Physics after Engineering

MY STORY Hello, everyone. This is my first post here, so I'll first introduce myself. My name is Anand Natarajan, and I have a bachelor's degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (2019 passed out) from SSN College of Engineering in Chennai, affiliated to Anna University. I had discovered my passion for physics in the first year of college and, since then, lived a life full of ups and downs. Engineering was, well, I wouldn't say it was boring; it was what it was: learning to build things using scientific principles (even though we hardly discussed what scientific principles were or where we were applying it). During my time as an engineering student, I felt I did not have a natural inclination towards building or innovating new technology for practical purposes. I felt my time was better spent on understanding the underlying laws of natural phenomena and approaching problems from new and exciting directions. So, while I was good at understanding things from ...

नमस्ते!  I am Ankul Prajapati, a physics connoisseur and final year mechanical undergraduate from SV National Institute of Technology, Surat. After completing school I always wanted to study pure physics and become a theoretical physicist but my own put a condition that if I get IISc or IISER then only will choose physics for undergraduate otherwise will go for engineering and then complete higher study in physics. Unfortunately, I couldn't able to score well in JEE Advance and finally decided to choose Mechanical Engineering at NIT Surat as most of the physics aspirant do, who don't get pure physics at the undergrad level. Till first year I was not aware that in future, engineering degree would not be accepted at most of the institution for physics master or PhD. When I got to know all the scenario, somehow I able to manage and started searching for opportunities to the student like me. In the second year of BTech spent more than 50% time sitting in front of a laptop and d...

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs) in our community on various platforms. We've asked some of our community members who have eminent knowledge to answer them. I am extremely thankful to them for obliging and taking time out to answer the questions. Here is the list of questions, answers are given below it: Can I study Physics after Engineering (B.E/B.Tech) in <Any> branch? I want to do a BSc in Physics after Engineering? How should I go about it? Can I pursue MSc Physics in IITs after Engineering, what is the eligibility criteria for admission? What are the preferred books for JAM?  What are the preferred books for JEST? What are some good books for practicing problems? Is it worth buying Fiziks or any other material? If I want to buy second-hand ones where can I get them? What are exam dates and application deadlines for JAM/JEST/TIFR-GS etc. ?  Is coaching necessary for JAM?  Which coaching institute is better, Career Endeavour or Fiziks...

              O ur group members have made it big!! They have been selected to many prestigious institutes like IITs(Mumbai, Delhi, Kharagpur Kanpur, etc), ICTS Bangalore, HRI Allahabad, IMSc Chennai, TIFR Mumbai, TIFR Hyderabad, IISERs and other universities like HCU, Pune University, etc.  Here is the link to our Telegram group "Physics after Engineering " where most of them are members. We've asked them to enter their details in this sheet along with their educational background to give readers an idea of where they have the rank to get into those institutes. Here is the list!! Note: These are not the only Engineers admitted in those institutes. People who went to the IITs and other institutes have found some other Engineers there in their class who are unaware of the blog and our groups. JAM Ranks JEST Ranks Also , do visit all other useful content of our blog  Physics after Engineering . Below is the link for our Whats...

I got shortlisted for the interview at CESSI, IISER Kolkata for the MS Program in Space Physics. I attended my interview and got selected for the program. Now I'm currently studying here at CESSI. Requirements: Eligibility criteria is to qualify national level entrance exams like GATE (any field not necessarily physics), JEST. There is no such thing as cut off. You need to pass in any one of them with a valid score. Good aggregate in respective Btech curriculum and a good SOP that's submitted during the application. Basic knowledge of physics in Electromagnetic Theory, Quantum Mechanics, Mathematical Physics, Classical Mechanics and others. My Interview experience: This was the first ever interview that I gave. So the first question they asked me was the reason for my transition from Aerospace Engineering to Physics. Then they asked me which subject I was comfortable with, to which I answered EMT. My first question was on Maxwell's equations. One of them asked me t...

       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...