Reaching too high? September 2014 Scores
Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 3:19 pm
Hi everyone. I posted here last year about my confidence in the PGRE (I am pretty arrogant, I know, I know), and now that I got my scores back, I am a little bit disappointed with how I did (considering I studied from July to September for the September test). Up until now, I have had a pretty solid list of schools I would apply to, but I want to make sure that these aren't too far out of my reach. I figure since the previous one was not in the proper forum for this question, I will repost (and update) my profile for this thread (coming from my other thread).
Undergrad Institution: Arizona State University. Something like #53.
Major(s): Physics, Mathematics (honors program)
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 4.0 (>4.0 if you count weighted.)
Overall GPA: 4.0 (>4.0 if you count weighted.)
Length of Degree: 4-year Bachelors
Position in Class: Definitely near top (but not ranked at my university) (see GPA).
Type of Student: White domestic male, but does Jewish help?
GRE Scores:
General: Not yet taken
Physics: 820 (taken again in October, hopefully I do better )
Research Experience: About 2.5 years years of HEP-EX research with a university professor in conjunction with Fermilab (spent two summers there working on the same project). Co-authored (with another student) a "paper" in this area (really a technical manual) now hosted on arXiv. Began work this August on another project with the same professor, working with Michigan and JPARC in Japan. Same area of HEP-EX research (kaon physics).
Papers: No published papers
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Won the Tsong Award at my university. (This is an award given out to the three best research presentations given by physics students at my university. Presentations were given at an undergraduate physics symposium.) Also I was named an honorable mention for the Goldwater Scholarship (those people only want applied!).
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: See research above.
Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I run a small business out of my dorm room? It relates to laser hobbyists and electronics, which I suppose may help.
Special Bonus Points: Taking a graduate course in General Relativity this semester (I expect an A in the course due to how I did on the first exam). Registration for next semester courses starts today. I will be taking graduate Quantum Theory and, if the overrides go through, two graduate level mathematics courses (Abstract Algebra and Algebraic Number Theory).
Applying for: Theoretical cosmology and HEP-th.
(Reach) Schools Applying To: (in order from most desirable to least)
CalTech
Berkeley
Stanford
MIT
Harvard
Cornell
UCSB
UCSD
UCLA
Obviously, with the exception of ASU, these are all top-tiered schools, and are reach schools. I guess my question is, with a Physics GRE score of a lowly 820 (I was scored mid-to-high 800s on the practice exams - not sure what changed here), what are my chances of being accepted into a school on my top list? I hope that my October physics GRE score is better, but from what I have seen on the September test, I may not have done as well as I thought. I expect to do reasonably well on my standard GREs (or shouldn't I? I haven't really been studying. I hear it's really easy), and I hear those hardly matter anyway.
So tell me, O Wise Ones of the Internet: am I reaching too high? Is it unlikely I get into any of the schools above? (Obviously CalTech would be wonderful.) Maybe I need a reality check. What kinds of schools should I be looking at for applications for fit/match schools? I'm not very familiar with many of these.
Undergrad Institution: Arizona State University. Something like #53.
Major(s): Physics, Mathematics (honors program)
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 4.0 (>4.0 if you count weighted.)
Overall GPA: 4.0 (>4.0 if you count weighted.)
Length of Degree: 4-year Bachelors
Position in Class: Definitely near top (but not ranked at my university) (see GPA).
Type of Student: White domestic male, but does Jewish help?
GRE Scores:
General: Not yet taken
Physics: 820 (taken again in October, hopefully I do better )
Research Experience: About 2.5 years years of HEP-EX research with a university professor in conjunction with Fermilab (spent two summers there working on the same project). Co-authored (with another student) a "paper" in this area (really a technical manual) now hosted on arXiv. Began work this August on another project with the same professor, working with Michigan and JPARC in Japan. Same area of HEP-EX research (kaon physics).
Papers: No published papers
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Won the Tsong Award at my university. (This is an award given out to the three best research presentations given by physics students at my university. Presentations were given at an undergraduate physics symposium.) Also I was named an honorable mention for the Goldwater Scholarship (those people only want applied!).
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: See research above.
Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I run a small business out of my dorm room? It relates to laser hobbyists and electronics, which I suppose may help.
Special Bonus Points: Taking a graduate course in General Relativity this semester (I expect an A in the course due to how I did on the first exam). Registration for next semester courses starts today. I will be taking graduate Quantum Theory and, if the overrides go through, two graduate level mathematics courses (Abstract Algebra and Algebraic Number Theory).
Applying for: Theoretical cosmology and HEP-th.
(Reach) Schools Applying To: (in order from most desirable to least)
CalTech
Berkeley
Stanford
MIT
Harvard
Cornell
UCSB
UCSD
UCLA
Obviously, with the exception of ASU, these are all top-tiered schools, and are reach schools. I guess my question is, with a Physics GRE score of a lowly 820 (I was scored mid-to-high 800s on the practice exams - not sure what changed here), what are my chances of being accepted into a school on my top list? I hope that my October physics GRE score is better, but from what I have seen on the September test, I may not have done as well as I thought. I expect to do reasonably well on my standard GREs (or shouldn't I? I haven't really been studying. I hear it's really easy), and I hear those hardly matter anyway.
So tell me, O Wise Ones of the Internet: am I reaching too high? Is it unlikely I get into any of the schools above? (Obviously CalTech would be wonderful.) Maybe I need a reality check. What kinds of schools should I be looking at for applications for fit/match schools? I'm not very familiar with many of these.