I found QFT lectures to be challenging at times. This is mainly because I didn't have time to review the notes or read the textbook before the next class. If I forgot what was discussed in the last class I usually found the current lecture hard to follow. I took good notes though so when I...
I think the real question is how long can you live off savings. Given that it sounds like you live in an area with very high unemployment it could be a while before you get a job and limiting yourself to STEM jobs could prolong this. Just because you take a job outside of STEM doesn't mean you...
I started out at community college, transferred to a tier 3 state school and ended up in a top 20 US physics graduate program where I am making steady progress towards obtaining my PhD. I started at community college right out of high school though so I wasn't quite the same as you.
I did...
I agree with the other posters that 2 months is probably too much to count on. As a domestic student who normally works 50-60 hours a week, the only time off I usually plan for is 1-2 weeks for Christmas and New Year's and 1 week off during the summer.
Sometimes, if there is a special...
Hi JesseC,
I completely understand your concern about moving so far from home. I moved about an 8 hour drive away from home (not the same as overseas but just far enough where it doesn't make sense to just hop in my car on a whim and drive home for the weekend). There are times where I really...
At the University of Maryland you are only required to take two courses outside your area of research. Depending on the research you are doing, you may also need to take some advanced specialized courses as well. You are not required to take any of the "core" classes (i.e. E+M, mechanics...
Hello,
I don't think you need to freak out quite so much. It sounds like you are on the right track and that you are making the best decisions for you and your family so far. If it makes you feel any better my path to physics graduate school was somewhat similar (although I am not married or...
Hello,
I think some important questions to ask yourself first are:
-Are you generally happy with your current program?
-You mention that you have some gaps in your background but are these gaps seriously impeding your progress on your research?
If you answer yes to both questions then...
I am the same age as you although I am a second year graduate student. During my first year I did not feel very competent in physics at all. It wasn't so much forgetting things from undergrad though. I mainly felt like I had a lot of gaps in my knowledge. It seemed like a lot of other graduate...
I guess for me I would say maybe 3-5 hours a day if you average it out over all 4 years.
As for your experimental physics PhD question, I don't think it will be too much of an issue since my lab courses were not all that useful. The best way to gain experimental skills would be to do actual...
I would outline what you did for your physics internship last summer. Your philosophy research is not relevant here. If you have any other physics related activities that you think might help your application then I would list them here also. I don't think they want the full blown resume as this...
Hello,
I believe you would probably want to put the GPA from the school you are graduating from. You can briefly state in your statement of purpose what your GPA would actually be if you included your transfer classes since it seems it will make it a little bit higher but I don't think this...
Since you are going towards the theoretical side I would say it seems that you are in pretty good shape based off the courses you listed. You certainly wouldn't need to do a completely new degree as you can probably make up for any physics deficiencies you have either before you start your PhD...