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PREFACE:I believe the US Marine Corps is the toughest branch of the US military. Let me explain.INTRODUCTION:Marines do not quit, ever! Marines will die rather than withdraw or surrender their colors. This is not always the best strategy (think of Stalingrad in 1941 when an entire German Army was destroyed because Hitler wouldn’t let General Paulus withdraw in order to fight again).The Marines did withdraw at the Chosin Reservoir in a classic fighting withdrawl which saved the 1st Marine Division from decimation allowing them to fight again.But Chosin was not a surrender. The Marines did not quit. In fact, in the history of the Marine Corps, Marine units have surrendered their colors 3 times, once at Corregidor, once at Wake Island, and a third time at Saipan. All three occasions were in 1942 against overwhelming Japanese forces, and in all situations the Marine units were ordered to surrender by higher ranking officers from other military branches in order to preserve life. Otherwise, the Marines would have died to the last man.I could cite dozens of examples regarding this point, but one will suffice:After an all night fire fight on Guadalcanal in August 1942, PFC Edward Henry Ahrens was found mortally wounded the next morning, but still alive. There were dozens of dead Japanese soldiers around him, and a dead Japanese officer, Samurai sword in hand, laying on top of him. Ahrens last words to Lt. Lewis Walt, and the Marines who found him were, “The bastards kept trying to come over me, but I guess they didn’t know I was a Marine.”INTRODUCTION:If I’m right that the US Marine Corps is the toughest US military branch, the question is why? What makes this so? How does this happen?It begins in Marine Corps Boot Camp.Bear with me while I share my experience.MARINE CORPS BOOT CAMP—MY STORY:At age 18, I was in good shape, physically. I had been a high school athlete, and had been lifting weights at Leo Stern’s Gym in San Diego since I was 13. Stern’s was, and still is, a no-nonsense Black Iron Gym. By 18, I could bench press twice my body weight, do 30 full extension two hand pull ups (palms forward). I could do sit-ups and leg raises all day long, full squats with 300 pounds, and several sets of dumbbell curls on an incline bench with 75 pounds in each hand.My high school sports were baseball, track, and wrestling. Our wrestling coach had been an Olympic athlete, and from him, I learned to work the Balance Beam and Parallel Bars, and got pretty good at Olympic Floor Exercises. He taught me that no matter how strong you are, flexibility and quickness are vital. (Recall Mr. Miagi catching house flies with his chop sticks?).Growing up in San Diego allowed me to spend time at the ocean, but I wasn’t a surfer, or a swimmer. Rather, I was a diver. However, none of the guys I dove with could afford scuba gear, or wet suits. We simply dove with snorkels and fins off La Jolla Cove giving no thought to the Eels and Barracuda, or the cold Pacific Ocean. It just seemed natural that we had to spar with the Eels and Barracuda over the Abalone while our skin turned blue from the cold ocean.TOUGH vs STRONG:When I entered Boot Camp, I learned quickly that I wasn’t unique. My fellow Boots were also in good shape. Most were strong, and also quick and agile. Like me, a few were used to the cold ocean.However, in Boot Camp, we learned quickly that tough and strong are not the same attributes. We had never gone on a 10 or 15-mile hump over hills in the heat and the rain with combat gear—humps so fast it was easier to run, but we couldn’t run because the protocol was for a fast march. We had no idea what it was like to work in the desert in July and August when daytime temperatures at 29 Palms reached 120 degrees, or in January and February when nights dropped into the teens, and all you wore besides your utilities was a light weight field jacket.We had never slept outside on an open slope in Camp Pendleton during a cold winter rain with nothing to cover us but a poncho while the winds gusted to 30 mph.We had never gone on a 5 mile power walk in the soft beach sand at San Onofre with boots, utes, and wearing a 6 pound steel helmet, and a 50 pound pack, carrying a 10 lb. rifle, 15 pounds of ammunition, and 3 pounds of water.DISCUSSION:We didn’t do these activities in Boot Camp, but going through Boot Camp at MCRD, SD, in the early 60’s prepared us to do these things after Boot Camp with regular Marine units.And doing these activites after Boot Camp meant that we experienced discomfort in ways we hadn’t imagined. The result was that we learned the full range of toughness—physical and mental toughness, and physical and mental endurance (staying power).Bear with me while I give you a more complete answer. In Boot Camp, we learned to hone our physical capabilities, i.e., speed, strength, agility, flexibility, suppleness, eye-hand coordination, reflexes, etc., and our non-physical capabilities, e.g., resilience, adaptability, resourcefulness, determination, helpfulness, friendliness, sacrifice, teamwork, sense of humor, problem solving, etc.Most importantly, we learned to accept what comes, and, above all, to never quit, to never give up, and, instead, to make a situation work without too much grousing or blame laying—“It is what it is, so get on with it.”In Boot Camp, we also learned what bonding means, and how it feels knowing that everyone is watching each other’s back, that those around you are with you 100% of the time whether they like you or not. And that they do this simply because, like them, you are there to become a Marine.LIFE EXPERIENCES:At graduation, like all Boots, I became a Marine, entitled to wear the coveted EGA (Eagle, Globe, and Anchor).What did Marine Corps Boot Camp, and my time as a regular Marine after Boot Camp do for my subsequent life experiences?Let me tell you about Graduate School.When I went to graduate school to get a PhD, I learned that about 80% of PhD students never finished their Dissertation, which is the final paper that a PhD student writes (typically several hundred pages long). When this happened, the PhD student didn’t receive their PhD degree, and they became known forever as “ABD,” (“All But Dissertation).”“ABD” meant that a PhD student had completed all their course work, passed all their exams, formed a Dissertation Committee comprised of several Professors, had their Dissertation proposal accepted, and been Advanced to Candidacy for their PhD degree by their Committee. In short, “ABD” meant that several years of work, the PhD student had stopped short of the finish line because they didn’t complete their Dissertation.If they stayed in Academia, the “ABD” branding meant that they were relegated to a lifetime of being a professor who would likely never get a full time academic position in a four-year college or university, and if they did, they would probably never get tenure. They would, instead, be a temporary employee, and, in short, be a second-class citizen in Academia.So, when I entered graduate school, I vowed that I would cross the PhD finish line, just as I had vowed to graduate from Boot Camp.Thus, to my graduate school experience, I’ll add Marine Corps Infantry Training (ITR they called it back then). As well, I’ll add the Force Recon qualifying process, and the experience of buying, and being a hands on owner and rehabber of residential rental property.However, I’ll spare you the details of those experiences. Suffice to say ITR was physically more difficult than Boot Camp, and Force was a particularly intense physical and mental endurance experience.That said, all of us in ITR knew they would work with us because they wanted us to get through infantry training and move on to our permanent duty assignments. As for Force, we knew they expected us to quit the selection process, but we also knew they weren’t going to kill us. So those of us who hadn’t gotten injured, and wanted Force badly, simply groaned and sweated and endured until they said, “Ok. You made it!”As for residential property rehab, I will say that if one does not have financial “legs,” one better have either inherited a stiff spine, or acquired a stubbornness born of necessity. If one has neither, one is advised not to tread down this path, for “bankruptcy” looms around every turn. I’ll also pass on my Vietnam experience. That, too, was an intense endurance run.CONCLUSION:One does not have to go through Marine Corps Boot Camp to have the resolve to not quit and complete what one begins, or to watch out for one’s fellow workers, or one’s teammates. Indeed, there are other ways to learn these characteristics. That said, I firmly believe that my life experiences after Boot Camp were made easier by the “toughness” I learned in Marine Corps Boot Camp.Accordingly, I have to believe that none of the US’s military branches is as tough as the US Marine Corps.Semper Fi,JE-PhD—Political Science (Political Theory, Economics, History, Mathematics)“Old Corps, New Corps, Same Corps”

If you are willing to sink low enough in the rankings, almost anybody who applies for medical school is admitted. This sometimes means attending a medical school in a foreign country and then taking examinations after returning to your home country. You then would either serve a year as an intern or several years as a medic in the military. Each field has a different number of years of (under) paid residency required (2 years for a family physician, 7 years for a general surgeon, 10 years for a neurosurgeon). For surgeons and emergency medical specialists, experience as a medic usually counts toward the years of residency.There are plenty of spots in law schools for applicants who get a decent score on the admissions test. However, not all law schools are accredited and attending a non-accredited law school requires an examination before you can take the state Bar Exam. On the average (in the US) approximately 50% of people who take the Bar Exam fail, and some people take the exam five times before passing (the most recent California Bar Exam had a 47% passing rate). Top law firms only hire graduates of top universities or those who pass the Bar Exam on the first try (about 1/4 pass on the first try).The difficulty gaining admission to a physics Ph.D. program depends on your grades and your statement of purpose. You usually have to express an area of interest (you would not be accepted if there are no professors with a similar interest or if those professors already have too many students. You should also state how you will benefit the university and society. There are many slots for physics Ph.D. students, because there are few applicants who want to do university teaching and research.One of the answers stated that you are paid to be a Physics Ph.D. student. That is not completely correct. A Ph.D. student is paid as a TA for assisting in teaching undergraduate courses (more advanced Ph.D. students may teach lower division courses). Once you find a research project you want to join, you might be paid as a research assistant, if there is enough funding for the project.If you move straight from an undergraduate program to a Ph.D. program, you might not get funding the first year (you would have to pay all of your costs). Most Ph.D. programs require that you serve as a TA for two years (this pays for tuition and a stipend that covers your living costs if you are frugal). Once you are hired by a research project you are paid as a research assistant (the pay is usually the same as a TA) and after you "advance to candidacy" by passing exams, presenting your area of research, and showing that you are well versed in your area of research, you become a research associate (slightly higher pay). Physics research projects often have many participants, but to earn a Ph.D. you have to select a part of the project and perform experiments in that area (possibly with the help of others). Usually, there is an oral examination in which you show that you are a world expert in your particular area.During your last year in the Ph.D. program, you start submitting research papers to peer-reviewed journals, applying for tenure-track teaching positions for the next year, and applying for fellowships for the next year. After earning a physics Ph.D., most people spend one to four years as a research fellow or a teaching fellow (these are paid positions). During this time, you publish research papers and look for a tenure-track job.

Programs of StudyPrograms of study are tailored to the needs of individual students, based on their prior training and research interests. However, progress to degree is generally similar for all students. Students spend a year at SDSU enrolled in the MA or MS chemistry program, and then they apply to the Joint Doctoral Program. During the first year of doctoral studies, JDP students take courses at UCSD and pursue research with their SDSU Thesis Adviser; students whose native language is not English must pass an English proficiency examination. Beginning the first summer, the emphasis is on research at SDSU, although UCSD or SDSU courses of special interest may be taken throughout a student's residency. In the second year, there is a departmental examination, which includes critical discussion of a recent research article. In the third year, students advance to candidacy for the doctorate by defending the topic, preliminary findings, and future research plans for their dissertation. Committees for the departmental exam, advancement to candidacy exam, and the thesis defense are made up of faculty from both the SDSU and the UCSD campuses.Research OpportunitiesResearch opportunities are listed on the SDSU Department of Chemistry Faculty and Facilities Web pages.TeachingTeaching apprenticeships are a vital and integral part of graduate student training. JPD students must fulfill any teaching that may be required at SDSU for degree requirements or support.Financial SupportProspective JDP students should contact SDSU about possible financial support. Students pay fees and out-of-state tuition (if applicable) to SDSU only.Health and Dental PlanA primary health care program, major medical plan, and dental plan are among the benefits provided by the University's registration fee (see Graduate Student Health Insurance Program, GSHIP). Minor illnesses and injuries can usually be treated at the Student Health Center. Counseling is provided free of charge through Counseling and Psychological Services.AdmissionsApplications for the Joint Doctoral Program are reviewed by both SDSU and UCSD. To make admissions decisions, the admissions committees consider an applicant's:•Transcripts (minimum average grade of B, 3.0 overall GPA, in past year required)•Quality of the undergraduate university•Research experience or publications•Letters of recommendation (especially from proposed SDSU Thesis Adviser)•GRE scores on general test (verbal, quantitative, and analytical; no hard cut-off)•GRE advanced test score (either chemistry or biochemistry; no hard cut-off)•TOEFL score (minimum 550 on written test or 220 on computer test required; above 600 on written test or 250 on computer test preferred; test date within the past two years), Undergraduate record (minimum average grade of B, a 3.0 on 4.0 scale)•Statement of purpose (research interests and reason for applying)•Competitiveness of the applicant poolJoint Doctoral Program (with SDSU)Joint Doctoral ProgramProgram DescriptionThe UCSD Division of Biological Sciences offers a joint graduate program with the Department of Biology at San Diego State University, primarily in the areas of cell and molecular biology.Graduate students in this program register at SDSU and conduct research in SDSU faculty labs while earning the Ph.D. degree in biology.The Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Biology is awarded jointly by the Regents of the University of California and the Trustees of the California State University.Graduate students in this program are required to spend 1 year enrolled at UCSD. During this year, the students take Division of Biological Sciences Graduate core courses while continuing their research at SDSU.Admission InformationStudents interested in this program should apply directly to SDSU. Get details at the SDSU Cell & Molecular Biology Doctoral program website.Contact:Department of BiologyCollege of Life SciencesSan Diego State UniversitySan Diego, CA 92182-0057(619) [email protected] Diego State University, in collaboration with the University of California, San Diego, offers four doctoral degrees (PhD) in:•Engineering Science (Aerospace and Mechanical)•Engineering Science (Bioengineering)•Engineering Science (Electrical and Computer)•Engineering Science (Structural)Each of the distinctive programs involves graduate level courses and research projects under the supervision of SDSU faculty in the fields of Aerospace, Civil, Construction, Electrical and Computer, and Mechanical Engineering with cooperating faculty from the University of California, San Diego. The PhD degree is awarded jointly by the two institutions.