Seeking Advice on Choice of School

  • Thread starter Thread starter richardfatman
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Choice School
AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on a candidate who has been accepted into several prestigious physics PhD programs, including Stanford, Harvard, and Princeton, and is seeking advice on which to choose. The candidate expresses a desire to focus on high-energy theoretical physics (hep-th) with an interest in formal theory over phenomenology. While acknowledging Princeton's strong reputation in string theory, the candidate is uncertain about their own capabilities in that area and is leaning towards a decision between Stanford and Harvard. Participants in the discussion recommend reaching out to potential supervisors and current graduate students to gain insights into the programs, emphasizing the importance of personal experiences over rankings when making a decision.
richardfatman
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
As the results for physics phd program admissions have come out, I am lucky enough to get into several top programs including Stanford, Harvard and Princeton. So far, I have no clue which one to choose and I would like to hear some advice.

Personally, I would like to study hep-th and I am more interested in formal theory rather than phenomenology. I know that Princeton is undoubtedly the best in string but I am not sure I am intelligent enough to pursue a career in string theory later. So it seems that I will probably make my choice between Stanford and Harvard. Any suggestions and advice are welcomed. thx
 
Physics news on Phys.org
If you haven't already, talk to potential supervisors and current graduate students at the institutions you're considering. Rather than the best program on paper, try to select the best one based on your experiences with each.
 
  • Like
Likes CalcNerd
TL;DR Summary: I want to do a PhD in applied math but I hate group theory, is this a big problem? Hello, I am a second-year math and physics double major with a minor in data science. I just finished group theory (today actually), and it was my least favorite class in all of university so far. It doesn't interest me, and I am also very bad at it compared to other math courses I have done. The other courses I have done are calculus I-III, ODEs, Linear Algebra, and Prob/Stats. Is it a...
Yesterday, 9/5/2025, when I was surfing, I found an article The Schwarzschild solution contains three problems, which can be easily solved - Journal of King Saud University - Science ABUNDANCE ESTIMATION IN AN ARID ENVIRONMENT https://jksus.org/the-schwarzschild-solution-contains-three-problems-which-can-be-easily-solved/ that has the derivation of a line element as a corrected version of the Schwarzschild solution to Einstein’s field equation. This article's date received is 2022-11-15...

Similar threads

Replies
14
Views
2K
Replies
11
Views
2K
Replies
9
Views
2K
Replies
5
Views
2K
Replies
2
Views
2K
Replies
10
Views
5K
Replies
20
Views
2K
Back
Top