What are the most common problems/regrets that undergrads have?

[OscarV]

I get the feeling that the people that are further advanced in their careers look at many undergrads as hopelessly naive in many respects, and I think that is with good reason. What are the most common things that you see undergrads regretting? I mean specifically when it comes to professional development. That is "I wish I could have studied x harder" or "I wish I didn't have spent so much time on x". I am an undergrad entering second year of physics and would like to get that advice from those who are in "the real world" of research.

 

[bob012345]

I wish I had taken an interest in reading or at least familiarizing myself with the leading journals in Physics when I was in school. I wouldn't have had to understand everything but I would have had more of a clue where the field as a whole was at during that time. That would have helped me navigate my time in grad school better I think.

 

[OscarV]

I wish I had taken an interest in reading or at least familiarizing myself with the leading journals in Physics when I was in school. I wouldn't have had to understand everything but I would have had more of a clue where the field as a whole was at during that time. That would have helped me navigate my time in grad school better I think.

I see, do you have any recommendations for journals? (Thanks for the reply)

 

[bob012345]

I see, do you have any recommendations for journals? (Thanks for the reply)

Go to your physics dept. library. The staff will point our the prominent journals or ask one of your professors. There are many subfields and journals specialize in different areas of physics. You want a broad overview for now which can be narrowed down later as your interests focus.

You should not have to buy these journals but read them in the library.

 

[gwnorth]

I see, do you have any recommendations for journals? (Thanks for the reply)

Physics Today magazine is relatively accessible in terms of content and covers a wide range of topics and current research. Then if you find something particularly interesting you could do a deeper dive.

 

[symbolipoint]

To the title of this topic; one would wish to have followed other very obvious areas of talent with much greater effort; and wish to have followed onto other courses of opportunity with much more effort.

 

[Klystron]

Where possible, choose your teachers wisely. Discuss classes and labs with classmates who have completed the courses you seek. Ask the opinions of other faculty you know and trust. Prepare in advance for core classes. Read recent papers and other publications written by your teacher, or possibly your teacher's instructor, in addition to previewing the assigned textbook and lab précis.

Fortune favors the prepared.

 

[berkeman]

I get the feeling that the people that are further advanced in their careers look at many undergrads as hopelessly naive in many respects, and I think that is with good reason. What are the most common things that you see undergrads regretting?

For me, my biggest regret was that I was not well prepared for university by my small rural high school, which caused all kinds of issues and extra effort required to do well in undergrad. If only I had a Mentor in high school who could tell that I was bound for technical studies in university after high school, and they could have convinced me to learn and practice good study habits, even though I didn't need them to graduate salutatorian from my small high school.

I basically did not have to study much at all and still did very well in my small high school, but that set me up to fail when I got to university. My first term at uni was a disaster, and was a wakeup call to me that I needed to get a lot better at studying if I wanted to graduate with a good GPA and have a chance at working in R&D EE labs in my future.

So I swung to the opposite extreme, studying about 40 hours outside of classes per week and foregoing all extra-curricular activities during the school terms. It was difficult, but it did help me to return to my accustomed mostly-A grades, and I definitely understood the material a lot better. But this was a big (and maybe unnecessary) sacrifice that perhaps I could have avoided if I were better prepared by high school.

By the end of my junior year and most of my senior year, I had my classes pretty well under control and could mix in a few extra-curricular activities along with my studies. But the middle of my undergrad at uni was pretty much study-only, so I missed out a bit on general university life.

Hope that helps.

 

[dlgoff]

For me, my biggest regret was that I was not well prepared for university by my small rural high school, which caused all kinds of issues and extra effort required to do well in undergrad.

This was the same for me. My HS advisor told me that I should not go to my University.

 

[symbolipoint]

This was the same for me. My HS advisor told me that I should not go to my University.

Not sure I understand.
Advice NOT to go to the university which you did attend?
Advice NOT to attend any university?
Advice NOT to attend some university until you prepare yourself further like to start at a community college first?

 

[dlgoff]

Not sure I understand.
Advice NOT to go to the university which you did attend?
Advice NOT to attend any university?
Advice NOT to attend some university until you prepare yourself further like to start at a community college first?

Not to go to the university which I did attend. My H.S. grades weren't very good.

Edit: I ended up getting a BS in Engineering Physics at the University of Kansas.

 

[berkeman]

And you kicked serious butt while you were there! (but forgot to take names...)

 

[DaveE]

First, I'll question the assumption here that what others thought about what they "should" have done is really relevant to you. It really good to ask, but be skeptical of the answers, There will be lots of cognitive bias involved. Lots of monday morning quarterbacking. Lots of selection bias. If you think you want to study physics, and then ask physicists what they wished they'd done, you won't get the perspective of those who switched to biology or journalism. You also may not get very practical, actionable advice. I can say "I wished I'd studied harder, and spent less time backpacking." But that just may not have been a healthy option for me at the time. Maybe I "should have" but that doesn't mean I "could have".

The first couple of years as an undergrad are usually a time of great upheaval, insecurity, learning, and decisions. I'm not sure that looking back we will have a great perspective on the reality we were dealing with at the time.

Now, after the big disclaimer:
My advice is to learn stuff.
Undergrads tend to focus a bit too much on grades at the expense of real education. Grades can be important and can't be ignored, but a few years after you've graduated and moved on, no one really knows or cares what your grades were. They care about what you know. These two things aren't always well correlated. When I was hiring EEs, I honestly didn't really care or even look at what their grades were. I could tell everything I needed to know by asking a few technical questions. There are a lot of reasons you might get a low grade in a course that have nothing to do with how well you know the material a few years later, or vice-versa.

Your grades are important but only have a transient value, what you've really learned will last your whole career.

 

[symbolipoint]

@DaveE,
Some students have the problem of not recognizing GOOD advice which comes from knowledgeable people, during their educations.

 

[CrysPhys]

Where possible, choose your teachers wisely.

But as far as courses are concerned, this usually is not possible. Required core courses follow a set sequence, and you don't have a choice of instructors. There is more flexibility in choosing electives. But again, if the elective is a course you absolutely want to take, you might not be able to pick an instructor (if picking another instructor entails deferring the elective for another year or more). The only flexibility I had was in choosing an advisor for undergrad research projects and an advisor for my bachelor's thesis.

Read recent papers and other publications written by your teacher, or possibly your teacher's instructor, in addition to previewing the assigned textbook and lab précis.

I'm not sure how this is relevant, particularly at the undergrad level. E.g., if the course is on Newtonian mechanics, and the professor is a high-energy particle physicist, how would a student in the course benefit from reading (or, more realistically, attempting to read) the professor's research papers?

 

[gmax137]

Where possible, choose your teachers wisely. Discuss classes and labs with classmates who have completed the courses you seek. Ask the opinions of other faculty you know and trust.

I would temper this, noting that I try to form my own opinion of others.

Further, even your own opinion can change. I had one professor who I thought quite difficult to get on with. He had a very real-world almost engineering mindset, while teaching quantum mech. At the time, I would have preferred a more theoretical teacher. Later on, I grew to appreciate his approach more and more.

 

[CrysPhys]

I would temper this, noting that I try to form my own opinion of others.

Further, even your own opinion can change. I had one professor who I thought quite difficult to get on with. He had a very real-world almost engineering mindset, while teaching quantum mech. At the time, I would have preferred a more theoretical teacher. Later on, I grew to appreciate his approach more and more.

Yes, this is so true. In my junior year, I took a course on solid-state physics. The professor really wasn't very good in front of a classroom. But when I spoke to him one-on-one, it was an entirely different story. So much so that I asked him to be my advisor for my undergrad thesis. I learned a lot from him over my senior year.

 

[Klystron]

I am an undergrad entering second year of physics and would like to get that advice from those who are in "the real world" of research.

This struck me as a sophisticated query; so I attempted to answer in kind. I also presume @OscarV wishes to avoid, rather than promulgate, regretful situations as an undergraduate.

I was already working professionally at a major research center while attending university as an undergraduate and graduate student. Largely able to choose among assignments, I would meet and converse with a senior project researcher if we had not previously collaborated, review relevant publications by this research scientist and help her/him select, train and build expert teams.

Even within the stratified regime of studying core STEM subjects, prior knowledge about faculty members and their research topics cannot hurt and the involved student retains a basis when more choices become available as they progress toward their goals.

Yes, opinions change as we learn. Of course students will not at first understand everything published in research papers or even their assigned textbooks, but they can form impressions and fill gaps in their preparation.

 

[WWGD]

Ive had the impression that roughly half wished they'd studied harder, other half wished they'd had more fun , seems you can't please anyone( third half wished they had learned basic Arithmetic ;) )

But I do regret not having gone to profs' office hours more often. This is an incredible gift I never appreciated until my last year. And in a more practical/cynical sense, it may help open a lot of doors towards research and just general contacts, and possible friendships with your profs( albeit possibly somewhat far down the line).

 

[CrysPhys]

Ive had the impression that roughly half wished they'd studied harder, other half wished they'd had more fun ,...

But both can be distilled to: "I wish I had struck a better balance between studying and other aspects of my life." [ETA: Easy to say in principle; difficult to do in practice; and often you won't know whether you had proper balance until after you've fallen ...]

 

[Dr Transport]

My regret was not getting a mentor earlier as an undergraduate. It was my senior year before I started to really talk to my professors and try to get a better handle on really mastering the material. I spent my entire senior year knocking on my E&M professor's door and doing problems at the board. I wish I'd have done that in the other courses like classical mechanics and statistical mechanics.

That is why, now as a part-time lecturer, I take an interest and give advice to my students when asked, they really seem to appreciate the attention.