I’m planning on returning to college to finish a bachelors in physics, then go onto grad school to pursue a doctorate. For those who either are or had been in grad school for physics, I have some questions:
I heard the majority of physics grad students get stipends, as there are so many research assistants and teacher’s assistants needed for the field. Is that the case, and if so, what would you say the percentage is as to how many get stipends?
Between classes, studying, and being an RA or TA, is it very time-consuming, or do you have any free time evenings and/or weekends?
(If you completed the doctoral) How easy/hard was it to find a job afterward?
I really want to do this, and I’m trying to get an idea of what to expect in the years to come. Anyone who can give me feedback, I’d greatly appreciate it.
About 2000 people get a phd in physics in the US each year. 15% of them will land in a tenure track position which requires that degree. They spend up to 6 years as a postdoc.
Yes, that is correct, although it might depend on the university. My first year, most of my classmates had TA jobs. After that, most held RA jobs until graduation. I can’t specifically recall anyone who didn’t.
Yes, it is very time-consuming. First year is totally consumed by classes and TA work and eventually studying for the qualifying exam. The better your undergrad preparation, the easier it will be. Once I got settled in a lab, my advisor expected everyone in our group to be working a minimum of 60 hrs a week. Most people worked full days Monday through Friday and then at least half a day on Saturday. I can remember many late nights returning to the lab to transfer liquid helium.
Personally it was not hard, but I’ve heard of people who had a hard time. It depends on what you are looking for (academia, national lab, or industry) and who you know. I was fortunate to get a job at a place some of my former lab-mates were working.
See above for the RA. For the TA I think it was something like 10-12 hrs a week, which doesn’t sound like much, but it was on top of taking 3 classes per term. It was a busy year.
If you don’t get full funding for a physics PhD, you don’t belong in the program.
The physics PhD students whom I knew were fully funded, taught or TA’d sections of undergrad, and often literally stayed up three days two nights in a row running their experiments!
Way more grad students matriculating each year than PhD’s leaving academic or research positions to open up slots. Quant hedge funds are full of people who didn’t end up in their planned academic positions but settled for a much more lucrative fall back.