Grad School Shopper.com Simplifies the Grad School Search

The online resource for graduate programs in physics, astronomy, and related fields

Searching for the right grad program can be time consuming, but it doesn’t have to consume you. In support of physics and astronomy students and the future of the physical sciences, the American Institute of Physics hosts GradSchoolShopper.com (GSS), a free online resource for browsing, sorting, and comparing hundreds of graduate programs in physics, astronomy, and related fields. GSS is an official partner of Physics Today and the Society of Physics Students (and this issue of the SPS Observer!).

The backbone of GSS is an extensive and searchable collection of graduate program profiles. Each profile includes, at minimum, a list of research specialties and contact information. Many programs have enhanced profile pages that provide an overview, application requirements, a description of the department culture, quick links to relevant web pages and social networking pages, and even videos and photos.

Get excited about your future by considering the possibilities. You can browse GSS profiles by more than 50 research specialties.

Once you know what’s important to you in a graduate program, GSS can narrow your options. With the “sort by” function, you can filter programs by degrees offered, research specialty, campus setting (urban, suburban, or rural), acceptance rate, and application deadline. You can sort programs online and save your results, or download the data to work through later.

Before GSS and SPS partnered on the Fall issues of the SPS Observer, GSS had its own magazine. You can check out past issues here.

Know what you’re looking for? Search by school, specialty, or key words. And if you’re looking for a mountain view, an oceanside setting, or someplace near family, the “search by location” tool is here for you—just input your desired state or country.

You don’t need an account to access all the resources on GSS, but creating one is a helpful way to keep track of interesting programs. It’s quick and easy to do, and once you’re logged in, you can bookmark the programs you like and revisit them anytime through the “favorites” list in your profile.

Here you’ll find links to graduate school–related resources, including lists of physics bridge programs, the latest data on physics and astronomy graduate education, Physics Today career issues, and many related organizations and reports.

This is an updated version of a piece by the same name published in the Fall 2022 issue of GradSchoolShopper magazine.