Majors in Physics

[mnphysicist]

Here you go
Jack Crenshaws column. He does tend to ramble on a number of matters, but he also takes fairly complex issues and makes them simple enough to handle with a minimal amount of computing power.
http://www.embedded.com/columns/pt

Here is one of his columns on Brent's method, a way of finding linear convergence
http://www.embedded.com/showArticle...OEHHR334QSNDBCSKH0CJUMEKJVN?articleID=9900284

As far as George goes, he writes a column for SAS, its pretty brief, but again, he takes complexity, and makes it understandable across a wide range of audiences. For example, this is one of the better examples on the chain rule. It was hard to understand as an undergrad, if I had read Georges explantion, it would have been much easier.
http://www.sas.org/E-Bulletin/2004-02-20/mathCorner/body.html

George also runs MAST, and here are some of his courses.
http://www.madscitech.org/degree/maths.html

Ron

 

[Yamialpha]

tyvm, mnphysicist. There are indeed some very interesting articles.

 

[Illuminatus]

Happy day, I accepted my offer to the photonics program I talked about. Go me!

 

[Yamialpha]

Happy day, I accepted my offer to the photonics program I talked about. Go me!

Congratulations! I hope your successful in your pursuits.

 

[SpidermanTUba]

I've seen a thread similar to this one in here before, but is anyone in here planning to major in physics? Has anyone here already pursued a career in physics? If so, what is your occupation?

I am a graduate student in physics, just finishing up my first year. My advice to anyone planning to major in physics and then go into graduate school is

A) Get involved in research as soon as possible. I didn't get involved in any research until after college, and my lack of experience in that area has been a bit of a stumbling block. At the same time, though, its important to realize that coursework is the most important thing as an undergrad, and you should make that your priority.

B) Take some time off in between college and grad school. Especially if you didn't take time off between high school and college. Your brain needs time to rest, and believe me, you'll be grateful for that off time when you get slammed with graduate school. Don't take to much time off, though, or you'll forget to much. I took 4 years off, that was perhaps 1 year to many, but I certainly don't regret it.

C) Don't sweat the essay on the application for grad school. Your letters of recommendation and grades are the most important things. They ask you to talk about possible thesis topics in your essay but its OK to talk about anything you want, pretty much. A good essay helps, for sure, but a bad essay won't keep you out.

D) Don't expect to ever make a lot of money. If you're in it for the money you're in the wrong field.

 

[Yamialpha]

What area of physics are you going into?

 

[mnphysicist]

I am a graduate student in physics, just finishing up my first year.

Thats the toughest one imho, congratulations. I bet you never thought you would be able to study that much material. Its not unlike a firehose of knowledge that never stops.

My advice to anyone planning to major in physics and then go into graduate school is

A) Get involved in research as soon as possible. I didn't get involved in any research until after college, and my lack of experience in that area has been a bit of a stumbling block. At the same time, though, its important to realize that coursework is the most important thing as an undergrad, and you should make that your priority.

Very good advice... I spent too much time in research as an undergrad. It makes it a royal pain later, and is more of a problem in grad school, than a lack of research experience. Much does depend on your undergrad school and specilization though.

B) Take some time off in between college and grad school. Especially if you didn't take time off between high school and college. Your brain needs time to rest, and believe me, you'll be grateful for that off time when you get slammed with graduate school. Don't take to much time off, though, or you'll forget to much. I took 4 years off, that was perhaps 1 year to many, but I certainly don't regret it.

Tough call on this one. Your brain needs some time, but... the forgetting part is a big problem. There is also the siren call of money. If you take a job with an undergrad degree... it is going to be hard to give up to go back. This again depends on specialization. Many physics undergrads do better than BSEE's pay wise.

C) Don't sweat the essay on the application for grad school. Your letters of recommendation and grades are the most important things. They ask you to talk about possible thesis topics in your essay but its OK to talk about anything you want, pretty much. A good essay helps, for sure, but a bad essay won't keep you out.

Same deal with the physics GRE, unless its a top school. I won't mention my score, but it was not pretty. Everyplace I applied to accepted me, with a full stipend, and zero tuition. I did not apply to the top schools however. One of my classmates hit a 98, and he was able to go anywhere... and he was offered a higher stipend than I was. This was years ago, however, and things do change.

D) Don't expect to ever make a lot of money. If you're in it for the money you're in the wrong field.

Money should not be the driving force in any career. However, in my experience, both as an employee, and as an employer, physics pay scales are often times better than most other arenas. The exception is of course academics, and non-applied research. Postdoc pay, and work conditions are generally not very good. The science however is truely amazing. It takes true dedication, which is why I dropped out and went into industry. If you are dedicated, and pay your dues, it is extremely fulfilling according to my friends who stayed the course... but the academic realm is definitely not lucrative.

Ron

 

[Yamialpha]

Very good advice... I spent too much time in research as an undergrad. It makes it a royal pain later, and is more of a problem in grad school, than a lack of research experience. Much does depend on your undergrad school and specilization though.

What if you're looking more into theoretical physics? Is it worth it to have a research background or should I do something else?

Tough call on this one. Your brain needs some time, but... the forgetting part is a big problem. There is also the siren call of money. If you take a job with an undergrad degree... it is going to be hard to give up to go back. This again depends on specialization. Many physics undergrads do better than BSEE's pay wise.

What if you could purchase books on the topic you're studying to help retain it? Would it still be worth it to take some time off? Maybe not 3 years, but perhaps a gap year?

Same deal with the physics GRE, unless its a top school. I won't mention my score, but it was not pretty. Everyplace I applied to accepted me, with a full stipend, and zero tuition. I did not apply to the top schools however. One of my classmates hit a 98, and he was able to go anywhere... and he was offered a higher stipend than I was. This was years ago, however, and things do change.

How much attention do they pay to high school grades?

Money should not be the driving force in any career. However, in my experience, both as an employee, and as an employer, physics pay scales are often times better than most other arenas. The exception is of course academics, and non-applied research. Postdoc pay, and work conditions are generally not very good. The science however is truely amazing. It takes true dedication, which is why I dropped out and went into industry. If you are dedicated, and pay your dues, it is extremely fulfilling according to my friends who stayed the course... but the academic realm is definitely not lucrative.

By academic realm do you mean as in becoming a professor? I've been thinking that becoming a professor would be my best option for going into theoretical physics. Do you have any recommendations for that?

 

[Illuminatus]

How much attention do they pay to high school grades?

Up here, at least, they don't even look at them. To use an example, the University of Waterloo, (an excellent school for quantum physics and optics, the fields I'm most interested in), the MSc. admissions requirements are a B standing in an honours degree in science.

 

[mnphysicist]

For theoretical guys... some semblence of research cannot hurt, but concentrate on the course work. Math is your friend.... concentrate on it. If you can get some time in the lab, great, and it will pay off, but there is only so much time, so coursework is key.

Usually it is the math skills that drop off, they stay sharp through exercise, not through reading. The key is to learn it thoroughly, and then work problems every once in a while to stay sharp during your time off. Your exisiting texts are probably fine. There is just not enough time to work all of the problems during your undergrad course work, so you will have years of material before you exhaust your resources.

Most people do not learn it thoroughly as there is not enough time for the application part of learning. As my prof told me.... you will truely know Physics 101 when you are working on your MS degree, undergrad physics when you start your PHD, and your MS course work when you start your post doc. My friend's who continued the path seemed to indicate this is a decent mode for physics learning.

I don't think anyone looks at high school grades when it comes to grad school admission. The high school grades and activities need to be good enough to get you into your undergrad school of choice though, and your undergrad school's reputation may well help with grad school admission. So while a grad program won't look at HS grades, they can be important. The key imho is early immersion. The more time you get with calculus in highschool, the easier it will be during your undergrad time, and then you can concentrate on the physics side to make it easier for grad school.

The academic realm would include professors, but also lecturers, researchers, and a whole range of support staff. Some academic positions are research only, although they are rare, most involved teaching at some point or another.

Tenure track professorships are very hard to get... possible, but difficult. There are a lot of dues to be paid. One of the things that can set you apart is the ability to communicate well, both from a written, as well as an oral standpoint. While some of the liberal arts classes seem wasteful, especially when you have 30 hours of physics study to do in the next day, or so it seems, they can be quite beneficial. The same can be said of organizations. Anything you can do to get out and network/interact/present will help you.

Ron

 

[Yamialpha]

Ok well thank you all for your interesting advice. I hope your pursuits go well for you .

 

[SpidermanTUba]

What area of physics are you going into?

This summer I'll be working with a group that doesn't theoretical astrophysics using supercomputers. Specifically, the dynamics of self-gravitating fluids.



Advice to astronomy B.S.'s - sometimes you can get great work as a telescope operator. I worked 1 1/2 years operating one of the Naval Observatory's telescopes in Flagstaff, AZ. It was only a temporary job, but it was definitely an experience. I worked 7 days on, 7 days off, and during my on days I operated the telescope 6 pm-6 am. A lot of screwed up sleep schedules, but a lot of off time. It was at that job that I decided I really liked doing science, especially astrophysics, and that I was ready to commit to grad school.

A big danger in going straight into grad school out of undergrad, unless you're absolutely 100% sure its what you want to do, is you'll see how much work it takes and drop out or worse yet fail out. Had I gone straight into it, I know I would've messed up, lost funding, etc.

Once you're there though you'll find it the most illuminating intellectual experience of your life. If you're the kind of person who was never really challenged much in high school or college, you will be challenged. And you'll learn an incredible amount of really interesting (and really boring) material very quickly.

 

[Yamialpha]

This summer I'll be working with a group that doesn't theoretical astrophysics using supercomputers. Specifically, the dynamics of self-gravitating fluids.



Advice to astronomy B.S.'s - sometimes you can get great work as a telescope operator. I worked 1 1/2 years operating one of the Naval Observatory's telescopes in Flagstaff, AZ. It was only a temporary job, but it was definitely an experience. I worked 7 days on, 7 days off, and during my on days I operated the telescope 6 pm-6 am. A lot of screwed up sleep schedules, but a lot of off time. It was at that job that I decided I really liked doing science, especially astrophysics, and that I was ready to commit to grad school.

A big danger in going straight into grad school out of undergrad, unless you're absolutely 100% sure its what you want to do, is you'll see how much work it takes and drop out or worse yet fail out. Had I gone straight into it, I know I would've messed up, lost funding, etc.

Once you're there though you'll find it the most illuminating intellectual experience of your life. If you're the kind of person who was never really challenged much in high school or college, you will be challenged. And you'll learn an incredible amount of really interesting (and really boring) material very quickly.

Are there any placement programs that help you find an observatory or do you have to do that yourself?

 

[Illuminatus]

Are there any placement programs that help you find an observatory or do you have to do that yourself?

If you go into a co-op program at a university that offers co-op, (I'd imagine that schools in the US do this), then typically you'll have assistance finding somewhere to work. Otherwise, you're likely on your own.

 

[Yamialpha]

If you go into a co-op program at a university that offers co-op, (I'd imagine that schools in the US do this), then typically you'll have assistance finding somewhere to work. Otherwise, you're likely on your own.

Is that fairly common at universities?

 

[Illuminatus]

Is that fairly common at universities?

I'm not sure about the US. Up here, most of the larger schools offer some sort of co-op. The University of Waterloo is internationally-renowned for it, they offer co-op in almost all of their programs, and something like 40% of their students are in co-op programs. Simon Fraser University and the University of Victoria also have strong co-op components. It really depends on what program you're going into. You'll have a much easier time finding co-op placements if you're in an engineering program then in a history program, for example.

 

[mnphysicist]

At least years ago, there was an assistance program at my alma matter... but it was only a bunch of well meaning folks that tried. Sure, they could give you a list of every potential locations, and help with grammer... but as far as any meaningful connections, it was on your own.

When it comes to hiring, it is always who you know, not necessarily what your technical competance is. As a college student this seemed backwords. As a guy who has done a lot of hiring, it makes perfect sense. The ability to get along, work in a team, or to work alone independantly, communicate well are critical skills, and often times they cannot be determined in an interview. Technical competance, otoh is pretty easy to determine. As a result, I always lead toward those I know, or those who have been recommended, rather than a 4.00GPA and professors recommendations.

As a result, taking the time to network and get to know people both in and outside your specialty is important. Wthiin physics as in many arenas, you will find their are groups of experts.... and all of the experts within a given specialty know each other irrespective of location. Once you get known within that peer group, their is no need for placement assistance, you will know all of the oppurtunities as soon, or even before they are posted through word of mouth.

Ron

 

[Yamialpha]

At least years ago, there was an assistance program at my alma matter... but it was only a bunch of well meaning folks that tried. Sure, they could give you a list of every potential locations, and help with grammer... but as far as any meaningful connections, it was on your own.

When it comes to hiring, it is always who you know, not necessarily what your technical competance is. As a college student this seemed backwords. As a guy who has done a lot of hiring, it makes perfect sense. The ability to get along, work in a team, or to work alone independantly, communicate well are critical skills, and often times they cannot be determined in an interview. Technical competance, otoh is pretty easy to determine. As a result, I always lead toward those I know, or those who have been recommended, rather than a 4.00GPA and professors recommendations.

As a result, taking the time to network and get to know people both in and outside your specialty is important. Wthiin physics as in many arenas, you will find their are groups of experts.... and all of the experts within a given specialty know each other irrespective of location. Once you get known within that peer group, their is no need for placement assistance, you will know all of the oppurtunities as soon, or even before they are posted through word of mouth.

Ron

That seems logical, although one of the many things I liked about physics was the fact that it wasn't service oriented so you didn't have to interact with other people.

 

[Illuminatus]

That seems logical, although one of the many things I liked about physics was the fact that it wasn't service oriented so you didn't have to interact with other people.

Oh, you have no clue how much you sounded like me right there...

Still, if you're going to be like most physicists, you'll be working at a university, which means teaching.

 

[Yamialpha]

Oh, you have no clue how much you sounded like me right there...

Still, if you're going to be like most physicists, you'll be working at a university, which means teaching.

At least with teaching the professor is in control. Of course, those are still Homo Sapiens in those seats.