Testing Will I need the Physics GRE after an MS?

[Slvtmong00se]

Hello.

Pretty self explanatory. Does having a good masters degree in physics waive the Physics GRE requirement for most US schools?

Going to get an MS from : Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey
Hoping to go for PhD to: a good US school, TBD. Looking at Stony brook, or in general unis from top 20-50.


Thanks!

 

[Lavabug]

No, you still have to/should take the PGRE if the school requires/recommends it. You will also not be exempt from qualifying exams, but some schools allow you to waive some course requirements if you met them with your msc or during your undergrad, as well as take a free swing at the qualifier upon arrival if you want to. Look for the "graduate handbook" of the departments you are looking to apply to, the conditions for this are usually explained there.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Pakistan has truly awful schools. Nobody in your last thread has ever heard of Bilkent. And now you want to skip the GRE? I think you are greatly overestimating how competitive your resume will look.

 

[Physics_UG]

Pakistan has truly awful schools. Nobody in your last thread has ever heard of Bilkent. And now you want to skip the GRE? I think you are greatly overestimating how competitive your resume will look.

He said Turkey, not Pakistan.

 

[jtbell]

According to his other thread, he did his undergraduate in Pakistan, which is probably what led to the confusion.

 

[Physics_UG]

I went to a unknown US university and got accepted to some good grad programs (PhD). I wouldn't worry about how your university ranks.

 

[dipole]

I went to a unknown US university and got accepted to some good grad programs (PhD). I wouldn't worry about how your university ranks.

Big difference.

 

[Physics_UG]

Big difference.

This is true.

 

[Slvtmong00se]

Thanks everybody!

Vanadium_50 I don't *want* to skip the Physics GRE - If I'm not mistaken, wouldn't the material covered for the GRE be very helpful for PhD quals as well?

I was just wondering if a masters can stand in for the Physics GRE as an admission requirement. I was naively expecting that doing well on graduate courses (masters) using standard textbooks (Sakurai, Jackson, Arfken & Weber, etc) and a good masters thesis would also demonstrate suitability for a PhD.

Also, like I said in my earlier thread, people don't seem to have heard of Bilkent, but their alumni seem to do alright which suggests to me that the school isn't necesarrily seen as bad in the US:

http://www.fen.bilkent.edu.tr/~physics/html/alumni.htm

Am I missing or misinterpreting something here?
Any further information or advice would be appreciated.

 

[Jorriss]

I think you are greatly overestimating how competitive your resume will look.

Considering in the other thread he said he doesn't think he can get into a US grad school, and he himself said Pakistan has terrible schools, I think you are misrepresenting what he is asking here.

 

[kinkmode]

Depends on the program I would imagine. Some schools might think an MS is worthy of waiving some requirements, others maybe not. I know that the graduate program I went to didn't really care if you had an MS or not. Well, many of the foreign students had a Masters, but they were still required to do all of the coursework and meet all of the entry requirements. Write the programs you are thinking of applying to and see what they say.

That being said, you will probably look more attractive to a program if you took the Physics GRE and got a high score and had an MS than if you tried to waive the GRE requirement.