What is Grad: Definition and 1000 Discussions

Here goes another wild stab in the dark: As a quick refresher, I will be graduating with a bachelors in physics in a month. I was not successful in getting into grad school this year (I got waitlisted at UMN but was ultimately turned down, I also should have applied to more schools/bigger...

Hi everyone, So I'm starting grad school in ME in the fall, but my bachelor's degree is in physics. I went to a school with no engineering college, but I think my knowledge on anything related to physics in engineering is sound, with the exception of fluid and solid mechanics (I know the...

"Electives" in grad school? Hello PF, I am an undergrad student majoring in one of the STEM field. I have a strong interest in particle physics, but I am not really interested in any other discipline of physics. For this reason, I don't think going to grad school in physics is not a...

A question I have always had is what sort of graduate school programs are open to you with a Physics undergrad. Obviously Physics and Astrophysics. But I have also heard Materials Science and Electrical Engineering. Is this true? What other programs would be open to a Physics major? And how...

Hello PF community, I've used this site for quite a while for references on self learning and just plain entertainment. I figured it was time for me to make my own cliche "Can I make it?" thread. Thanks in advance for any responses. I'm going to skip the long part about my history with...

Hello guys, I just want to share my situation, to see if I can still get into a really good grad school. For the most part of my 3 years in college I have gotten straight A's however in fall of 2011 my grandfather and one of my best friend died suddenly. I was mentally broken, and...

This has been a long standing issue of what I should do with my last year and a half of undergraduate education. I really would like to get into a top physics program (obviously), but I am also really interested in applied math and computer science. I would say I am equally interested in applied...

I'm an undergraduate who finished up my junior year this past Spring. I've been looking around at grad schools for physics. However, I find myself about as unwilling to study physics in grad school and leave pure math behind, as I am unwilling to do things the other way around. Math so far has...

I'm mostly looking into fusion but also traditional fission power systems. Good schools seem to be Michigan, Illinois, Cal, MIT maybe a few others. I go to the University of Maryland. Right now I have a 3.71 GPA, downward trending though 4.00 -> 3.55 -> 3.53 over the first three years. I got my...

Hi everyone, I am a biology major (doing premed) as undergraduate right now. I was doing premed, however I volunteered at hospitals and such, and I am strongly starting to believe it is not for me at all. I loved physics in high school, took AP Physics and actively participated in Physics...

grad, curl , div operator got any meaning?? ∇x F (t) same as the first derivative of F with respect to t , or will get the gradient of F which is normal to the F ? ∇ dot F (t) , will get the scalar value of what?? lets say F is force , then can anyone please give me the meaning of those...

Okay, for financial reasons I am just a tad late to the party on where I will be attending school for my Freshman year in college this fall. I have been accepted to several schools in state (I do live in Alabama though, so nothing special) but I feel like saving an incredible load of money at a...

I'll be starting The latter half of my math degree this upcoming Fall term, and while checking some prerequisites for my degree, I realized that I can turn my BS into a BS/MS by adding one more year and a few graduate courses. Now, I've been a bit confused about PhD programs and their...

How much does your GPA during grad school matter? I understand that research is the main thing here but still I wonder. I just recently ended a semester with a B and a B+ and I am not very happy about it. I feel like I worked a lot for both classes and I expected higher grades. I am also pissed...

I will be starting a Mechanical Engineering PhD program at a highly ranked university this upcoming fall. When I first made my decision where to attend, things were fairly turbulent and I was still very unsure what I wanted to accomplish with my research. The entire application and decision...

I have the option of transferring to either a top 5 school in my field or a school ranked about 100, but I could attend the latter with a full tuition scholarship. My question then is, assuming that I am only an average student maintaining about a 3.5 at whichever I attend, does it matter which...

Hi, I got a C+ in my EM theory (3rd year with Griffiths book) course. I have A+'s in everything else this semester, though (including quantum mechanics II). Is this something that would hurt my grad school chances severely? My GPA is 3.48 and my physics major GPA is 3.6, for reference...

When I was in high school, I took Linear Algebra at a local community college (concurrent studies) and unfortunately did poorly (grade-wise, college class first time = nervous and panic results writing dumb stuff on exams). I am a rising fourth year and it's time to think about grad school Now...

Hi folks. I am currently pursuing my B.S. in Physics at Indiana University South Bend. The physics department is pretty small but the quality of the program is, in my opinion, pretty good. Will the fact that I'm attending a small, relatively unknown school for physics negatively impact grad...

Any advice on a chem major/math minor going into materials science grad degree? Most helpful curriculums? How deep should you take physics/math in undergrad? Job Outlooks/what kind of work expected? Is it really a safe jump for a chem major? Will it be easy to push away from chem and more...

Hello everyone, I am wondering what your opinions are on going to graduate school if a job search isn't working out. While I would like to get a PhD, and always have, the fact of the matter is that I need money and cannot fund that type of commitment. The main problem with my resume is that it...

I would like to calculate the integral \begin{equation} \int \frac{1}{|\mathbf y|} \nabla \frac{1}{|\mathbf y -\mathbf c|}~d^3\mathbf y, \end{equation} but I do not know how. I was wondering whether somebody has encountered such integral already. Do you know how to calculate it? Do you...

I have a MSc in astrophysics and I'm a last year PhD student. My project is not going anywhere, I haven't published any paper and I'm far from finishing. My advisor is very picky and won't let me publish anything and I'm terrified the last years have been a huge waste of time. What do you think...

I was wondering how much graduate admissions look at your research experience. I have worked with two projects with a professor, and I am going to be working with him on another project this summer. Two of these things were not "new" physics, but they were either new for our department, or were...

At my university, they calculate gpa without the +- system. So if i got 90s (A-) in all of my classes i would have a 4.0. In general, when applying to grad school, will they look at the gpa my university says i have or will some of them calculate it to be a 3.6?

Homework Statement Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution For part (c), I showed that the tripple cross product = 2a using einstein notation. Then, I showed that 2∇(a.r) = 2a which is the same as LHS. I don't think this is as elegant as it can get.. How do I prove it...

1. Do grad schools consider 5.5 years too long to finish undergrad (considering I am doing a double major and a long term internship)? 2. Will research in a different major contribute to my chances of being accepted into a program in the other major? 3. Does volunteering as a tutor look good...

Hi, I am a first year stats grad student and I am taking a class on linear models. The book and lectures focus on the format of definition, proof, lemma, definition, proof, lemma etc. However, I cannot seem to find anywhere some practice problems where I could use these definitions before I...

I can't decide if I want to pursue a PhD in math or not. I like the idea because it would let me keep studying math (interesting), and the challenge would help show me what I am capable of (intellectual potential). But I can't help but wonder if I would be happier if I changed my major to...

Hi everyone, I'm trying to decide on classes for my senior year and I am not sure if it is worth it to take a grad class or not. I have completed all but one of the important physics undergrad courses. I will be applying to grad schools next winter Here are the option's I have: 1. Finish...

Hi all, I am a grad student with a Physics BSc. For various reasons, I have never actually done a basic pure chemistry course, even at high school level. Naturally, I have come across many concepts from chemistry in my courses, but I lack the fundamental overview of the field, and I am very...

The best instate college in my state for mathematics is Georgia Tech. However, it does not have a pure mathematics degree. Can I still go to grad school for pure mathematics as an applied math major? Will it prepare me for pure mathematics?

i need to solve this equation: R\frac{\partial }{\partial R} \left ( \frac{1}{R} \frac{\partial }{\partial R} \Psi \right ) + \frac{\partial^2 }{\partial z^2} \Psi = R^2 A_1 - A_2 psi is a function of Z and R. A1 and A2 are constants can you help me? :confused:

Not sure about the strength of my grad application (MATH)... Hi all, Sorry to post another typical grad application question, but I really need some guidance on appropriate math grad schools I should apply to. My advisors don't seem to know much. Could anyone give me a rough idea of where I...

Hi, is there anyone here who started working on their Ph.D. after 30? I will be 31 when I start later this year, and I'm wondering how atypical this is. Any advice? Thanks!

Hello, I'm in something of a unique situation. I was a Cell & Molecular Biology major, but I have since realized that I'm really more passionate about Chemistry. I am deeply considering changing my major to Biochemistry (the degrees have significant overlap at my university but are offered by...

My undergraduate degree will be in mathematics and my GPA will be 2.7x when I graduate in May. I only applied to one graduate school and got rejected (only applied to one because its not a top tier school and my living situation is really good for my wife). Not a terrible shocker considering I...

Hi, I am a recently-graduated physics and math major, looking to go back to grad school after a couple years off. I am having trouble choosing a graduate school to attend, because I am uncertain of my research interests. I took a couple graduate-level classes (QM and Particle Physics), and...

Is it possible to go to grad school and just study nuclear physics and Quantum mechanics?

So I applied to four grad schools, my PGRE score was 830 and my GPA is a 3.92, but I've already been rejected from two of the schools and haven't heard back from the other two, which leads me to believe I'm going to be rejected from all four of the schools I applied to, leaving me with no...

The "Should I go to grad school" thread So my second year of university is coming to a close, with so far so good grades (hopefully straight A's both semesters), work in two labs (particle physics and computational biophysics) and rounding it out with maybe a summer research position at an REU...

Hello! I currently do research for the physics department and also the chemical engineering department of my university (ranked within top 100, if I remember correctly, for context). I should be publishing at least three or more papers through this research during my time here, though I'm...

Is a "W" bad? I recently switched majors from EE to physics. At the moment i am enrolled in an intro to EE class. Now i want to drop this class, one because i don't need it anymore, and two, i could be working and making money instead of being there. Will the W on my transcript be bad for grad...

I was wondering what are the main types of "applied math" I could choose to study in grad school and how I can know which one I would enjoy most? Math Classes I loved were: linear algebra, number theory, intro to real analysis, discrete math, intro to abstract alg Classes I disliked...

Materials Science vs. Physics for Grad School Hello, I'm a new poster here, but have gotten a lot of great stuff out of this forum in the past... Some questions/thoughts on a Mechanical Engineer pursuing a graduate degree in Materials Science (or Physics...) I'm interested in optics...

I'm currently a Bio major in freshman year, and I currently have plans to go to optometry school. The thing is, I made the mistake of underestimating a class (Freshman Biology) and "ruined" my gpa as a result. I got an A-, which is perfectly fine, but nonetheless, if I had put forth a little bit...

Hi all, I'm currently a sophomore physics/applied math BS double major at a state school. My goal is to attain a well-paying(or eventually well-paying) job and career working with science and/or math. Preferably, I'd like to have some options as to the location (somewhere in the U.S. or...

I'm just curious what everyone thinks. I've got an overall GPA of 3.2, but in physics it's more like 3.5. 750 PGRE score and I'll bet my letters of recommendation were strong, although I didn't see them. I had some undergrad research in the math department, and also some in the physics...

Hi! I am brand new to this forum. I wanted to ask some advice about how I can best improve my chances of getting into an enjoyable career after grad school. I am currently a senior due to graduate in May with a BS in physics. I've been accepted into a large research university for their...

So I've received all of my grad school offers and it is time to make a decision. Of the four schools that I am seriously considering, two of them are offering much higher financial assistance which includes tuition and no TA duties (both schools in the states). The other two schools (Canadian)...