Re: How would this look for a career in academia, industry, or in the DoD?

On Apr 17, 11:12 pm, rick++ <rick...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Try to get your name on a published paper while as
> an undergraduate.  A good fraction of MIT undergraduates
> do research in a specially designed program.  I believe
> Harvard might have one of those programs too.
> A timetable might be to (1) identify a lab
> you like by 2nd semester freshman (2) get your name
> on a paper by junior so you can put that on graduate
> applications.
>
> MIT just created a new major called Biological Engineering.
> (It had been lurking inside EE and ME for some decades.)
> That way you can look keep the options of both med school
> or engineering open.  Since many med schools only admit
> less than 10% of their applicants, they like people who can
> do the traditional courses plus something special extra.

After going through a BS and PhD degrees and toiling away at postdoc-
like employments, I came to the conclusion that all that fancy paper
(double degree etc) does not matter for having a successful career.
What matters most are (1) an aptitude to do science, and (2)
connections. If you do not have connections, you can still have a
semblance of a career (probably), if you have good skills. The powers-
to-be will hire you to do difficult work. They look in applications
for the evidence of such a good skill. They pay attention, first of
all, at the applicants who finished the course at a reputable place in
a hard physical science. After fini****ng that, the world's your
oyster.