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.
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!!