Physics GRE Discussion Forums

Hi!
Can you name some universities which consider Spring applications with the possibility of funding? I know that they are limited in number, but I'd surely like give it a shot. I don't know what difference the applicant's nationality makes to this, but would like to mention that I'm an international applicant.
Any help in this regard will be sincerely appreciated. I dug up as many topics as I could, but couldn't find anything related to this topic. Thanks!


-rkat

rkat wrote:Hi!
Can you name some universities which consider Spring applications with the possibility of funding? I know that they are limited in number, but I'd surely like give it a shot. I don't know what difference the applicant's nationality makes to this, but would like to mention that I'm an international applicant.
Any help in this regard will be sincerely appreciated. I dug up as many topics as I could, but couldn't find anything related to this topic. Thanks!


-rkat

This is a tough one. There must be some options out there, and maybe someone here knows of them and can help you out. All of the programs I looked at specifically stated either that no students were admitted for the spring under any circumstances, or that students were admitted to the spring only for rare circumstances and in very small number. My guess is that any American physics PhD program in the top 50 will not have this option.

Hopefully someone can chime in with some institutions that do allow this. If not, I recommend that you spend the extra semester and summer doing as much research as you can and maybe taking some graduate classes and then applying for the fall.

Well, Rutgers does have a Spring admission, but I don't know if they actually take people in the spring. Also, might be domestic only. http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/grad/#DESCR. From website:

"In order to receive full consideration for financial aid, applicants should submit all materials (application, transcripts, and letters of recommendation) before January 1 for fall admission and before November 1 for spring admission."

I don't really know how to rank schools once you get outside the top 5 or 10 (mostly because my knoweldge is all on the astro side, so I don't know enough about comparing physics departments). US News and World Reports says that Rutgers physics department is 26 in the nation, so I imagine they are top 50. I would imagine there are more schools in the top 50 that do if Rutgers in fact does.

In a related note, admissionprof said somewhere that schools may not fill all positions they want, so they may have a few spots available. Maybe try asking around, especially to schools that leave the door open to applications into July (Rutgers and Texas A&M are two schools that I know of that say that).

MIT has spring admission with funding but the slots are much less than fall.

Im surprised at how many people dont know about the MIT spring admissions. I also have a feeling that the spring admission is less competitive than the Fall round because of the lack of publicity for it the and fact that all of the really strong students applied in the Fall. However you arent given the amount of funding options as the Fall but for those with outside funding this might be the best shot for a top 5 program.

I consulted Dr. Bertschinger, Head of the Physics Department of MIT, about Spring'10 Application. Inresponse to my inquiry, I received the following email;

Dear BaBaZuLa,

In general, we admit nearly all students to start in September -- it is rare
that we admit students to start in February.

Best regards,
Ed Bertschinger

Thank you for your replies. If anyone else has any other info regarding this, please add. Looks like applying for spring may not be worth the effort.