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Help:Gre score vs Gpa ?

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:20 pm
by SuperStringBoy
Hi,
I am a student of Physics major. I am not from usa. In my university Grading system is new. At past the result was publish as First CLass, Second Class,third class.. Though its new we are not getting much marks. Teachers mentality to give marks has not changed yet Because they used to give mostly 60-70%.

I dont think its possible to get over 3.5 in my four yrs.

Now what i can do is doing good at GRE .

How much gre can help me ? I mean if result is not very good but gre is very good then what happens?

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:41 pm
by fermiboy
Since you are outside of the US you need a really good GRE score. You should ask one of your referees to describe the tough grading system in his/her letter of recommendation.

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 3:35 am
by SuperStringBoy
So if i get very good at gre do i have chance at top universities with 3.5

My choice is astrophysics

Our grading system is :
For each subject 80 - 4
75-3.75
...........
............

Then average...

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 3:54 am
by grae313
by "top" do you mean top five? To be competitive at a top five you would need a 990 GRE and lots of excellent research experience with publications.

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 4:00 am
by SuperStringBoy
Then top five is not possible for me. I think i should look for the next ten universities... after top five....Right?

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 5:37 am
by fermiboy
You can always take a shot at one top five. Realize that there are many good research universities in the U.S. for physics, at least 50, probably even 100. You should apply to a wide variety.

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 3:27 pm
by grae313
are you aware of this site?: http://www.gradschoolshopper.com

this is data collected by the AIP. many schools list the average GPA and test scores of their admitted applicants. You should take a look at these for various schools and see how the trends go. Then take a look at the applicant profile and admission results thread we have in the grad school forum. Also, many schools publish statistics about their incoming physics class, you just have to look around on the physics department websites. This sort of thing takes a lot of research--I know because I spent an entire summer doing it.

For top 10 universities, you should have a GRE at least above 900 and lots of good research experience.

If you will not have research experience by the time you apply and you score above a 900 but less than a 950, I would look at schools ranked 20-10, maybe pick one top 10 school that you really like, and a few backup schools in the top 30/40

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 4:19 pm
by SuperStringBoy
Thanks for nice tips. I am not aware of that site. Just visiting after your post.will .Yes i will not have research experience by the time i apply.

Again thanks