places in PhB (1 Viewer)

[alfrede]

Does anyone know how many places there are in the PhB Science course at ANU?

 

[humphdogg]

I think about 40-50 people are offered a spot, and about 30 accept it. (By honours year though it's dropped down to about 20, from people who got kicked out for not getting good enough grades or changed degrees or something.)

 

[alfrede]

Thanks for the info. Just a few questions:
1. How hard is it to maintain the 80 percent average?
2. It says on the application form "Please attach details of any special achievements such as Olympiads or competitions". How important is this in getting a place? Will it matter if I don't have any achievements that are really "special", or is a high ATAR sufficient?

 

[jas0nt]

It's hard but certainly possible. There's no magic formula, if you want an 80% average then you'll need to put in the effort.

Not sure about the achievements thing but put in whatever you think is relevant. You can't really do anything else so you might as well do your best and see how it goes.

 

[humphdogg]

Thanks for the info. Just a few questions:
1. How hard is it to maintain the 80 percent average?
2. It says on the application form "Please attach details of any special achievements such as Olympiads or competitions". How important is this in getting a place? Will it matter if I don't have any achievements that are really "special", or is a high ATAR sufficient?

As jas0nt said, you have to put a fair bit of effort in to keep up an 80 average, but if you get a 99 ATAR then you're clearly intelligent enough to do so.
For your second question, if you have any achievements whatsoever then put them down. I put down stuff like getting HDs in the Westpac maths competitions, even though I never got a prize or anything. Not that many people get into the Olympiad teams obviously so there aren't very many people who apply that actually have done some "special" achievement. The rest (myself included) get in just on decent 99+ ATAR.

 

[Babbu]

Humphdogg...I have been keen to know about PhB. If you are already doing this course, what will you suggest to others.

What were your goals before starting the course and what are your hopes from it now? Often times I have heard that peole join in hoping to become a great scientist, probably another Einstien but are soon disillusioned as they realise it is as mundane as any other job. And as competitive as any other job.
How do you feel about it. Do you feel the same enthusiasm that you had when you enrolled for it?

Also, about the career prospect. Is it true that more often than not, one ends up as a lecturer or a professor, I mean a teaching job. Very few work in research organisations and even there the jobs are few.
Please share your views.
Thanks

 

[humphdogg]

Humphdogg...I have been keen to know about PhB. If you are already doing this course, what will you suggest to others.

What were your goals before starting the course and what are your hopes from it now? Often times I have heard that peole join in hoping to become a great scientist, probably another Einstien but are soon disillusioned as they realise it is as mundane as any other job. And as competitive as any other job.
How do you feel about it. Do you feel the same enthusiasm that you had when you enrolled for it?

Also, about the career prospect. Is it true that more often than not, one ends up as a lecturer or a professor, I mean a teaching job. Very few work in research organisations and even there the jobs are few.
Please share your views.
Thanks

I'd still definitely recommend it. When I started, I wasn't sure of what I wanted to do; all I knew was that I was pretty good at maths and physics in high school. Now I'm about to start my honours year in mathematics, and afterwards I'm pretty certain I'll go on to do a PhD somewhere. I don't know of anyone who entered the PhB program wanting to be another Einstein. I don't think anyone thinks that highly of themselves. Quite a few PhB kids have done various Science Olympiads so they're pretty bright, but the reason people apply for PhB is because it's the best undergraduate science degree. To be honest, the issues you're raising seem to be more about science careers in general, which I can't really help you with that much, considering I haven't even graduated yet. As for your last point, well it depends on your discipline - the only research institutes for pure mathematics, for example, are universities (well there are a handful of dedicated pure mathematics research institutes around the world, but they're kinda special...). Some universities don't require you to do much research, just teach, while others are the other way around (ANU falls into the latter category). There are plenty of university positions for research scientists, it's just that they can afford to be pretty picky, so you have to be an exceptional candidate to get a research job.