A large and increasing gap exists between the level and sophistication of the physics encountered by a student in his undergraduate work at a four-year college with no graduate program and the level and sophistication of the physics with which he must work in the PhD program of a large university. In order to help bridge this gap, Wichita State University designed an MS program especially for graduates of four-year colleges, with the intention of preparing them for PhD study at larger universities. This article describes the workings and results of the program and gives some insight into the planning of students for their careers in physics.