Please help Need some suggestions...

[xudis149]

hello everyone!!

I need some help..
My background is like this ...

Bachelors in electrical engineering from India in an ordinary state college.. [61 % marks..not sure about gpa??]
and two years work experience in embedded systems...
also a short stint of research work in embedded at IIT {A reputed college}..
I do not have any research experience in physics..
[guess most of this doesnt help my physics profile]

But anyway now I am very eager to change my field to theoretical physics...

I have left my job and am preparing for gre and gre physics [in november]

But since i want to finalise my list of universities I have shortlisted the following ten....

Kindly please give some advice...

I am assuming i will score approximately in this range

GRE V: 450- 600 [really not sure abt a smaller range]
GRE Quant : 750-800
GRE Analy: 4+
GRE Physics: 800-850 [ hmm... i am hoping to reach somehow in the 80 percentile zone]

1.Yale [maybe if ETS scores me up to 90 percentile....]
2.Carnegie Mellon
3.University of Florida
4.Georgia Institute of technology.
5.Texas A&M University
6.Purdue University
7.University of Southern California
8.Washington University in St. Louis
9.University of Virginia
10.Virginia Tech.

I havent looked much into the research groups. Basically I am looking for a school
where i can get funded{thats important}...

Please suggest some other universities for an average international student like me...

[blackcat007]

its really difficult to tell like that... even i am a prospective student and don't have much experience.. but institutes like yale and texas A&M are high profile institutes. they generally give lots of preference to research and UG projects..

there are lot many universities which offer PhD in your field of choice.. you better make a judicious choice of universities.

you can get all the physics programs around US in this link http://www.physicsgre.com/gradphys/index.shtml

[nowhereguy]

Hi sidharthsp. I have no idea what your chances are, but I do know something. You should definitely read more about the different research fields and find out which ones you find more interesting. The fact that you said that you are interested in theoretical physics OR high energy OR cosmology reveals that you don't have a clear idea of what you said. So, that would be a starting point: read more about those fields (and maybe others), find out which you like and only then make your list of universities based on the research groups that you would like to join. Of course, your chances will be greatly influenced by how well you do in the GREs, your letters of recommendation, etc.

[xudis149]

the only think i know for sure
is I like theoretical side of physics...
that may sound vague and confused

but i am open to do research in all fields ..

and amongst all the fields -- i am totally unaware of condensed matter physics
so i am ok with any of the remaining fields...
hence i haven't formed any particular opinion on which field to go...

another fact i just now finished GRE9277 with a dismal score of 720....

so I have to improve...

BTW are institute like TAMU, YALE, USC , carnegie , absolutely out of reach for someone like me...
could anyone suggest better

[xudis149]

Hello Everbody,

I did further more {realistic} refinement of the list. As I had mentioned earlier I am looking forward to HEP theory... And my background is electrical engineering and 2 years embedded experience from INDIA. My college is not popular and my marks are average only. I am hoping to compensate with a gre general score of around 1400 and 80 percentile above for gre physics. With such a score is the following list reasonable.

Are universities like Brandeis, NorthEastern and UMA very selective when selecting foreigners, probably because they are in Boston area or any other reason?? Please suggest if there are any other university where theory HEP is good and gettable for me....

Purdue University
Syracuse University
Texas A&M University
University of Delaware
University of Southern California
University of Virginia
Virginia Tech
University Of Florida
North Eastern University
Brandeis University
University of Illianosis, Chicago
University of Massachusetts Amherst
University Of Rochester

[xudis149]

Any Good Samaritan there....

Please help with the above query... I am really confused about the shortlisting procedure as I do not have much idea regarding all these things.....

[nowhereguy]

I would add Brown, Stony Brook and Rutgers to that list, probably above most of the schools you mentioned.

[xudis149]

Thanks a lot "nowhereguy" for replying...

I would add Brown, Stony Brook and Rutgers to that list, probably above most of the schools you mentioned.

I was also thinking of them but based on chances of international students there I feel a little reluctant to waste my chances there....

Do you think otherwise the list is fine for HEP theory and particle physics

[noojens]

If you're interested in cosmology, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has a good, small, reputable program. There's not much going on in HEP there, though - a little astroparticle physics, but nothing in string theory or the like. The department's likely to grow in the next couple years, since the university just received a big grant to hire new faculty in science and technology sectors.

It's a good department in a mediocre school - you could probably get in pretty easily, perhaps with funding.

[xudis149]

Thanks a lot Noojens .. for that info..

I dont mind cosmology at all...
I will take a look at there website