<p>Hi, I will have a BS Chemistry soon but I want to go to grad school for physics, how do I go about that? Anyone with similar situations?</p>
<p>You will need to research graduate programs in physics and find out what their admission requirements are. Some programs might accept your application, others might not. Do you have any upper-division physics experience at all?</p>
<p>It will depend a lot on the speciality you are pursuing - there are some areas where chemistry and physics overlap sufficiently that you might have no problem at all, there are other areas where your degree would be meaningless. If you have a minor or significant coursework in physics that is another issue entirely, mind you.</p>
<p>sadly I don’t have any physics experience, the program I really want to get into is the physics PhD program in University of Chicago because I heard that they’re top notch in physics. I really like particle physics and Fermilab is near Chicago as well.</p>
<p>Well, check out the admissions requirements for UChicago physics. Of course, even if you meet the baseline requirements, there’s no guarantee that makes you a competitive candidate…</p>
<p>Edited: The good news is that UChicago physics admits students with undergraduate degrees in the physical sciences, not just physics.</p>
<p>But you can’t just apply to UChicago - you’re going to have to spread your search to a few institutions, because graduate admissions are highly competitive and admissions rates are generally pretty low.</p>
<p>How can I gain research experience after I graduate?</p>
<p>It sounds like you are graduating this year from your initial post. I assume you plan to apply for graduate school next year then. If you don’t have upper division physics courses or research experience it will be difficult to be competitive for University of Chicago. They have many applicants and they tend to accept those with strong Physics GRE scores and very strong letters of reference in addition to top grades. From what I have been told by my colleagues there (I am a physics professor just up the road at IIT), students with a non-physics background are at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>You might want to take the approach of getting a Masters in physics and then applying to a physics Ph.D. program. We have had a number of students in our Masters program who have backgrounds in Engineering or Chemistry and who have done well enough to move on to a Ph.D. program.</p>
<p>Finally, I agree with @polarscribe, don’t just apply to University of Chicago. If you really have a desire to be a physicist, then choose a number of acceptable programs and apply to them. You might not get into university of Chicago but you could have just as fulfilling an experience and eventually a career getting your Ph.D. from another institution.</p>