Tutoring/grading on grad school app

[tachyon4]

I currently grade homework assignments for my school's math department (and I tutor off and on). Will this job count for anything on my applications to physics grad schools? If not, I'm very willing to drop the job and spend more time on classes. Thanks for the advice.

 

[QuarkCharmer]

I asked this question recently and the conclusion I arrived at, was that the experience certainly does not hurt, but there are some research-based things that I could have used the time for that would have been more beneficial to me seeking acceptance to a grad program. Perhaps someone else can further clarify, as I am going by what several professors at my university told me.

 

[physics girl phd]

To put it bluntly: A graduate admissions committee will (in my limited experience and pragmatic view) really be looking for a "mercenary" that will be doing research for it's faculty in return for a measly stipend (+ tuition coverage) for a limited time.. eventually completing a project and hopefully moving on to a successful career (making the degree-granting institution and it's faculty look good). So you also need to have some research experience before applying to both show off some skill in the area... and to let the committee know you know why you want to attend (they don't care about your romantic views on physics, and PLEASE don't put that in your personal statement -- be professional: you want to attend to do research in X or Y and become an advanced researcher within academia, industry, or a national lab).

I do note that we'd look favorably on teaching/grading experience -- since most students are initially funded through a teaching assistanceship (requiring teaching a lab, grading, or working in a tutoring center / computer lab)... and we looked at it even more favorably if the applicant was looking to be in one of the theory groups (in something "weird" and inconsistently funded, such as perhaps a string theory group; with the "nonweird" groups being those that were linked to on-site experimental groups in condensed matter, AMO, plasma, biophysics, etc.). But NOTE: teaching and grading experience wouldn't trump research experience. Ever.

 

[twofish-quant]

A graduate admissions committee will (in my limited experience and pragmatic view) really be looking for a "mercenary" that will be doing research for it's faculty in return for a measly stipend (+ tuition coverage) for a limited time.. eventually completing a project and hopefully moving on to a successful career (making the degree-granting institution and it's faculty look good).

You need to be a little careful. One thing that you'll find in some of the other threads are people that have "optimized" their lives to be exactly what the graduate school wants them to do, only to find that it is less than useful after they get their Ph.D.

One thing that you have to figure out is what do you want to do with your life.

 

[johng23]

To put it bluntly: A graduate admissions committee will (in my limited experience and pragmatic view) really be looking for a "mercenary" that will be doing research for it's faculty in return for a measly stipend (+ tuition coverage) for a limited time.. eventually completing a project and hopefully moving on to a successful career (making the degree-granting institution and it's faculty look good). So you also need to have some research experience before applying to both show off some skill in the area... and to let the committee know you know why you want to attend (they don't care about your romantic views on physics, and PLEASE don't put that in your personal statement -- be professional: you want to attend to do research in X or Y and become an advanced researcher within academia, industry, or a national lab).

If an admissions committee wants you to be a mercenary and doesn't care about anything else about you, wouldn't you be better off NOT going there? I honestly think you should do what you think is most interesting, present exactly who you are (scientifically) on your application, and if the school doesn't want you, it's probably for the best. But I realize most people will never follow that.