Advice about 1-year theoretical physics master? Worried about rejections.

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masterwindu
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2017 5:27 pm

Advice about 1-year theoretical physics master? Worried about rejections.

Post by masterwindu » Tue Jan 09, 2018 10:23 am

Hello there. Without going into too much detail (see my profile in the 2018 applicants thread), I have thrown in a considerable amount of money into US grad school applications, but I am very disturbed by the prospect of getting rejected by every one of them. Therefore I'm planning to apply for a taught master in theoretical physics at e.g. Oxbridge to spend the year. Since the grades will only come out after the summer exams, I figure this experience, in terms of increasing my chances in the US next year, would not matter much outside of prestige. However, I will be pretty well-prepared for PhDs in many other countries.

The problem comes when I have to consider which one to apply to. Since I have already invested quite a lot in US, I can only afford to apply to one of them. As I have implied, money is a huge concern for me, so I would strongly prefer getting into a funded program. The courses at Oxford appeal to me the most, but I heard it is much harder to get funding than Cambridge, where funding is already scarce. On the other hand, the Cambridge courses are oriented towards high energy physics and applied maths, whereas I'm already quite committed to CMT and although I did very well in maths, I did not get to do much pure maths like group theory/functional analysis/topology. Though I am fairly interested in those courses (Advanced QFT and String theory can be quite relevant in CMT too AFAIK), few of them are directly related to what I aspire to do in the future.

I'm frankly getting exhausted from sending applications and want to get back to focus on coursework asap. So I'm inclined to just apply to Cambridge and be done with it. Would anyone be able to tell me the funding situations for oversea students at Oxbridge? I would also appreciate recommendations to better schools I can still consider as well as any experience about getting all rejections.

WashU2468
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2018 12:20 am

Re: Advice about 1-year theoretical physics master? Worried about rejections.

Post by WashU2468 » Tue Jan 09, 2018 12:00 pm

I am not sure about the funding difference between the Universities you mentioned. But I think it is a great idea. IMO your GRE prooves you are bright and should get in to at least one school you listed... but only 89/100 GPA is low enough to cast doubt for an international applicant. I'd bet you'll get in somewhere but it can't hurt applying to masters.

However, isn't the deadline for UK masters applications still a few months away? If you are tired of applications, why apply right now? Is it rolling admissions?

masterwindu
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2017 5:27 pm

Re: Advice about 1-year theoretical physics master? Worried about rejections.

Post by masterwindu » Tue Jan 09, 2018 1:41 pm

WashU2468 wrote:However, isn't the deadline for UK masters applications still a few months away? If you are tired of applications, why apply right now? Is it rolling admissions?
It's mid-late January to be considered for funding.



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