geshi wrote:http://www.cs.unc.edu/~azuma/hitch4.html
That's a well written article about grad school in general. It is written by someone who did their PhD in comp sci, but I think a lot of the lessons in it are applicable to other fields. There are numerous articles that will come up if you search "should I get a PhD?" For example:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jaylemke/guidephd.htm
Anyway, enough link spam. For me personally, I knew there was nothing else that interested me nearly enough to deter me from getting a PhD. That being said, I sometimes have doubts. Some days I roll out of bed, "Ugh, I don't feel like working today." I think that's a part of life, unless you're one of those people who rolls out of bed every day spewing sunshine and rainbows from all orifices of your body. I think I'd consult some, "Should I get a PhD?" guides if I were you. Obviously ones that directly talk about physics would be more relevant for you, but the general ones are still good to look at.
HappyQuark wrote:It was always my understanding that Universities in the U.S. , in stark contrast to our grade school system, were far superior to most other countries.
larry burns wrote:As of now, I'm thinking about applying to phD programs, and physics seems to make the most sense as they offer a greater variety of areas that interest me than engineering programs. But it seems that I can't shake away this feeling of doubt. I don't know if I like physics enough that I'm willing to suffer through a phD program and end up dropping out. Is it normal to feel some doubt? or do all physics phD students know that they love physics so much that they can't imagine doing something else?
grae313 wrote:larry burns wrote:As of now, I'm thinking about applying to phD programs, and physics seems to make the most sense as they offer a greater variety of areas that interest me than engineering programs. But it seems that I can't shake away this feeling of doubt. I don't know if I like physics enough that I'm willing to suffer through a phD program and end up dropping out. Is it normal to feel some doubt? or do all physics phD students know that they love physics so much that they can't imagine doing something else?
Don't let Jackson scare you away from grad school. You only take a year or two of classes and then it's all research. Honestly I'm not that excited about learning new physics anymore, but my lab work is fun and I get to use what I know to solve new and interesting problems every day. So yeah, you can get sick of physics and it's not necessarily a disaster. Look at the research going on in different programs and if some of it looks really interesting and exciting and if you know you'll enjoy working hard in a research environment, you would do fine in a PhD program.
As to whether or not the degree is worth the time spent, that's another debate and something you'd have to decide for yourself. But to the people that constantly warn others away from this path, I think that is only warranted if your goal is high level academia or theoretical physics in academia. I get recruiting emails from investing firms all the time looking to hire physics PhDs to work on quantitative modeling and you can start at $200k or more. Industry hires the majority of physics PhDs and you can do good physics research there for good pay. The financial viability of the degree is only questionable if your goal is academia, IMO.
HappyQuark wrote:On a somewhat related note, I'm not too nervous about my financial well being with a physics PhD because even if I don't make it as a scientist, I know a Nigerian prince who left me a couple billion dollars and all I have to do is give him my bank information and social security number so he can wire me the money.
grae313 wrote:HappyQuark wrote:On a somewhat related note, I'm not too nervous about my financial well being with a physics PhD because even if I don't make it as a scientist, I know a Nigerian prince who left me a couple billion dollars and all I have to do is give him my bank information and social security number so he can wire me the money.
If this was, by chance, a jab at the validity of the recruitment emails, they are from well-known firms and they often have representatives on campus trying to recruit students. The recruitment emails are forwarded from the physics department secretary.
If this was unrelated,
HappyQuark wrote:grae313 wrote:HappyQuark wrote:On a somewhat related note, I'm not too nervous about my financial well being with a physics PhD because even if I don't make it as a scientist, I know a Nigerian prince who left me a couple billion dollars and all I have to do is give him my bank information and social security number so he can wire me the money.
If this was, by chance, a jab at the validity of the recruitment emails, they are from well-known firms and they often have representatives on campus trying to recruit students. The recruitment emails are forwarded from the physics department secretary.
If this was unrelated,
It was unrelated. I know better than make any sort of jab at the resident "all seeing eye" of the GRE forum.
HappyQuark wrote:It was unrelated. I know better than make any sort of jab at the resident "all seeing eye" of the GRE forum.
grae313 wrote:HappyQuark wrote:It was unrelated. I know better than make any sort of jab at the resident "all seeing eye" of the GRE forum.
Good thing, I was seconds away from banning you.
RESPECT MAH AUTHORITAH
geshi wrote:http://www.cs.unc.edu/~azuma/hitch4.html
That's a well written article about grad school in general. It is written by someone who did their PhD in comp sci, but I think a lot of the lessons in it are applicable to other fields. There are numerous articles that will come up if you search "should I get a PhD?" For example:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jaylemke/guidephd.htm
Anyway, enough link spam. For me personally, I knew there was nothing else that interested me nearly enough to deter me from getting a PhD. That being said, I sometimes have doubts. Some days I roll out of bed, "Ugh, I don't feel like working today." I think that's a part of life, unless you're one of those people who rolls out of bed every day spewing sunshine and rainbows from all orifices of your body. I think I'd consult some, "Should I get a PhD?" guides if I were you. Obviously ones that directly talk about physics would be more relevant for you, but the general ones are still good to look at.
Don't let Jackson scare you away from grad school. You only take a year or two of classes and then it's all research. Honestly I'm not that excited about learning new physics anymore, but my lab work is fun and I get to use what I know to solve new and interesting problems every day. So yeah, you can get sick of physics and it's not necessarily a disaster. Look at the research going on in different programs and if some of it looks really interesting and exciting and if you know you'll enjoy working hard in a research environment, you would do fine in a PhD program.
As to whether or not the degree is worth the time spent, that's another debate and something you'd have to decide for yourself. But to the people that constantly warn others away from this path, I think that is only warranted if your goal is high level academia or theoretical physics in academia. I get recruiting emails from investing firms all the time looking to hire physics PhDs to work on quantitative modeling and you can start at $200k or more. Industry hires the majority of physics PhDs and you can do good physics research there for good pay. The financial viability of the degree is only questionable if your goal is academia, IMO.
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