Research interests?

  • This has become our largest and most active forum because the physics GRE is just one aspect of getting accepted into a graduate physics program.
  • There are applications, personal statements, letters of recommendation, visiting schools, anxiety of waiting for acceptances, deciding between schools, finding out where others are going, etc.

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Did you apply to grad school with a specific research focus?

Yes, and I intend to do research in that area
22
76%
Yes, but it was mostly a tactic for getting in
5
17%
No
2
7%
 
Total votes: 29

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zxcv
Posts: 402
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:08 pm

Research interests?

Post by zxcv » Mon Feb 18, 2008 9:24 am

By "specific research focus" I mean not just an interest in experiment or theory but also a particular subfield like "high energy" or "condensed matter" (the two broadest categories).

----

I wrote in my applications that I was interested in doing theoretical physics (and that's true) and at some places I said I was particularly interested in doing quantum computing (what I've done before). I have a legitimate interest in quantum computing, but in all honesty I'm going into the choosing phase of the application process without much certainty at all about what I'd to research.

I told myself that my focus would be getting in to strong schools overall in physics because I really don't know what I want to do research on particular. I also told myself that with such strong interests, accordingly I could pick the strongest research areas at a school in terms of other convenient factors like advisers and funding.

For instance, I've gotten advice that it may be a mistake to get into HEP because you're either locked into gigantic collaborations or entirely untestable work.

Now I'm paranoid that perhaps there may be areas of physics that I may not be interested in after all -- at my small school, I haven't been able to take coursework in either condensed matter physics or anything in particular related to high energy physics. I may eventually figure out what areas of research I'm sure that I want to get into, but maybe those areas won't be the ideal match for where I'm going.

Thoughts? Shared feelings?

User avatar
twistor
Posts: 1529
Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 2:47 pm

Post by twistor » Mon Feb 18, 2008 10:43 am

Yes. Don't go into experimental high-energy physics unless you want to be a programmer your whole life.

User avatar
fermiboy
Posts: 437
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 7:41 pm

Post by fermiboy » Mon Feb 18, 2008 10:15 pm

I said I was interested in the same stuff as my undergrad research because I thought it would make my app stronger. However, I also put a sentence in my statement about being open to working in other areas.



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