I would like to go to grad school for physics and philosophy.
The Situation:
I did my bachelors in Economics at a very good American university, but I only did moderately well.
I took mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and wave phenomena. I also took theoretical multi-var, linear algebra, and abstract algebra, basic statistics, econometrics. In philosophy I’ve only taken a course on Kant’s ethics.
The Constraints:
I have not taken quantum mechanics, statistical thermodynamics, or any science-relevant philosophy (i.e. metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of …).
I’ve not taken the GRE, either general or subject. The Physics GRE covers QM and Thermo.
I have no formal research experience working under anyone.
I am currently working roughly 9-6 Monday through Friday with about a half hour commute on either end. It takes me about an hour to get ready in the morning.
I am currently living in Beijing, China as an American expatriate. My Chinese is decent, but not fluent enough to have deep conversations or to make day-to-day interactions easy. I take about 3.5 hours of Mandarin instruction a week with probably 2 hours of out of class homework.
In order to combat depression, reduce stress and maintain my health, I try to cook lunch every morning as well as go swimming. Since the nearest pool that is open in the morning is a 30 minutes away I have been getting up at 5 AM and have been arriving at the office a little after 9 AM.
I feel very lonely as my family and friends are almost all in the U.S. or U.K. still. As such I need to devote some amount of time to both socializing face-to-face here and to communicating with friends and family back home. This was recently exacerbated by my father having major surgery (which was successful) and by my persistent if now mild feelings of unrequited romantic love.
The Problem:
I believe I need to teach myself QM and Thermo to a sufficient level to do well on the GREs. I also need to brush up on the other subjects which I haven’t touched in about 5 years.
However, I find I do not have the time / motivation / ability to teach myself these subjects. I have been making some progress reading through textbooks, but I have found that without working through problems all the way to their conclusion I don’t really learn or internalize the ideas and practices.
Additionally, I’m concerned about demonstrating sufficient worthiness in other ways i.e. via recommendations, research, experience, etc.
I am open to inquiries regarding my motivation for this goal to help point towards near substitutes.
I believe I need to teach myself QM and Thermo to a sufficient level to do well on the GREs.
Yes, that will be necessary to do well on the test. You should also be prepared to review classical mechanics and E&M. Having a good set of freshman-level physics textbooks is helpful, because many of the problems are at that level. I recommend the two-volume set by Resnick, Halliday, and Krane.
You should check out the physicsgre.com forums. You will be able to find a fair amount of advice threads for people in similar situations (lacking the full complement of upper-level physics courses, in need of research experience, etc.), as well as a lot of general advice about the physics GRE test. You can also try starting your own thread on that forum to solicit more advice. The consensus is that going to grad school in physics without the undergrad in physics is difficult and requires a lot of effort, but it’s not impossible if one is dedicated and takes the initiative.
In general, a career in physics is going to require a lot of self-study. Grad students often end up working on such specialized research problems that the only way to learn about the topic is to read lots of published papers, which are often much more difficult to understand than textbooks.
For quantum mechanics, I recommend Griffith’s Introduction to Quantum Mechanics. I am not sure why you haven’t been working problems all the way through, but if it’s because you don’t have the correct solutions against which to check your answers, the manual for Griffith’s textbook is easy to find. Unfortunately, I really don’t know of a good undergraduate-level thermodynamics textbook.
For the general GRE test, buy a commercial test-prep book (personally, I prefer Barron’s) and go through it cover to cover. Take the diagnostic test, figure out where your areas of weakness are, study them by working through the sections in the book that address them, and then take more practice tests. (Repeat if necessary.)
I think you would have an easier time finding a professor who would let you work in eir research group, or a college that might let you audit classes, if you were in an English-speaking country. The language barrier will be difficult to overcome for both of those activities. This would also help with the problem of loneliness. In addition, if you take the general GRE in the US, you can take it on the computer instead of on paper, which some find to be a more intuitive format. (At the least, it’s nicer for writing the essays.)
I am also looking at the terminal masters programs in the U.K. I know Cambridge has some.
That is a good option to get experience with research and coursework. Also, I think European schools tend to place less emphasis on the physics GRE than US schools, although there’s some variation in that.
I would like to go to grad school for physics and philosophy.
The Situation:
I did my bachelors in Economics at a very good American university, but I only did moderately well.
I took mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and wave phenomena. I also took theoretical multi-var, linear algebra, and abstract algebra, basic statistics, econometrics. In philosophy I’ve only taken a course on Kant’s ethics.
The Constraints:
I have not taken quantum mechanics, statistical thermodynamics, or any science-relevant philosophy (i.e. metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of …).
I’ve not taken the GRE, either general or subject. The Physics GRE covers QM and Thermo.
I have no formal research experience working under anyone.
I am currently working roughly 9-6 Monday through Friday with about a half hour commute on either end. It takes me about an hour to get ready in the morning.
I am currently living in Beijing, China as an American expatriate. My Chinese is decent, but not fluent enough to have deep conversations or to make day-to-day interactions easy. I take about 3.5 hours of Mandarin instruction a week with probably 2 hours of out of class homework.
In order to combat depression, reduce stress and maintain my health, I try to cook lunch every morning as well as go swimming. Since the nearest pool that is open in the morning is a 30 minutes away I have been getting up at 5 AM and have been arriving at the office a little after 9 AM.
I feel very lonely as my family and friends are almost all in the U.S. or U.K. still. As such I need to devote some amount of time to both socializing face-to-face here and to communicating with friends and family back home. This was recently exacerbated by my father having major surgery (which was successful) and by my persistent if now mild feelings of unrequited romantic love.
The Problem:
I believe I need to teach myself QM and Thermo to a sufficient level to do well on the GREs. I also need to brush up on the other subjects which I haven’t touched in about 5 years.
However, I find I do not have the time / motivation / ability to teach myself these subjects. I have been making some progress reading through textbooks, but I have found that without working through problems all the way to their conclusion I don’t really learn or internalize the ideas and practices.
Additionally, I’m concerned about demonstrating sufficient worthiness in other ways i.e. via recommendations, research, experience, etc.
I am open to inquiries regarding my motivation for this goal to help point towards near substitutes.
Yes, that will be necessary to do well on the test. You should also be prepared to review classical mechanics and E&M. Having a good set of freshman-level physics textbooks is helpful, because many of the problems are at that level. I recommend the two-volume set by Resnick, Halliday, and Krane.
You should check out the physicsgre.com forums. You will be able to find a fair amount of advice threads for people in similar situations (lacking the full complement of upper-level physics courses, in need of research experience, etc.), as well as a lot of general advice about the physics GRE test. You can also try starting your own thread on that forum to solicit more advice. The consensus is that going to grad school in physics without the undergrad in physics is difficult and requires a lot of effort, but it’s not impossible if one is dedicated and takes the initiative.
In general, a career in physics is going to require a lot of self-study. Grad students often end up working on such specialized research problems that the only way to learn about the topic is to read lots of published papers, which are often much more difficult to understand than textbooks.
For quantum mechanics, I recommend Griffith’s Introduction to Quantum Mechanics. I am not sure why you haven’t been working problems all the way through, but if it’s because you don’t have the correct solutions against which to check your answers, the manual for Griffith’s textbook is easy to find. Unfortunately, I really don’t know of a good undergraduate-level thermodynamics textbook.
For the general GRE test, buy a commercial test-prep book (personally, I prefer Barron’s) and go through it cover to cover. Take the diagnostic test, figure out where your areas of weakness are, study them by working through the sections in the book that address them, and then take more practice tests. (Repeat if necessary.)
I think you would have an easier time finding a professor who would let you work in eir research group, or a college that might let you audit classes, if you were in an English-speaking country. The language barrier will be difficult to overcome for both of those activities. This would also help with the problem of loneliness. In addition, if you take the general GRE in the US, you can take it on the computer instead of on paper, which some find to be a more intuitive format. (At the least, it’s nicer for writing the essays.)
Many thanks. Good advice all. The resources you’re suggesting are particularly helpful.
I will hopefully have many of those books in the next few weeks depending on shipping to Beijing.
I am hoping that I can get into a program before leaving the country, but regardless I am committed to resigning and moving by middle of next spring.
I am also looking at the terminal masters programs in the U.K. I know Cambridge has some.
That is a good option to get experience with research and coursework. Also, I think European schools tend to place less emphasis on the physics GRE than US schools, although there’s some variation in that.