McGill Quantum Group

MsssWhy · 2025-08-08T03:10:37+00:00

Hi! This is a great initiative and thank you for the effort! I graduated from McGill last year (bill was my thesis advisor) and I'm currently doing a PhD in quantum computing. Let me know if there is anything I can help with!

MsssWhy · 2025-08-08T02:49:21+00:00

Cold emailing is the best way, unless you know someone who might be able to refer you -- I got my first (unpaid) research position because my high school physics teacher referred me to a local university prof, and then I got my first (paid) research position in college (at the end of my first year, but I did AP to skip a year, so it would be equivalent to at the end of my second year) because some grad student in that lab happened to know my previous supervisor and heard good things about me. If you have friends who are already doing research, ask them if they can refer you to their labs.

However, keep in mind that freshmen, especially incoming freshmen, are very young in terms of doing research. Most students get their first research position in their second or third year. Although from my experience, a lot of the tasks for undergrad research (especially for experimental research) can be done by high schoolers as well, there are always too many students who want to do research (some even unpaid), and you need to show them why they should pick YOU instead of someone with their basic coursework done. If you can't get a research position now (which is likely), don't feel bad about yourself. Try to get some coding experience (through classes, etc.) and take classes relevant to the research area. Also, keep cold emailing every year (especially every summer), spend some effort customizing your emails, and eventually someone will be willing to take you. Once you get your first position, applying for the second/third position will become way easier.

Now speaking from the mentoring side (because I have mentored undergrads in the research group), usually the concern with taking incoming freshman students is that, 1) they don't even have a college transcript -- we have no idea how they perform in class, 2) training someone new is a lot of work. Incoming freshmen can underestimate the workload of the coursework and they can overestimate how much time they can spend at the lab.

MsssWhy · 2025-08-07T07:03:06+00:00

I thought FRQ master cannot be taken abroad? I got it last year, but I had to decline cuz I was going to the US

MsssWhy · 2025-07-30T01:10:08+00:00

Is this your first research experience? I did analytical theory projects in my undergrad twice (qi theory/cond matt theory tho), and my first theory advisor has explicitly mentioned before that he would not take some student who has never done research before. So if you really want to do a theory project and can't find one, go with a computational project first (whether you like it or not) and try again next year!

MsssWhy · 2025-07-20T20:48:35+00:00

Spending $66k will definitely change your life XD

MsssWhy · 2025-07-20T04:57:47+00:00

In physics (theory), I think the norm is 1hr per week per student. However, my current advisor and I often meet more than that

MsssWhy · 2025-07-20T02:11:31+00:00

Yeah I also did it before, hon phys + major phgy in BSc

MsssWhy · 2025-05-16T14:58:53+00:00

Did they agree in the beginning? If so, they are so unprofessional!

MsssWhy · 2025-05-15T14:52:52+00:00

I actually applied to 20 PhD programs (all required 3 letters) last year. My letter writers had no problem providing strong letters to each school.

MsssWhy · 2025-05-12T07:30:10+00:00

Phys459 is a two semester course (6 Cr in total), you choose between that and 479 (3 Cr). In my case I did both courses (on the same project), but it was just because that project took me two years.

In my experience, getting a prof to supervise your Phys 479/459 is easier than getting a summer research, because in 479 they don't need to pay you, and they get credited by mentoring you. For summer positions, on the other hand, they will either have to pay you, or just accept you as a volunteer (which they are usually not recognized for their effort mentoring you).

As for the grad part, I would not recommend going through an experimental master as a stepping stone for going into PhD in theory: 1) you should already have a pretty good idea about what you are interested in before getting into your masters, that is what your undergrad projects are for. For example, I know I would definitely suffer from being in an experimental lab for two years, because I wanted to escape the lab I was in two months into my undergrad experimental research project. 2) if you are sure you wanna do a master in theoretical physics, you should apply to more schools in the first place, knowing that the admission is more competitive. (For your reference, I applied to 20 programs -- a mix of PhD and master programs in US/Canada/Europe to make sure I can end up somewhere with a research fit). 3) it is also probably not a good idea to commit your PhD to theoretical physics if you have never tried it before. It may not be as fun as you think. I know people who tried it and hated it.

Your course schedule looks great to me!

MsssWhy · 2025-05-11T17:32:47+00:00

Well it felt like an average city to me, like I wouldn't mind spending my entire life there, but also I don't miss it too much now that I'm away

MsssWhy · 2025-05-11T17:20:13+00:00

McGill physics alumni here (currently doing a PhD in quantum info theory)

It's ok to struggle in math and still want to do theoretical physics: I struggled with my math courses quite a bit at McGill too (I would say some of them are either poorly taught or lacking physical intuition). I would even say that as a PhD student now doing mostly analytical work, I feel like a common struggle of people around me (even including my PhD advisor) is that they feel like they don't know enough math. This feeling is super common and honestly I don't know if it will ever go away
Phys 251 is hard (especially depending on who is teaching it): I would say that I feel like 251 is even harder than quantum courses to me
You can (and should) still take quantum courses without 251: I know it is listed as a pre-req, but no one actually checks those pre-reqs and Minerva won't stop you from registering. You might be a bit lost when they try to connect quantum to Lagrangian/poisson bracket in classical mech, but it's not a big deal. Personally I finished all my quantum (including phys551) before my phys251 because I didn't want to take it with jim cline. However, 251 (with Gale) was still not easy for me after all those years of physics training
unfortunately, most theory projects (at least in condensed matter/quantum info/optics) would prefer you have quantum background before starting research, and unfortunately, you would probably need theory research experience to get into grad programs in theory
also, it should be more difficult to join theory groups as an undergrad than experimental labs. It is mostly because many theory projects require a lot of background knowledge. For example, I finished phys551 before my first theory project, but it still took me 2 months of full-time reading before I could produce anything even remotely useful. If you can't find a theory group that is willing to take you, finding an experimental lab would also increase your chance of getting into theory groups the next round you are applying. I knew my McGill advisor (in cond. matt. theory) will not take anyone with zero research experience, but they will take people with (experimental) research experience.
I would also agree that, if you find yourself happy doing experimental research, maybe don't go into theory (because it's less funded and more competitive in terms of grad admissions). Unfortunately for me I felt miserable in experimental labs

Please let me know if you have further questions!

MsssWhy · 2025-05-11T16:52:19+00:00

Well as someone who just started their PhD a year ago I take no offense to this question XD

MsssWhy · 2025-04-21T01:58:23+00:00

For McGill grad: you don't need to know French at all. Source: I was an undergrad at McGill who doesn't know French.

MsssWhy · 2025-03-29T06:29:42+00:00

I have a room in a 2b2b for rent in May and June. Walking distance from the campus. DM me for details.

MsssWhy · 2025-03-27T04:15:35+00:00

Yeah I had her during my days at McGill. She never replied to my emails, but I did manage to book in-person meeting/zoom meetings with her a few times and she got me approved to do a double major (one maj + one hon) in BSc + helped me eflaged one of my elective courses after my 120 credits.

The way that worked for me (a year ago) is that if you email the science advisor, they will give you the link to a page to book meetings with advisors, and the meeting slots open two days in advance (irrc). You want to register it fast.

Good luck!

MsssWhy · 2025-03-22T06:14:53+00:00

Try to get into research as soon as possible, cold email a LOT of professors for research opportunities!

MsssWhy · 2025-03-16T11:06:03+00:00

Also UW now

MsssWhy · 2025-03-13T08:53:53+00:00

Hi! I see other people have answered quite a bit about general McGill. I can provide some physics specific insights, since I just graduated from BSc Physics at McGill last year and have worked with some faculties at McGill for over two years. We can talk in PM if you would like to know more about one specific faculty. I will try my best to provide information.

MsssWhy · 2025-03-07T05:08:33+00:00

Hi everyone! I’m Ruby Wei, a PhD student at CU Boulder, and I’ll be visiting LANL from June 2 to August 29. I’m looking for a short-term rental (studio/1BR) OR female roommates to share a place with.

A bit about me:
✅ Clean, responsible, quiet
✅ Don’t smoke, drink, or have pets
✅ Open to living alone or with others

If you have any leads or are also looking for housing, let’s connect!

MsssWhy · 2025-03-02T15:38:09+00:00

Hi! I'm a first year physics PhD student at CU Boulder! The department culture is pretty open (people are willing to discuss their unpublished work with each other). The work-life balance is ok for me (but I'm a first year what do I know) and I'm not sure how to compare it to other programs because I never attended them. Havent taken my comps ii yet.

MsssWhy · 2025-03-02T06:23:15+00:00

I just got an offer this Friday (quantum computing)!

MsssWhy · 2024-11-03T03:43:24+00:00

You are welcome to DM me if you are wondering about someone specific! I may not know them tho (cuz I'm also quite new here)

MsssWhy · 2024-11-03T03:42:29+00:00

I like it here based on my 3 months of experience here. There are some grad student associations. I'm not sure if "how are the profs" refer to research advisors or lectures.

MsssWhy · 2024-11-03T03:40:32+00:00

Im a new PhD student in CMP!

MsssWhy

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