Recent content by Laura Forczyk

That sucks, I'm so sorry! How disheartening. Glad you're not giving up. Giving a different perspective than some others, more is not always better. For my master's degree, I applied to one university. For my PhD, I applied to one university. I was fully confident that I would be accepted into...

If I could offer a different perspective: a PhD experience is less like a degree and more like a job, a very low paying, stressful, unstable, fairly flexible research job. The first two years will be like schooling, but once you get past that, it's nearly entirely research. It's that experience...

Why not simply dual-major in both astronomy/astrophysics and some kind of engineering (mechanical, electrical, or computer most usefully)? That would make your skill set very in demand for any kind of astrophysics instrumentation research. Speaking from the astrophysics side, I had to teach...

My husband is not an investment banker, but he is a quant in risk analysis for a bank. He is primarily a programmer as was already mentioned, focusing on SAS and Visual Basic. He did his PhD in economics using R. He works with people of various backgrounds, especially mathematics-focused. Seems...

If I can add a different take... Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson are more entertainers/educators/communicators than physicists. They are excellent orators. If you wish to emulate them, work on your communication skills, particularly oral communication (presentations, videos, even science...

If I may ask, what are your true motives here? Do you want to pursue physics because you're interested or even passionate about it? Then why is a $200k salary and notable awards even in the equation? If you're looking for money and fame, there are easier ways. Financial stability doesn't require...

Ha! Thanks guys. We're trying for a tiny third body at the moment, and then a fourth, and then a fifth... Thankfully the masses of my husband and I are large enough to carry the little ones with us, until they outweigh me at least.

Sorry about that! I jus re-read the guidelines and I don't see that particular rule listed. Is it an unwritten rule? I also note that someone has their personal website in their signature so I'm guessing that's allowed?

The reason you're getting vague answers is that it's impossible to answer this question without knowing what kind of job you want. Specific skills are highly dependent on job and employer. If you can identify your ideal job, look up the job description and target those requirements. I second...

I was just like you in high school: wanting to plan for the PhD and beyond right there and then. Your mind will change so many times, especially as you gain new experiences. In college you'll learn what you like and what you don't like. I entered college convinced that I was going to be a...

Hello all! I was a member of this forum years ago when I was a student. A drive to give back to the community has brought me back here as a professional. I hope that I can help with my limited experiences! I live on the Space Coast of Florida and work at Kennedy Space Center. I help to run a...

You're doing all the right things by studying ahead of time. There's really not much more advice to be given except don't burn yourself out before you even start. Allow yourself to enjoy high school.

Of course the space industry hires mathematicians. You won't see many job titles or job postings that say "mathematician," but look at the skills being asked for. Practical applications like your applied math degree rather than theoretical development is probably the better option. As others...

I'm a nearly-PhD in physics (ABD) and I help to run a newspace company. My husband is a PhD economist and he says if I wanted to to enter the world of finance, I could be a quant (quantitative analyst) like him. My father-in-law has a master's in physics and works on sensors for the defense...