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Introductions

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2004 2:48 am
by kooki33
Hi all

Its confusing for anyonw who has just joined the forums to see everyone's posts without a context of who it is that is posting them. So I would like to initiate a start of introductions here. This way anyone coming in new can just read these and get familiar with everyone here.

Well here is my intro. Name is Pinkesh Patel. I am an Indian studying in Philadelphia in Drexel University . Physics major senior year. Cant wait to graduate and am petrified of the GRE verbal. A fun loving, cricket fanatic. Also follow baseball and my interests are in astrophysics, nanotech and experimental high energy physics. Love this website and am a proud member of the physicsgre yahoo group.

Age - 20
Favourite food - Indian curry.
Dream School - Caltech.
Proudest moment - falling off a bunk bed this summer and almost giving my roommate a haertattack and myself a huge bump.

hope you guys post soon.

Cheers
Pinkesh.

ChrisAS Intro.

Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2004 5:07 pm
by ChrisAS
Since I got mail asking about where I lived and about my study plans, I thought I'd post an intro here.

My name is Chris and I'm a 39 year old married male. I live in southern maryland (all the way south) so I'm not close to anything I'm afraid, except good bay sailing. My hobbies are Sailing and Astronomy. Although I have a 6" reflector of my own, most of my viewing is now done at http://www.slooh.com (Check it out!). I received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Virginia-Tech in 1988. I have done some graduate work in Electrical Engineering and most recently Data Mining. I never finished either program because they couldn't hold my interest. I'm currently taking undergraduate Physics and Calculus classes from the local community college. Why? Mainly because I'm bored to tears. I always greatly enjoyed the Physics and Math courses that I had, previously.

I've been working as an electrical engineer for about 15 years now and I am toying with the idea of a mid-life career change. The only other career that I would have an interest in would be Astronomy or Astrophysics. I have no definite plans as of now. However, I plan to finish the Physics/Calculus courses and take the Physics GRE. My current goal is just to take the test for laughs and see how well I can do. IF, I got a respectable score, and IF, I could get a school to take interest in an me, then I might get serious about starting a Masters Program. I'd most likely be looking at a University of Maryland program since that is the closest school to me with a graduate level Astronomy program. Allthough I would love to do a more physics oriented program (Physics or Astrophysics), I'm afraid my brain would not be as flexible as it used to be and I would probably have a better shot at an Astronomy degree.

Introductions

Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2004 3:15 am
by Astro
Hello fellow physics GRE test takers, my name is Steve. I live in Maryland, a bit outside of DC, and I'm 24. I'd been teaching in Rhode Island since graduating college, but right now I'm sitting on my ass in the house that I grew up in. A bit blunt, yes, but I must say that my relative anonimity in this case gives me confidence!

I've been putting off taking this test for a couple of years, but now I'm signed up to take it in Novemeber. I'm planning on applying to an astro(nomy/physics) program for the fall of '05 --- I'm still not too clear on the difference it makes to "astronomy" to add on a "physics," besides, possibly, the cosmetic one --- but as far as the test goes, I'm less confident. I'm not all that certain that my studying has really gotten me anywhere too far in part because I'm not sure that I have been very effective at studying on my own. Thankfully, I found this "support group" of fellow Physics GRE takers to get me through the last five weeks or so (sadly, I'm not being all that facetious when I say that). I could actually use all the help I can get... steve

Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2004 1:39 pm
by milhouse_ph
I've been lurking for a bit, but I'll introduce myself. My name is Paul, I'm 24 and I just finished my B.Sc. in June. I waited a bit too long to apply to grad schools (mostly out of fear). My marks weren't top of my class while going through school (mostly due to a dismal second year). I hunkered down and really pulled up my average though in 3rd and 4th year and I'm hoping that will show when I'm applying to schools. I'm way north of most people on this board - Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. I'm wanting to apply to a Quantum Computing/Information program, but considering my somewhat lack luster marks from 2nd year, I'm hoping a good score on the GRE will help me out (in Canada the GRE or GMAT's aren't requred but can be included on applications). Currently spinning my wheels though as I can't really get a permanent job or settle into anything if I'm planning on school next year.

Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 2:58 pm
by Grant
Thanks for starting out introductions kooki33.

I wrote a little about myself in the “about the webmaster” section of the site. However, this introductions section is a good place to expand on things in more detail. Anyway, I used to work at Boeing as an engineer for nearly 3 years but then I decided to go back to graduate school for engineering and then I decided to change majors from engineering to physics but I had been considering the possibility for quite some time. I went to UCSC and really enjoyed the campus but eventually my pursuit of a Ph.D. in physics was becoming more like a sacrifice and less of a passion for physics so I bowed out with a Masters. It takes a tremendous amount of effort to earn a Ph.D. in physics and anyone who has used Jackson’s book for E&M knows what I am talking about . . . Oh man I just got the chills thinking about Jackson’s problems.

Anyway, I recently moved to Tampa, Florida near the USF campus. I am taking a class at USF related to my new career in the Internet but I might try to venture over to the physics department and see if I can sit in on a colloquium or something like that. If anyone attending USF wants to invite me to some physics event then chances are that I would be happy to join in on the fun (just send me a private message or use the contact form).