Timeline for Strategizing Post-Undergraduate Career Path for Aspiring Physics Doctoral Student [closed]
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
25 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Mar 20 at 12:51 | history | closed |
Azor Ahai -him- Sursula Jon Custer Peter Jansson The Doctor |
Needs more focus | |
| Mar 17 at 7:53 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| Mar 17 at 16:46 | |||||
| Mar 17 at 0:41 | history | became hot network question | |||
| Mar 16 at 23:11 | comment | added | Bryan Krause♦ | You might also include some statistics on the software you've contributed to and make sure that's clear on your CV. | |
| Mar 16 at 23:09 | comment | added | Bryan Krause♦ | I don't know your field well, but a big change in mine from when I applied to now is the expectation of publications. It's not so much that it should be a requirement or the absence is looked at poorly, it's that such a high percentage of applicants have something published that it is kind of an easy way to separate applications that are otherwise difficult to differentiate. Remember they're not admitting people who are merely qualified, they're admitting the top N applications vs peers. Some friends of mine had failed application seasons followed by success after their papers were published. | |
| Mar 16 at 23:05 | comment | added | 10GeV | @BryanKrause Or, I should ask, is not having authorship looked upon particularly negatively? | |
| Mar 16 at 22:52 | comment | added | 10GeV | @BryanKrause I am not an author on any publications, but am currently co-authoring a paper on some work I've done over the last 1 1/2 years (which I mentioned in my CV). Software that I've written is currently being used by a couple of grad students at an affiliated institution, & (should they publish) I expect to be listed as a co-author. I've also made some substantial contributions to some open-source Monte Carlo packages that have seen relatively wide use within our particular niche of the subfield, and I've presented at research symposia. Is having authorship particularly important? | |
| Mar 16 at 22:46 | comment | added | 10GeV | @cag51 I'm not quite sure what went wrong (I've chalked it up to competition & bad luck). I've run my CV & essays (which are, I think, pretty standard: discussing my research experience, explaining that I wish to pursue a PhD so that I can continue such work, and briefly mentioning why I'm applying to that particular institution) by my PI & advisor and received positive feedback. I've done well in my classes, and I can't fathom that any of my recommenders (all of whom I have great working relationships with) would have intentionally said anything that might be perceived negatively. | |
| Mar 16 at 21:42 | comment | added | Bryan Krause♦ | I agree with cag51 and your PI, your profile sounds good. Are you an author on any publications? | |
| Mar 16 at 20:41 | review | Close votes | |||
| Mar 20 at 12:51 | |||||
| Mar 16 at 19:01 | comment | added | Buffy | I once suffered a setback because a letter writer (foreign born) said something in a LoR that was misinterpreted. He meant it to be extremely supportive but it was read just the opposite. While you can't ask to see your letters, you might be able to have someone else (department head) review them. | |
| Mar 16 at 19:00 | comment | added | cag51♦ | So you applied to 20 schools and didn't get into any of them? That seems very strange given your qualifications. Any idea what went wrong? | |
| Mar 16 at 18:55 | history | edited | 10GeV | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 16 at 18:23 | answer | added | Buffy | timeline score: 2 | |
| Mar 16 at 17:51 | comment | added | 10GeV | @BryanKrause I feel as though my grades are okay (not perfect, however I have a 3.6 overall GPA, and a 3.8 in physics/math). I'm at a small (but reputable) LAC that lacks a grad program, however I have pursued "grad-level" topics (e.g. QFT) via independent study. My rec. letters came from the PI of my research group (who is at another nearby uni. with a highly-regarded physics program), my academic advisor in the physics dep., and a math prof. I have taken several classes with. The former two reviewed my essays and spoke favorably of them, and my PI expressed his surprise at my rejections. | |
| Mar 16 at 17:42 | comment | added | Bryan Krause♦ | What do the people you've been working with think of your application? Have you had a trusted professor look over your application materials including essays etc? Are your grades okay? Is your undergraduate institution reputable? Who wrote your red letters? On face it sounds like you have a pretty good resume so if you applied broadly there seems likely to be something missing. | |
| Mar 16 at 17:28 | comment | added | 10GeV | @Buffy I'd ideally like to remain in the United States. | |
| Mar 16 at 17:28 | history | edited | 10GeV |
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| Mar 16 at 17:28 | comment | added | Buffy | What country do you want to study in ? | |
| Mar 16 at 17:28 | comment | added | 10GeV | @BryanKrause I applied to the "top 5" schools, and 15 others more broadly (the majority (~11) chosen because these schools have faculty conducting research in or adjacent to the subfield of high-energy experiment that I have been working in, and would like to continue working in). | |
| Mar 16 at 17:26 | comment | added | 10GeV | @BryanKrause I've been working with an experimental high-energy group since the year prior to entering college. I've done things such as: building & testing instrumentation, developing (mathematically) and implementing (in code) a novel algorithm for reconstructing the energy & direction of observed events, writing Monte Carlo reconstruction and detector simulations, conducting source searches (collecting data, processing it, contributing to development of source reconstruction tools), running theoretical calculations (by hand and on HPC resources), & writing data acquisition system software. | |
| Mar 16 at 17:10 | comment | added | Bryan Krause♦ | Okay. You said you like research - what research experience do you have? And did you apply to the "top N" schools or did you apply more broadly? | |
| Mar 16 at 17:03 | comment | added | 10GeV | @BryanKrause Thanks for the advice. While I know that academic research positions (particularly in physics) are incredibly rare, it remains something that I am willing to undergo the 5-6+ years of a PhD program in pursuit of. I feel that I would harbor a lot of regret later in life if I didn't at least give it a solid try. | |
| Mar 16 at 16:56 | comment | added | Bryan Krause♦ | Academic research jobs in physics after the PhD are far more rare than PhD positions themselves. It's likely that, if you applied broadly, some of the schools you applied to will have zero successful applicants go on to one of these jobs. | |
| Mar 16 at 16:40 | history | asked | 10GeV | CC BY-SA 4.0 |