GeoDUDE!

I just don't like it when new people I meet find out that I'm a physicist and always ask me about the show. I don't really watch it, my dad finds it funny but it isn't quite dry or absurd enough to get a chuckle from me. Furthermore, physicists are among the most multidimensional, balanced people i've met. While i've met people who portray some of their characteristics, I haven't met anyone super similar to them. I'm sure there are some of them out there. I think the biggest problem is that physicists in particular are always portrayed as super nerdy socially inept people. Most people never come into contact with a physicist, we are among the least popular college majors. If you go to a big enough school there is a likely chance that you wont even meet one there. When people thought physicist, they though Albert Einstein. BBT has replaced him as the default frame of reference. I know it is very hard to see a world where you are not the center of the universe, we are all programed that way, but just as all humanities majors don't like being framed as useless, some physicists don't like being framed as abnormal.

To be honest, at that price range, there really isn't a difference between the brands. People like to make cases based on singular experiences or slightly larger sample sizes, but none of them are large enough to resolve any meaningful stats. You would think, as graduate students, we could look at this objectively. People liked the thinkpad lines, but when lenovo bought them, within 2 years, customer satisifaction went way down. Asus is probably the best OEM considering they build most of their stuff in house, different than dell,lenovo,hp, and samsung. Computers arent complicated: go on amazon/newegg, select your price range, look through the various models and buy one that is well reviewed that is closest to what you want. 600 seems more than enough to do what you want. http://www.amazon.com/Asus-R510LA-RS51-ASUS-15-6-Inch-Laptop/dp/B00HWI5KRG/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1401656621&sr=8-7&keywords=asus+i5+laptop

I didn't announce it; told the people directly whom it was important to, people who dont need to know dont know.

Rankings do not matter for industry. They have some oil funding, but not as much academic funding. The research isn't what I would call diverse, but really the rankings dont really matter. Find someone doing something you like, talk to them, and build a great project. Thats really all that matters. If you think you can do that there, then it's worth applying. I understand that it is easy to place importance on rankings, but there are more jobs than there are good, qualified oil researchers. If you plan on going into academia, the same thing applies, though ranking might matter a bit more. I probably would only do an MS there and try to go to a more academic slanted department for my PhD. Advisor is like 85% of what will make sure your graduate school experience is good if you are doing research. If you arent, you will have a tough time finding a job.

Learn to like people. Then you won't be lonely. Around good people, it shouldn't matter what you are talking about. I hate reality tv, my best friend loves it. Doesn't mean I can't have a good time talking about it with him. A lot of you comment, saying how single minded people are and judge them. If you can't learn to see the merits in everything why should you expect to have anything? The OP has the right idea, saying he wishes he could relate to people outside academia? What have you done to relate to them? If it is something you want, should you try and work at it? No one here is special.

The first harmonic refers to the first fundamental node where the length of the standing (or sound, for example) wave is double the length of the medium it passes through. So say for example you have a string that is 10 inches, the first harmonic would have a wavelength of 20 inches. It also produces the lowest possible frequency in a complex sound. A partial is a periodic wave that describes a sound. A harmonic partial, are sets of waves that comprise a fundamental frequency. This is why the first harmonic = first partial, since in the first fundamental only half a wave appears in the medium you are measuring the wave. All of your questions can be answered by reading this wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic_series_(music)

I agree, UC Davis seems like one of the safest places i've been, though I've mostly only lived in big cities. It certainly is no where near is as ghetto as where i am now.

Math isn't a popular major, period, but you seem to be going towards a more industry driven degree. My guess is that non traditional canidates are more common among PhD students. There are less "math majors" that become professors in the geosciences, were as there are plenty of physics majors. That might also be a reason, that because there is a critical mass of physicist that became geophysicists, they tend to take other physicist.

This advice is pretty good, though I have managed to get a masters in geology without having taken a single geology course, and also be admitted into multiple PhD programs in geology. There are a lot of CS, Chemistry, Physics, Math people who go into the numerical/theoretical side of geology without ever taking a course. That being said, learning geology is still required, just on one's own time.

If I didn't need tons of power, I would get the smallest laptop possible; maxed out 11 inch air, and make sure at home I had a large screen to hook it up to. IMO, always go as small as possible. I wish I could get by without a desecrate graphics card/ quad core, but 3-D modeling requires a bit too much power for the 13 inch.

It's always better to do research in a related field, but what is more important is that the research you do is done well and presented well.

If I can only argue enough my dreams will come true.

No.

Columbia has an elite geophysics degree, as I know some of the professors there personally. They just dont offer an MS.

looks like someone wants us to help them with their takehome final.

cool.

Carbondale IL, nearest airport is 2 hours away. biggest town in Southern Illinois, and its like 30k. real culture shock when I grew up in LA and did UG in Boston. Also, what is the death star? I think the only place i remember well is south campus, near Earth and Physical Sciences building.

That's terrible. Hopefully you will be admitted in the spring? A friend of mine is at VT's geology dept and loves it there.

You lied. Now you pay.

its a nice place. its still in beta, but we could use more higher level questions from reasonably informed people.

i signed at 8th and wake.. can't wait to move back to a populated area.

http://earthscience.stackexchange.com/ sign up and ask/answer away! Just to note, I am NOT GeoDude on that website, but Neo. Please do not mistake me for him, the reasons are obvious.

don't go.

I hate to say this, but especially in STEM, it might be worth not going anywhere. It will be very difficult for you to finish unless paying for these programs are no financial burden. Graduate school is not like undergraduate, it is much more difficult to finish especially if they are thesis based (and if you are doing non thesis based masters, it isn't worth anything period).

Eight, I'm going to give it to you as straight as possible. I am not saying what i'm about to tell you is absolute, but its absolutely what I needed someone to tell me when I applied to graduate school with a low gpa. I'm not so sure geology departments would care; If you can't do one major well, why do two poorly? I am wondering, you want a thesis based MS, which means you must convince admissions committee of your ability to perform research, as well as last in graduate level classes. What evidence of this do you have? The competition, especially at top teir departments that have tons of industry connections (UT, CSM, ect..) will likely automatically reject your application. They will tell you to apply, but there will be more than enough 3.5 gpa, 160+ GRE with research experience to fill up all their spots. You simply, unless you have some connections, don't have a shot. What will really separate the other applicants from you isn't just their raw stats, but because of their research experience, there letters of recommendation and statement of research(purpose) will be significantly more focus and apt. Even if you do make it bast the initial rounds of rejections, no professor has seen you firsthand do research. This wouldn't be the be all end all, except that your stats are so low. I am all for the idea that GPA does not indicate research potential. I myself had a 3.06 (physics major) coming out of undergrad, and managed to net myself a fully funded MS in geology (geophysics). But its not at a top department, and it was followed by a lot of rejections to PhD programs. What was most impressive is that my undergrad advisor when to graduate school with my current advisor, and the recommendation was so strong after doing an REU at a top 5 earth science dept and presenting research at AGU that it made up for my clearly terrible GPA. All is not lost. What are you doing this summer? Is there a professor in your current department you can at least get some research done with? you don't need results, but it would greatly strengthen your letters, and you can talk about it in your statement of research. You need to give the admissions committee a reason to admit you. The people at my not so well known department who get funding for their MS have an average GPA of 3.6. We are not currently ranked on US News and World report. There are skills you can develop. Programming is a strong skill, if you can learn a few languages and take a few data structures courses that might go a long way for your CV. Almost all geophysics projects these days require a lot of computer use. Few undergraduate earth science majors take any programming at all, let alone use excel proficiently. You probably can't get by using excel in graduate school. I would focus on Matlab, C++, Python, and fortran. That might 1) catch the eye of a professor, and 2) will greatly help you in your studies and land a job. As for the physics gre, I woudn't. Geoscience schools dont know how to read the physics GRE. Where as a physics department might look at a 50% on the physics gre from a domestic student favorably, would look awfully weak to someone who isnt familiar with the test. Unless you plan on scoring 85%+, I think it will be a net negative on your application, not positive since it isn't something they ask for. For reference, the physics GRE is something many study for months in advance. It is recommended that you senior level classical mechanics, 1 year of Electric and Magnetic fields (vector calc/ LA based), 1 semester of quantum mechanics, and 1 year of statistical mechanics (classical and modern). I'm skeptical a geophysics degree prepares you for that, but I could be wrong. So TLDR: Choose what schools you apply to wisely. Don't completely avoid top departments, but realize you are likely throwing away your money. Figure out how to distinguish yourself in your application. Focus on getting the best possible grades before hand.