Vanadium 50
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Neither am I.Choppy said:I'm not sure where to start with this.
The typical textbook tells one of two stories about how physics is done. OIne story is that a bunch of knuckleheaded experimenters measure a bunch of points but don't understand anything until the brilliant theorist comes along and explains it to them. The other is that the brilliant theorist comes up with an idea, which is then verified by
Experimenters are not the oompa-loompas of science.
"I did research and got into graduate school, therefore research is critical" is a logical fallacy, and honestly, I question how good a scientist someone who thinks this way will be. Is research important? Yes, but not overwhelmingly so. If you had an opportunity and didn't take advantage of it, will this be a problem? Probably - you certainly need to explain why you waited so long. Will doing a good job make your letters stronger? Absolutely.
But if you are doing research merely to check a box, it will backfire. You will not be able to hide this, it will come out in your letters, and it will be a big big negative in the admissions process. You should do thios because you are genuinely interested in it. If you are not, why the devil do you want another seven or more years of it?