Aiming for a Rhodes Scholarship or Nobel Prize?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a science PhD and have worked for two Nobel laureates, both before they won the Prize. I also applied for a Rhodes Scholarship and made it to the second round of interviews from a third tier school that had never had a student apply for a Rhodes before.

My parents did zero grooming. My mom was a SAHM and my father was an engineer. My dad refused to help pay for my college because he said I was just going to get married, have kids and be a housewife in the end. I applied for a Rhodes because it would have helped me get my PhD at Oxford. I ended up getting and NSF GRF and funding my PhD in a (later) Nobel Prize winning lab with that fellowship.

What are you doing now?

One of my siblings followed a similar path but my parents didn't do any grooming either other than stressing overall good grades and being involved in the community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a science PhD and have worked for two Nobel laureates, both before they won the Prize. I also applied for a Rhodes Scholarship and made it to the second round of interviews from a third tier school that had never had a student apply for a Rhodes before.

My parents did zero grooming. My mom was a SAHM and my father was an engineer. My dad refused to help pay for my college because he said I was just going to get married, have kids and be a housewife in the end. I applied for a Rhodes because it would have helped me get my PhD at Oxford. I ended up getting and NSF GRF and funding my PhD in a (later) Nobel Prize winning lab with that fellowship.

What are you doing now?

One of my siblings followed a similar path but my parents didn't do any grooming either other than stressing overall good grades and being involved in the community.

My parents didnt even care about grades. After all, I was destined to be a housewife.

Now I'm an attorney with a JD/PhD. I work in patent litigation on billion dollar cases. I found the pace of science to be too slow, though I love the process of invention. Now I get to speak with inventors (including Nobel Prize winners) about their process of discovery. I still find science fascinating. I've always just followed my interests.

[Anonymous]

I got a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship and a Fulbright with zero parental involvement--parents only had high school diplomas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I got a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship and a Fulbright with zero parental involvement--parents only had high school diplomas.

Also I previously worked at a research center with Noble prize winners. One of them sexually egressed my married colleague and lots of them have horrific hygiene.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship and a Fulbright with zero parental involvement--parents only had high school diplomas.

Also I previously worked at a research center with Noble prize winners. One of them sexually egressed my married colleague and lots of them have horrific hygiene.

Nobel not Noble and aggressed not egressed.

[Anonymous]

My neice is a Gates Scholar, the Cambridge, Bill Gates version of the Rhodes. She, as others have mentioned, is incredibly self-driven and pushes her self harder than her PhD parents could ever do so, though it helps she has two very successful brothers (MD & JD) who are rather competitive.

I actually wouldn't say she is naturally that 'smart' (honestly at times I think she's thick) but is by far the most driven person I've ever met. In talking with her professors at her graduation, many of whom made a point of coming to see her off, they all said she had great things ahead of her in her field of research (biotech) and they could easily see her on staff at their school or in a top lab.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely know someone who targeted a Rhodes for her child in selecting schools, projects etc and got it.

seems like a shitty reason to go to West Point if you don't get HYPS

[Anonymous]

The Rhodes Scholars I know are completely self-motivated. The kinds of kids who spent their childhoods blazing through book after book, and they seem to get more out of all of their endeavors -- are more curious, will read the primary sources on their own, will learn as much as possible about the context of whatever they are learning.

I don't think pushy parenting can create that kind of child.

Though I do think there must be something to the parents... maybe they have lots of books in the house? Maybe they are intellectually curious and foster an atmosphere of a love of learning?

[Anonymous]

I met a Rhodes scholar. Bright enough but not brilliant. Had a very rare ethnic background

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve met some parents who are unabashedly pushing their kids in athletics to near Olympic-caliber levels. Some may have shots at a national team or being competitive for a medal, but the goal of being literally “the best in the world’ at a sport is something they are shooing for.

Are their people like that in the sciences? Families who are pushing for beyond HYPMS and steering kids toward hardcore academics with a goal of a high prestige academic future?

For sure. Think chess champion parents, ISEF finalist parents, Carnegie performer parents (in music), etc. Many of them have extremely high ambitions for their kids.

I see a lot of people in this thread claiming these kids are all self-motivated, but in my experience the sciences and arts achiever parents aren't all that different from sports parents. Some are very involved and pushy, some are totally hands off with self-motivated kids, and most are in between.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve met some parents who are unabashedly pushing their kids in athletics to near Olympic-caliber levels. Some may have shots at a national team or being competitive for a medal, but the goal of being literally “the best in the world’ at a sport is something they are shooing for.

Are their people like that in the sciences? Families who are pushing for beyond HYPMS and steering kids toward hardcore academics with a goal of a high prestige academic future?

Nope

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a science PhD and have worked for two Nobel laureates, both before they won the Prize. I also applied for a Rhodes Scholarship and made it to the second round of interviews from a third tier school that had never had a student apply for a Rhodes before.

My parents did zero grooming. My mom was a SAHM and my father was an engineer. My dad refused to help pay for my college because he said I was just going to get married, have kids and be a housewife in the end. I applied for a Rhodes because it would have helped me get my PhD at Oxford. I ended up getting and NSF GRF and funding my PhD in a (later) Nobel Prize winning lab with that fellowship.

That’s awesome! I‘m being serious. You should be so proud of yourself, that sounds like it was a lot of hard work.