<p>I will have earned my Bachelor's degree in geophysics at the University of Zagreb (Croatia) by next summer. </p>
<p>GPA: 5.0/5.0
GRE: quant 170 verbal 162
Publications/research experience: none. sucks severely. not (m)any opportunities in eastern europe unfortunately. </p>
<p>So, here's my question. Where should I apply for graduate school? I'm kinda poor so I'd definitely be looking for a full ride (scholarship+tuition waver). Since I'm kinda versatile, I'm interested in various programmes (PhD in Electrical engineering, or ideally Masters Degree in Finance but I doubt anyone will finance me for that lol). </p>
<p>I'm aware that I stand no chance at top institutions such as those among TOP 10/20, but I'd still like to hear your suggestions. </p>
<p>Do I stand any chance at TOP 50 institutions? I'd prefer studying in a big city.</p>
<p>This is the wrong way to go about graduate studies.</p>
<p>You need to know what you want to apply for and why you want to go to graduate school, before you figure out where you apply.</p>
<p>Furthermore, going from geophysics to electrical engineering may or may not be at all possible. The level of undergraduate preparation required for a given graduate degree varies, but if you don’t have any experience with electrical engineering - professionally or academically - you’re highly unlikely to be accepted for doctoral studies in that field.</p>
<p>So it’s time for you to sit down and ponder what direction you want to go. Then, and only then, you start thinking about where you apply.</p>
<p>Dear Polarscribe, thank you for your reply. I’d like to add a couple of things.</p>
<p>“This is the wrong way to go about graduate studies.”</p>
<p>I knew you were going to answer that. Perhaps it’s not the conventional way. But if a person is capable and willing to work hard (and I believe truly am) I don’t think there really is the “wrong way” - education is always a good choice. Understand my situation - if I stay in Europe for my Masters degree and later go for a PhD in the US, I’ll practically have to do my masters all over again (PhD’s in the U.S. are, speaking from european perspective, integrated masters + doctorate). Choosing not to go the U.S. now may be tantamount to staying in Europe for a lifetime. Maybe.</p>
<p>“You need to know what you want to apply for and why you want to go to graduate school”</p>
<p>Well, some people just have a hard time deciding. Does that mean they should refrain from going to a graduate school? What bad could happen? Staying in here for another 2 or more years seems like a career suicide though.</p>
<p>Also, I’m interested in PhD in Physics and not Electrical Engineering (blunder). Quantitative economics, financial engineering would be good too (though I’m aware that it’s virtually impossible to attend without paying on your own).</p>
<p>Graduate school is not like undergraduate studies, where you can dabble around in different majors. You must apply to a specific graduate program and be admitted to that specific program - and switching programs generally requires a whole new application and selection process.</p>
<p>So you would be terribly stupid to enroll in a Ph.D program in physics, get halfway through, then suddenly decide you want a master’s in finance. Everything done in the physics Ph.D would be completely wasted and you would have to start all over again from scratch.</p>
<p>You must decide first what program you want.</p>
<p>To add to polarscribe’s post, because you have no research experience, you likely won’t be accepted to top programs where you’d receive funding. As such, you’ll have to pay most/all of your way, and if you change your mind halfway through, your money will be gone, and you’ll have nothing to show for it. Plus, where you get your PhD affects your job prospects later on, so if you go into whatever program will take you, you could severely impact the number of opportunities you’ll receive later on, and this could lead to an actual instance of career suicide.</p>
<p>You’d be much better off if you looked for research opportunities to determine what it is you want to do, and to increase your chances of getting funding for your degree/getting into a more highly-ranked program.</p>
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<p>This couldn’t be more wrong if the extra education makes you overqualified for any jobs, or prevents you from getting practical experience. A graduate degree isn’t a one-way ticket to a lucrative career; instead, it’s a tool to help you reach your (already-established) goals.</p>
<p>I’d like to add that some of my professors obtained Master’s degrees in Canada, then went on to do their PhDs in the States, so there’s nothing wrong with going the Master’s-PhD route. …Besides, I thought you said education was always a good choice! :p</p>
<p>That is an absolutely perfect way of explaining it.</p>
<p>I am pursuing a master’s degree in recreation, with a specialization in outdoor recreation. The degree is specifically aimed at my career track: interpretive park ranger/manager. I first pursued internships and entry-level jobs in the field, found that it suited me, then and only then sought graduate education to fit with a federal student-to-career program.</p>
<p>I will disagree with the other posters here. If the OP could see himself happy in several different occupations, there’s no harm in pursuing the one whose education he can actually finance. No need to find your “one true dream” before going to grad school. </p>
<p>I’d also like to put into perspective that a Master’s degree is the standard terminal college degree in much of Europe. You simply wouldn’t get a job with a Bachelor’s degree. The European perspective is no less valid than the American one. If the OP had to get a Master’s degree anyway and doesn’t like the field he’s in, why not switch to a different one? </p>
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Undergrad studies in Europe work very much like graduate study in the US - you have to commit to a single subject and if you want to switch, you have have to start from scratch. I think the OP knows very well what to expect from the academic structure of a graduate degree program.</p>
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I disagree. I attended a liberal arts college with no engineering programs, and each year several science majors successfully applied to PhD programs in engineering.</p>
What would you do with your PhD in physics? Do you want to become a physics professor and/or do physics research for a living? </p>
<p>Be aware that a physics PhD from a good-but-not-prestigious university might not open you many doors for immigration outside of academia. Also be aware that it would take a long time to get a green card in academia. </p>
<p>I just wanted to throw this out there because I have a friend from Moldova who is pursuing a PhD in the US for the sake of acquiring another citizenship. He has decided to apply for jobs in Canada because Canada would give him a green card right away. In the US, he’d probably do a post-doc on a J-1 visa and then get a tenure-track position on an H-1B visa. Maybe after a couple years the university would sponsor him for a green card. Maybe. He wants the green card ASAP in order to bring his parents and also to get another citizenship soon. He’s frustrated because too many countries have denied him student and tourist visas simply because of his Moldovan citizenship. (One story: He was going to get a Master’s degree from Cambridge, funded by a fellowship from his undergrad institution MIT. His visa got denied because he didn’t have financial sponsor in Britain. Cambridge talked to the consulate on his behalf because none of their other international students are required to have a British sponsor either. Supposedly Cambridge was told that Moldovan citizens warrant “special treatment.”)</p>
<p>b@r!um, I think polarscribe and I are primarily addressing the situation based on the fact that the OP said they are poor and have no research experience, making it both difficult for them to get into prestigious graduate programs and to emerge from graduate school without tons of debt. As such, you’re not disagreeing with us, so much as you’re looking at the situation from a different angle – one where the OP is able to finance their education and does not have the barrier of their lack of research. Though the OP’s stats are very good, I don’t think they have much chance of being fully funded without research experience, unless it’s at a good-but-not-prestigious university, and this option comes with downsides that we’ve both noted. </p>
<p>I’m not 100% sure what I’d like to do in life, either, but I’ve narrowed it down to a specific field, and the programs I’m applying to are A) affordable (given my current financial situation), and B) lead directly to a specific job after graduation (professional master’s degree). We’re just worried that the OP will spend a ton of money on a degree that won’t advance their prospects as they’d hoped, and/or that they’ll find that their interests will have changed and they are miserable in the field they’ve chosen, with a ton of debt to boot. </p>
<p>I don’t like to crush optimism, but I dislike crushing optimists with a ton of debt, with nothing to show for it, even more.</p>
<p>It’s really nice to hear from someone like b@r!um who’s obviously acquinted with the European educational systems. Most of you don’t even realize how much education in Croatia sucks. Let me give you an example. (don’t read this, you probably have much smarter stuff to do, but you may be curious about education in southeastern europe). The only reason I’m studying GEOphysics is because my university DOESN’T offer a bachelor’s degree in physics. There’s only an integrated Masters+Bachelor’s degree in physics which lasts 5 years, and I don’t plan on being trapped here that much. Isn’t that weird? Apparently, the University opted not to offer bachelor’s degree in physics in order to earn more money by flunking students throughout 5 difficult years of theoretical physics. (btw MIT OCW is nothing compared to my courses in terms of difficulty. However in terms of quality its godlike). Not to mention the complete absence of research opportunites, internships or anything else of real significance. I thought I liked physics and after 2+ years of torture here I’m not even sure. I made a terrible mistake by not applying to colleges in the US 2 years ago and I won’t repeat it.</p>
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<p>I think I’d like to work in the industry. I know that in most cases Master’s degree is enough, but according to my knowledge, PhD’s are usually financed and I couldn’t afford paying on my own. The master of finance is an alternative as I’m very interested in quantitative economics and finance. However, I will ignore that possibility since I’m almost 100% sure that I won’t get any financial aid.</p>
<p>Could you be so kind and provide me with some concrete universities you think I’d stand a chance at? GPA and GRE’s very good, unknown undergraduate institution and no research exp/internship/publications. LOR’s will be average I think.</p>
<p>If everything else fails, I will apply for Masters at some Canadian and European Universities.</p>
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<p>I won’t, I can’t go anywhere if I don’t get a full ride. I’m not eligible for federal loans (I’m not a green card holder).</p>
<p>Sorry for writing about my personal predicament but I just had blow off some steam.</p>
<p>I’m not in a position to suggest specific programs for you to apply to. I do have a few other suggestions though.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Have you taken (or are you planning to take) the Subject GRE in physics? A strong score there might help your application quite a bit.</p></li>
<li><p>Are you writing a thesis for your Bachelor’s degree or did you complete any significant course projects? Some of those might be considered “research experience” by an American audience. Even if you don’t have research experience per se, it would help your application tremendously if you had completed at least one “big” project (like a Bachelor’s thesis). You WILL have to convince the admissions committee that you could be successful in a PhD program. If you haven’t completed anything more substantial than a weekly problem set, it’s not clear if you’ll have the stamina to complete a multi-year project. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>One more thought about research experience. I am a math PhD student at Stanford. I have several classmates who got their Bachelor’s degree from Europe and got into Stanford with no research experience whatsoever. Our professors are well aware that European students often don’t have the same range of opportunities as American students.</p>
<p>I don’t know how about the fields you are interested in, but I’ve seen fully funded (scholarship that covers all costs of studying + living costs) Masters in Germany, Austria and Denmark. Taught in English.
Also, I think that you are eligible to some special funding in Norway, being a Croatian citizen. I don’t know if it’s applicable for Master as well, but it’s worth some investigation.</p>
<p>I think you stand good chances of getting accepted in MS programme in Western Europe & getting a scholarship. You can be even picky about the particular school.
There might be some redundancy in European Master and American PhD, but that’s nothing terrible, maybe you can complete you PhD faster then.</p>
Thanks anyways.</p>