Returning to the US for Grad School in Physics

[Spriteling]

I am currently a third year student in Scotland, originally from America. I will most likely graduate in 2012 with a joint honours degree in mathematics and physics. I am strongly considering returning to the US for grad school.

If I graduate in 2012, I'll have a BSc. As I understand, most schools in the US will accept you for a PhD directly from your bachelor's, no need for a master's year. Is this correct? As I will have graduated in three years from uni with my bachelor's, would it look better to stay on for the integrated master's year?

Furthermore, when should I take the GRE? I'd also like to know how competitive the top schools are (Harvard, MIT, Caltech, etc) for admission for a PhD. I will almost certainly graduate with a first class degree (the top honours qualification). I've taken extra courses in all of my years, and have the equivalent of a 4.0. Would I have a chance at these schools?

I haven't done much substantive research yet, though I am doing a semi-formal research project on the thermodynamic properties of black holes. I've no idea if we'll get a paper out of this, though. I've applied to participate in REUs this summer, and if those fall through, one of my professors has agreed to find a project for me to work on.

All in all, I suppose I'd just like some general advice on the process. Going to school in the UK means that there isn't a lot of support for applications to the US, so I'm trying to find things out on my own.

Thanks in advance!

 

[G01]

Hi Spriteling! To answer your questions:

1) Yes, most US Physics PhD programs accept "post-bachelor" students, so you'll be fine if you don't have a masters.

2) If you want, you can take the GRE once this april, to get the feel for it, though this isn't neccessary. Either way, you should study like hell over the summer and take it, "for real," in October. There is also a November test, but you may not get your scores back before some application deadlines. I don't recommend waiting until November for this reason.

3)There no reason you shouldn't apply to the top schools, but make sure you have some safety schools in the mix too. You seem like a competitive applicant from what I can tell, given the information you posted. Unfortunately, there will be many, many people with similar backgrounds applying. Getting into the top schools is a crap shoot, even for the best of the best. Also, you'll be competing with people who have more research experience/publications.

Again, you should definitely apply to your top schools, but be prepared and have some good backup schools lined up as well.

This forum is a great place to get grad school application advice! A lot of the posters here have been through this process, and we can help you as much as we can.

 

[Someone1987]

Hi Spriteling,

G01 has given you great advice. I would like to add that in order to be the most competitive for the "top" schools you should aim to get 900+ (and as close to 990 as possible) on the Physics GRE. This is not to say that getting below this score will necessarily keep you out of the top schools just that it will be much harder to get into them without acing the PGRE.

For the general procedure, I would recommend taking a good look at the department webpages of the universities you would like to apply to and compiling a list of schools that are conducting research in the areas that interest you. If you are still undecided about what subfield you would like to pursue, then my recommendation would be to apply to large departments so you can keep your options open.

Hope this helps and best of luck!