Revising coursework during my PhD

[Snyper]

Hello

I am an Integrated PhD Physics student ( Masters+PhD Program ). We have two years of course work then research. I could not study very well in my classical Mechanics course ( goldstein Level ) for some reason. Also, in my EM class the Professor used Griffiths as textbook which I had already done. ( Was expecting a graduate level textbook like Jackson ). Right now I am in 3rd Semester and can't study these books ( Goldstein and Jackson ) because I am taking other courses. Is it a good idea to study these two books in the first year of my PhD ( apart from research ).?. More generally, does one get time in PhD to revise coursework that one has not done well or has some gaps in ? Because coursework is often very fast, so it is almost always necessary for me go back and revisit some topics. Is it possible /feasible to do this during PhD?

Thank You

 

[Choppy]

I suppose it depends on your program. In many programs students take a fair chunk of time to go over their course material in preparation for their comprehensive exam.

That said, PhDs tends to have a lot of 'unconstrained' time. Meaning that you're really your own master. If you want to make it a priority to go over course work, you can do that, but it tends to come at the cost of research and/or personal time. Generally I don't think anyone will fault you for reviewing fundamentals, but at the same time your supervisor is going to expect research to advance at a certain pace.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

My first year of grad school, all the courses I took were repeats of undergrad courses - mechanics, quantum, E&M, and stat mech. Both my academic adviser and my research adviser were fine with this approach to solidify my fundamentals in preparation for the first general exam. (There were three general exams in my PhD program.) Of course, I also spent a lot of time on my own working problems in preparation for the general exams.

My second year of grad school was packed with the standard grad level core courses in preparation for the second general exam. I put off the breadth requirements until after I had passed all three general exams.

My learning style does better with a combination of the structured presentation and accountability of formal coursework (homework sets and exams) as well as some time spent just working problems on my own. Without structure and accountability, I often found it hard to accurately assess how well I was really doing - often I was overly optimistic, sometimes overly pessimistic.

 

[member 428835]

Agree with everyone above. But the best advice always comes from your adviser. Ask them what to do with courses. Advice sounds lazy, but as a 5th year PhD, trust me on this.