Pursuing a physics PhD after a long break
Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2021 5:09 pm
I'm looking for advice around the possibility of entering a PhD program after a 15+ year break from physics graduate work. I left a PhD program in 2006 ABD with my masters, having passed qualifying exams and completed all coursework. I never found employment in physics, and eventually ended up in healthcare, where I became a nurse practitioner and have been working as that for the past six years, as a clinician and in program supervisory roles (not research). My grades weren't great the first time around in grad school (3.5 GPA), and I only was the co-author on one paper - I left at that the three year mark due to life circumstances, not due to academic performance or difficulty doing research. I'm not interested in medical physics or biophysics - I would be interested in going back to one of the prior areas I did research in mathematical physics (quantum computing; and computational modeling of chaotic systems (either semi-classical or quantum)).
I just have not found healthcare as fulfilling as physics was, and the intellectual challenge is different/not as satisfying (and, frankly, not as challenging as I would like at this point in my career). I do have time to plan and make myself into a better applicant - I am locked into a student loan repayment contract until mid-2023, so the earliest I could start a formal program is two years, giving me time to do refresher work, study for the physics GRE (if I need to take it again...though, honestly, I'm glad my score from 2003 isn't valid anymore). 15 years out, I am not sure if I could get recommenders within physics who know my work well.
What would the expectations a program would have for me? Pass quals within a certain time frame? Retake coursework for credit or audit? What steps would I take in terms of applying given my circumstances - contact departments with research that interests me ahead of time and see how to best prepare as an applicant?
I just have not found healthcare as fulfilling as physics was, and the intellectual challenge is different/not as satisfying (and, frankly, not as challenging as I would like at this point in my career). I do have time to plan and make myself into a better applicant - I am locked into a student loan repayment contract until mid-2023, so the earliest I could start a formal program is two years, giving me time to do refresher work, study for the physics GRE (if I need to take it again...though, honestly, I'm glad my score from 2003 isn't valid anymore). 15 years out, I am not sure if I could get recommenders within physics who know my work well.
What would the expectations a program would have for me? Pass quals within a certain time frame? Retake coursework for credit or audit? What steps would I take in terms of applying given my circumstances - contact departments with research that interests me ahead of time and see how to best prepare as an applicant?