As a first year student, you will be assigned both a faculty mentor and student peer mentor. The goal of both the peer and faculty mentor program is to pair you with a junior/senior member of our department who can provide useful advice as you make your transition into graduate school.

Your peer mentor will be assigned to you by the Physics Graduate Council in July. You can turn to your peer mentor for any questions about student life on campus, research, coursework, Ann Arbor living, or work/life balance. 

Your faculty mentor will be assigned to you in June. Having a faculty mentor will provide you with a source of information from an academic perspective within your anticipated subfield. You can go to your faculty mentor with questions about coursework, research, professional development, and other concerns during your first year of graduate school.

The Associate Chair of Graduate Studies also serves as a principal resource for you during the entirety of your time within the graduate program. The Associate Chair can assist you in all aspects of your graduate education and help to identify resources or actions that will get you where you need to go. 

Most students will find an advisor by the end of Winter semester of their first year. First year students are required to attend PHYSICS 501: Mini Colloquium in their first Fall and Winter terms. This course provides an opportunity to learn about the research going on in the department and across campus, as well as meet many of the faculty. To join a research group and find an advisor, we encourage you to speak directly with the faculty member to know if there are opportunities for new students to join their group. Your first summer in the program is then devoted to research in this new group, before resuming coursework in the Fall.

Please know that the first summer with an advisor is often a trial period to see if an advisor and research group are a good fit. It is not uncommon for students to switch groups at the end of the summer period because they discover they’re interested in a different research area. Students will usually find an advisor for their dissertation work by the time they finish their course requirements and advance to candidacy.  

To learn more about the research faculty are doing, check out the Research section of the Physics website. 

What is the qualifying exam?

The qualifying exams (Classical and Modern) are the first major examinations you will take during your graduate career. These exams are used as an assessment tool by the department to make sure you are prepared for graduate level courses and to demonstrate your familiarity with undergraduate physics material. A passing score on both the Modern and Classical qualifying exams is required to advance to candidacy.

Qualifying exams are offered in August and May. You may opt out of taking the exams when they are offered. We do encourage first-year students to take the exams in August of their first year for two reasons: to potentially to pass them and get them out of the way early, and to gauge the level of difficulty of the exams regardless of the student’s level of preparation.

The qualifying exam has an important educational purpose: it reviews the student’s knowledge of a wide variety of physics topics, and brings these topics into context in a way that specialized courses do not.  The process of studying for the exam is important and crucially helps synthesize subjects and solidify the mastery of fundamental physics topics.  The exam also tests the quantitative application of physics concepts to real-world problems.  Multiple attempts for the qualifying exam allow students to practice and try again.  We see value in this practice.  Therefore, we will still require passing the qualifying exam to be a requirement for candidacy. 

Note that the qual is used as an assessment tool by the department and is NOT used to “weed out” students in the program. The only requirement from the department is that you receive a satisfactory score by the time you advance to candidacy. We will monitor your progress and make recommendations as needed to make sure you are on track to meet this requirement.

What happens if I pass the qualifying exam?

When you receive the passing score on both the Classical and Modern qual (regardless of whether they are passed in the same exam period or not), you have met the requirement for candidacy.

What happens if I fail the qualifying exam?

If you receive do not receive a passing score on either the Classical or Modern portion of the exam, you have to retake that portion of the qual the next time it is offered. There is no cause for alarm, as you may retake the exam multiple times, and we are here to help you prepare so that you can pass it.

If a student is unsuccessful at passing the exam by the beginning of the second year (after the August exam), the Associate Chair for the Graduate Program will conduct a holistic review, in consultation with the student and their advisor, to help identify how the student can best be supported to master the material. Subsequent steps for these students may include: guided problem-solving sessions (followed by another qual attempt), an oral exam, or taking a class that covers the material on which the student struggled.

How should I prepare for the qualifying exam?

For students taking the exam after the first semester, we highly encourage you to seek out study partners/groups as this has proven highly beneficial to students in previous years. Your professors can also be a useful resource.

The exam includes questions on Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism, Thermodynamics, Statistical Mechanics, and Quantum Mechanics at the level of advanced undergraduate material. Here is a list of some Helpful Texts When Studying for Qualifying Exams. 

Additionally, we have past qualifying exams and solutions that you may use to practice. You can view the Qual Exam Archive via DropBox.  Please note that the formatting of the exam was altered in 2018. This means that the older exams have a different format. These alterations were developed in conjunction with student recommendations. Alterations include switching to a single exam and removing specialized content such as condensed matter, nuclear physics, particle physics, optics, and atomic physics. For students pursuing careers in any of these areas, it is expected that they develop the necessary background in their required specialty courses.

We took some commonly asked questions of new students in the program and compiled them below: 

• Can I take courses outside the department? 

  • Yes! Graduate students are required to take a 3-credit hour cognate course to reach candidacy. This is a course in a different academic unit that relates to your research. You can take more than one class outside of the department, if it is relevant to your degree and approved by your advisor. You can also take courses that are unrelated to your research, but please know they will not count as a cognate nor towards candidacy requirements. Find additional information on coursework here. 

• Can I work with more than one faculty member? 

  • Yes. Although students typically have just one research advisor, some students have two co-advisors (or co-chairs) for their thesis project. Sometimes both faculty are in the same unit (Physics) and sometimes you have co-advisors who work together from different units (such as Physics and Engineering). 

• Can I do a certificate program? 

  • Yes! Graduate students can earn a certificate in a variety of programs such as Complex Systems, Science and Technology in Public Policy, Data Science and more. (Learn more about Certificate Programs.)

• Can I transfer credits from my undergraduate degree that were at the graduate level? 

  • No. Rackham Graduate School does not allow transfer credits for PhD students. But, the department can consider previous graduate-level coursework when helping you decide which classes to take for the program. Just speak with the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies if you want to develop a unique plan for you. 

• Can I park on campus? 

  • Parking on campus is very limited; there are passes for graduate students, but students should review the restrictions before purchasing. Ann Arbor and UM have a robust bus system that is free to all UM students. Ann Arbor is also a very bicycle friendly city. (UM Parking & Transportation  and AA City Bus) 

• How do I find housing? 

  • Graduate students have a variety of options when it comes to housing. UM offers several on-campus graduate housing options (such as Munger Graduate Residence or Northwood Apartments), in addition to many off-campus housing options with roommates, housemates or even co-op living. Physics Graduate Council also provides housing resources to students in the summer prior to their first year in the program. (UM Housing and Rackham Housing) 

• Can I GSI in another academic unit that is not Physics? 

  • Yes! While Physics graduate students primarily teach in Physics, students can GSI in other departments. It is common for Physics students to teach in Astronomy, Statistics, Biophysics and Earth and Environmental Sciences. Check out the Teaching section of the Graduate Handbook for more information.