so im gonna get my phd in theoretical physics

[black magick hustla]

who would have thought. i wanted to study literature when i was in highschool

[black magick hustla]

im a child of pannekoek and the stars

[ExUnoDisceOmnes]

I love the idea of studying theoretical physics...

[black magick hustla]

hahaha i think i know more about marxism/labor history than physics. been reading up on that shit since i was 14. communist till death

[ExUnoDisceOmnes]

Smart guy

[JazzRemington]

What does that mean? In theory, you're going to study physics?

[Os Cangaceiros]

let me borrow your brain!

[NoOneIsIllegal]

Does that mean you can explain magnets? Because for some reason, I just can't figure out how they work.

[synthesis]

Congrats.

[Tablo]

http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/1/21055000/ngbbs4bca5098cef6d.jpg

[MarxSchmarx]

Don't do it. I am serious.

http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=457641
There is a massive, massive glut of PhDs, and theoretical physicists are a dime a dozen. If you have brilliant insights to make, you don't need a PhD. You can teach secondary school or middle school and make just as much, if not more, and will have far great job security. Trust me, even if you are among the lucky few, you will be mostly teaching the exact same classes as a professor at a 4 year university as you would as a high school teacher in say a magnet school in an urban area or an IB program. Plus you can still do your research as a theoretician esp. because you don't require labs. And if you consider the nightmare that is tenure and grant applications even if you get an assistant professorship, it isn't worth it because if in the unlikely event you end up at a research university it is even more unlikely you will be doing science - you will be managing a team of graduate students and postdocs and selling your research.

I know you don't know me, I'm just some random person on an internet forum. But trust me, it really, really isn't worth it.

Oh and:
http://100rsns.blogspot.com/

Here is the coda:

obTNwPJvOI8

And for the love of God, don't even think for a second you are exempt from this because your degree will be in the natural sciences.

[black magick hustla]

nah i read all about that. tbh its my way to fix my papers in like canada. i might dropout after masters and get a number crunching job

[black magick hustla]

anything better than going back to that shithole in mexico

[black magick hustla]

although tbh a hard science degree is way better than humanities degree because you can work in computer/numbercruching/industry. its not really that bad. academia is bad but not the job opportunities

[MarxSchmarx]

If you have a job already and need it as a credential and your employer is willing to pay for it then (and basically only then, unless you are independently wealthy) yeah it makes sense. But I think it's telling that Einstein arguably did his best work as a patent officer and neither Darwin nor Wallace had anything like a tenure track position.

As far as jobs in industry go, you are a gazillion times better off pursuing a terminal masters degree in some kind of engineering at a school no one has heard of than getting a "pure science" degree at an R1 university in North America or Oxbridge. For employers who want people with concrete skills that can start off the bat, a degree in theoretical physics really is as bad as a degree in late Sanskrit literature. All they both say are that you are smart (or at least impress your committee) enough to accomplish a very narrow task.

[black magick hustla]

nah dude all the students of my future advisor went out for number crunching jobs and make like 100k its really not as awful as you make it seem. i dont care about academia

[black magick hustla]

also you dont pay for grad school in the hard sciences btw you get paid

[La Comédie Noire]

MarxSchmarx... words cannot describe how hard that made me laugh.

[MarxSchmarx]

also you dont pay for grad school in the hard sciences btw you get paid

Oh yes but far, far less than someone of comparable ability, education and experience does in just about any other job.

Think about it - if you get paid say 100K USD a year with a phd, or 60K with a BS in engineering, with 100K you can retire in 15 years while with a 60K salary you retire in 20 years. But throw in 5 yrs (at least) to get your phd, and you've already been doing just as well as if you just relied on your bachelors. And 100K industry jobs are hard to come by for research scientists, because they'd rather higher a number cruncher straight out of a bachelor's program for 40K than the likes of you.

Look you've apparently made up your mind, I don't intend to change your opinion. I just think the next bright, ambitious young sciency type that comes across this thread should really be mindful that's it's nowhere near as easier with advanced degrees (esp. in a field like theoretical physics) as you describe.

[black magick hustla]

of course its not but then again most people are not immigrants from a shithole neighborhood in a shithole country. i think physics phds are able to get jobs outside academia easily. never heard of a physics phd working retail

[MarxSchmarx]

What does that mean? In theory, you're going to study physics?

Haha - "theoretical degrees in physics" - fallout new vegas ftw.