Starting graduate school at Stanford in physics this fall, any suggestions to take advantage of my experience?

Stay away from nonsense like String Theory. Get a good grounding in solid state physics, chemical physics, materials etc. The jobs should follow.

This has been told to you many times and you'll hear it again.

Think very hard and pick a good advisor that you will be compatible with for 5+ years.

Talk to everyone. Try to get honest opinions. Think hard about what -you- want in an lab environment and a mentor.

A large amount of people who don't finish their PhD do so because they end up not getting along with their advisor.

Unless you're one of those programs where you've already picked him/her. In which case, good luck.

Do you think I should join a lab in those fields? I am interested in this anyway. What type of jobs are there?

Not many jobs for physics Ph.D. outside of acadamia. Good luck.

ummmmmmm wrote:

I'm starting a PhD in physics at Stanford this fall.

What in particular in physics are you interested in? Applied, particle, astrophysics, engineering, solar cells, rockets, nuclear, etc? PhD is going to be very specific.

Congrats, but Caltech is better.

My advice: Chase as much tail as possible, with the expectation of getting shot down at least 75% of the time

Focus 4 to 5 hrs/day MAX on academics, then party yer arse off the rest of the time. California is great. There will be no problems in landing a job

The chase wrote:

My advice: Chase as much tail as possible, with the expectation of getting shot down at least 75% of the time

Focus 4 to 5 hrs/day MAX on academics, then party yer arse off the rest of the time. California is great. There will be no problems in landing a job

He's a physics grad student. Not really gonna have much luck chasing tail.

A good question wrote:

Stay away from nonsense like String Theory. Get a good grounding in solid state physics, chemical physics, materials etc. The jobs should follow.

This is stupid. You are suggesting he somehow do 3 or more theses in solid state, chemical, materials physics? Will he have 3 advisers? I'm guessing you don't have experience in research or even higher education.

Harambe wrote:

This has been told to you many times and you'll hear it again.

Think very hard and pick a good advisor that you will be compatible with for 5+ years.

Talk to everyone. Try to get honest opinions. Think hard about what -you- want in an lab environment and a mentor.

A large amount of people who don't finish their PhD do so because they end up not getting along with their advisor.

Unless you're one of those programs where you've already picked him/her. In which case, good luck.

Agreed.

My $0.02 is talk to older grad students to get inside info on faculty. For older faculty members, look for someone who has a lot of previous grad students make it through. Also, if they have a lot of postdocs that is good too. I learned much more from the postdocs in my group than my adviser.

You can often find this on their websites or even their CVs.

Be like Elon Musk and quit your Stanford grad school and start your own business.

Well solid state physics and materials physics have tons of overlap...

observer_of_things wrote:

A good question wrote:

Stay away from nonsense like String Theory. Get a good grounding in solid state physics, chemical physics, materials etc. The jobs should follow.

This is stupid. You are suggesting he somehow do 3 or more theses in solid state, chemical, materials physics? Will he have 3 advisers? I'm guessing you don't have experience in research or even higher education.

He literally never used the word "theses". He said "get a good grounding". Try rereading his post.

Download bumble.

Humble brag in profile.

Navigate to swiping screen.

Close eyes.

Swipe right as many times as you can.

Repeat.

Cal W. wrote:

Not many jobs for physics Ph.D. outside of acadamia. Good luck.

Gonna disagree here. Pure theoretical physics might be constrained to academia, but you'll get a ton of job opportunities in California if you're focusing on applied, materials, geo, etc. Worst case scenario a Stanford physics PhD can get you interviews for associate positions in a hedge fund or VC firm.

Cal W. wrote:

Not many jobs for physics Ph.D. outside of acadamia. Good luck.

Get out of your mom's basement. There is a wide world out there,

The chase wrote:

My advice: Chase as much tail as possible, with the expectation of getting shot down at least 75% of the time

Focus 4 to 5 hrs/day MAX on academics, then party yer arse off the rest of the time. California is great. There will be no problems in landing a job

Ye$.

I am open to anything interesting and also something that could help me with getting a job in industry. Suggestions?

Boltzmann wrote:

observer_of_things wrote:

This is stupid. You are suggesting he somehow do 3 or more theses in solid state, chemical, materials physics? Will he have 3 advisers? I'm guessing you don't have experience in research or even higher education.

He literally never used the word "theses". He said "get a good grounding". Try rereading his post.

Do you not know what a PhD is? You do original research and are awarded a doctorate for it. How can you do this in multiple fields? How can you "get good grounding" in a bunch of fields? This makes no sense. You could take a class or two in other areas unrelated to your research, but this is neither here nor there.