- #1
Dishsoap
- 1,017
- 310
Greetings PFers,
I didn't see a need to spam the forum with three topics, but I have three questions about graduate school.
First question:
Do most graduate schools (physics) have a summer "bridging" program? Maybe to prepare for the prelims, or to take some supplementary classes or something? I know some universities do (UN-Lincoln) but wasn't sure how common it was. I am wondering if it would be a better use of my time (and more lucrative) to find an internship somewhere over the summer or if I should count on spending the summer at school.
Second question:
Letters of recommendation. I know that it is generally better to have research-oriented letters of recommendation as opposed to "she was in my class and got an A" LORs, which I understand. However, I have had three research experiences (at my university, a DOE internship and an REU). I will definitely ask the professors I do research with at my university for one, since I've published several papers with them and their letters make it sound like I poop rainbows. For the DOE one, my supervisor wasn't prepared for me as an intern and just had me monitoring things overnight with no independent project or anything, plus he is now at a different lab, so I'm not sure that I should ask him for a letter. For my REU (which is currently ongoing), I am pretty independent so I'm not sure what my letter would say other than "she does, in fact, exist".
Normally I would ask these three people since it can't hurt, however I wonder if it's useful to put my TA experience on there. As of the time of applications, I will have TA'd 15 different sections of physics I, II, and III and got an "outstanding TA" award. If this might be relevant, I could easily ask my department chair or a professor I TA for to write me a letter.
Third question:
Some of the grad students I am working with here at my REU suggested that I apply for the NSF graduate research fellowship. Seeing as it is through the NSF, I'm sure it is just as competitive as other fellowships/grants, which require months and months of preparation for the application. My professors at my university have helped me with numerous applications for awards/scholarships (no grad students there, so more time for undergrads), but have never mentioned the NSFGRFP. If I applied for it, they would have to help me a lot with the application. Is it fair to ask them if it's worth applying for, or just drop it?
Thank you very much in advance :)
I didn't see a need to spam the forum with three topics, but I have three questions about graduate school.
First question:
Do most graduate schools (physics) have a summer "bridging" program? Maybe to prepare for the prelims, or to take some supplementary classes or something? I know some universities do (UN-Lincoln) but wasn't sure how common it was. I am wondering if it would be a better use of my time (and more lucrative) to find an internship somewhere over the summer or if I should count on spending the summer at school.
Second question:
Letters of recommendation. I know that it is generally better to have research-oriented letters of recommendation as opposed to "she was in my class and got an A" LORs, which I understand. However, I have had three research experiences (at my university, a DOE internship and an REU). I will definitely ask the professors I do research with at my university for one, since I've published several papers with them and their letters make it sound like I poop rainbows. For the DOE one, my supervisor wasn't prepared for me as an intern and just had me monitoring things overnight with no independent project or anything, plus he is now at a different lab, so I'm not sure that I should ask him for a letter. For my REU (which is currently ongoing), I am pretty independent so I'm not sure what my letter would say other than "she does, in fact, exist".
Normally I would ask these three people since it can't hurt, however I wonder if it's useful to put my TA experience on there. As of the time of applications, I will have TA'd 15 different sections of physics I, II, and III and got an "outstanding TA" award. If this might be relevant, I could easily ask my department chair or a professor I TA for to write me a letter.
Third question:
Some of the grad students I am working with here at my REU suggested that I apply for the NSF graduate research fellowship. Seeing as it is through the NSF, I'm sure it is just as competitive as other fellowships/grants, which require months and months of preparation for the application. My professors at my university have helped me with numerous applications for awards/scholarships (no grad students there, so more time for undergrads), but have never mentioned the NSFGRFP. If I applied for it, they would have to help me a lot with the application. Is it fair to ask them if it's worth applying for, or just drop it?
Thank you very much in advance :)