Looking for Evaluation - PhD or MS in Geophysics

[idiochromatic]

Just because you see people with research experience doesn't mean that there aren't people in graduate school without it, or that they put a particular weight on it. In other words: causation and correlation are two different things. 

 

You get a 4.0 GPA and a 900 on the physics GRE and come from an american university and see who rejects you? 

Sure, somebody with the right qualifications would get in with or without research experience (which is often a relatively easy/directed enterprise at the undergrad level), but I am surprised nobody here has mentioned the best reason to get research experience--to see if you might be interested in doing research as a career. It is a different sort of work than many others and I would not have applied to grad school without some experience with it.

[bananaphone]

Sure research experience helps, but lets think about why it helps. It probably mostly helps from enriching your Statement of Purpose and your Letters of Recommendation. But you don't need research experience to have those things.

 

No.  Research experience helps because that's what graduate school is about.  Research.  Your application should be about demonstrating that you are a competent researcher and that you'll (eventually) be able to make a novel contribution to the existing body of knowledge.  That's pretty much the definintion of a PhD.

 

 

I think you see a lot of people get into graduate school with research experience, not just because they have research experience, but most top students have research experience.

 

I disagree.  I would say the top students are the best because they have extensive research experience.  When I was applying to graduate school I expressed concerns about my mediocre GPA (3.6) to my undergrad PI.  He said that no one will even look at my GPA because I had 3+ years of research experience and 3 first-author papers.  I ended up getting accepted to all the schools I applied to.  My current PI later confirmed that he didn't have a clue what any of his students GPAs or GREs were, he doesn't even look at them.  All he cared about was research experience.  Furthermore, I don't know of anyone in my program (~50 students) that didn't have prior research experience.

 

 

And then there is something unsettling about your argument itself: you attempt to make a statistical claim (look, here are 3 people who got rejected from top schools) without really thinking about the statistics themselves. Where did those students get in? Don't a majority of people who apply with research experience, good grades, and test scores get rejected from schools like that anyway? What's the selection bias of people who post on grad cafe or in the results section?

 

I was not making a statistical claim.  As I mentioned, I skimmed the recent results lists and quickly found evidence contrary to your implied claim that good GPA and GREs will get you in: "You get a 4.0 GPA and a 900 on the physics GRE and come from an american university and see who rejects you?".  Top schools may still reject those students.

 

 

PS: where did I say its easier to get into graduate school without research? I just said its not as important as people make it out to be. Those are two different statements.

 

You said it's easier to get into grad school in physics/chemistry/math without prior research than it is to get into earth science without prior research experience.  Here's the quote: "I think thats really the difference between heavy description sciences...and quantitative sciences...you see math, chemistry, physics and computer science students get into graduate schools without much research experience. Even a lot of lab based research is somewhat lenient.".  I was saying that research experience is equally important in those fields.

[columbia09]

Is a 3.6 really mediocre ? Times really are changing  

[sjoh197]

Your stats look great for civil. 

 

Just remember that earth science people are a very different breed from engineers, which I am sure you have learned from experience by now. They like to argue ^^^ ahem. lol

 

I assume you are planning on taking all of the deep/shallow foundations, retaining structures and eveg courses? My SO specialized in structural and it's a bitch... so I understand why you like the earth science side better. (yay) I also think it is important to remember that engineering majors/classes have different expectations, and that your senior year will be exponentially more time consuming than many other full courseload degrees. So the emphasis on research should not be at the expense of your coursework and gpa, as that will do you little good at this point, with the decent research and TAing that you've already done. 

[burgundywave]

Your stats look great for civil. 

 

Just remember that earth science people are a very different breed from engineers, which I am sure you have learned from experience by now. They like to argue ^^^ ahem. lol

 

I assume you are planning on taking all of the deep/shallow foundations, retaining structures and eveg courses? My SO specialized in structural and it's a bitch... so I understand why you like the earth science side better. (yay) I also think it is important to remember that engineering majors/classes have different expectations, and that your senior year will be exponentially more time consuming than many other full courseload degrees. So the emphasis on research should not be at the expense of your coursework and gpa, as that will do you little good at this point, with the decent research and TAing that you've already done. 

 

Thanks for your input!

 

And yes, I'm currently taking a foundation design class but it's still too structural for my taste :/. I really enjoyed the geomechanics class though, that's what led me to want to study geophysics. 

 

I definitely expect my final semester (I'm doing my undergrad in 3.5 years) to be hectic between engineering design courses, a design project, a technical paper, a finance class for my minor, TAing a finance class and possibly a research project in addition to the whole PhD application process! On the bright side though, I will have 6 months to relax between this crazy semester and grad school. 

 

Also, my school allows me to replace an engineering design class with a research project, so I can do a bit of research while (hopefully) still maintaining my grades.

[bananaphone]

Is a 3.6 really mediocre ? Times really are changing  

 

I think I had the lowest GPA in my grad school cohort.  So it's probably on the low-to-mediocre end of GPAs for grad school, although I could be mistaken.

 

 

Just remember that earth science people are a very different breed from engineers, which I am sure you have learned from experience by now. They like to argue ^^^ ahem. lol

 

Haha, touche.  Sorry about temporarily sidetracking the discussion.

[sjoh197]

 

Haha, touche.  Sorry about temporarily sidetracking the discussion.

 

Hahaha, I only meant it lightheartedly.