Physics 4+1 BS+MS Program

Students in the BS in Physics program may be admitted directly into the MS in Physics program and “share” up to 20 credits of graduate-level credit.

Table 1: Expected Completed Undergraduate Coursework for Applying to the BS+MS Program 

(Classes in the table below are 4 credits unless otherwise stated)

Notes:

• Up to 20 credits of physics electives numbered 400 and above may be taken by BS students to satisfy both the requirements for the BS and the MS in Physics; these shared credits are taken during the senior year.
• To facilitate a fall term start to the master’s program, students may apply for departmental admission into the BS+MS provided the coursework outlined in Table 1 has been completed.

How to Apply to MS in Physics

Once approved for the B+M, students must apply for admission to the MS degree through the Graduate School during their senior year. Approved B+M students will not be required to submit GRE scores as part of their MS application. 

Continuation Criteria 

Once admitted to the B+M, students must meet the following:

• Maintain an institutional undergraduate GPA of 3.30 or higher through to the completion of BS.
• Earn a B grade or higher (or Pass) in all graduate courses taken for shared B+M credit.

Degree Maps, Shared Credits and Advising

When courses are 400/500 level slash listed, the 500-level option is recommended for shared BS/MS credit.

• Sample Degree Map for Years 1-4 for a student in BS in Physics + MS Program can be found in Table 2.
• Sample Degree Map for Year 5 can be found in Table 3.

Note: These are only examples. Please check with your advisors to make sure your selected courses satisfy the requirements of the degree. None of the requirements for the BS or the MS are changed by this program.

Advising for the BS + MS

Initially, students will be advised by the undergraduate advisor, in consultation with the graduate advisor, who will assist them in preparing their application for the BS + MS. Once students have been admitted into the M.S. program, they will be advised by the graduate advisor. You will need to identify a faculty member who is willing to supervise the research that is required for the MS degree. It is highly recommended that this be done while applying to the program. Most degree plans will include involvement in meaningful research starting in Fall term of the senior year.

Thesis or Project

There are three options to obtain the Physics M.S. degree: thesis, project, and internship. The program must be approved by the student’s graduate advisor and must include a minimum of 45 graduate credits in science, including at least 30 credits in physics. These 30 credits in physics must be in 400- or 500- or 600- level courses as follows for thesis and non-thesis options.

The non-thesis option is the same as the thesis option, but instead of 6 credits of PH 503, substitute 6 credits of PH 504 Cooperative Ed./Internship or PH 506 Special Projects.

For the thesis option, a Thesis Committee (TC) needs to be formed. Thesis students need to prepare a properly formatted and approved M.S. thesis and have an oral defense of the research work. 

Table 2: Suggested Plan for Years 1-4 for BS + MS in Physics 

(Classes in the tables below are 4 credits unless otherwise stated)

Year 1 (46 Undergraduate Credits)

Year 2 (47 Undergraduate Credits)

Year 3 (50 Undergraduate Credits)

Year 4 (20 Undergraduate Credits and 19 Graduate Credits)

Cumulative Credits = 182 (163 undergraduate & 19 graduate)
Students are awarded the BS prior to entry into the MS Program

Table 3: Suggested Plan for Year 5

1 year (26 Graduate Credits, all courses are 4 credits unless indicated otherwise)

Cumulative Credits = 208 (163 undergraduate + 45 graduate credits)
All requirements for the MS in Physics satisfied

Notes:

• All 600-level courses are offered every other year. 3 out of 4 of the following are required: 617, 624, 631, 664; the balance of the credits required may be taken up by electives from the list.
• PH411/412 highly recommended before PH617; PH 426 before PH664; PH432 before 631

Electives List

Please note that the following do not count towards the M.S.: PH 515, 524, 525, 525, 526, 531, and 532.

Counting towards the degree are any other PH 5xx level courses, any 600-level PH courses, and selected courses from other departments (with approval). A non-exhaustive list is shown below.

Examples of other 500-level electives that count towards the M.S.:

• PH 512 Quantum Mechanics II
• PH 590 Cellular and Molecular Biophysics
• PH 540, 541: Solid State Devices 
• PH 545, 546, 547: Micro-Electronic Device Fabrication 
• PH 595: Materials Physics 
• PH 581: Intro to Nanomaterials 
• PH 534: Methods of Mathematical Physics 
• ME 528: Scanning Electron Microscopy 
• ME 529: Transmission Electron Microscopy 
• ECE 515: Fundamentals of Semiconductor Devices

Other 600-level electives that count towards the M.S.:

• PH 618, 619 Graduate quantum mechanics II/III
• PH 622, 623 Graduate E&M II/III
• PH 665 Statistical Mechanics II

Electives available at OHSU
PSU has a memorandum of understanding (MoU) permitting graduate students to enroll in a variety of graduate level courses that count as electives towards the M.S. in Physics. This list is updated on a regular basis. Any of these may be used for the program with the graduate advisor’s approval and count for graduate credit.

Electives available at University of Oregon
PSU has a memorandum of understanding (MoU) permitting graduate students to enroll in a variety of graduate level courses that might count as electives towards the M.S. in Physics. Please discuss with your advisor.