<p>hi there, i am currentely an undergrad (freshman) at a univeristy, majoring in mech engieering. I am soon going to be participating in projects with a professor and a grad student and soon going to start a research next year, or even this summer. My question is I'm not sure if I want a get a PHD in mechancial engineering or Physwics. But say I wanted to get a Phd in physics, should I apply to a PHD program after i finish undergrad or should I apply for the masters then do the PHD. ONe other question is that the research that I plan to do is not in physics but related to engineering. IF i were to pursue a docotrate in physics after undergrad how would the view that? ANAY advice would be nice.</p>
<p>Also, the schools im thinking of are Stanford, Rutgers, UMich, MIT...those are some of what i think i might want to apply to after undergrad.. Any advice would be really helpful</p>
<p>A few points:</p>
<p>(1) For PhD programs in Physics, you apply directly to PhD program after the BA/BS degree... MA/MS degrees in Physics are useless... they are generally given out only to people who drop out of graduate school in physics.
(2) Mechanical engineering, and engineering in general is very different.
If you are a strong candidate, you can apply directly to the PhD program, or you can apply to a MS program first... The MS degree in engineering is a real degree (unlike the MS in Physics), and in some cases, an MS is all you need... the PhD is mainly for those who want to do academic research or high level research/development in industry.
(3) In general, it is easier to go from physics undergrad to engineering grad school, and a little harder to go the other way... but I have known people who have done it... just make sure that even if you major in engineering, try to take some upper level physics courses as well in such subjects as quantum mechanics and electromagnetism.
(4) Don't worry about which grad schools yet... you're just a freshman!
(5) The MOST important things in graduate school admissions in science & engineering are: grades, research experience, and letters of recommendation. The GREs are a distant fourth, but matter a lot more if you are an international student.</p>
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MA/MS degrees in Physics are useless
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<p>I wouldn't go so far as to say that they're useless. I do agree that they're not a huge boost, but I don't think they're useless. Hey, at the very least, it's a master's degree. Think of it in terms of hiring. You know how some employers are. Some employers will give preference to people with master's degrees, and they don't care what that master's degree is in, so long as it is a master's degree. For example, there are jobs for the government that will give you "points" for holding a master's degree (any master's degree) for the purposes of determining who gets hired and what paygrade you come in as. If you're a school teacher, there are many school districts that will automatically bump up your pay if you have a master's degree, either in education, or related to the subject you are teaching. Hence, a master's in physics could work out nicely for somebody who just wants to be a high school physics teacher. </p>
<p>Furthermore, there are plenty of schools, including Harvard, that offer combined bachelor's/master's programs in physics. It would seem to me that a program like this is far from useless and could well serve as a stepping stone into a top PhD program, including Harvard's, or just offers you a way to take your chips off the table by leaving with just the master's degree.</p>
<p>Look, again, I agree that a master's in physics is not hugely better than just having a bachelor's, but I wouldn't call it useless. If nothing else, it satisfies the requirements of those employers, like the government, who prefer master's degrees.</p>
<p>my other question is that if I'm doing reasearch in an engineering topic, how will the Physics department look at that? WIll they care or not? PS either i ll do the research becuase i like to do research.</p>
<p>They won't care about the specifics of the research... just that you are motivated to do it and do well at it...</p>
<p>by doing well at research do u mean publishing it, or presenting it at a conference? I know that some kids at my school presented their research at Sigma XI. does that mean doing well in research?</p>
<p>Getting published before you graduate is phenomenal, but not expected or necessary... the reality is that it can take up to a year to write-up your results, submit to a journal, go through the scientific review process, revisions, production, etc... it's unusual to be able to get that all done before you apply... and grad schools know this.</p>
<p>Doing well as research is demonstrated in other ways:
(1) Presentations at conferences
(2) Senior thesis/projects
(3) Letters of rec. from research supervisors</p>
<p>Some other schools you might want to look at for incredible physics grad programs include CalTech, Berkeley, Harvard, and Princeton. However, your area of interest and the physics department (more than your interest in the school as a whole) will largely influence the schools to which you will apply.</p>
<p>yo guys i got a question, i was looking at MIT'S PHD physics program and i saw that only 45 out of 600 PHD applicants recieved admissions. Why is it so low? i kino its really competitive but i dont understand the low admisson rate? why do so many people get turned down? any answers would be reallly appreciated. thank you</p>
<p>Well, from the standpoint of the school, graduate students are expensive, and the department has to be able to fund all of their PhD candidates with a stipend large enough to allow them to scrape by (this is generally true for the sciences, not sure about other fields).</p>
<p>Plus, the number of PhD candidates admitted probably tracks with the number of faculty in a department -- can't admit so many PhD candidates that there won't be spots for them in faculty labs come thesis time.</p>
<p>ahi see your point molliebatmit, so how do they pick their phd candidates, i mean many of them may have excellent reccomendations, research experience, gpa the whole package, how do they know who to accept?</p>
<p>No clue.</p>
<p>If I knew, I'd be a lot less worried about applying for PhD programs this year :)</p>
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i saw that only 45 out of 600 PHD applicants recieved admissions. Why is it so low? i kino its really competitive but i dont understand the low admisson rate?
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<p>Uh, do you really think that's low? Keep in mind, this isn't some scrub program here. This is the MIT physics doctoral program, which is arguably the best such program in the world. </p>
<p>And when I say 'best in the world', I really do mean that. It's not just Americans who want to complete physics doctorates at MIT. Brilliant physics students from all over the world want to come to MIT for graduate school. Let's face it. American graduate schools, especially in technical fields, are the best in the world. Countries like China, Russia, Germany, India, and many others produce boatloads of stellar physics students who would love to go to MIT for their doctorates, not only because of the opportunities available at MIT itself, but because doing so is a possible gateway towards establishing immigration and permanent residency in the US. As I'm sure molliebatmit would attest to, there are PLENTY of foreign nationals amongst the MIT graduate student body. </p>
<p>When you look at it that way, I'm actually surprised that the admissions rate isn't actually LOWER than it is.</p>
<p>regarding Harvard and Berkely's comment about taking upper level courses in physics, would these courses be sufficient : Classical mechanics I,II, Electormagnetism I, II, Quantum Mechanics, Continuum Mechanics(Engineering Grad course), and possibly computationla physics</p>
<p>Statistical mechanics and solid state are good to take.</p>