So You Want To Be A Physicist Discussion

[Agent M27]

I just finished reading your essay and I can honestly say I am more excited to be a physicist than I was previously! Thank you for your time and effort to give us a true inside look at the entire process. I am only in my second year so I still have some years to go, but an attempt at a PhD is deffinitely in my future. If I may ask where did you get your PhD and in what area? Thanks.

Joe

 

[physics_pupil]

Excellent material!I really enjoyed reading it.

 

[yukawa_m]

i liked these articles.i hope they'll be useful

 

[ZapperZ]

Homework copiers, BEWARE!

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/higher-education/new-mit-study-on-student-cheat.html

That brings us to the new MIT study, conducted by Physics Professor David E. Pritchard of MIT, Assistant Professor Young-Jin Lee of the University of Kansas, and two other researchers.

According to the study, students who copy homework problems requiring algebraic responses wound up performing poorly on problems that required similar work on the final exam—by as much as two letter grades.

Students who copy more than 30 percent of their homework problems have more than three times the course failure rate as other students, even if they started the course with the same math and physics abilities.

This study has been accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Sp. Topics - Physics Education Research, but has not appeared in print yet as of today (contrary to the report). I'll update this when it appears online. Papers from this journal are available for free.

Edit: the paper is now available online:

http://prst-per.aps.org/abstract/PRSTPER/v6/i1/e010104

Zz.

 

[Who Am I]

Great info, however, it needs some grammar correction and then it can be put into a book.

I'm glad I have the internet and interest on my side as far as getting into grad school goes. That's considering that I am a high-school senior and I won't start my undergraduate degree for another 5 months.

I might start here and begin to suck up information until I am an expert on getting into the program that I want.

Stanford, MIT, Columbia and Caltech are my top choices. I will be attending the University of Arizona for my undergrad degree, which means that it will be a bit more of a stretch to get into those programs compared to a school ranked in the top 20 or 30.

So, I'll need all the help I can get.

 

[Daytripper17]

In your essay, you recommend inquiring about research work around the middle of year 3...but I've always heard that it's quite important to start doing some work (be it lab work or data analysis) during the summer after your first year or at the latest the summer after your second year. The idea is to be involved in three research projects by the time you apply to grad school so that you can have your three letters of recommendation from the three professors you did work for. What are your thoughts on this?

 

[ZapperZ]

In your essay, you recommend inquiring about research work around the middle of year 3...but I've always heard that it's quite important to start doing some work (be it lab work or data analysis) during the summer after your first year or at the latest the summer after your second year. The idea is to be involved in three research projects by the time you apply to grad school so that you can have your three letters of recommendation from the three professors you did work for. What are your thoughts on this?

I am in the camp where I dislike the idea of freshman and sophomores already seeking "lab work" that is outside of the class work. I would rather such students pay attention to their classes and get their grades up as high as possible. Aim for straight A's! As I've said, these are going to be the easiest of all the classes that you will encounter. No amount of "research work" is going to mask bad grades when you apply for graduate school.

When I was going through all the application for summer internships, practically all of the students who applied got good letters of recommendations from their class instructors, not from instructors who worked with them in some research project. These students somehow left a very good impression on the instructors, all within the framework of a class. They talked to the instructors, ask questions in class, see them during their office hours, etc. In other words, you do not have to do some research work for someone just so you can have excellent letter of recommendations.

Besides, and I'm being blunt here, what exactly is the type of "research work" that you can do as a freshman or a sophomore? Again, I've supervised many undergraduate summer interns, and most of them require a lot of hand-holding, even when we give them a very limited task to do. And these are juniors and seniors.

The #1 criteria in getting into a good graduate program is... GRADES. Everything else is icing on the cake.

Zz.

 

[Sunmaz]

This is a wonderful resource. I am currently reading through it (I'm on part IX) and I have some constructive criticism: there are numerous grammatical errors that at times cause me to have a quizzical look and be forced to reread the sentence/passage. The errors are mainly issues with plural versus singular verbs and nouns but also a few more pervasive sentence structure issues. Thus while I find the text excellent, I strongly recommend that you thoroughly edit the English in it and perhaps get it proof read by a friend as well.
I hope you do not let that detract from my compliment - it is a refreshing and informative text that I am thoroughly enjoying.

 

[ZapperZ]

Many of these were written "on the fly", i.e. while I have some structure that I follow, the actual writing were done "as is". So I'm not surprised that there are a lot of typos and grammatical errors, which I do correct whenever I find them upon re-reading.

I did say that I will need a proof-reader if I ever want to turn this into a more "serious" document. At this point, I really do not have a lot of time to go over the whole document carefully. I can't do the proof-reading myself, because often, I'm reading what I THINK I wrote, not what I actually wrote.

Zz.

 

[Sunmaz]

Fair enough. Like I said it is excellent nonetheless.

 

[ZapperZ]

A good, FREE book for anyone to download from the National Academies Press.

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12192"

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

A new statistics has been published at AIP. This time, it surveys http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/reports/bach2010.pdf".

The complete data are not out yet. So far, the available data are on the initial status of the physics bachelor upon graduation. So keep an eye on the page for the next release, which is "forthcoming", it says.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

A rather useful essay on http://chronicle.com/article/Becoming-a-Successful/66133/" . While it is certainly useful for those about to get his/her Ph.D or those starting out as postdocs, the essay should also give a good idea to students intending to pursue a career in science on what is involved and what social skills are necessary to be a successful PI. While science is a study of the natural/physical world, the practice of science is still a social and human endeavor.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

I think I may have to do this periodically in this thread.

I get asked often on where the "rest" of the essay is, because people who joined in this thread late or skimmed through the first few posts might have missed the link to the essay. So I often get PMs asking me for it. I've concluded that I may have to post this link periodically in here.

The entire essay can be obtained at this link:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=df5w5j9q_5gj6wmt

I've started writing a new chapter to it about a couple of months ago, but somewhere along the way, I got busy and also lost a little bit of motivation. I will have to kick myself into gear some time soon to try and finish that chapter.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

The AIP has released the latest statistics on the http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/reports/emp2010.pdf" degree holder. This came from a survey done in 2006 and 2007.

39% were employed, 4% were still seeking employment, while the remainder went on to pursue graduate studies. This survey then focused on the 39% who were employed. 59% of those were employed in the private sector, with a significant majority working in the engineering field.

Physics bachelor’s working in the private sector accepted positions with a diverse set of employers doing a wide range of activities (see Figure 3). Over 70% of the physics bachelor’s who accepted employment in the private sector work in a STEM field. As has been true in the past, employment in the field of engineering represents the largest proportion of these private sector positions, followed by computer science and information technology positions. Non-STEM positions accounted for 29% of the new bachelor’s employed in the private sector. The types of positions in this category are very diverse, with "finance" and "marketing and sales" being most frequently cited.

Zz.

 

[vorcil]

Zapper, is there a problem in persuing physics if you are not a math prodigy?

while doing physics as an undergraduate degree you will do math and physics papers simutaneously,

if you are not good with calculus and algebra, then you'll find the mathematics within physics quite difficult,

just expect to study hard, if you are no good at mathematics, you will be no good at a majority of physics

 

[vorcil]

The AIP has released the latest statistics on the http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/reports/emp2010.pdf" degree holder. This came from a survey done in 2006 and 2007.

39% were employed, 4% were still seeking employment, while the remainder went on to pursue graduate studies. This survey then focused on the 39% who were employed. 59% of those were employed in the private sector, with a significant majority working in the engineering field.



Zz.

THAT'S QUITE ALOT OF PEOPLE DOING POST GRADUATE PHYSICS WORK!

1 more year and I get to do post grad XD

 

[ZapperZ]

The Science Career Advice section has a very useful article on http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2010_08_27/science.opms.r1000093" , especially during this challenging economic times. It might be a very valuable reading especially if one is considering an academic track career. While it isn't strictly confined to physics, it certainly give a good general impression on what one should do as a postdoc in terms of a long-term view of one's career possibilities.

Zz.

 

[Astronuc]

Cern's Greybook on Univeristy Physics Programs
http://greybook.cern.ch/institutes/


I stumbled across Gerard 't Hooft's page - HOW to BECOME a GOOD THEORETICAL PHYSICIST
It is a nice complement to ZapperZ's excellent essay.

http://www.phys.uu.nl/~thooft/theorist.html

It has a LIST OF SUBJECTS, IN LOGICAL ORDER. Keep in mind that one cannot do everything, but one can be familiar with various areas in physics.

Toward the bottom of the page is a list of textbooks in various physics subjects.
Classical Mechanics
Statistical Mechanics
Quantum Mechanics
Electrodynamics
Optics
Thermodynamics
Solid State Physics
Special Relativity
General Relativity
Particle Physics
Field Theory
String Theory
Cosmology

And I just saved Zz's essay in Word - just in case.

 

[Mépris]

In case people missed it, the entire series on "So You Want To Be A Physicist" http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=df5w5j9q_5gj6wmt" .

The series has almost reached the end of its intended purpose. At this point, I'm looking over it to plug some holes into areas that I may have missed, or didn't emphasize enough. So any suggestions you have will definitely be welcomed. I've also started (although haven't gotten too far into it yet) a "prequel" to the series to include preparations for someone still in high school. Hopefully, that will be done soon to compliment what I've written already.

Zz.

Any more news on that, mister? (:

 

[ZapperZ]

Any more news on that, mister? (:

Not at the moment, no. I've shelved it (until I talk to more high school kids and teachers) in favor of continuing with and ending it on a physics career aspect of the series.

Zz.

 

[Mépris]

Not at the moment, no. I've shelved it (until I talk to more high school kids and teachers) in favor of continuing with and ending it on a physics career aspect of the series.

Zz.

Ah shame, I would have loved to read it. Thank you for the swift reply.

I'm at this particular stage in my little life where something like this would have been useful. At any rate, I'll read the initial article in full. ;)

 

[ZapperZ]

Since a lot of people found my self-evaluation thread titled "https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=64966"" essay. I've included this topic in Part VIIIa, trying not to change the number of previous parts, since I or someone have made references to parts of the essay over time.

In this new part, I've expanded a little bit on what I wrote in that thread, with some suggestions on what one might want to do after using such self-evaluation. I may, in the future, elaborate further on the many possible steps one can do, and to test out the effectiveness of such steps by actually taking the GRE Physics Subject test.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

Science Career section has an article on the Academic track in US institutions. This might be something people who are interested in going the academic route want to read.

http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2011_02_11/science.opms.r1100100

Zz.

 

[richardfatman]

Thank you for this amazing article.
I'm currently a high school senior and it is always my dream to become a physicist, especially a theoretical physicist.
After reading this great article, I truly get some idea on how to realize my dream.

 

[LizzzyBF]

Great article, just finished reading it.
I'd definitely be interested in reading anything about what to do while still in high school.
I know that I need to focus on physics and maths classes (not sure whether to do statistics as well as calculus next year though), and I have been reading some popular physics books in my spare time, but if there's any information about anything else high schoolers could be doing out there, it would be great to know.

 

[ZapperZ]

In last week's issue of Science, there was a useful article on the art of presenting a scientific talk for those who are "http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2011_06_10/caredit.a1100052" ". It gave a few simple exercises, both mental and physical, on how to overcome such anxiety, which we all go through.

In Part XIV of my http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df5w5j9q_5gj6wmt" essay, I described in detail what one needs to prepare in presenting such a talk. In the end, the only way to gain some control over such anxiety is to practice, practice, practice. As with any skill, the ability to speak and present something effectively can only be acquired upon repeated practice. Having such a skill can mitigate a bit the level of anxiety. It doesn't mean that you don't have it anymore, it just means that you have some control over it and that it doesn't overwhelm you anymore after some point.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

The question of employment in physics is one of those things that keep coming up in this forum. The AIP has now released the latest statistics obtained for Physics PhDs in the US from the class of 2007/2008. Here is the statistics on the initial employment of those PhDs.

http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/reports/phdinitial.pdf

Over half of them (56%) went into postdoctoral position, while 33% went into a "potentially permanent" position. What is interesting is that out of those 33% that has a potentially permanent position, and overwhelming majority (62%) are in the private sector!

Looking even closer, those who have a potentially permanent position, the largest percentage of them (48%, which is almost half) are employed in a field outside of physics (Fig. 2). But is this bad? Not necessarily. If you look in Fig. 3, those who are in a potentially permanent position in the private sector are the ones with the highest starting salary (median $85,000).

Zz.

 

[Ryker]

I have to say this does NOT look gloomy at all!

 

[osnarf]

and only 19% were not in Physics, Engineering, or "Other Sciences", all of which I would probably be very happy working in. I may reconsider physics for grad school I thought it was much different.

 

[ZapperZ]

Science Careers section has a very useful tip in doing an oral presentation for non-native speakers.

http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2011_06_17/caredit.a1100056

In particular, pay attention to the tips given on your presentation:

Alley goes further, recommending what he calls an "assertion-evidence approach," in which you write a key statement at the top of your slides in place of the usual title. "If the audience didn't understand a single thing that you said, … that statement at the top is what you want [them] to walk out of the door with for that part of the presentation," Alley says. Then, instead of the traditional bullet points, present your evidence visually using photos, timelines, flow diagrams, pie charts, or movies, Alley says. Such advice applies to everyone, he adds, but it is especially relevant to non-native speakers.

This is rather similar to what I suggested in Part XIV of "https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZWAvYoPhl2_ZGY1dzVqOXFfNWdqNndtdA&hl=en_US"" essay:

For example, if there are two different graphs and you are trying to compare the two, write in point form their similarities and differences. This accomplishes two things: you can look at the screen itself and be reminded of the things you are trying to convey and can emphasize them verbally, and the audience can read them and along with your oral presentation, be reinforced on the important point that you are trying to get across. This is also helpful if you are not a native English speaker and your English pronunciation is weak. Having the points written on the screen can still allow the audience to have an idea what you are trying to say. But again, do not write lengthy prose and expect the audience to have the patience to read it.

The key thing to remember here is that, if your pronunciation is weak, you want to make sure that even if people don't listen to you, they will still get the message that you want to get across in a particular viewgraph. So make sure your viewgraphs has not only the necessary information, but also the "punchlilne" highlighted very clearly. The article suggested that you write down the punchline instead of the title for each viewgraph. That isn't such a bad idea.

Zz.

 

[Jack21222]

I re-read Zz's compendium of becoming a physicist a couple times a year. I just finished my 6th or 7th read-through, and every time, I pick up something new. I'm going into my final year of undergrad, so I focused on that area this time.

Thanks again, ZapperZ. If I ever run into you at a physics conference one of these days, I owe you a beer (or beverage of your choice).

 

[ZapperZ]

The AIP has released the latest data on US Physics Graduate Degrees.

http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/reports/physgrad2008.pdf

This report covers the latest data gathered for 2008.

There is an overall increase in the number of PhD awarded since a significant drop in 2004. The average number of years in getting a PhD (starting with a Bachelor degree) is still around 6 years (see Fig. 6). Fig. 7 shows the distribution of specific areas in physics. Note that condensed matter/material science still leads the field, and this is reflected in the fact that this field also is the largest division in the APS.

Zz.

 

[Veritas Seeke]

Zapper's last entry was 6 years ago did the man die?

 

[Mororvia]

His last post on this forum was ~18hrs ago. I would wager he is still alive and kicking.

More on topic, its too bad more of the posters in this subforum don't browse through this thread and his writing before asking the same questions over and over.