Interested in working toward PhD in Physics either in US or international for the biggest bang (financial security) for the buck (&). Wondering if any of you experts can throw out some possibilities so we can narrow down goals and know what we are working towards, where we want to visit etc.
Thanks in advance!
So you already have a bachelor degree ?
No. To me it makes sense to scout where you hope to end up. Would rather not transfer.
One doesn’t typically do all their schooling in one place.
Here are the top PhD feeders but where can you even get in?
Left side is the most. The right side is per capita.
But your undergrad is unlikely to be where you get a PhD.
A PhD is likely funded so best bang for your buck would be an undergrad that you can afford.
You should do a match me or chance me.
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To add clarity for future responses, the OP is a parent, not the student
I know multiple people who got PhD’s in a variety of fields. Many were in science fields. I used to know multiple people who had PhD’s in physics (my first job was at a nuclear physics research facility), but that was a long time ago.
Across a wide range of fields, including a wide range of science fields, it is very common for those students who get PhD’s to get their PhD at a different university than where they get their bachelor’s degree. This is the norm. Staying at the same university the entire way through is possible, but way less common. I have heard that staying at the same university is generally frowned upon.
For students who get three degrees (such as bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and PhD) it is possible to get all three degrees from three different universities, but might be more common to get two of the degrees from the same university and the third degree somewhere else.
One daughter is currently getting a PhD in a science field, but not physics. Looking at the range of students in her PhD program, they got their bachelor’s degrees at a very wide range of universities (including Harvard, some nearby universities, some colleges that I have never heard of, and a huge range of universities all over the place and not all in the USA). Very few got their bachelor’s degree at the same school where they are all currently studying. This is normal.
In the US, and in Canada, it is common for PhD’s to be fully funded. The university pays tuition and fees, pays for the student’s health insurance, and gives the student a stipend. The stipend is typically enough to live on, but the student needs to live frugally. A small amount of financial help from parents can make the multi-year marathon a bit easier to take, but is not needed.
Admissions to PhD programs can be very, very highly competitive. It can help your chances if you have great grades as an undergraduate student, and good internship and research experience, and great references, and a very good idea why you want to get a PhD and what you want to work on, and if you are able to explain how all of this relates to the research already being done at every university you apply to.
My recommendation is to look for universities or colleges that are a good fit for you (or your child), that you can afford, that you (or your child) can get accepted to, and that have a good physics program.
The PhD can be figured out multiple years from now.
And it is also common, although not strictly needed, to get some work and/or research experience after getting a bachelor’s degree before applying to PhD programs.
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How does a Physics PhD equate to “financial security” in your mind? Because academia is not a place I’d equate with financial security, especially under this administration with the cuts in science funding.
If academia isn’t the objective and what “financial security” really means is being say a quant at a hedge fund or an MBB consultant, then prestige (in some ways shorthand for “this person is obviously very smart”) becomes more important. A PhD at MIT is going to count for more than a PhD at the University of Arizona, even if certain interests in say astronomy might be better served in Arizona. And an Ivy undergrad might count for more than a state flagship, even if the state flagship has better experimental physics labs.
So then the question turns somewhat on finances. If you are full pay and really in search of pure bang for your buck in terms of undergrad prestige, wherever that is in the world, then Oxbridge would probably be quite high on the list. But the admission criteria are very different to US colleges.
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This list is wonderful! Thank you!!
It’s by far most common the get the bachelor’s degree at one institution and the master’s/Ph.D. at another, because people are often admitted to Ph.D. programs that include both graduate degree programs. It is more common, however, to get the master’s and Ph.D. at different institutions than it is to hang on at the undergrad institution for grad school. Reasons for changing grad schools midstream: a mentor professor leaves for a different university and takes their grad students with them, a grad student changes specialties and a different doctoral program turns out to be a better fit, family/personal circumstances require a move to a different region, or the grad student wants to move “up” to a more prestigious Ph.D. program after proving themselves in a somewhat less prestigious master’s program. But many of the top Ph.D. programs won’t take students who’ve already earned the master’s degree.
There is almost never a reason to stick around in the undergrad university for grad school (maybe there’s an exception for the tippy-top, most prestigious program, but even then a lateral move is probably preferable). Disciplines want more cross-pollination of ideas and research.
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In the U.K. it’s a bit different because quite a few masters courses (especially at top universities) are set up as a direct continuation of an undergrad degree (a fourth year which serves as an introduction to research) and are cheaper/have more accessible funding as a result (you can use another year of undergrad loans). That’s usually what you do before applying to a PhD (and then the PhD is just three years of research with no taught courses)
There’s also often favoritism towards internal candidates (those who do best in the masters) in selection for PhD places. That means staying at your undergrad is more common, particularly at the most elite universities: there are many Oxbridge dons who have been at the same place since undergrad or at most have switched between Oxford and Cambridge or vice versa. Certainly amongst my peers the best candidates stayed, you rarely went elsewhere unless you weren’t offered a PhD place. But the US is very different, they want a variety of experience and as noted, the masters is simply part of the PhD.
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Yeah, I was describing the American system.
Isn’t the DAMTP part III a coursework master’s rather than a research master’s? How is it an introduction to research? And wouldn’t most Cambridge bachelor’s physics grads already have research experience the way most top US bachelor’s physics grads do?
You don’t really do research in Part I or Part II and a big difference from the US is that getting summer lab positions as an undergrad is uncommon, doing so in term time is unheard of.
The traditional DAMTP Part III is a math course not an experimental physics course, although you do write a research paper (“extended essay”) for credit as part of the course.
I’m thinking more about experimental and/or lab-based courses, which come under NatSci Part III (this optional fourth year has now become common in STEM subjects, by calling it Part III it comes under undergrad funding rules so is cheaper than a standalone masters) and do include a substantial research component:
Astrophysics:
A major highlight is the research project providing you with a unique opportunity to get to the cutting edge of astronomical research. Projects often involve data analysis or a simulation and culminate in a dissertation that may reach publishable quality.
Physics:
You’ll undertake a substantial research project, diving deep into a topic of your choice alongside world-leading academics.