Physics after Engineering

       I'd like to start off by classifying exams into groups rather than viewing them individually, I'd strongly recommend readers to do the same, otherwise might lead to confusion-given the huge number of exams one can give. The point of separating by exam syllabus is that you can prepare yourself for all the exams under a group that has the same syllabus.    The Physics entrance exams can be divided into two categories broadly based on the education level of the students they're designed for, BSc level and MSc level. Do read the blog post [ How to do MSc Physics after B.Tech/B.E? ]  below to find out all the exams we can give. Here I'll be classifying and analyse them to see which of them suits whom. BSc Level Exams These exams are Screening tests for BSc grads to enter MSc or Integrated Ph.D. (MSc+PhD). All these exams have more or less the same syllabus, so preparing for one of them would mean you're mostly prepared for the other ones t...

Disclaimer: The initial post titles set by authors are later modified by the editor to be catchy and SEO friendly, the authors bear no responsibility in this regard. ⭐ Physics Book recommendations along with comprehensive reviews for JAM, JEST & GATE -  PAE Community  (An extensive collection of book reviews by our PAE members) ⭐ Physics online video lectures with comprehensive reviews for JAM, JEST & GATE -  PAE Community  (An extensive collection of video lecture reviews by our PAE members) ATTENTION!! : If you are here just for books, I'd recommend you go through the  updated post -  Physics Book for JAM, JEST & GATE   along with comprehensive reviews . This current post has the perspective of a single person, but the above post is written by a number of brilliant people from our community (which also include this author) with different perspectives. The editor highly recommends going through the above post. List of Books used for JA...

Here is a post on Books, lectures, and notes recommendations for JEST physics. [We recommend you also go through this excellent   post by Deepamla(AIR 3) on How she cracked JEST ] Electromagnetism : Griffiths Electrodynamics(excellent for problem solving). The book is more than enough for any physics entrance exam. Quantum mechanics : Again, Griffiths QM is a self-contained book. Book by Prof. Ajoy Ghatak is also nice Lectures : MIT OCW lectures by Prof. Allan Adams(highly recommend) and Prof. Barton Zweibach. Statistical physics : Lecture notes by Prof. David Tong. Reif statistical physics is a standard. book Lectures  by Prof. John Preskill are highly recommended. Classical mechanics:  Taylor's  CM is an excellent book for problem-solving. Landau Lifshitz mechanics is also recommended. Special Theory of Relativity : I found Rindler’s book on relativity very helpful. I highly recommend solving problems from this site: sites.google.com...

I was asked to write about my interview experiences but I didn't want to make 7 different posts so I have decided to write one essay summarizing all those experiences. I have been to interviews at the following institutes: TIFR-Mumbai(I-PhD and Ph.D.), ICTS(I-PhD and Ph.D.), IISc(I-PhD), IISER-Pune(I-PhD), IUCAA/NCRA(Ph.D. preselection) Amongst these, I cleared TIFR Mumbai (IPhD in 2016 and Ph.D. in 2019), ICTS(Ph.D. in 2019), and IUCAA/NCRA(December 2015). So, instead of telling you stories of those experiences, I have decided to write about what I learned from those interviews. 1. Soft skills play a role albeit a really small one. They aren't as important as the case is in a corporate job interview, but the way you speak and dress always, even if subconscious, has some effect on the interviewer's mind. This does not mean that you have to dress up in all formals. A well-ironed shirt with jeans works well for me. Although I did clear the IUCAA interview wearing a t...

Hello people, I am not your average engineering graduate now getting into physics. I left engineering in the first year itself not wanting to torture myself any further and went for a undergraduate followed by a post-graduate degree in physics. These are the books I have found useful. The titles in red are under-grad level and those in blue are post-grad.(I haven't read many of them cover to cover but only relevant topics.)    Basic Physics(12th level): One of the biggest errors I have seen people do while trying to crack entrance exams is to jump directly to Electrodynamics and Quantum Physics without having their basics cleared. Please don't do this. Make sure there aren't any problems you cannot solve in books like Resnick, Halliday and Krane, H. C Verma, etc. If you are appearing for I-PhD entrance, JAM and other MSc entrances, these are the books that will contribute to a big chunk of the questions. Also, these form the base on which undergraduate physics is b...

Hi I'm Yash. I was called for the interview at TIFR-H via my JEST score on 13th June for Int-PhD. The institute seemed to be located in a remote area. But heck, it's the same with almost every institute I've been to (except tifr-m :)). I take a quick a look around and head straight to the Auditorium. The staff and the professors were welcoming and friendly. After verification I was sent to the interview room. I had to wait for an hour outside the room before they called me in. I had four professors on my Panel. Prof Surajit Sengupta, Prof Kabir Ramola, Prof Karthik V Raman and Prof Pranav Shirhatti. Interview started with them asking about my background in Physics and how much Physics have I studied since I'm a Computer Science student. I honestly told them that I've done a year of Physics during undergrad and 6 months coaching in Delhi. They were very warm and comforting, occasionally exchanging jokes. So they started with asking easy questions in topics of...

              Hello, fellow Astro-enthusiasts. In this blog, I will tell you about how I was able to enter into the field of astronomy/astrophysics despite my engineering background. I hope my experiences can be of some help to you.  Let's get started.  (If you are short on time, skip to Section 4) 1. Background I did my B. Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from IIIT Jabalpur. Although it is an institute of national importance, still it lacks the kind of courses or infrastructure IITs have. In my first year, I joined a research lab in our institute and experienced research in mechanical engineering. Though it was an important project, the work I was doing there lacked a certain gravity *no pun intended* to me.  I later got exposure to Astronomy through the Astronomy and Physics Society of our institute. A couple of my seniors were into astronomy and they told me about vast arrays of online courses available on platforms like ...

Hello Friends, My name is Kunal Vyas. I am a Mechanical Engineering graduate, the year of 2018 from Mumbai. Like most of you, I too aspire to become a Physicist someday and to do that, first I had to change my field of study from Engineering to Physics. Today, when I write this post, almost a year after completing my Engineering, I would like to believe that I have been successful in changing my field. A few days ago, I got to know that I have been allotted a seat in IIT Bombay for MSc Physics. Here, I would like to tell you about my journey into Physics, how I was able to achieve what I did, and also any kind of information that will help you to do the same. Preparations : I had decided to commit a year completely to learning Physics and preparing for exams after my Engineering. I had taken JEST, JAM, and TIFR-GS in 2018 too, and had realized then that I am capable of doing well in these exams if I work hard enough. So I started in June. I talked to people and read some Quora...

        T his post is aimed at people studying in the 3-tier colleges or other state-funded colleges. I actually started out writing with engineers in mind but later generalized to any undergrad student in general (Mentioned everywhere when it's not so). In colleges like these where the students usually remain unaware of what all, they can do during their degree, and not many peers are motivated and ambitious about anything in particular. life just happens. Most faculty do the teaching in a perfunctory manner, they can't motivate students to learn nor can they recommend any good sources to learn from. More so, they themselves have little to zero knowledge on good sources of the subjects they have been teaching for a decade or two. You'll realize all these when you get to know of the environment in premier institutes like IISC and IITs. [Non- Engineers can skip this paragraph]        As opposed to what typical readers of the Blog(The frustra...

Hello friends, I am Pravesh Sharma, I have completed B.E. Mechanical from a state government-aided autonomous college (MITS Gwalior) in Gwalior Madhya Pradesh. In this post, I am writing my story of my ‘joining physics after small setbacks in academics’. My Background Story I always liked physics since my high school days. During my college years, I had an inclination towards learning the physics of the concepts covered in my engineering syllabus (which I realized later). Since the second year of my college, I thought of joining a company with a good salary or PSUs in mechanical engineering (because of peer pressure) but I didn't study seriously before end semester exams, because of which I got backlogs over backlogs and my CGPA started decreasing. At the end of the third year when my 6th-semester result came out, one devastating thing happened, I realized my CGPA was so low that it was near impossible for me to make it over first division at the end of the degree, that ...