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A little bit background. I am a junior physics student in US and want to get into an US PhD program. I am interest in theoretical high energy physics. My background is not bad. I have self-learnt some QFT and relativity and GPA around 3.6.

I have contact all the PI in the area I interest in my school but none of them are taking me. (I suspect the reason is that I may disturb them by sending a few more email to a PI when I do not receive a reply. I am transferred from another institution, where all professors reply to email unless they do not see it.)

I am considering doing some research on the experiment side and try to contact the theoretical PI again this summer. In the worst case, I won't have any experience in theoretical area. Is it possible to follow an theoretical advisor in PhD program? Is it possible to get into top 30? My current school is arround top 20 in physics in US.

Buffy
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gshxd
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  • "My background is not bad." Do you mean your background is not excellent? Anyhow, do not this cynical question stop you. But you are already seeing that the opportunities are limited, especially with a "not bad" profile instead of the "top 1% of top 1%" profile. A research internship would surely help you. Try to do that, before applying for PhD positions.

    And please ignore the ranking of the universities. They do more harm than help, especially in your field.

     – EarlGrey Nov 09 '22 at 09:59

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Yes, in the US this can happen, depending on the recommendation letters you get. But don't apply to too narrow a set of doctoral programs. Top 30 is a bit narrow, top 50 gives you some leeway and it contains some additional fine universities.

Make sure your current professors know and support you. Ask one or two for a research project, even if it is quite small. If they are willing to work with you then they are likely to support you.

Expect the early years to be heavy with advanced courses with some opportunities to start on research. But the really serious stuff starts after passing qualifiers.

Note that most US doctoral admissions is by committee, not by the PI, who may not be directly involved at all. It is common to, therefore, ignore such requests, or reply with "Make application, get accepted, then we can discuss it."

Buffy
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