Reddit reviews Getting In to Grad School for Physics: (or another physical science)
We found 3 Reddit comments about Getting In to Grad School for Physics: (or another physical science). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
I am a PhD student now, so I'll share my thoughts that may be relevant for you. I am going to suggest a somewhat aggressive timeline that I personally think optimizes your time while still preparing you to be a good PhD applicant, which basically comes down to: research experience and your physics GRE, more on those below.
If your not redoing a whole degree (which you should not) then you really just need 2 things for a good PhD application: the more or less standard "core" undergrad courses- Modern Physics, Thermodynamics, E&M, and Quantum, and secondly- RESEARCH EXPERIENCE (research spiel in next paragraph). You could really do the core requirements in a year, but that leaves you with a screwy PhD application timeline. So spreading your undergrad courses and research over 2 years is reasonable. Additionally the core course mentioned are primarily what is covered on the physics GRE. I would start familiarizing yourself with the content of the pGRE immediately after modern physics since you are on a compressed timeline. Ok now on to the research spiel.
The purpose of doing a PhD and being a physicist is primarily to do physics research. If you don't like research, then you won't like being a physicist. Luckily you have a programming background, so you could get involved with research pretty quickly (virtually all research involves some sort of programming these days).
There is so much more to say with regards to grad school, but I will refer you to the following book
https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Grad-School-Physics-physical/dp/1499732244
Which will fill in the rest of the details and elaborate on what I've said. I really don't think I could say much more that won't be repeating what is already said in the book.
I will say that physics research involving quantum mechanics directly will be theoretical, and the main areas where researchers eat quantum mechanics for breakfast are: cosmology, particle and nuclear, condensed matter. For experiment you may or may not need to know quantum mechanics very well.
Astronomy is basically experimental astrophysics, and is all about data collection and analysis, with tons and tons of algorithms implemented along the way.
I myself am in theoretical nuclear and particle physics mainly focused on simulation. Hope I have helped you in some way!
Not likely. Those scores are possibly low enough that many schools wouldn't even look at your application. How is your research? Maybe try a lower ranked school than Boulder, possibly look at a masters program that could transfer into a PhD. Check out this book and look for advice on places like /r/gradadmissions. If a professor at Boulder knows you or is impressed with you then you might have some luck getting past a bad score, the physics GRE is even ignored at many schools, but those general scores should be higher, especially quantitative.
A gap year isn't a terrible thing, I'm in one now and improved my physics gre score from 50th to 80th percentile and got MUCH better at writing the application essays as well as got some more time with research. This also gave me time to apply for fee waivers and really research potential advisors. If you do take a gap year organize a GRE study group at your university, it will help your scores and cannot hurt to have your recommenders see you on campus making improvements. Also check out /r/physicsgre if you go to retake the test.
Buy this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Grad-School-Physics-physical/dp/1499732244/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=getting+into+grad+school+for+physics&qid=1562922761&s=gateway&sprefix=getting+into+grad+&sr=8-1
I helped me answer a lot of questions about the application process.