Postdoc here at Stanford (Did my phd in Ivy). I agree with everyone that the advisor is the most important thing, but it's very hard to judge his/her character before joining the group, no matter how much you talk to people. Sometimes the advisor is very nice and his/her working style just doesn't match with yours. Also you kinda have to like your lab partner to have a good phd experience (I was extremely lucky with that). I like the Stanford's rotation system as you can try out different labs before joining (don't know if Berkeley does the same thing)
Ask HN: Physics PhD at Stanford or Berkeley
81–86 of 86 posts
Re: Ask HN: Physics PhD at Stanford or Berkeley
#82Another Ph.D. physicist here (Ivy, not Stanford/Berkeley) As others have pointed out, your prospective advisor(s) are the most important thing to consider. You can't go wrong with either school. That said, when choosing an advisor: * Pay attention to where the advisor's former students ended up. The former students are a natural "network" for you when you graduate. If you can, ask relatively recent grads about their…
That's a great recommendation. IMHO, the single most important factor is having a good supervisor. A professor that has placed a significant proportion of his students at tenure-track jobs indicates that the research group is probably healthy and supervision is good, with high quality publications and support.
The opposite, postdocs that never publish and get stuck or leave academia one after the other tends to signal dysfunctionality and is a big red flag. If you dig deeper, those groups are usually broken in a number of different ways and it's critical to stay away. A bad supervisor can ruin the prospects of a great student.
Re: Ask HN: Physics PhD at Stanford or Berkeley
#831. Do you really want a PhD? If you believe so, then read "Don't become a scientist! Philip Greenspun edition" at
https://infoproc.blogspot.com/2008/05/dont-become-scientist-...
2. Years ago Greenspun graphed level of education vs pay scale. Salaries maxed out at a masters but plunged to high-school levels beyond that. See the graph below "Not So Very Serious Stuff" at:
https://philip.greenspun.com/careers/
In summary, best get a master's and pass on the Ph.D. Bonus: you'll gain an extra 3-7 years of your young life (doing what you want).
Also look at "Grad school versus prison, quantified".
Wish I'd known all this when I was younger.
https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2018/12/09/grad-school-ver...
Re: Ask HN: Physics PhD at Stanford or Berkeley
#84PhD in Quantum Optics and Atomic Physics from Oxford here (they call it 'DPhil in Atomic & Laser Physics' here). I fully agree with what everyone else is saying here, it's really great advice. On the science aspect, their advice has you well-covered. From myself, I emphasise: the most important part of ingredient of your PhD, other than you, will be your prospective advisor. The choice of school is secondary to that.…
>To drive home the last point: my personal experience is such that I literally cannot think of anyone who's had a tougher PhD journey than myself and still managed to complete it---I'll concede that I'm biased, naturally. Backing up that statement: statistically speaking, across my department I don't think anyone in the whole Oxford Physics department fell in the same hole that I did for at least 20 years. Let's talk…
>Let's talk. I think I have some notes for you.
How?
Re: Ask HN: Physics PhD at Stanford or Berkeley
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
>To drive home the last point: my personal experience is such that I literally cannot think of anyone who's had a tougher PhD journey than myself and still managed to complete it---I'll concede that I'm biased, naturally. Backing up that statement: statistically speaking, across my department I don't think anyone in the whole Oxford Physics department fell in the same hole that I did for at least 20 years. Let's talk…
>Let's talk. I think I have some notes for you. How?
Email is my HN handle at gmail
Re: Ask HN: Physics PhD at Stanford or Berkeley
#86One factor to consider is that some (many?) schools don't like to hire their own graduates.
Associated or nearby labs (LBNL, SLAC, ...) might be a factor for some specializations.
Another consideration could be where you want to live.