------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Astronomy Graduate Program at Caltech -- SRK ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SUMMARY. Caltech astronomy is rated to be the best astronomy department in the US. Two dozen faculty cover the gamut of astronomical fields: planetary science, observational ground based astronomy -- optical and radio, space based astronomy and theory. At any given time the total graduate strength stands at 40. As a testament to the program this is about equal to the number of postdocs also. Clearly, there is huge interest in young people coming to Caltech as evidenced by a full house of Hubble Fellows and Chandra Fellows. In my opinion, this is a great place if you are a highly motivated student. We are rich in resources and our students get to use the world's best instruments as a part of their thesis effort. Indeed, the main complaint I hear is that student's find that research life after Caltech is a bit of a let down! And now some details. BASIS OF ADMISSION. We use the following metrics for admission (no particular order). 1. Your Grade in College. 2. GRE Score (Gen) 3. GRE Score (Physics or other Advanced) 4. Letters of Recommendation 5. Statement of Purpose. It is very difficult for us to normalize your grade in college to those of other applicants, especially if you come from a foreign country (though in some cases, e.g. IITs in India, Cambridge University, Sydney University etc, we have a better idea). We very much value your GRE (general) scores and many faculty value your GRE (Physics) score even more (particularly for foreign students). Often students appear for GRE (Physics) in the Fall or Winter exam (i.e. October or December) and the scores do not reach us in time. Please ensure that your GRE scores reach us since they are an important metric for admission. We have found over time that the best students are those who have a sound academic background AND a keen desire to undertake research. The former are measured by items 1-3 above and the latter by items 4 and 5. To this end, we read your statement of purpose very carefully. We are especially impressed with energetic and motivated students -- those who took the initiative and joined summer schools and accomplished summer projects. It is your advantage to highlight such past work in your statement of purpose. Your statement should certainly include your reasons for going to a graduate program. We do not expect you to have a well defined PhD project but we are keen to know why you wish to pursue graduate study. After all, astronomy research jobs are scarce and it is widely reported that only 1/3 to 1/2 of the PhD students continue and stay in the field. [For US students. We take into account of your participation in the summer schools of NRAO, Kitt Peak, Arecibo. I encourage attendance since it gets you doing some research early on. However, I must also caution that, thanks to the free availability of NSF funded REU program, almost any student with a modest interest and less than modest talent is able to get into an REU program. The result is a group of students who are experts in IRAF and flatfielding but whose basic education in physics and mathematics is weak.] Letters of recommendation, especially if they are written by people we know, carry a lot of weight. It is best to ask people with whom you have worked a lot to write letters (even if they are not famous professors etc) for you. Asking a professor with whom your only contact is a class results in a shallow letter of little value. We receive many such letters (especially from students in foreign countries) and I am afraid that these letters add very little to your package. FLEXIBLE APPROACH: Students interested in astronomy get into our program via three possible channels: astronomy (mainly focussed on observational astronomy), physics (mainly focussed on experimental astrophysics) and planetary sciences (mainly focussed on solar system and extra-solar planets). Our theorists (Kamionkowski, Phinney, Goldreich, Thorne, Sari,Stevenson) shared dual appointments (some with Physics and some with planetary science) and get students from all streams. Students, regardless of the stream they join, can work with any professor in any of these departments (assuming that the professor is interested etc). A TYPICAL TIMELINE: A typical timeline (in Astronomy) is as follows: Year 1: Take a total of 7 astronomy courses and 3 physics courses Year 2: October, appear for the Prelim exam (written exam tests your understanding of the 7 core astronomy courses) During this year we also expect students to carry out TA duties as a part of their teaching requirement. Year 3: October-December period, PhD qualifying exam. At this exam, the student presents an outline of the proposed thesis topic. The exam is usually preceeded by 6-9 months of preparation and preliminary work in the area proposed for thesis. Year 5: Spring-Summer, PhD Defense. THE FIRST TWO YEARS: In the first two years, the students are treated in a different manner compared to years 3-5. To start with these students are paid from a "pool" and thus are not obliged to work for a professor to get a stipend. We are particularly proud of this feature (in most schools, students are aligned with professors who can pay right from the start). This feature allows our student the freedom to fully focus on the courses (should they feel that they lack a proper background) or carry out a mix of courses and research (as is done by our better prepared and more ambitious students) and then use the period between summer of their first year and the Fall of the second year to explore one or more thesis possibilities. About half the students usually zoom into a topic and then stick to it. The other half try at least one other topic before settling down into a thesis topic. Preparation for the PhD Qualifying Exam requires that the student start working with an advisor of his or her choice typically 6 to 9 months ahead of the exam. Starting from year 3, the advisee-advisor relation is closer. The advisor is responsible for guiding the student and for taking care of the stipend, research expenses etc. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: As stated above, the department as a whole takes care of the financial burden in the first two years and beyond the advisor. There has been a consistent shortage of students compared to the positions that the faculty as a whole can and do offer (we have a strict policy of admitting students based on high quality and not our needs). Support has never been a big issue. Over the nearly 15 years I have been here I can honestly state that all of our students have been fully supported over the course of their PhD. As stated above, we support the students with no question asked for the first year. During the academic portion of the second year, we expect them to be TAs. The duties are light (given the small size of Caltech). After that the students are supported by research assistantships by their advisors. SOME CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS. I would like to end by noting four points: 1. What you have read so far and what is given below is strictly my opinion. This is not the official opinion of the department. 2. You should go to graduate school if you are truly interested in pursuing a research career. Many students continue from undergraduate college to graduate school as a matter of course (inertia). I have consistently advised my undergraduates to take a year off and join Peace Corp or become a programmer in a commercial outfit or travel and then join graduate school only if the urge persists. The smartest people do NOT necessarily make the best researchers. Drive or Ambition counts for a lot as does strategy. Neither of these play a significant role in your undergraduate phase of life. These statements are especially true if you wish to be an observer or experimentalist. [The best proof for this assertion is to look at the resumes of CEOs of successful companies. You must have heard of a high school dropout who made it big.] I believe I am an excellent example of a modestly endowed scientist who has accomplished a fair bit by sheer hard work and determination. (Incidentally, Caltech rejected my application to their graduate program.) 3. Many students join astronomy programs wanting to work on GR and theoretical cosmology and black holes etc. The fact is that only a small fraction of the population has the necessary analytical skills to become an outstanding theorist. In contrast, a larger fraction has the potential to become outstanding experimentalists and observers. So judge for yourself where your strengths lie. Exploit them. 4. Finally, I hope you are aware of the abundance of astronomy PhDs. Join the program only if you are determined to become a great astronomer. However, be prepared for being disappointed.