

I got into few places [not in top 30 though] without any undergrad course in QM or Statistical Physics in my transcripts. The sole course in E&M was more inclined towards Antenna and other applications of Electromagnetic Field Theory.astrofan wrote: I do agree with cato88 to an extent, but if you don't take any QM or E&M during college, I can't imagine any school accepting you.
HA! Shows what you know! Good institution my butt, NJIT is a rotting pit of commuter students and morons. The guy to girl ratio here is 4:1 for christ sakes! We were ranked #2 by USNews for least happy students, second only to the merchant marine academy!!!astrofan wrote:you have a masters degree in Computational Biology from a good institution.
Thats like implying that if you went to Caltech/MIT for undergrad they dont need your transcripts just your self-reported GPA because they know you would have taken quantum and all the reqs. In which case that would mean that those students in Masters and good undergraduate programs should not worry about course selection just their GPA. There are so many cases of people getting into grad programs without quantum and stat mech.astrofan wrote:Okay, I think you should mention here, slugger, that you have a masters degree in Computational Biology from a good institution. That is the reason they don't need to see your courses, as they know (or can look them up) what type of courses you had to take to get the degree. So, yes, they can accept you without seeing courses.
I seriously doubt they would do the same for undergrads as completeness of degree is a concern for every department (in fact, I can say for certain that UIUC does not do that since they did not recieve my transcript and they e-mailed me to let me know that I needed to send it to them). I do agree with cato88 to an extent, but if you don't take any QM or E&M during college, I can't imagine any school accepting you. On the otherhand, no one needs grad level physics courses to get in anywhere.
Well, by good I meant a school that is at least known. They probably know what courses you have to take.slugger wrote: HA! Shows what you know! Good institution my butt, NJIT is a rotting pit of commuter students and morons. The guy to girl ratio here is 4:1 for christ sakes! We were ranked #2 by USNews for least happy students, second only to the merchant marine academy!!!
I did mean an "and" statement; if you have some holes in your education that is one thing, but if you did not take any upper level courses that is another. Plus, I am pretty sure that UIUC is a top 10 school for physics. That is the reason I was shocked. On the otherhand, I don't know how good their biophysics program is so I guess it might be different.sidharthsp wrote: I got into few places [not in top 30 though] without any undergrad course in QM or Statistical Physics in my transcripts. The sole course in E&M was more inclined towards Antenna and other applications of Electromagnetic Field Theory.
I however did mention about doing self study in QM, SM etc in my SOP.
Wow! I guess I stand corrected. UMASS astronomy is a good program for astronomy.dustdevil wrote:UMass accepted me to their astronomy program (no masters in hand) without a transcript... and my GPA is only like 3.58.
If they did do this then it would be common knowledge that going all out is for your benefit therefore you should try to challenge yourself and take hard interesting classes which in most cases would include graduate courses. However it seems like it is pretty unclear that graduate courses help which is most likely because they do not. People notice when things matter like AP courses or pushing your course selection in Undergrad admissions.dlenmn wrote: It seems at the least, by skimming the transcript, it would be easy to spot people who do the minimum possible (as you suggest people do), and rank them lower then the people who went all out.
Slugger probably isn't lying. My comments were general (no, I am not at UIUC), and I suppose some schools might, on occasion, go without a transcript.cato88 wrote:Still doesnt explain post 1 and 3 unless slugger is lying.
As an aside did class sizes decrease for this year?
YES! I went to a top 30 overall undergrad school, and the min requirements for a physics major were a joke. The university did not even offer the second semester of undergrad QM.dustdevil wrote:Doesn't the degree often speak for the classes one is required to take? A physics (or astrophysics as I am) major (B.S.) is required to take all of the typical upper-level physics courses and then some. Is there that much diversity in the programs that this wouldn't be the case?
That e-mail is probably a good excuse for you to celebrate acceptance to Illinois one more time!slugger wrote:Anyway it dosnt matter cause i got an email saying the ones i sent a week ago were recieved and everything is all good.