<p>i am asking this purely out of curiosity and an attempt to learn more about other science majors in general. I was a physics major at Ohio State and I noticed that most of the physics, chem and math majors, at Ohio State and at other large research based schools, that were looking to go to top 20 ranked phd programs in their field were often a combination of introvert, socially highly awkward and were very limited at best in their social partying and indeed in their social interactions of any kind outside of their work. And that those were were preparing to go to a top 20 ranked grad school in the sciences and had a significant social life were the exceptions, and the Big Bang Theory depiction was actually more the of the rule in this case.</p>
<p>For those who work with physics, chem and math majors who are looking to get into top 20 or so PhD programs, have your experiences been the same or different that what I described?</p>
<p>I’m one of those physics majors that’s looking to go to a top 20 grad school after I finish my bachelors. My social life is pretty much non-existent. There are some people I talk to regularly on campus between classes, but for the most part my entire life consists of going to class, working as a math/physics/chemistry tutor in my schools tutoring lab, and then going home to study and do homework. </p>
<p>I’m a pretty introverted person. It’s not that I don’t have the social skills or anything, I’m just fine in social situations. It’s more that I just generally choose not to do much socializing. Quite a few of the physics/math/chem majors that I know are pretty similar in these regards.</p>
<p>Thanks for letting me know. I noticed on another thread that you said you were a private tutor and charged 10-15 $$$ an hour. I was wondering, how many hours a week do you spend tutoring on average? Do you also do research for professors in addition to that?</p>
<p>This semester I’m not really doing much private tutoring. But, I’m also taking 21 credits this semester, so my time is fairly limited. I’m still working in the tutoring lab at my school as a work study. Mainly tutoring math, physics, and chemistry. I’ve found that it’s a little easier to coordinate that with my schedule currently. I work the night shift in there for the most part, and a lot of the time there isn’t even anyone in there looking for help during those hours, so I can basically get paid to hang out and study my own stuff. </p>
<p>Last semester I was working in there, but I was also doing private tutoring for like 5-6 hours a week on average. It’s definitely a good way to get a little extra spending money. This semester I’ve only got one person that I’m doing private tutoring for, and that’s mainly because she’s one of my friends. Taking 21 credits has a way of draining all of that extra time I used to have.</p>
<p>I’m not doing any research for professors as such. However, I’m doing 3 honors projects this semester (calculus, physics and chemistry) which has involved a lot of extra research on my own time.</p>
<p>I was one of those going to a top 20 graduate program many years ago. I certainly was a bit introverted and socially awkward, however, I have to report that it does not always have to last. I have been a professor of physics for 30 years now and I am quite comfortable socially (it did not take that long…). People mature and learn from their experience in life (family, children, career). I do know people like those on Big Bang Theory in academia, however.</p>
<p>We have Math Club, in which we sit in the math department computer lab while we eat pizza, talk about math, and program things like Conway’s Game of Life. The math/physics people who come to this are a tight knit group. They’re not really the partying type, but they will do things like have their own pre-Thanksgiving dinner at someone’s dorm apartment. I know there are people aiming for top grad schools, but there are also people who want to become teachers or go into industry or finance when they graduate. It’s not really a big topic of discussion. There is a distinct preference for talking about math or League of Legends…</p>