Physics - General Physics Concentration, Non-Thesis option, (MS)

MS Degree Program

Program Admission Requirements

Prospective students, in addition to meeting the requirements for admission to The Graduate School, are required to present as a prerequisite for admission a satisfactory record of undergraduate work in physics. Normally 21 credit hours of physics course work will be required, including classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, modern physics, quantum physics, and thermal physics, and 12 credit hours of calculus and differential equations. Students who are deficient in undergraduate work may be admitted on a conditional basis and would be allowed to take graduate courses only after fulfilling the undergraduate course deficiencies. Submission of general GRE score is strongly recommended for admission.

Program Requirements

After meeting the general degree requirements for admission to The Graduate School

After meeting the general degree requirements for admission to The Graduate School, students selecting Physics as a major will be assigned to the Department Graduate Committee, which must approve and direct their course of study.

Core requirements (9 credit hours)*:

Must take three of the four courses listed below:

PHYS 7100 - Classical Mechanics
PHYS 7200 - Quantum Mechanics I
PHYS 7300 - Electrodynamics
PHYS 7520 - Statistical Mechanics
Satisfactory completion of an oral comprehensive exam typically given during the final thesis oral presentation.

General Physics Concentration, non-thesis option (33 credit hours)

(Physics Program core requirement*: 9 credit hours, Concentration requirement: 6 credit hours, Additional courses: 18 credit hours)

General Physics Concentration requirement (6 credit hours):

Must take two courses from the following list:

Sufficient additional courses to satisfy a minimum of 33 semester hours

Sufficient additional courses to satisfy a minimum of 33 semester hours, in which 9 may be in a collateral field of study. These courses must be approved by the graduate advisor. 23 semester hours must be taken in courses numbered 7000 or above.

Complete a survey of

Complete a survey of an area of current research in fundamental or applied physics and make an oral and written presentation based on this survey before a faculty committee. The subject of this survey must be approved by the departmental graduate committee at least one semester prior to graduation.