Mentorship

The Society of Physics Students chapter at the Illinois Institute of Technology founded the SPS Mentorship Program because we believe that no student should be expected to know everything upfront and that upperclassmen guidance is the best way to grow roots at your home institution.

The primary goal of the Mentorship Program is to help incoming physics students develop a sense of direction, purpose, and stability in their academic journey; to prevent students from feeling lost or alone, because they are not. We build a warm and successful student community on a foundation of collaboration and interaction.

With this program, students are able to..

• establish themselves as learners and collaborators

• earn confidence in their future career as a physicist

• know how to improve and what opportunities are available

• find their place in the academic and social scenes

How it works:

Nominally, a mentee is a first year, second year, or transfer student in the Department of Physics. However, the most successful mentees are also those who want to…

• learn how to set themselves up for success in their undergraduate years

• discover what professional development opportunities are available

• customize their curriculum to their particular academic interests, but may not know how

• gain confidence in their decision to be in the Department of Physics, and want to learn more about it

• find out what upperclassmen have done to be successful

• find out what mistakes upperclassmen can warn them against

• be held accountable and encouraged to be academically ambitious

First and second year student mentees are provided recommended mentors based on their academic histories, career goals, and personal strengths and challenges. We hope that the mentor is the best suited to answer the mentee’s career questions, sooth the mentee’s academic anxieties, and increase the mentee’s academic audaciousness and confidence. These pairs are suggestive, though, and we encourage mentees to broaden their horizons and seek multiple advice. There might be something to learn from someone very different than you!

Mentors are third year or higher students in the Department of Physics. They are familiar with the Illinois Tech academic and social landscapes and know first hand how to be successful at this institution. They have pursued research opportunities and know the cost, efforts, and tricks for writing successful applications. They have cultivated personal relationships with the Illinois Tech faculty and the outstanding Chicago physics community, and are excited to extend it to others. They know that they are successful because of collaboration, and that community is the most efficient way to excel. 

The Mentorship Program is about customizing the mentee-mentor relationship. Mentees, please feel free to be candid with your mentor. These are some examples of what a mentee and mentor can do together.

1. Discuss curriculum building.

What do you do with AP credits, if you have them? Are there opportunities for double majoring / minoring that you should know about? Which classes are the most valuable, or which should be avoided? What elective classes are the most rewarding?

2. Professional Development → Resources

Is there something you should be doing or taking advantage of early-on? How did your mentor score a research project? What research opportunities are available to you? Are there certain programming or computational skills that you should be developing to be a competitive research applicant?

3. Professional Development → Peer Reviewing Applications

What is an REU? What do you put in your CV? What is a Statement of Purpose and what should/shouldn’t you write about? 

4. Social Footing

What is the best way to make friends in college? How can you get engaged with your community? What are some other clubs on the scene?