microbiology undergrad to biophysics graduate

Graduate School
1

<p>I am planning to take a year off after graduating in order to prepare for a biophysics PhD program. So far I've only taken courses for biology and any physics/chem/math I've taken have been specially targeted for life sciences majors (watered-down versions of the standard courses). I have been working in a molecular biology lab for 3 years and will get a publication in a few months.</p>

<p>My last year of undergrad is coming up and I plan to take the standard physics, programming and math classes.</p>

<p>What else should I do in order to be competitive for a biophysics PhD program? Study for the physics subject GRE?</p>

<p>Please help me with this situation. Thank you</p>

2

<p>I would suggest contacting faculty or maybe PhD students in labs that interest you and just asking! Seriously. You will get the most direct answer to your question that isn’t just based on speculation. Also, I’d say, personally, don’t do the subject test unless you know it is required or will actually help in admission. Best of luck.</p>

3

<p>here is a suggested list of courses you should have taken: [Graduate</a> Program in Biophysics, Harvard University](<a href=“http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~biophys/SuggestedPreparation.html]Graduate”>http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~biophys/SuggestedPreparation.html)</p>

<p>you should look for suggested preparation for all of the programs that you are interested in. At the very least you will need math through differential equations (ideally partial), and classes in quantum, e&m, mechanics, and thermo.</p>

4

<p>I think I would be able to take math up to partials, but for the physics (quantum, thermo, etc), I will only be able to take the introductory freshmen classes (lower-div). My last year of undergrad is coming up. Do you think that would be sufficient?</p>

5

<p>no, probably not-- the intro physics is nothing like the upper level physics. Why not try for a program where there is biophysics research going on, but is more bio oriented. You can take some of the physics classes in grad school and then try to do a biophysics-type thesis. This is just my opinion-- I have several friends in biophysics programs and all were physics majors, and it seems as if the vast majority of the people in the programs were physics or math majors.</p>

<p>It’s worth calling or emailing the schools and asking… it can’t hurt. The other problem will be with required coursework which may expect you to know a decent amount of upper level physics</p>