Phygrad

Thanks @Geodude. Yes, it seems that recommendations would be tricky. UMN does have a terminal Master degree in Physics. But I am a part of masters en route Phd. I was wondering, if I go there and do well in few courses, some prof may agree to give recommendation to me.

I am a senior undergrad studying internationally and majoring in electronics. I applied to graduate physics programs in the US. I was able to get into some schools, but not the top ones. I have accepted the offer from University of Minnesota for the PhD along with a Master's. However, I got a few great positions in the upcoming summer and a couple of papers which seem to be completely deal breaking. I also have a feeling that my undergrad major might have been a problem so getting a master's could be helpful. I wanted to reapply for grad school with my Master's (along with good GPA). There is a lot of negativity in academia about transfer students. However, I want to make it absolutely clear that I am not talking about transfer student. I want to reapply as a first-year graduate student. And, I am also not bothered by getting recommendation letters from UMN. I can get sufficient letters from other professors. I contacted a few schools asking about it. They said I can obviously reapply as a first-year graduate student (that's what I want). But many people (on the internet) say that it is something that is highly frowned upon, and this decreases the chances of admission (even with Masters). I want to get some perspective as to what extent is it common, and how much is it frowned upon?