Schools Seminar about applying to graduate school - tips?

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A proposal is being made to the department chair at a small school to establish a seminar aimed at informing students about the graduate school application process. Key topics for the seminar include the significance of conducting research within the department, summer research opportunities such as REUs and internships, preparation for the physics GRE, and available fellowships and scholarships like NSF, DOE, and Goldwater. The need for this seminar arises from a lack of communication regarding these opportunities, as many students are unaware of them until it's too late. Additionally, there is interest in gathering data on the correlation between summer internships and graduate school acceptance rates. Suggestions for including information about professional societies like the American Physical Society and distributing helpful essays are also mentioned to enhance the seminar's value.
Dishsoap
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Here's a long shot...

I go to a very small school with only ~8 graduates per year. Of those 8, 4 or 5 will apply to graduate school, and every year only 1 or so will be accepted.

I'm preparing to approach the chair of the department to propose a one-hour seminar every year (or semester) to tell everyone interested in graduate school about the following:

  • The importance of doing research in the department during the semester (we only have 3-4 professors who work with students, so probably a list of who does what)
  • Summer research opportunities (REUs, DOE-funded national lab internships)
  • the physics GRE (including the book Conquering the Physics GRE and the free CWRU flashcards)
  • fellowships (NSF, DOE, Hertz) and scholarships (Goldwater)
I was wondering if any of you might have other ideas of what to include in this seminar. Once I got into grad school this past month, I have received plenty of advice from professors about how to prepare myself, so I'm not looking to focus on information about this, but just the application process. The past 4 years, I never once heard professors talk about summer opportunities, the physics GRE (in fact, many people have to take a gap year since they didn't know it was a thing), or scholarships/fellowships (in fact, they told me I couldn't apply for the Goldwater as a sophomore). I want to get the information out there.

Once I learned about these things and began to apply, I was fully supported by the department, but for some reason there is no communication that these opportunities even exist, hence the seminar.

Also, I'm wondering if there is any data out there for how doing summer internship opportunities corresponds to graduate school acceptances.

Thanks so much for your advice! :)
 
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Something that has helped me quite a bit (I'd imagine it would be more helpful to grad students) is the American Physical Society. Maybe at the seminar they could cover different societies such as APS, SPS, or the AIP, all of which congregates tons of useful information.
 
Ask them to read my "So You Want To Be A Physicist" essay?

I know! I have no shame!

Zz.
 
ZapperZ said:
Ask them to read my "So You Want To Be A Physicist" essay?

I know! I have no shame!

Zz.

That's hilarious, because I actually have it printed out and was thinking of distributing copies... Way ahead of you :)
 

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