Science > Physics > Physics graduate school for an Engineering undergraduate
| Topic: |
Science > Physics |
| User: |
"Sinead" |
| Date: |
24 Aug 2004 09:09:26 AM |
| Object: |
Physics graduate school for an Engineering undergraduate |
Hi,
I am about to enter my 4th and final year of a masters degree in
Engineering Science at Oxford. After graduating, I want to get a PhD
in Physics, specifically Particle or Astrophysics. In the UK at least,
this seems quite a difficult switch to make - it appears I would have
to take either a Masters or the final year of the undergraduate
Physics course beforehand, which I am unlikely to get funded for.
It has been suggested that such a move is easier and more common in
the States. Does anyone have any experience of this? How much harder
will it be for me than for a Physicist to get into a good school? I'm
on target for a first and have done work experience at CERN. How much
weight is placed on performance in the Physics GRE, as I'd only have a
few months to prepare for this?
Any advice gratefully accepted!
.
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| User: "John T Lowry" |
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| Title: Re: Physics graduate school for an Engineering undergraduate |
24 Aug 2004 10:01:18 AM |
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"Sinead" <tipassoi@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:bc24e84a.0408240609.3634ca7d@posting.google.com...
Hi,
I am about to enter my 4th and final year of a masters degree in
Engineering Science at Oxford. After graduating, I want to get a PhD
in Physics, specifically Particle or Astrophysics. In the UK at least,
this seems quite a difficult switch to make - it appears I would have
to take either a Masters or the final year of the undergraduate
Physics course beforehand, which I am unlikely to get funded for.
It has been suggested that such a move is easier and more common in
the States. Does anyone have any experience of this? How much harder
will it be for me than for a Physicist to get into a good school? I'm
on target for a first and have done work experience at CERN. How much
weight is placed on performance in the Physics GRE, as I'd only have a
few months to prepare for this?
Any advice gratefully accepted!
Look around for a physics graduate school with "enlightened"
administration that will take a look at you and your individual
abilities and interests rather than just look at the various academic
hurdles you have or have not o'erleaped.
John.
P.S. Worked for me, a no-major liberal arts graduate.
.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: Physics graduate school for an Engineering undergraduate |
24 Aug 2004 03:17:56 PM |
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(Sinead) wrote in message news:<bc24e84a.0408240609.3634ca7d@posting.google.com>...
Hi,
I am about to enter my 4th and final year of a masters degree in
Engineering Science at Oxford. After graduating, I want to get a PhD
in Physics, specifically Particle or Astrophysics. In the UK at least,
this seems quite a difficult switch to make - it appears I would have
to take either a Masters or the final year of the undergraduate
Physics course beforehand, which I am unlikely to get funded for.
It has been suggested that such a move is easier and more common in
the States. Does anyone have any experience of this? How much harder
will it be for me than for a Physicist to get into a good school? I'm
on target for a first and have done work experience at CERN. How much
weight is placed on performance in the Physics GRE, as I'd only have a
few months to prepare for this?
Any advice gratefully accepted!
A lot will depend on how good a letter of recomendation you can
get from your profs at Oxford. Such things carry a lot of weight.
If they like you, you can go many more places.
The GRE is looked at differently in different schools. See if you
can find a college guide to give you some guidance there. Also,
see if you can contact some of the schools you are interested in
and ask them what their requirements are like.
Check with the bookstore on campus about college guides. Don't
forget to look over schools all over the world. Even if you
decide to stay in the UK, you will at least have some idea
of what exists. Your school library may have some college
guides in stock also.
Also, the more math the better. Particle physics is kind of whacky
in that it has a very indirect connection to the rest of physics.
So, if you have missed out on some of the undergrad stuff in
physics (though there is plenty of overlap with an engineering
degree) it does not matter as much. One of my co-students when
I was getting my PhD had an undergrad degree in languages. He
did pretty well, but that was because he had taken as much
math as he was allowed while doing the language degree.
I don't know whether you are still taking courses, or have time.
But you may be able to build up some "velvet" by picking the
right courses in your last year at Oxford. Not a lot of time
to pick and choose I suppose. But if you can, for example,
pick up some group theory, or some matrix algebra, or anything
in that line, it won't hurt getting into particle physics.
And, of course, the more calculus the better.
Socks
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| User: "EjP" |
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| Title: Re: Physics graduate school for an Engineering undergraduate |
24 Aug 2004 11:56:54 AM |
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Sinead wrote:
Hi,
I am about to enter my 4th and final year of a masters degree in
Engineering Science at Oxford. After graduating, I want to get a PhD
in Physics, specifically Particle or Astrophysics. In the UK at least,
this seems quite a difficult switch to make - it appears I would have
to take either a Masters or the final year of the undergraduate
Physics course beforehand, which I am unlikely to get funded for.
It has been suggested that such a move is easier and more common in
the States. Does anyone have any experience of this? How much harder
will it be for me than for a Physicist to get into a good school? I'm
on target for a first and have done work experience at CERN. How much
weight is placed on performance in the Physics GRE, as I'd only have a
few months to prepare for this?
Any advice gratefully accepted!
As someone who has served on graduate admissions committees, I can
speak with some experience.
It is not that uncommon for someone with another degree to
move into physics. Usually it's Engineering or Math, but for the
record, Ed Witten (considered one of the most brilliant theoretical
physicists of this generation) has an undergraduate degree in
Economics!
In the absence of a physics degree,
they will look very hard at the classes you took. In particular,
you should at least have:
- basic quantum mechanics
- intermediate E&M (i.e. something beyond what you get in intro.
physics.)
- intermediate mechanics, including Lagrangians and special
relativity.
They will also look at the sorts of projects you have done.
Have you had any engineering or work/study projects where you
had to demonstrate scientific thinking? If so, be sure to
get recommendation letters.
Given your situation, I would *strongly* advise you to study
hard for the GRE. Many things will be forgiven for a high
enough GRE score.
-E
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| User: "fellow" |
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| Title: Re: Physics graduate school for an Engineering undergraduate |
24 Aug 2004 03:47:33 PM |
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"EjP" <nospam@hackers.are.bad> wrote in message
news:cgfrpt$mjd$1@info4.fnal.gov...
Sinead wrote:
Hi,
I am about to enter my 4th and final year of a masters degree in
Engineering Science at Oxford. After graduating, I want to get a PhD
in Physics, specifically Particle or Astrophysics. In the UK at least,
this seems quite a difficult switch to make - it appears I would have
to take either a Masters or the final year of the undergraduate
Physics course beforehand, which I am unlikely to get funded for.
It has been suggested that such a move is easier and more common in
the States. Does anyone have any experience of this? How much harder
will it be for me than for a Physicist to get into a good school? I'm
on target for a first and have done work experience at CERN. How much
weight is placed on performance in the Physics GRE, as I'd only have a
few months to prepare for this?
Any advice gratefully accepted!
As someone who has served on graduate admissions committees, I can
speak with some experience.
It is not that uncommon for someone with another degree to
move into physics. Usually it's Engineering or Math, but for the
record, Ed Witten (considered one of the most brilliant theoretical
physicists of this generation) has an undergraduate degree in
Economics!
Worse still, I think it's History.
In the absence of a physics degree,
they will look very hard at the classes you took. In particular,
you should at least have:
- basic quantum mechanics
- intermediate E&M (i.e. something beyond what you get in intro.
physics.)
- intermediate mechanics, including Lagrangians and special
relativity.
They will also look at the sorts of projects you have done.
Have you had any engineering or work/study projects where you
had to demonstrate scientific thinking? If so, be sure to
get recommendation letters.
Given your situation, I would *strongly* advise you to study
hard for the GRE. Many things will be forgiven for a high
enough GRE score.
-E
.
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| User: "Sinead" |
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| Title: Re: Physics graduate school for an Engineering undergraduate |
25 Aug 2004 05:33:08 AM |
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In the absence of a physics degree,
they will look very hard at the classes you took. In particular,
you should at least have:
- basic quantum mechanics
- intermediate E&M (i.e. something beyond what you get in intro.
physics.)
- intermediate mechanics, including Lagrangians and special
relativity.
My course is pretty rigid, we don't get much choice of classes. It's
more theoretical and mathematical than most Engineering courses, but
it's still Engineering...
I've done a fair bit of E&M, but more from an Electronic Engineering
point of view. Likewise mechanics - I've done a lot from an
engineering viewpoint, but no special relativity, and little focus on
Hamiltonians and Lagrangians
I've done very little Quantum, only what we needed for semiconductors,
eg potential wells, some basic band theory. No bra-het notation.
I have done a LOT of maths, more than most US Physics undergrads I've
met, but no group theory.
....this is seeming a bit negative as I type this...
I guess I've got a lot of work to do! Luckily I'm living with a
Physics student next year - he's going to be so sick of me by the time
the GREs come round.
.
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| User: "ZZBunker" |
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| Title: Re: Physics graduate school for an Engineering undergraduate |
25 Aug 2004 09:21:22 AM |
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(Sinead) wrote in message news:<bc24e84a.0408250233.3d045d09@posting.google.com>...
In the absence of a physics degree,
they will look very hard at the classes you took. In particular,
you should at least have:
- basic quantum mechanics
- intermediate E&M (i.e. something beyond what you get in intro.
physics.)
- intermediate mechanics, including Lagrangians and special
relativity.
My course is pretty rigid, we don't get much choice of classes. It's
more theoretical and mathematical than most Engineering courses, but
it's still Engineering...
I've done a fair bit of E&M, but more from an Electronic Engineering
point of view. Likewise mechanics - I've done a lot from an
engineering viewpoint, but no special relativity, and little focus on
Hamiltonians and Lagrangians
If you haven't done Hamilitonians in every possible
frame of reference you have no chance of getting
a Physics PhD. In you have done them in every
possible frame of reference, you have no chance
of getting a paying E.E. job, unless you have done
them in an E.E. frame of reference. Where the only
mathematicial identity concerning complex numbers
that are true are:
j*Dirac=0.
i*j*k=Philosophy.
.
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| User: "EjP" |
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| Title: Re: Physics graduate school for an Engineering undergraduate |
24 Aug 2004 12:26:36 PM |
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EjP wrote:
Sinead wrote:
Hi,
I am about to enter my 4th and final year of a masters degree in
Engineering Science at Oxford. After graduating, I want to get a PhD
in Physics, specifically Particle or Astrophysics. In the UK at least,
this seems quite a difficult switch to make - it appears I would have
to take either a Masters or the final year of the undergraduate
Physics course beforehand, which I am unlikely to get funded for.
It has been suggested that such a move is easier and more common in
the States. Does anyone have any experience of this? How much harder
will it be for me than for a Physicist to get into a good school? I'm
on target for a first and have done work experience at CERN. How much
weight is placed on performance in the Physics GRE, as I'd only have a
few months to prepare for this?
Any advice gratefully accepted!
As someone who has served on graduate admissions committees, I can
speak with some experience.
It is not that uncommon for someone with another degree to
move into physics. Usually it's Engineering or Math, but for the
record, Ed Witten (considered one of the most brilliant theoretical
physicists of this generation) has an undergraduate degree in
Economics!
In the absence of a physics degree,
they will look very hard at the classes you took. In particular,
you should at least have:
- basic quantum mechanics
- intermediate E&M (i.e. something beyond what you get in intro.
physics.)
- intermediate mechanics, including Lagrangians and special
relativity.
They will also look at the sorts of projects you have done.
Have you had any engineering or work/study projects where you
had to demonstrate scientific thinking? If so, be sure to
get recommendation letters.
Given your situation, I would *strongly* advise you to study
hard for the GRE. Many things will be forgiven for a high
enough GRE score.
-E
P.S.
You should also remember that physics is a very egalitarian
field, and it's a lot more important what you do than where
you went to school. Even if your situation precludes
admission to the "top" schools, you will have ample means
and opportunity to prove yourself at a large number of
very solid universities.
.
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