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Opportunities and Advice for Undergraduate

Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 1:09 am
by fznfire
Hi everyone,

I live near NY area, and aspire to go to a grad school possibly in nuclear physics. What would you suggest me to do? Does volunteering in Liberty Science Center help in my application? Besides, what factor would help me get a good school...

Re: Opportunities and Advice for Undergraduate

Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 1:25 am
by midwestphysics
fznfire wrote:Hi everyone,

I live near NY area, and aspire to go to a grad school possibly in nuclear physics. What would you suggest me to do? Does volunteering in Liberty Science Center help in my application? Besides, what factor would help me get a good school...
Man, if you have extra time always go research, research, research. Not at the expense of your grades however, but if you're available do it. And if you're already doing it do more. Even beyond your own school there are so many schools in that area, and if you're up for free volunteer work I can pretty much promise you'll find something. I honestly think there is nothing more valuable beyond the classroom than research experience.

Re: Opportunities and Advice for Undergraduate

Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 1:31 am
by Brooks
I would say it is also worth mentioning that good grades in physics classes won't necessarily prepare you for the physics GRE subject test. I'd plan to start looking over that test at least several months ahead of time. You may find that you're already okay, or you may decide that it is worth spending a little time preparing for it each week. I think many people, including myself the first time around, let the test sneak up on them and end up feeling like they didn't perform at their true potential.

Re: Opportunities and Advice for Undergraduate

Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 2:38 pm
by Hausdorff
midwestphysics wrote: research. Not at the expense of your grades however
True.
If I had the chance to talk to myself in the past, I would say:
Do not worry about the research before the third year, learn physics first. You may get a good research profile if you start doing research early, but if you can't solve some of the general physics problems in your junior year, we have a problem. Being a perfectionist makes you more likely to get cancer and/but there are no shortcuts in academic life.

Re: Opportunities and Advice for Undergraduate

Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 4:54 pm
by asdfuogh
Yeah, I wish I listened to the first grad student who told me not to rush through my classes and instead just, get A's in every class at a nice leisurely pace.

Re: Opportunities and Advice for Undergraduate

Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 5:28 pm
by Hellas
^gospel. im really regretting rushing through all my classes

Re: Opportunities and Advice for Undergraduate

Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 1:37 am
by asdfuogh
Also, I would say, to not worry about the PGRE until about one or two months away because the test format isn't like actual physics anyway. There are several good things to get used to (like looking at limits in an answer, or dimensional analysis) but you should be picking those up in classes anyway (it took a good TA before I started doing it more often though).

Re: Opportunities and Advice for Undergraduate

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2012 11:36 pm
by fznfire
Thank you for the response, everyone! Does anyone know with whom should I contact if I want to volunteer for research in NY city. I especially want to research in Nuclear/Particle Physics. Is there anyone out there who would be willing to take inexperienced undergrads? :!:

Re: Opportunities and Advice for Undergraduate

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 12:57 am
by bfollinprm
For free maybe. Try Brookhaven/Stony Brook University. That's really the only place I can think of in NYC that would have a strong accelerator physics department. You can also try environmental physics, since a lot of the analysis seems pretty similar to at least my untrained eye.