- #1
yezia
- 20
- 14
Hello everyone!
As I was saying in my presentation post, I dropped out of my physics degree very close to graduation - a year ago. I will firstly explain the whole context of my studies/abandon and then provide some of the perspectives I thought about.
As an international student in Canada, the pandemic hurt me really bad with everything turning "remote" since I had 0 loved ones near me, and the only friend I made in my city left university.
Before and at the start of it, I was acing every single class with a 4.2/4.3 GPA (60/90 credits : 2 classical mechanics covering Newton laws to hamiltonian dynamics, 2 quantum mechanics courses covering the postulates to perturbation theory, 2 statistical physics courses covering thermodynamics to quantum gases, 1 special relativity course, 2 labs courses, 1 fluid mechanics course, 2 theoretical physics courses covering among others complex analysis and special functions, 2 computer science courses, 1 electromagnetism course, 2 waves/optics courses, 3 maths courses and some misc. courses).
Thanks to my curriculum, the director of the department authorised me to register for coop terms (it was not authorised for internationals in my department before me). Thus, I also managed to work as a research assistant (35 hours per week for 14 weeks) for 2 non-credited terms and the work I realized was embodied by 2 submitted papers to PRL and PRB (second author).
During the pandemic, I followed 7 courses : analytical mechanics, quantum gases, advanced and graduate-level quantum mechanics, introduction to research, stochastic process, advanced computational physics, advanced electromagnetism. I dropped out of one (W grade which affects my GPA) and had medium to excellent grades for the rest (3 A+, 2 A-, a B-, and a "Passed" grade). Because I thought I would do even worse, and because my mental health was in serious danger, I decided to return home with 72/90 credits - 3.95/4.3 GPA and 2 research internships.
From now on, I clearly cannot pursue my degree in Canada : my study permit is not valid anymore and my family cannot prove the minimun amount of money to complete my degree. Actually, the 2 internships I made financially helped them a lot. I always believed I would find some kind of scholarship entirely covering the pursuit of my studies (anywhere in the world as long as it was not my home country which is one of the poorest in the world; I am an african/russian binational and I unfortunately never lived in Russia) but I did not expect all these hurdles.
Now here are some perspectives/questions I managed to formulate :
1/ Do you think I could be admitted - maybe with some kind of pre-master term - into a Master degree (definetely not in Canada which is too expensive for the moment) with my current curriculum ? If so, what about scholarships ? I've heard about "recognition of prior learning" but is my experience really valuable ?
2/ I've read France accepts students at each level (Bachelor 1st year, Bachelor 2nd year, Bachelor 3rd year, Master 1st year, etc.). Germany too but I don't speak the language.
3/ I could go in Russia since I have the nationality and speak the language; the universities there are pretty good. But I would lose two years there because conscription to the military service is mandatory for russians of my age.
4/ I developped some serious skills regarding computational physics during my internships; do you think I can find work in a branch of data analysis/programming - outside my country of course ? I seriously doubt so with my level, but I would be able to gain some money to pursue my studies. What do you think are some works I could apply to ? Probably none, I know.
5/ The money question still prevailing, working in my home country is out of the question (it's pretty much a dictatorship, and people graduating in pure science end up riding taxis). I have to act fast, I'm not exactly sure after how many years my uncompleted studies still have value.
I know you guys are not soothsayers and I'm therefore not expecting a magic relief fron your answers. But what do you think about all of it and do you have any other suggestions ?
Feel free to ask me for any further detail !
As I was saying in my presentation post, I dropped out of my physics degree very close to graduation - a year ago. I will firstly explain the whole context of my studies/abandon and then provide some of the perspectives I thought about.
As an international student in Canada, the pandemic hurt me really bad with everything turning "remote" since I had 0 loved ones near me, and the only friend I made in my city left university.
Before and at the start of it, I was acing every single class with a 4.2/4.3 GPA (60/90 credits : 2 classical mechanics covering Newton laws to hamiltonian dynamics, 2 quantum mechanics courses covering the postulates to perturbation theory, 2 statistical physics courses covering thermodynamics to quantum gases, 1 special relativity course, 2 labs courses, 1 fluid mechanics course, 2 theoretical physics courses covering among others complex analysis and special functions, 2 computer science courses, 1 electromagnetism course, 2 waves/optics courses, 3 maths courses and some misc. courses).
Thanks to my curriculum, the director of the department authorised me to register for coop terms (it was not authorised for internationals in my department before me). Thus, I also managed to work as a research assistant (35 hours per week for 14 weeks) for 2 non-credited terms and the work I realized was embodied by 2 submitted papers to PRL and PRB (second author).
During the pandemic, I followed 7 courses : analytical mechanics, quantum gases, advanced and graduate-level quantum mechanics, introduction to research, stochastic process, advanced computational physics, advanced electromagnetism. I dropped out of one (W grade which affects my GPA) and had medium to excellent grades for the rest (3 A+, 2 A-, a B-, and a "Passed" grade). Because I thought I would do even worse, and because my mental health was in serious danger, I decided to return home with 72/90 credits - 3.95/4.3 GPA and 2 research internships.
From now on, I clearly cannot pursue my degree in Canada : my study permit is not valid anymore and my family cannot prove the minimun amount of money to complete my degree. Actually, the 2 internships I made financially helped them a lot. I always believed I would find some kind of scholarship entirely covering the pursuit of my studies (anywhere in the world as long as it was not my home country which is one of the poorest in the world; I am an african/russian binational and I unfortunately never lived in Russia) but I did not expect all these hurdles.
Now here are some perspectives/questions I managed to formulate :
1/ Do you think I could be admitted - maybe with some kind of pre-master term - into a Master degree (definetely not in Canada which is too expensive for the moment) with my current curriculum ? If so, what about scholarships ? I've heard about "recognition of prior learning" but is my experience really valuable ?
2/ I've read France accepts students at each level (Bachelor 1st year, Bachelor 2nd year, Bachelor 3rd year, Master 1st year, etc.). Germany too but I don't speak the language.
3/ I could go in Russia since I have the nationality and speak the language; the universities there are pretty good. But I would lose two years there because conscription to the military service is mandatory for russians of my age.
4/ I developped some serious skills regarding computational physics during my internships; do you think I can find work in a branch of data analysis/programming - outside my country of course ? I seriously doubt so with my level, but I would be able to gain some money to pursue my studies. What do you think are some works I could apply to ? Probably none, I know.
5/ The money question still prevailing, working in my home country is out of the question (it's pretty much a dictatorship, and people graduating in pure science end up riding taxis). I have to act fast, I'm not exactly sure after how many years my uncompleted studies still have value.
I know you guys are not soothsayers and I'm therefore not expecting a magic relief fron your answers. But what do you think about all of it and do you have any other suggestions ?
Feel free to ask me for any further detail !
