I am from a pretty small town and really want to be a physicist. I am smarter than average, but don’t think I’ll stand out as a Harvard, MIT or Stanford applicant. If I don’t get into a good physics school, what are the odds I’ll be able to get into a good graduate program if I did well in say UC Boulder or University of Wyoming? Thanks, any input is greatly appreciated.
I think you can.
The average person isn’t smart enough to get a PhD in physics from any reputable school. It’s a small percentage of those who end with jobs as physicists as tenured faculty or researchers at national labs. So the average person can’t become a physicist, but I don’t think that’s your true question. What your true question seems to be is how your undergrad will affect your chances for grad school admissions. I would search for some opinions in the graduate school forum.
If you’re one of the top students in a serious physics department and can show significant undergrad research (your advisor would guide you), you have a chance of being admitted to a PhD program.
You could get into a program with excellent grades, undergrad research experience, and strong recs. There are actually a lot of physics PhD programs in this country (my kid was applying to programs last year). It might depend on your career goals. My kid wants to work in industry or a govt lab when she is done. If you want a tenure track faculty job, those are fewer in number, and it is more important to get into a grad top school.
I agree with @roethlisburger’s post. Are you really asking about an avg student or a student graduating from an avg university? Can top students with strong UG research/LOR/top GRE scores, etc be competitive for grad school if they attended avg UG universities? The answer to that question is yes.
Thanks for the responses, I take it that if you excel in undergrad you can get into a good graduate program. Now, my question is: Can “smart” people who aren’t considered geniuses, but are definitely smarter than average have a successful career in physics? I love math and science, is hard work and dedication enough to make up for an inherent lack of “genius”?
You can get a job which partly uses a physics degree, but probably you won’t have a career in physics, unless you want to teach high school physics.
@physicsboy17 Yes. Hard work and dedication can surpass lazy genius. (I would say surpass undisciplined/unfocused genius as well.) Don’t sell yourself short. Work hard. Master physics and math concepts. Don’t let things slide, bc those lower level concepts are going to be the foundation for upper level mastery.
If you had posted that you struggled in math, I would think you would have more of an uphill battle. But if all it takes is hard work and effort to master concepts, then if you have grit and determination, you’ll be successful.
Absolutely. A chimp can get a Ph.D. but it’s what you do with the degree that makes the difference.