From what I’ve gathered from various sources, grad school is: 40% searching for free food at seminars 30% being ignored by your advisor 20% being emotionally abused by your advisor 10% reading papers written by people smarter than you
professor: I don't care for Jackson's tendency to just brute force a solution to a problem instead of using more elegant solving methods expectation: so here is an updated method of solving this problem that uses new techniques developed since then that makes things so much easier and more intuitive reality: so let me pull out this book from the 20s that solves EM using just geometry and handwaving techniques.
The Lectures and Homework sections resonated with me. I learn almost nothing from my professors mundane lectures, in a class of two mind you, and the homework is unreasonably difficult requiring assumptions and concepts that are not at all obvious to a first time learner, which my professor knows full well but shows absolutely no mercy. The only thing keeping me going is applying for cool internships after this semester.
Can't speak to what things are like at the graduate level, but yeah, I feel like professors too often assign problems aimed at someone who might already have an understanding of the material rather than reinforcing what is being learned currently. Is it too much to ask for a problem set that starts off simple and gradually increases in difficulty so you learn by doing and leave those more complicated problems toward the end or as bonus questions? I feel like hopping back and forth between a complicated problem and endless google searches is far from the best way to internalize information, if anything you are teaching yourself it is not worth remembering because it exists online.
@@Duhluzr21 For me I am just referring to Calc 1 & 2. Which conceptually I think is super easy, but not when I am asked to prove that the universe is a projection lol
@@shark777538 After the 3rd hour of writing that report, with linear algebra, calc 2, chemistry problems, a statics quiz at 8 in the morning. I'm usually happy with it being readable
You missed the coding part. Expectations: "oh yeah I see what I did wrong, correct this ... and it works yeah" Reality: "F*ck, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck..... I should've gone into industry"
I'd imagine industry coding is exactly the same--only you're using LISP and the person that wrote the library didn't doc anything and he died in 2013 and there's no budget to rewrite until it breaks
2:21: "it speeds up with constant POSITION, but not exactly because gravity isn't really 9.81, but 9.81 + otherstuff, and that's the uncertainty" THAT'S THE BEST ONE SO FAR!
@@MariaSanchez-qv9qk I'm not a physicist and I suck at explaining things but acceleration is the derivative of VELOCITY, not position. And it's common to try to calculate gravity (9.81 m/s^2) through experiment in a physics course.
Grad School Expectation - I'm going to actually apply myself this time, not BS my way through like I did as an immature Undergrad, I've grown up now Reality - Watching youtube videos at 1am while procrastinating on my work and BSing at the last min
I'm a grad student in statistics, having a hellish time with research these days and this made my day. So sad, but so true (especially grading undergraduate work). Thanks!
The most painful part of it all is when you get so many piled up things from the courses you're taking that you just kinda conveniently forget about your research, until your advisor reminds you about it
If it makes you physics people feel better, my biochem professor told our class to study whatever we feel like because the tests won't be specifics. However, he proceeded to ask the most detailed mechanistic questions I have ever seen.
It's kind of cool in some way. Like you don't have any specific syllabus to "complete" as such. Everyone else are equally clueless as you. Idk sometimes that makes us feel better 😅
Papa Andrew really provides a good perspective into the life of a physics major, which kinda helps aspiring students to get the right idea and not get demotivated while not knowing anything about college courses.. Plus, this channel has the right mix of humour and info So, Kudos man
3:08 This was my entire class in thermo when our professor casually introduced the surface area of a 6-dimensional hypersphere (I'm not in grad school, but with each passing day my desire to go to grad school for physics decreases)
That lab report/hw hits too close to home. What most students don't understand is nobody wants to grade them, so if you do a really good job in the beginning, the TA's (us) will assume you're a good student and will give you the benefit of the doubt.
The grading lab reports bit got me. I was grading my electricity and magnetism lab reports today and I had to just stop after the first one as I lost 100 IQ points immediately. The worst is when they submit a 30 page report of just images of their scratch work. Grading is definitely the worst part of being a grad student besides the never actually progressing in your research
This had me laughing so hard I kept having to rewind it. As for the grading, I once had a professor tell me that I'd graded an exam too easy and had to lower the grades. I felt so bad for the students - one lost I think 60 points - and I just had to tell them that I had been ordered to lower their grades. The guy was the department chair at the time.
Replying to student emails -- Student: "Dear Professor, ..." Me: "Please stop calling me professor" -- Student email sent on Friday afternoon: "I miss my recitation on Tuesday because I thought it was Monday" -- Love the videos, keep it up Me: "again?"
I was never a math or physics person. But these videos make it seem more relatable and drive a desire to learn more about those topics. Also, super funny! Keep it up!!!!
that comparison between the expectation and reality was so funny and good. especially the first one ''lectures expectation and reality'' was so funny...
My favorite is the proffesors who ask question they themselves can't solve. Or ask for a paper on a subject and when you ask them for clarification on the subject matter they reveal they have zero background with it.
You know I can generally manufacture some type of logic into these insane problems. The moment you said "friction is hyperbolic" was the moment my brain stopped working.
New physics grad student here and I totally resonate with you with grading lab reports...On the bright side, I’m currently taking Steven Weinberg’s QM course which has shown me a unique perspective on the subject.
You're making me less afraid to apply for grad school for mathematical physics. I have a friend in a PhD program at Duke and his stories of grad school are terrifying me
When Seymour Cray was asked by management to write a detailed 5 year and 1 year plan for his next supercomputer. His reply was "Five year goal: Produce the biggest computer in the world, One year goal: Achieve one fifth of the above". Then later when his counterparts wrote 30 page progress reports for CDC CEO Norris, and senior management he wrote his "Activity is progressing satisfactorily as outlined under the June plan , There have been no significant changes or deviations from the June plan". Maybe you can use a similar summary for your advisor. Of course soon Cray went on to start his own company where he could just focus on his research away from meddling mediocre managers.
That one where the prof is teaching word to word Hit me hard I am an undergrad, and I am kinda disappointed to how Physics is being taught.... I was expecting having thought experiments in every lecture And stuff that actually builds up physics Nope it's just read books,solve problems Do everything yourself.... Atleast we have lectures on youtube, Like your videos, Veritasium, PBS spacetime Still, I was expecting more when I took Physics in a uni Might have to repeat in a different uni😐
University of Colorado does this. Most of lecture was clicker questions (you have a remote with buttons labeled A-E to answer with) that were very conceptual. There was often a demonstration before or after the question and then the question was answered and explained after.
In once sense, it’s kinda nice to see that lab reports are as annoying to mark as they are to write lmao
Why
"Never before have I been so offended with something I one hundred percent agree with"
-James Acaster
As a former TA, the lab grading one hit me hard.
Then you realize over half of the kids in that lower level class are on the pre med track
Lab grading leaves you scars!
Grading is almost as bad as it was to have to do them.
Grading in general is so painful.
And the administration gets pissed if you give them the grade they actually deserve
Have you eaten the pile of dust already that I left for you on the basement floor?
@Shivanshu Siyanwal No no no, Jens lives in Andrew's attic!
LOL WHAT?!
I hope he has, he needs his nourishment for the meme battles
I'm saving it.
@Shivanshu Siyanwal He could make the argument that math is more foundational than physics, that way @Flammable Maths would be eating dust instead ;)
General-er relativity.
That's the best one.
I specialise in Generalising General-er relativity.
It’s just General Relativity with extra steps.
@@gedaliakoehler6992 Ooh-la-laa, someone’s gonna get laid in college
That had me laughing, hard.
It's relatively general.
Need more of the funny course names! “Piezo healing crystals 643” lmao
"in the limit of WTF --> 0" i can only dream of achieving such an ideal scenario
Work*Tension*Force
@@anvayaiyer5614 might as well be called what the f*** limit....
2:40 "That's the best one so far.."
_cries in TA_
1:49 "What does progress mean?"
Hey Vsauce, Andrew here! 😂
"And how much does it weigh O.O"
@@AndrewDotsonvideos a total of you didnt make any grams
According to Wikipedia, the mass of Progress is 350 kg. Since it's attached to the ISS, it is weightless, so it weighs 0 Newton.
@@grieske no, it is still close enough to the earth to have weight just smaller than that on the surface
@@edwincheng321 its in free fall which is why it has no weight
2:21 it's amazing how the students come up with such 'creative' answers
"I found many examples of what the solution isn't" my answer whenever I take an exam and the professor comes by asking how's it going
I taught a grad course last semester and had the book open in front of me while I lectured from it
Extra points if it was a textbook written by you
Worst kind of Professor
@@SauceGodGaming true
@@SauceGodGaming Actually it's far better this way. Because if the professor does not record what he is covering in the lecture it is a nightmare.
This is extremely funny, they keep getting better
thanks!
From what I’ve gathered from various sources, grad school is:
40% searching for free food at seminars
30% being ignored by your advisor
20% being emotionally abused by your advisor
10% reading papers written by people smarter than you
professor: I don't care for Jackson's tendency to just brute force a solution to a problem instead of using more elegant solving methods
expectation: so here is an updated method of solving this problem that uses new techniques developed since then that makes things so much easier and more intuitive
reality: so let me pull out this book from the 20s that solves EM using just geometry and handwaving techniques.
*smoothly transitions into sponsorship*
You're not really on the phone, are you?
its the reality ;)
You should see Oversimplified
The Lectures and Homework sections resonated with me. I learn almost nothing from my professors mundane lectures, in a class of two mind you, and the homework is unreasonably difficult requiring assumptions and concepts that are not at all obvious to a first time learner, which my professor knows full well but shows absolutely no mercy. The only thing keeping me going is applying for cool internships after this semester.
Can't speak to what things are like at the graduate level, but yeah, I feel like professors too often assign problems aimed at someone who might already have an understanding of the material rather than reinforcing what is being learned currently. Is it too much to ask for a problem set that starts off simple and gradually increases in difficulty so you learn by doing and leave those more complicated problems toward the end or as bonus questions? I feel like hopping back and forth between a complicated problem and endless google searches is far from the best way to internalize information, if anything you are teaching yourself it is not worth remembering because it exists online.
What course is this?
@@Duhluzr21 For me I am just referring to Calc 1 & 2. Which conceptually I think is super easy, but not when I am asked to prove that the universe is a projection lol
"It speeds up with constant position...Best one so far" God I FEEL this right now. Grading shit is honestly cringe inducing sometimes.
Agreed. Most of my time as a TA was spent with me trying to figure out what was written in the homeworks
What are the odds I stumble upon this comment at the exact moment he starts saying these words 😭😭
@@omaribrahim6461 Me tooo😱 what's going on
@@shark777538 After the 3rd hour of writing that report, with linear algebra, calc 2, chemistry problems, a statics quiz at 8 in the morning. I'm usually happy with it being readable
grading in linear algebra was like "as we proved in class" meanwhile i have no fucking idea what they proved in class
*When you're in your last year of undergrad and watching Andrew to mentally prep for grad school*
Exactly
Maybe my undergrad just didnt go well but this is actually scaring me for grad school 😅
How did gradschool go mate?
Lol’d at the reality lab report. “That was the best one yet”.
Hey Andrew you are my inspiration. I want to become a theoretical physicist when I grow up just like you.
:)
Huh I remember you from a stream some time back.
But sadly u will give jee instead of kvpy
@@nishatiwari9212 why not both :p
@@sahilshah4141 Yeah give both and don't restrict yourself to India man
Oh my god the grading one. I never thought I would see something so true.
You missed the coding part.
Expectations: "oh yeah I see what I did wrong, correct this ... and it works yeah"
Reality: "F*ck, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck..... I should've gone into industry"
I'd imagine industry coding is exactly the same--only you're using LISP and the person that wrote the library didn't doc anything and he died in 2013 and there's no budget to rewrite until it breaks
@@duncanw9901 Lmao
I'm literally studying for my grad condensed matter exam right now and his notes are the book word for word but more shit
How did you do on your exam?
At 3:44 the limit of WTf should be set to infinity instead of zero
2:21: "it speeds up with constant POSITION, but not exactly because gravity isn't really 9.81, but 9.81 + otherstuff, and that's the uncertainty"
THAT'S THE BEST ONE SO FAR!
What is this reference to?
@@MariaSanchez-qv9qk I'm not a physicist and I suck at explaining things but acceleration is the derivative of VELOCITY, not position. And it's common to try to calculate gravity (9.81 m/s^2) through experiment in a physics course.
@@mimithehotdog7836 just do 9.8 instead, 9.81 is an approximation
Grad School Expectation - I'm going to actually apply myself this time, not BS my way through like I did as an immature Undergrad, I've grown up now
Reality - Watching youtube videos at 1am while procrastinating on my work and BSing at the last min
When the lecturer cries because he’s redundant. I felt that.
I'm a grad student in statistics, having a hellish time with research these days and this made my day. So sad, but so true (especially grading undergraduate work). Thanks!
Man I love great courses plus thanks again Andrew!
heck yeah
The most painful part of it all is when you get so many piled up things from the courses you're taking that you just kinda conveniently forget about your research, until your advisor reminds you about it
Every time I have doubts about going to grad school (for molecular biology/oncology) you boost my spirits and inspire me!🙂
u got dis!
If it makes you physics people feel better, my biochem professor told our class to study whatever we feel like because the tests won't be specifics. However, he proceeded to ask the most detailed mechanistic questions I have ever seen.
It's kind of cool in some way. Like you don't have any specific syllabus to "complete" as such. Everyone else are equally clueless as you. Idk sometimes that makes us feel better 😅
Ok I'm sorry but the sketch at 1:30 is pure unadulterated genius. You made my week. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
"I found many examples of what the solution isn't which is you ask me is just as important and work funding"
I felt that on a deep level
"Noo I don't have time for solutions *laughs* but you can see for yourself if your answer makes sense" REALLY hitting home with that one haha
Papa Andrew really provides a good perspective into the life of a physics major, which kinda helps aspiring students to get the right idea and not get demotivated while not knowing anything about college courses..
Plus, this channel has the right mix of humour and info
So, Kudos man
1:54 I am laughing way too hard. This is how my dissertation is going.
“The limit of wonky space as WTF approaches 0 is curved space.” As a physics major, and a math minor. I absolutely loved this.
3:08 This was my entire class in thermo when our professor casually introduced the surface area of a 6-dimensional hypersphere (I'm not in grad school, but with each passing day my desire to go to grad school for physics decreases)
That lab report/hw hits too close to home. What most students don't understand is nobody wants to grade them, so if you do a really good job in the beginning, the TA's (us) will assume you're a good student and will give you the benefit of the doubt.
The grading lab reports bit got me. I was grading my electricity and magnetism lab reports today and I had to just stop after the first one as I lost 100 IQ points immediately. The worst is when they submit a 30 page report of just images of their scratch work. Grading is definitely the worst part of being a grad student besides the never actually progressing in your research
"Yeah I guess that makes sense" hits so close to home
@1:55 Thomas Edison would be proud of that answer. 😂😂
Just took a break from my General Relativity lecture recording and this is exactly what I needed!
1:48
That one made me laugh so much. Idk why UA-cam recommended your channel to me but I'm so glad that it did
The one where someone asks about your "progress" hit me. What you said is basically my answer every time lol
Btw, it's well established that the WTF term goes to _infinity_ ! Letting it go to zero is intractable for most people.
The applause 👏 was funny. Your beard looks great! ~ Mom 💕
Thanks mom🙌🏻
Wow. Andrew's Mom! Hi 👋
@@aswathik1595 Hi 👋 back!
Oh my god, this is so cute!
Wholesome
As an organic chemist looking at undergrads draw pentavalent carbons, you sometimes just wonder:”why are we even bothering?”
Lololol, carbons with 5 bonds x)
This had me laughing so hard I kept having to rewind it. As for the grading, I once had a professor tell me that I'd graded an exam too easy and had to lower the grades. I felt so bad for the students - one lost I think 60 points - and I just had to tell them that I had been ordered to lower their grades. The guy was the department chair at the time.
Loved the piezo healing crystals on the whiteboard @ 2:45
Replying to student emails
--
Student: "Dear Professor, ..."
Me: "Please stop calling me professor"
--
Student email sent on Friday afternoon: "I miss my recitation on Tuesday because I thought it was Monday"
--
Love the videos, keep it up
Me: "again?"
An Andrew Dotson physics class sketch is the best thing to happen to me this week. That's good and bad commentary Andrew.
Expectation:I will go to my college's campus
Reality:It is 2020 guys
I was never a math or physics person. But these videos make it seem more relatable and drive a desire to learn more about those topics. Also, super funny! Keep it up!!!!
Omg,yesterday i was sleep at 4:00 for my physic homework, and that video hit me hard
For the lab grading...Shout out to the one student who once calculated gravity as 24m/s/s. That was a new one.
I get densities approaching a black hole for mundane compounds. My husband got calculated rocket velocities of a billion miles per hour as a TA. lol
The sponser spot was awesome! Caught me off guard!
The award for ALL of the best segways goes to thee Andrew Dobson. Physics is lucky to have you dude.
Started with my Grade School today itself.
All of the expectations posted here are things that I am ACTUALLY expecting.
Pls wish me luck, pls.
that comparison between the expectation and reality was so funny and good. especially the first one ''lectures expectation and reality'' was so funny...
Great video andrew
My best wishes are always with you
3:06 to 3:38 lolllllllllllllllllllllllll got me there
edit: INSANE MECHANICS LMFAOOO
"You're kidding...right?" that one got me lmao
Words cannot explain how accurate this is
I'm a second year grad student and this basically nailed it.
"I guess that makes sense"
so relatable
that segway was and still is one of the greatest ive seen
They keep getting better.. legend
Lol, I loved that segue to the commercial for Great Courses Plus :) Very clever ^_^
I read the title as “Gradeschool” which actually made this a lot more impressive
One of your best skits yet!
Thanks!
My favorite is the proffesors who ask question they themselves can't solve. Or ask for a paper on a subject and when you ask them for clarification on the subject matter they reveal they have zero background with it.
Seemless ad placement, as always
You know I can generally manufacture some type of logic into these insane problems.
The moment you said "friction is hyperbolic" was the moment my brain stopped working.
Sir, you are one of my most favorite youtuber. Just awesome, laughed a lot. Thank you
Mad respect on that Corsair case. One of my all time favorite PC cases
As an undergrad, I am just now realising what my professors go through.
you are the best one in youtube Andrew for PhD students who need a little rest between their heavy stuffs ti be done! thank you
Super video Dotson
Having flashbacks to Jackson's ED... "we'll leave this (the literal math and explanation!) for the reader (the lost student) to do."
1:05 "yeah, I guess that makes sense"
WHY IS THIS ME
Thanks for putting efforts in making this video. All the best for studies.
New physics grad student here and I totally resonate with you with grading lab reports...On the bright side, I’m currently taking Steven Weinberg’s QM course which has shown me a unique perspective on the subject.
Word on the street is papa weinberg opts out of diract notation
@@AndrewDotsonvideos yes, he does lol
You're making me less afraid to apply for grad school for mathematical physics. I have a friend in a PhD program at Duke and his stories of grad school are terrifying me
These skits are the best!! Kudos!
I'm still an undergrad dreaming about getting to grad school but this made me laugh a lot. I hope I relate to them (more)
one day...
The crying professor was a good touch lmao, great vid!
i guess that makes sense , summarizes every physicist/mathematician attempts at the universe.
That marking lab reports part is sooooooooo true, procrastinating that right now
That grading example hits home so hard. Grading is the worst.
"Anyone else, besides my advisor have a comment?" 😆
Glad to see another video from you finally! :)
When Seymour Cray was asked by management to write a detailed 5 year and 1 year plan for his next supercomputer. His reply was "Five year goal: Produce the biggest computer in the world, One year goal: Achieve one fifth of the above". Then later when his counterparts wrote 30 page progress reports for CDC CEO Norris, and senior management he wrote his "Activity is progressing satisfactorily as outlined under the June plan , There have been no significant changes or deviations from the June plan". Maybe you can use a similar summary for your advisor. Of course soon Cray went on to start his own company where he could just focus on his research away from meddling mediocre managers.
Sonic boom: I sleep
Andrew's intermission: ouch
Piezo healing crystals always love your names for the classes 😂
When Andrew gets his PhD, can we expect a new and more efficient line of healing crystals?
That one where the prof is teaching word to word
Hit me hard
I am an undergrad, and I am kinda disappointed to how Physics is being taught....
I was expecting having thought experiments in every lecture
And stuff that actually builds up physics
Nope it's just read books,solve problems
Do everything yourself....
Atleast we have lectures on youtube,
Like your videos, Veritasium, PBS spacetime
Still, I was expecting more when I took Physics in a uni
Might have to repeat in a different uni😐
University of Colorado does this. Most of lecture was clicker questions (you have a remote with buttons labeled A-E to answer with) that were very conceptual. There was often a demonstration before or after the question and then the question was answered and explained after.
@@Virtuous_Rogue I live in India
Am I even eligible for admission in University of Colorado?
I guess it doesn't hurt to try and apply
@@hiccup3.14 I think so. There are a lot of Indians in the engineering graduate school.
Probably undergrad too. I just happened to work with 3 Indians that were all in an engineering grad program.
@@Virtuous_Rogue Well, I am not into Engineering
But I'll try for Physics course nonethless
Thanks bro
I can't express how much joy these give me when I'm recovering from whole day of pretending to do my qm homework
That was a good transition to your sponsor time. Well done
Bro when he said that’s the best one so far while grading the lab reports I died