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Science Education and Careers
STEM Career Guidance
Research for Undergraduate Physicists not looking to go into academics
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[QUOTE="Choppy, post: 6435446, member: 127425"] I suspect you already know that this is going to depend on the specifics of both the research project and the career path you eventually follow. As a general rule, outside of academia, having some research experience is going to be less of a factor for determining whether or not you're hired into a given position than is is when you're, say, applying to graduate school or for some kind of entrance scholarship. In the non-academic world, a lot can come down to how you market the experience. As Vanadium 50 pointed out, research is ultimately about taking on a project that doesn't have a foregone conclusion. You have to organize and develop a methodology for tackling the problem, learn a set of skills, develop tools, collaborate with others, organize, process and analyze your data, draw conclusions, present a report, respond to critical feedback, etc. Naturally doing this under mentorship from an expert in the field will be of value when competing for a position where these skills are required or helpful. The other thing to consider too is that this kind of experience as an undergrad will help you to decide whether or not an academic path is the right one for you. Doing research will give you a taste for what research actually involves--the reading, the repetition, the 99 times that things don't work and the one time they do, the application of that one fact you learned in lecture three years ago that you didn't think would ever be important... Some people who only do moderately well in their course work thrive when they have a problem they can own. Others have top marks and ace every exam, but flounder when they are left to forge a path for themselves. While I can't speak to those programs specifically, the point is that they're competitive. They only have N spots and so those will go to the top N candidates who apply, usually starting from the top and working their way down using program or school-specific criteria. While the criteria are likely to vary, GPA tends to be one of the main drivers, particularly in pools where the applicants aren't expected to have a lot of prior research experience. You should have an idea of where you rank in your own class (i.e. top 5%, top 25%, etc.)... you probably won't be too far off to assume that's an indication of where you would stand in a random applicant pool (although GPA can vary as some schools inflate grades more than others). Other things that matter: letters of reference, prior research experience, scholarships, and any unique and useful skills you might bring to the table. [/QUOTE]
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Research for Undergraduate Physicists not looking to go into academics
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