Do grad students generally only take courses that apply directly to their research, or are they expected to have more breadth? How much freedom is allowed in choosing courses? One of the main things I want to get out of grad school is at least a basic, preferably a deep, understanding of the basic foundations of physics, and I don't think I'd be completely satisfied if I was only allowed to take classes in radiation physics, stat mech, computational biology, etc.
With my background I think I have a much better chance of admission to top schools in biophysics and medical physics as opposed to HEP. Do schools generally allow graduate students specializing in biophysics or medical physics to take GR and QFT courses? Do grad students generally only take courses that apply directly to their research, or are they expected to have more breadth? How much freedom is allowed in choosing courses? One of the main things I want to get out of grad school is at least a basic, preferably a deep, understanding of the basic foundations of physics, and I don't think I'd be completely satisfied if I was only allowed to take classes in radiation physics, stat mech, computational biology, etc.