M.S or PhD in Astrophysics?

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pv05
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 11:59 am

M.S or PhD in Astrophysics?

Post by pv05 » Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:00 am

I am a B.Tech graduate student from Electronics and Communication department.I am highly interested in doing research in Astrophysics from USA and along with my regular course work I have carried out some research projects in Astrophysics during the internships.

Now I want to ask that can I directly apply for PhD after giving GRE or I need to go for M.S first b4 registering for PhD? On the websites of some universities it is written that students with bachelors degree in science and Engineering are eligible for grad school. In that case how will I fill the gap of some courses which are not taught in engineering like Classical Mechanics, advanced quantum mechanics etc.

Kindly let me know regarding this.
Thanks.

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xudis149
Posts: 148
Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2008 12:03 am

Re: M.S or PhD in Astrophysics?

Post by xudis149 » Sun Jun 14, 2009 4:23 am

You can do self study in physics and get a good score in Physics GRE, that will help your cause. Or you can apply for MS to places in US but then I am not really sure whether you will get funding for MS. In PhD generally funding is assured. In US MS is not mandatory for getting getting admit for a PhD course. Another alternative is to do MS at your home country before applying for phd to US. Canada is another alternative for doing MS.

timemachine
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 11:03 pm

Re: M.S or PhD in Astrophysics?

Post by timemachine » Wed Jul 22, 2009 11:14 pm

If you are going for PhD take Subject GRE.
If you are not very confident to bear the load of the tough courses, go for MS first.
University of Georgia, Athens (UGA) has a good Physics school and I have heard that it is easy to get aid there in MS.
You can find more at http://www.physast.uga.edu/.
You can see your chances of getting in UGA or any other university at http://www.missiongre.com



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