FAQ for High School Students by E. Bertschinger

1. Can you help me get into MIT?
   I am not involved in undergraduate admissions and cannot help you gain admission to MIT. I encourage you to learn all about the admissions process at the MIT Admissions website.

2. Can I do research with you?
   I am no longer supervising research students, aside from the occasional MIT student interested in education research. High school students in their junior year who are interested in summer research may consider applying to RSI or SSP.

3. Will you mentor me?
   Unfortunately my schedule makes it impossible for me to mentor or collaborate directly with most students, as I must focus my efforts within MIT and the higher education community. I will make occasional exceptions that are consistent with my service rubric.

4. What is your service rubric?
   This is my four-part test for undertaking significant requests of my time (more than, say, 2 hours beyond my regular responsibilities like teaching). I consider the following questions:
   • Is this something I'm passionate about?
   • Do I have something else of equal time that I will stop doing?
   • Can someone else perform this service?
   • Can I make a difference?
   Many of us find it difficult to say no to requests that help others and the result can be that we feel overwhelmed, lose effectiveness, and even burn out. It's important to care for ourselves while, or before, helping others.

5. Can I interview you for a school project?
   I am usually unable to respond to individual requests. However, I give below some answers to typical interview questions from school projects.

6. What field should I major in? I'm interested in theoretical physics, astrophysics, and enginering.
   This is a question I struggled with as an undergraduate. I started out wanting to become a theoretical physicist but was discouraged from it by an undergraduate instructor due to a disappointing performance in an electromagnetism class. I then combined my interests in astronomy and electronics to pursue radio astronomy. But fate came along and moved me into theoretical astrophysics in graduate school, a faculty position at MIT (which was never in my dreams before my PhD), and in several other directions since. As long as you love what you are doing and pursue it with vigor, you have a good chance to be not only fulfilled, but also surprised when fate leads you elsewhere.

7. What is your typical day as a MIT professor?
   The answer is different depending on career stage. I'm now at a career stage where I do research mainly during the summer. These days, after the pandemic, I work from home several days a week in order to save time commuting. During the academic year I devote an hour or two each day to preparing my classes, grading, and other teaching matters. I also help run a mentorship program that takes several hours of my time each week. I meet with students and other mentees as well as engage in academic committee meetings, usually over Zoom. I write lots of letters of recommendation and help evaluate faculty for promotion and tenure. Aside from teaching and mentoring, the largest area of focus for me is striving to make physics and astronomy more inclusive for people of all identities, which I do in many ways both at MIT and nationally through professional societies as well as some consulting.

   During the summer I focus more on research. I have projects in physics education and in cosmology that should lead to publications. Service to the profession continues during the summer, albeit at a slower pace. Finally, I often attend a conference in the summer (for example, the AAPT Summer Meeting).

8. What are some of the most useful skills that physicists have?
   My list consists of asking good questions, having the ability to analyze a complex system as a prelude to problem-solving, and collaborating with others. These all can be developed with practice. The undergraduate physics degree and research experience are particularly helpful for developing these skills.

9. How can I become a physicist or astrophysicist?
   Find a topic that inspires you, read all you can about it, and keep asking questions. Find a community of like-minded people. Seek out academic experiences that can accelerate your progress, such as summerscience.org.

10. What is the most rewarding part of being a physicist?
    For me, it's being able to study and share what I love with others, arriving at a deeper understanding of the world, and being part of an international community that transcends national borders and interests.

11. Should I get a PhD?
    Until you've had some research experience as an undergraduate, it's too soon to answer this question. However, that didn't stop me from being certain I wanted to earn a PhD long before I entered college. The path wasn't easy, as I was the first in my family to graduate from college and I had no role models. While in graduate school I became an activist and thought I would leave academia because I couldn't see how a PhD in astrophysics would lead to a more just world. But I discovered that it could be part of my journey towards justice and learning, two of my core values. To paraphrase Lao Tzu, when you are ready, the decision whether to pursue a PhD will be clear. When you are truly ready, you won't even ask the question.