Post-Graduation & Words of Wisdom

CLASS OF 2019

Abby Lee

PhD in Astrophysics at UChicago

abiglee@sas.upenn.edu

Tom Liu

Gap year: comp bio intern for a summer, then year in France. Then physics PhD.

"Enjoy college. Don't study too hard."

tongtianliu@gmail.com

Helen Dai

Analyst at Cornerstone Research (economic consulting firm)

Quantitative Analytics summer analyst at Bank of America, 2018
Research intern at Air Force Research Laboratory, 2017
Undergraduate researcher through PURM, 2016

hdai@sas.upenn.edu

Nicholas Scarsdale

PhD in Astronomy (at UC Santa Cruz, probably)

"I would recommend spending undergrad finding something you like over spending undergrad preparing for a predetermined path that you may or may not like. That is, if as a freshman you're 100% sure you want to do a PhD (or get rich in finance, or teach high school physics, or whatever), but then you work in a few types of labs / internships of that sort and absolutely can't stand it, it's more important to try to figure out what makes you happy than let what you used to want dictate your life in the present. This includes ignoring any other physics majors (or anyone else) who are disdainful, implicitly or explicitly, of your decisions."

nscars@sas.upenn.edu

Stefano Roccasecca

Research at Singh Center for Nanotechnology 2018
App Startup Intern 2017

"Physics is fun but having a life is funner."

srocca@sas.upenn.edu

Paulina Destarac

Analyst at BlackRock (Data Analytics/Machine Learning)

Research with Dr. Sako on the Dark Energy Survey in 2016, 2017
Soft-matter physics research with Dr. Durian in 2018

"Don't put off learning how to code (Python, Java, C++, SQL, etc.). If you want or need flexibility in your career choice (international students especially), it will be one of your greatest assets!"

paulinad@sas.upenn.edu

Millie Trimm

MD-PhD at Stanford

Summer research in biology/biophysics in the Lampson lab at Penn 2016-2018
Physics of Life Princeton summer school 2018

"There are days when it's tough and you may question whether you're smart enough to study physics or make it as a scientist. You're not alone. Many of the seniors who appear to be successful have failed exams, struggled with problem sets and frankly, felt inadequate. Physics is hard and it takes a special kind of person to take on the challenge. There are many, many easier things you could have done instead, and I think it's admirable that you chose to push yourself in this direction. However, don't be afraid to ask for help on your darker days, go to office hours, or admit that you're struggling. Your peers are here for you more than you might realize and they're some of the most hard-working and genuine people at Penn. Value them and value yourself."

etrimm@sas.upenn.edu

Andrew Madigan

Part-time dog walker / Free-loader off of Abby's PhD stipend