- #1
cfreddy
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Hey everyone, I'm here looking for some advice. I have been working at my current institution for the past 2 years, including summers. I'm currently a sophomore, and am stuck as to what I want to work on this coming summer. At this point I have worked on two projects with the same equipment and have my name on two papers (not the primary author).
Option 1 is staying at my home college. I already am very established here and have a good relationship with the professor I work for. I'm hoping that my experience working with our equipment could help me do more advanced work, and possibly work on another paper and eventually first author, which would be a benefit for graduate school applications. My boss has suggested several times that if I stick with this group I will have a good shot of eventually writing my own paper, which would be amazing for graduate school applications. The field I’m working in I've now realized is not my favorite field. I currently enjoy my work somewhat, but I definitely feel like I could find a more rewarding position. Also, while I like my professor, I feel that he is not the best fit for me and he can be very harsh and even hostile at times. It's not to the level where I would report it, but it is at a point where working for him is not an ideal experience.
Option 2 is doing an REU at Michigan State. I am very interested in trying out research in other fields in physics, particularly particle physics and astrophysics (my home institution is small and doesn't offer other physics research that I would like). This could also diversify my undergraduate experience and strengthen my applications into graduate school. I understand that this is a risk, I could have an awful professor or and outstanding one. I also know that the level of work I do at my current job is pretty good, I definitely feel challenged, where as at Michigan State I could just be doing extremely basic work. As an added benefit, this job pays significantly more, and my girlfriend will be at Michigan State this summer (while I would love to be near her for the summer, we both are alright with a summer apart and have done long distance before).
I'm torn between these two options. For some background, I have a GPA of 3.96, am majoring in math and physics. I also have been a TA/grader for 3 classes and am the vice president of SPS. I (hopefully) want to go to an ivy league for graduate school, or at least a really good program. I'm nervous how this decision will affect my application.
Option 1 is staying at my home college. I already am very established here and have a good relationship with the professor I work for. I'm hoping that my experience working with our equipment could help me do more advanced work, and possibly work on another paper and eventually first author, which would be a benefit for graduate school applications. My boss has suggested several times that if I stick with this group I will have a good shot of eventually writing my own paper, which would be amazing for graduate school applications. The field I’m working in I've now realized is not my favorite field. I currently enjoy my work somewhat, but I definitely feel like I could find a more rewarding position. Also, while I like my professor, I feel that he is not the best fit for me and he can be very harsh and even hostile at times. It's not to the level where I would report it, but it is at a point where working for him is not an ideal experience.
Option 2 is doing an REU at Michigan State. I am very interested in trying out research in other fields in physics, particularly particle physics and astrophysics (my home institution is small and doesn't offer other physics research that I would like). This could also diversify my undergraduate experience and strengthen my applications into graduate school. I understand that this is a risk, I could have an awful professor or and outstanding one. I also know that the level of work I do at my current job is pretty good, I definitely feel challenged, where as at Michigan State I could just be doing extremely basic work. As an added benefit, this job pays significantly more, and my girlfriend will be at Michigan State this summer (while I would love to be near her for the summer, we both are alright with a summer apart and have done long distance before).
I'm torn between these two options. For some background, I have a GPA of 3.96, am majoring in math and physics. I also have been a TA/grader for 3 classes and am the vice president of SPS. I (hopefully) want to go to an ivy league for graduate school, or at least a really good program. I'm nervous how this decision will affect my application.
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