Using MX2 skills in Physics exam? (1 Viewer)

blyatman

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When do you do GR btw? Do you do tensor calc in undergrad too?
Do u plan on going into GR? I have no idea what unsw astrophysics group is like, but USYD has a pretty strong one - it's called SIfA (Sydney institute for astronomy). I used to be on the gravitational astrophysics team there which was run by Geraint Lewis (look him up on Google).

In grad research, it's well known that who u had as your supervisor is more important than which school u went to. After having Geraint as my supervisor for several years, I definitely understood why that's the case - your supervisor essentially guides your research and helps u at the early stages of your career (whether it be getting papers published or recommending u to potential postdoc positions). Going to a great school but with a bad supervisor is not ideal, since it means you won't get much mentoring or guidance on your career/research.
 
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Quick comment: I did GR at MQ in 3rd year (& yes of course there is some elementary tensor math) but they have now discontinued this course next year, any GR will be done as part of a Masters.
At USyd, GR is currently an honours unit and their structure for choosing honours courses is really good, they encourage you to "shop around" in the first few weeks before deciding on the courses you take. Although... there will be less choice of courses starting next year.

My own anecdotal math experience at MQ, Complex Analysis was covered in 2nd year (alongside vector calculus) and it was a tough unit (Math236). Real & Functional analysis was covered in a 3rd year unit (Math339) which I dropped after 2 weeks, at the time my bread & butter physics was consuming me and I didn't have the energy to cope with Analysis.
 
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In grad research, it's well known that who u had as your supervisor is more important than which school u went to.
...Going to a great school but with a bad supervisor is not ideal, since it means you won't get much mentoring or guidance on your career/research.
Incredibly good advice. Do everything you can to make sure the research project and supervisor are a good 'fit' for you. If I had my time again, I'd have paid a lot more attention before jumping into an honours project at USyd - what looks good in writing isn't always the reality of daya to day research.
 

blyatman

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Yeah that’s what resulted in my mind fluctuating about not doing international study for undergrad, I knew it wouldn’t be worth it for a bachelors.
Also there's not really a point doing International study for Undergrad. If you really want to it's better for Postgrad. @blyatman can confirm, he's majored in General Relativity
Yes can confirm. I mean, it's great if u get to go to a good US school for UG, but it's not necessary. Would definitely recommend going to US for grad school though. If u guys plan on doing that, start looking into taking the GRE tests sometime between now to midway through your UG degree. Every grad school requires GRE tests, regardless of the course. The results are valid for 5yrs, and aren't hard. You'll also need to take the physics subject tests, but you can do that near the end of your degree.

The GRE has 3 parts - analytical reasoning (i.e. essays), verbal reasoning (i.e. comprehension), and quantitative reasoning (i.e. numerical literacy). Numerical literacy will be easy - it's non-calculus based and tests you on basic problem solving, looking at data etc. Analytical reasoning might give you a very general statement, and it asks you to critically justify/opposte it. Comprehension is your general english/reading skills. The first two are straightforward and shouldn't require too much study, but you might might need to spend more time studying for the comprehension though - questions might be like "which of the following 5 words best fits this gap in the sentence". That might sound easy, but they'll give u 5 words where you've never even heard of 3 of them. I found a website that had recommended list of 1500 words to know, and I spent a solid 1-2 months committing that to memory. I've attached it if your interested - see how many of these you know.

You can find sample GREs sections on the website to see what it's like. You can also take each section separately (up to 5 times a year), which is why it might not be a bad idea to take the english sections straight out of HS while your english skills are still fresh (assuming that you're planning to apply for grad school within 5 years). If I could go back, I would've done it sometime in the uni summer holidays just to get it out of the way.
 

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akkjen

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I can do General Relativity with General Maths right? I mean it's in the name! Can't wait so excited!!!!
 

blyatman

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I can do General Relativity with General Maths right? I mean it's in the name! Can't wait so excited!!!!
If u do that, remember to lube up, because it's going to be rough ride.
1572648945211.png
 

akkjen

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UNSW!! =(

For real if you wanna go to USYD Physics just remember everyone complains about their outdated equipment, it convinced me to cancel my usyd offer and go unsw.
If you get a high enough atar for all of your chosen courses do you get an offer from all of them?
 

akkjen

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I do watch Andrew Dotson, also 3b1b, pbs space time, veritasium, papa flammy, etc :cool:😆
i watch dotson, 3b1b, pbs but i don't understand what they are talking about :( still interesting though
veritasium makes his content so the majority can understand which is why his videos are interesting (fun fact i think he used to tutor at matrix)
havent heard of flammy ... ill have a look though
 

Arrowshaft

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Yes can confirm. I mean, it's great if u get to go to a good US school for UG, but it's not necessary. Would definitely recommend going to US for grad school though. If u guys plan on doing that, start looking into taking the GRE tests sometime between now to midway through your UG degree. Every grad school requires GRE tests, regardless of the course. The results are valid for 5yrs, and aren't hard. You'll also need to take the physics subject tests, but you can do that near the end of your degree.

The GRE has 3 parts - analytical reasoning (i.e. essays), verbal reasoning (i.e. comprehension), and quantitative reasoning (i.e. numerical literacy). Numerical literacy will be easy - it's non-calculus based and tests you on basic problem solving, looking at data etc. Analytical reasoning might give you a very general statement, and it asks you to critically justify/opposte it. Comprehension is your general english/reading skills. The first two are straightforward and shouldn't require too much study, but you might might need to spend more time studying for the comprehension though - questions might be like "which of the following 5 words best fits this gap in the sentence". That might sound easy, but they'll give u 5 words where you've never even heard of 3 of them. I found a website that had recommended list of 1500 words to know, and I spent a solid 1-2 months committing that to memory. I've attached it if your interested - see how many of these you know.

You can find sample GREs sections on the website to see what it's like. You can also take each section separately (up to 5 times a year), which is why it might not be a bad idea to take the english sections straight out of HS while your english skills are still fresh (assuming that you're planning to apply for grad school within 5 years). If I could go back, I would've done it sometime in the uni summer holidays just to get it out of the way.
I have thought about taking the GRE early, is it more of an aptitude test or something you can study for?
 

Arrowshaft

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Also damn! THE Geraint Lewis, who authored the book about fine tuning and the universe?
 

blyatman

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I have thought about taking the GRE early, is it more of an aptitude test or something you can study for?
Yes you can study for it. They have sample (or maybe past?) papers on the website. Usually doing like 3-5 of them is enough.
Also damn! THE Geraint Lewis, who authored the book about fine tuning and the universe?
Yeh the same bloke. Was really glad I had him as my supervisor.
 

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