<p>Hi everyone! I'm a rising junior right now at a "good" university majoring in a Public Policy program with a focus in Psychology. However, I've been giving my future a lot of thought lately and realized that I really regret not having pursued astrophysics, physics or astronomy in college -- so much so that I'm planning to take mostly Physics and Astro courses over the next two years, alongside my few remaining departmentals. I'm also trying to find an Astrophysics lab at my school willing to take on an admittedly unqualified student assistant/worker.</p>
<p>My question is, is there really any realistic way I would be able to pursue more Astro later on? That is, is there even a tiny chance I could get into grad school? I think I would really enjoy research, though of course I know that doing research is the only way I can have a realistic sense of what research is like.</p>
<p>I suspect that grad school is really impossible at this point, and I'd love to hear someone's honest (even brutal) assessment. This is also actually a time-sensitive question for me because I was accepted into a one-semester study abroad program for my major -- I'd really love to go, and the only thing holding me back is the chance to do more astrophysics courses at my school (which I could definitely not do as part of the study abroad program -- I've asked). Right now, I'm leaning towards turning down the program, because I really am serious about astro, but I'm afraid that I'll be turning down an opportunity that will definitely be amazing for something (the grad school application process) that will probably end in rejection.</p>
<p>By the way: My only relevant background right now is the AP Physics C exam (credit for both parts), an engineering-level multivariable calculus course (in which I got a B :() and an engineering-level statistics course (in which I did better). My GPA is unfortunately just a little over a 3.5, which I know is not too impressive for grad schools, no matter where I went to school.</p>
<p>Lots of people change careers, even later than you. Of course you can change - but you’ve got to be willing to put a little time into it. You probably won’t gain admission to an astrophysics program directly out of graduate school (at least not a PhD program).</p>
<p>Here’s my advice. Do the study abroad program. Those are opportunities that don’t come around again after college. Enjoy the program. When you come back, start taking the physics classes you need, as well as the math classes you’re going to need as corequisites. Start asking professors if you can help them out in the lab. Someone has to clean the pipettes and stuff. You may be able to start second semester junior year (start making some cold contacts while you are in your abroad program - you could even start asking in the late summer, to secure yourself a place when you come back), or you may have to wait until the first semester of your senior year.</p>
<p>During your senior year, make sure you can finish a major. If you have extra money to take the time to switch your major to physics or astrophysics, go ahead and do that. But if it’s going to take you more time than you have money for, just keep your public policy major and keep taking all of your electives in physics. Graduate. Get a job. And while you work, continue to take physics classes as a non degree student and volunteering in a lab when you can.</p>
<p>After you have enough classes, you may be able to find work as a bachelor’s level research assistant/associate in a university or institute’s physics lab. You may be able to join the armed forces or NOAA’s commissioned corps and do some work with physics that way, once you’ve acquired the coursework necessary. then apply when you’ve got enough experience. (If you are interested in master’s programs, you will need less research experience than if you are interested in PhD programs.)</p>
<p>A 3.5 is above a B+ and below an A-. Not sure which graduate schools you have in mind.</p>
<p>Studying abroad might look interesting - but a grad committee is probably going to care more that you’ve met your major requirements than that you went to Italy for a semester. </p>
<p>Right now you need to take a look at schools that offer then Astro program you are interested in and see what the agreed upon MINIMUM prereqs are. It is entirely possible to be admitted conditionally, and make up any deficiencies while in grad school (just means you wont be graduating in 5 years).</p>
<p>Astrophysics Departments will probably look at your application since they probably do not get very many. However, you need to go beyond your personal statement in order to convince them that you are serious and have some idea of what you are getting into. It sounds like you have not taken any college level Physics courses (AP Physics courses do not count since while they may difficult by high school standards, they are way below the level of rigor of introductory Calculus based Physics courses taken at colleges and universities. You will need to take three semesters of lower division Calculus based Physics courses. If you can get a hold of a used copy of Halliday and Resnick’s “physics” published in the 1960s you will get an idea of what these courses will cover at a level at which you will need to know it. What you would actually take now are classes that use a watered down version of “Physics” called “Fundamentals of Physics” that carries the Halliday and Resnick name but is actually a re-write by Jerle Walker since David Halliday died several years ago at the age of 92 and Robert Resnick is now 89 years old and has long since retired. </p>
<p>You will also need to show programs that you have completed three semesters of Calculus for Math, Physical Science and Engineering majors (James Stewart’s “Calculus, Early Transcendentals” is a typical text) plus you will need a semester of Differential Equations as well. You also do not seem to have taken any Astronomy courses. you need to take at least one introductory course for Physical Science majors. Zoellick’s “Astronomy and Astrophysics” is used for these courses at MIT and the University of Maryland College Park. You should also try to get a copy of Frank Shu’s “The Material Universe” which is outdated (I can not understand why Dr. Shu has never written a second edition of this amazing text) that will give you an idea of the type of astrophysical problems that undergraduates at all levels and first year graduate students will be expected to tackle.</p>
<p>These are lower division undergraduate classes and completing them is the bare minimum of what you would have to complete in the next two years to be taken seriously as a candidate for graduate study in Astrophysics.</p>
<p>I’m a little late to posting re: this, but no, you have almost no shot unless you have at least the background of a physics/math major (if not an astro major, but many schools don’t offer one). You need to take the physics GRE to get in everywhere, and it’s impossible to do well on it without sufficient background. If you were able to score very very well without having taken physics major courses, you might get an additional look…</p>
<p>What Lemaitre1 said about astro programs not getting many applications is complete b.s. Being in astrophysics and having gone through this process myself, schools typically get upwards of 200 applicants for often 10 or fewer offers. They’ll throw out your application automatically if you don’t show sufficient physics background, especially when the admissions committee is usually ~5 or so professors who have many better things to be doing than reading 200 essays and 600 recommendations. </p>
<p>However, you might have a shot at getting into a research opportunity for undergrads. Try that first, see if you like it/it’s a fit (look for REU and NASA opportunities), and that would greatly help your case if you applied. They want to see that you can do astrophysics research, and the best way to do that is to start as an undergrad.</p>