How to make the most of a gap year during the Covid-19 era?
Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2020 4:17 pm
Hello Everyone,
I am opening this thread to get insights into my future prospects for a career in Physics in the era of Covid-19.
I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics in May of 2020 with a 3.6 GPA from a low-ranked undergraduate institution in the United States (GRE Quant: 156, Verbal: 156, Writing: 5, Physics: 800). I had applied to ten graduate programs for Fall 2020 admission, but I was rejected from all of the schools I had chosen. I also have three years of undergraduate research experience, where the focus of my work was in high-energy astrophysics. Based on my findings, I was able to present at multiple conferences and publish one paper. I had mainly applied to astronomy programs and Physics programs with an astronomy focus. But I feel as though this was a mistake due to small cohort sizes and available funds in this field. Due to the circumstances, I had chosen to take a gap year and instead apply for full-time opportunities related to my degree to gain additional experience in the field (mainly in Data Science). I have applied for close to 50 positions and have received a few interviews, but I have not heard back on further updates at this time.
My issue is that I am struggling to gain confidence with my degree and with understanding what my options are after graduating. Besides gaining additional experience and strengthening my test scores, I am not sure what significant gaps I need to address to succeed in the workforce and academia. I am willing to widen my research interests to other areas of Physics which are compatible with my undergraduate degree (such as Condensed Matter Physics and Computational Physics). I am looking for an avenue to improve my profile with additional research experience or full-time jobs with a research focus.
What is the story I can tell during my gap year period to improve my prospects for graduate studies, if I choose to apply again?
Would I need to change the focus of my chosen programs to something other than Astronomy, or could I stick with this field?
If I do not stick with Astronomy, which areas are the most optimally funded at this time, due to the pandemic?
Thank you for your guidance.
I am opening this thread to get insights into my future prospects for a career in Physics in the era of Covid-19.
I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics in May of 2020 with a 3.6 GPA from a low-ranked undergraduate institution in the United States (GRE Quant: 156, Verbal: 156, Writing: 5, Physics: 800). I had applied to ten graduate programs for Fall 2020 admission, but I was rejected from all of the schools I had chosen. I also have three years of undergraduate research experience, where the focus of my work was in high-energy astrophysics. Based on my findings, I was able to present at multiple conferences and publish one paper. I had mainly applied to astronomy programs and Physics programs with an astronomy focus. But I feel as though this was a mistake due to small cohort sizes and available funds in this field. Due to the circumstances, I had chosen to take a gap year and instead apply for full-time opportunities related to my degree to gain additional experience in the field (mainly in Data Science). I have applied for close to 50 positions and have received a few interviews, but I have not heard back on further updates at this time.
My issue is that I am struggling to gain confidence with my degree and with understanding what my options are after graduating. Besides gaining additional experience and strengthening my test scores, I am not sure what significant gaps I need to address to succeed in the workforce and academia. I am willing to widen my research interests to other areas of Physics which are compatible with my undergraduate degree (such as Condensed Matter Physics and Computational Physics). I am looking for an avenue to improve my profile with additional research experience or full-time jobs with a research focus.
What is the story I can tell during my gap year period to improve my prospects for graduate studies, if I choose to apply again?
Would I need to change the focus of my chosen programs to something other than Astronomy, or could I stick with this field?
If I do not stick with Astronomy, which areas are the most optimally funded at this time, due to the pandemic?
Thank you for your guidance.