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Preparing for a phd application early

Hi guys

I have just finished first year and I am hoping to do a phd in either maths or theoretical physics after my theoretical physics degree (I do roughly 50% physics and 50% maths covering topics in pure and applied maths). From what I have covered so far in both uni and my own time my interests are starting to develop towards geometry and a few areas of theoretical physics (but i have definitely not covered too much of most areas yet so my interests may change, I am keeping an open mind).

I was wondering what I can do over the next few years to help make my application as competitive as possible?

Few things on my list so far
- get around 80% in my degree (going off my first year but of course the next few years will be harder though more exciting too :biggrin:

)
- try secure 2 summer placements (these will either hopefully be in theoretical/computational physics (either condensed matter or biophysics as this is what my department offers research in), geometry, topology, fluid dynamics or software development in industry)

Is there any other things I should be aiming to do to make my application as competitive as possible?

Note - I will most likely try change university dependent on where my interests develop further, I will need funding and I most likely wont be able to do a post grad masters course like part III etc due to money and I am not really willing to take on the post grad loan.

Thanks for any tips! :biggrin:

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 1

stevey396

What uni are you at now?