==> Sticky: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

This topic is going to be a useful resource of Physics admission statistics for this year and future applicants, so everybody please share your information.


Copy and paste the template below in your reply to keep the formatting.

______________________________________________
[b]Undergrad Institution:[/b] (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?)... Overall Reputation in Physics?)
[b]Major(s):[/b]
[b]Minor(s):[/b]
[b]GPA in Major:[/b]
[b]Overall GPA:[/b]
[b]Length of Degree:[/b] (Are you graduating after 3, 4, or 5 years?)
[b]Position in Class:[/b] (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?)
[b]Type of Student:[/b] (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?)

[b]GRE Scores:[/b]
[b]Q:[/b]
[b]V:[/b]
[b]W:[/b]
[b]P:[/b]


[b]TOEFL Total:[/b] (if applicable, otherwise delete this)

[b]Research Experience:[/b] (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)

[b]Awards/Honors/Recognitions:[/b] (Within your school or outside?)

[b]Pertinent Activities or Jobs:[/b] (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...)

[b]Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:[/b]

[b]Special Bonus Points:[/b] (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)

[b]Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:[/b]

[b]Applying to Where:[/b]

[u]School[/u] - Department - Research Interest
[u]School[/u] - Department - Research Interest
[u]School[/u] - Department - Research Interest
______________________________________________

thanks to quizivex for preparing the 2008 template.

I'll start things off with a mediocre profile

Undergrad Institution: Small private, top 30 Liberal Arts, not particularly well known for physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.14
Overall GPA: 3.23
Length of Degree: 4 years, second year attempting to get into grad school
Position in Class: low in department, above average across campus
Type of Student: domestic female

GRE Scores:
Q: 2008: 760 (85%), 2009: 780 (89%)
V: 2008: 620 (89%), 2009: 630 (90%)
W: 2008: 4.0 (41%), 2009: 3.5 (23%)
P: 2008: 570 (25%), 2009: 670 (48%)

Research Experience: 8 month project on asteroids as part of a class resulting in publication second author, 3 month summer internship at NASA GSFC analyzing HST images of M87 with no publication, 6 month independent paid research project analyzing Spitzer images of 3C 403 resulting in poster at AAS, will lead a project this spring on compact white dwarf binary system with publication expected

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 2 large internal scholarships, SMART grant, small private scholarship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: tutor and grader for one year, currently physics paraprof (TA) at my undergrad for 9 months

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: I’m a chick? One of my recommenders went to Berkeley and still works closely with some of the faculty there

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I worked FULL TIME (35-40 hours per week) through all 4 years of college

Applying to Where:

I'm applying to Astronomy/Astrophysics with a general research interest in extragalactic or cosmology
Berkeley - Rejected 2/19 via email
UCLA - Rejected 2/18 via website
UC Santa Cruz - Rejected 2/27 via website
U of Washington - Rejected 2/8 via email
CU Boulder - Rejected 2/17 via snail mail
Arizona State - Accepted 1/27 via email
Oklahoma - Accepted 2/12 via email
Case Western Reserve - Accepted 1/29 via email - Will attend!
University of New Mexico - Accepted 2/10 via email

A word to future applicants: I applied to grad school last year and got rejected everywhere. I think that as physics people, we're all used to being the top of the top, so I was unwilling to compromise and apply to safety schools or not top 10 programs. In the end I suffered because of this decision. Over this past year, going through the whole application process again, I had to learn that good science comes from good scientists, not from brand name schools. If you are passionate about what you do and invest yourself completely, you will be successful regardless of the program you attend.

Undergrad Institution: Top 10 in Physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 3.90
Overall GPA: 3.92
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Near top?
Type of Student: Domestic, White, Male.

GRE Scores:
Q: 780
V: 580
W: 5.0
P: 790(73%) , 870(83%)


Research Experience: 3 months at a CM lab near home. 9 months in a CM lab at my home institution. No publications in the forseeable future..

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Not since high school.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Not really.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Noope

Special Bonus Points: I'm taking a couple grad classes. I know how to do E-beam lithography. I was in marching band for two years, hence my lack of other extracurriculars

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My current advisor wants me to continue working with him as a grad student. I'd assume that their recommendation letter will be pretty good.

Applying to Where:

**All Schools are for Physics, CME**

Cornell - Waitlisted via Email (2/12) ---------------------- Took myself off of waitlist (4/8)
Harvard - Rejected via Postal Service (2/28)
MIT - Rejected via Email (3/2)
Stanford - Accepted via Email (2/23) --------------------- WILL ATTEND!!!
UIUC - Accepted via Email (2/18) - $20K TA -------------- Offer Declined (4/8)
Berkeley - Accepted via Email (3/2)---------------------- Offer Declined (4/8)
UCSB - Accepted via Postal Service (2/23) --------------- Offer Declined (3/4)

DOE Fellowship - Designated as a "finalist", but did not receive the fellowship.
NSF Fellowship - Did not recieve (4/6)

Undergrad Institution: big state
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 4.00
Overall GPA: 3.98
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: close to top?
Type of Student: US Citizen

GRE Scores:
Q: 760
V: 480
W: 4
P: 990

Research Experience: 5 Internships at National Laboratories, probably 3+ years cumulative, 1 Summer REU at an Ivy League. No publications listed on my apps, but at least one in progress.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: In like 6 Honor Societies, some scholarships

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: grad class in calculus and in theoretical methods. neither taken for grad credit though. four letters, all of them are from people who I know quite well.

Applying to Where:

UCSB - Physics - CME/QI Admitted, Feb 1st, Broida Fellowship + Fellowship pending -Attending
UCB - Physics - CME/QI Admitted, Feb 25th - Declined Offer
Caltech - Physics - CME/QI Admitted, Feb 9th, Fellowships pending
Stanford - Physics - CME/QI Admitted, Feb 4th, 30k Fellowship and another fellowship - Declined Offer
MIT - Physics - CME, Atomic,QI Admitted, Feb 23rd
Columbia - Physics - CME Admitted, Feb 10th, 30k for 5 years + additional GSAS fellowship for first year

Got in everywhere! sooo stoked!

Undergrad Institution: (Foreign university, not known for physics at all)
Major(s):Physics
Minor(s): Computer Science
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.9
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: International, male

GRE Scores:
Q:800
V:480
W:3.5
P:920


TOEFL Total: 104

Research Experience: Some research done

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA duties for 2 years


Applying to Where:

PennU - Physics - Condensed matter
Cornell - Physics- Condensed matter - didn't apply (luckily, it would be hard to have first rejection).
Brown - Physics - Condensed matter - didn't apply

Undergrad Institution: International, well known in my city-state, otherwise unknown (except for the fact that they paid huge sums to woo a famous Nobel laureate in physics to reside here, though he doesn't teach; however, one of our ex-presidents, who was in electrical engineering, won the Nobel prize in physics recently)
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.95
Overall GPA: 3.66
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: International, male

GRE Scores:
Q: 800
V: 450
W: 4.5
P: 990


TOEFL Total: 113

Research Experience: One in applied math, one in materials science, both at top institutions in the US (I later found that the big-name PI in materials science has a history of NOT writing recommendations for his interns, even his favorite ones; I end up not getting a letter from him and this is screwing me up ). Senior thesis project with vice-president of my university. (Remark: undergrad research in my country is rare, but I don't think the admissions committees would realize this)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Numerous within school, none outside

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Zero extra-curricular activities, zero real job (Remark: it is almost impossible for an undergrad to get a TA/RA-type job in my country; plus, extra-curricular activities here are invariably stupid (don't want to elaborate) - we don't have one of those phi-beta-kappa type of stuff here. None at all. Again, I don't expect the admissions committees to understand the situation here.)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: A few grad classes (including a very challenging one which I took at a top US institution as an exchange student) with excellent grades; more extensive math background (analysis, differential geometry, some topology and some abstract algebra) compared to most physics majors; recommendation from the vice-president of my university (his PhD advisor decades ago was Murray Gell-Mann, he's an excellent physicist but I wonder if anyone would remember his name now).

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Haven't figured out yet, except for the absence of a recommendation from the materials science professor whom I worked with over the past summer. Screwing me up.

Applying to Where:

UIUC - Physics - Condensed matter theory/experiment - Rejected by email Apr 12
Stanford - Applied physics - Condensed matter theory/experiment - Rejected by snail mail Mar 10
Caltech - Applied physics - Condensed matter and materials science theory/experiment - Rejected by email Apr 1
UC Berkeley - Physics - Condensed matter theory - Rejected by email Mar 10
UCSB - Physics - Condensed matter theory - Accepted by email Feb 28, RA $1740/mo (will get more for summer)
UCSD - Physics - Condensed matter theory/biophysics - Rejected by email Mar 16
MIT - Physics - Condensed matter theory - Rejected by email Mar 2
Princeton - Physics - Condensed matter theory/mathematical physics - Rejected by email Feb 19
Cornell - Physics - Condensed matter theory - Rejected by email Feb 12
Northwestern - Physics - Condensed matter theory/experiment - Accepted by email Apr 9, RA/TA $21000/yr
Michigan - Applied physics - Condensed matter and materials science theory/experiment - did not apply

I'm not applying for physics PhD programs, but I was a physics major. See '08 thread for my previous profile.
______________________________________________
Master's Institution: Ivy
Master's field: Applied Physics
Master's GPA: 3.75
Undergrad Institution: 3rd tier state
Undergrad Major(s): Applied Math; Physics
Undergrad Minor(s): CS
Undergrad GPA: 3.74
Length of Degree: 1 year master's, 3.5 year BS (and 3 years of working/traveling/bumming around)
Position in Class: Near top
Type of Student: White male, US citizen

GRE Scores:
Q: 770 (91%)
V: 700 (97%)
W: 4.5
P: n/a

Research Experience: 1 year at a national lab, master's project, various smaller projects. 1 first-author paper in a top journal, 1 conference paper under review, various presentations and working papers.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: BS Magna Cum Laude; National Merit Finalist; summer fellowship; minor work-related awards.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor, TA, internship, volunteer work in international development.

Applying to Where:

I'm interested in applying mathematical modeling and optimization techniques to energy systems.

CMU - Engineering and Public Policy - Admitted 2/2 (RA)
Cornell - Mechanical Engineering - Admitted 2/10 (modest fellowship)
Boulder - Civil Engineering - Admitted 2/15 (fellowship)
Berkeley - Energy and Resources Group - Rejected 2/22 (fail!)
Stanford - Civil Engineering (Atmosphere/Energy) - Admitted 3/12 (funding details to follow)
MIT - Engineering Systems - Rejected 3/19

______________________________________________

Undergrad Institution: top 15 Canadian University (unknown for physics).
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 4.28/4.33
Overall GPA: 4.28/4.33
Length of Degree: Officially 3 years (but effectively 4 years because of our weird educationnal system)
Position in Class: Top

Grad Institution (master): top 5 Canadian University (known for math and physics).
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 98/100
Overall GPA: 98/100
Length of Degree: 2 years
Position in Class: Top

Type of Student: International, Canadian white male.

GRE Scores:

(Third - second - first time)
Q: 750 (83 %) - 800 (94 %) - 750 (83 %)
V: 560 (77 %) - 380 (29 %) - 410 (37 %)
W: 4.0 (41 %) - 4.5 (63 %) - 4.5 (63 %)

P: 940 (91%)

TOEFL Total: 108/120 (Reading: 29/30, Listening: 24/30, Speaking: 27/30, Writing: 28/30)
IELTS Total: 8.0/9.0 (but only sent to MIT, which they later told me was unnecessary because I'm Canadian)

Research Experience:
- 1 summer in astrophysics at undergrad university : 1 publication (3 out of 4) in MNRAS.
- 1 summer in accelerator physics at a national lab : published a design note (not refereed) (1 out of 2).
- 1 summer in quantum field theory at the university where I am doing my masters : No publications.
- 2 years master's degree in relativistic quantum information : submitted a PRA (1 out of 2) (it was recently accepted but on all my applications it only says ''submitted''), preparing another one (1 out of 2), 3 international workshops (2 talks and 1 poster) and many seminar presentations.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
- A few "best grades" awards (within schools and within departments).
- A few admission scholarships (within schools).
- 3 NSERC USRA (2 within schools and 1 within Canada).
- NSERC CGS M (within Canada).

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
- 2 TA for calculus/algebra courses at different schools.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
None.

Special Bonus Points:
- 5 graduate classes.
- Participated to 3 international summer schools.
- No famous recommenders, but they are all from different Canadian institutions and different physics fields, and I worked will all of them (and published something with all of them).
- I will most likely bring with me an NSERC PGS D of 21 500 CAN $/year.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:
(all for Physics - theory : HEP / Cosmo )

Harvard Rejected via email inquiry 03/02
Princeton Rejected via email 02/19
MIT Rejected via email 03/02
Caltech Rejected via email 13/03
UCSB Rejected via website 23/03
Yale Accepted 2/23 via email Declined
Cornell Accepted 1/29 via email, 2 year fellowship of 25k/9month Accepted

NSERC: Awarded a 2 year CGS (35k/year), transfered it to a PGS (21k/year) to take it abroad.

Undergrad Institution: Small private college with small Physics department
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Psychology
GPA in Major: 3.7
Overall GPA: 3.6
Length of Degree: 3.5 years (finished 1 semester early)
Position in Class: Near top
Type of Student: Domestic white female

GRE Scores:
Q: 800
V: 650
W: 4.0
P: N/A


Research Experience:
- 1 semester independent study research experience, liquid crystals
- 1 summer, including international research, liquid crystals
- 2nd of 5 authors on a paper published Jan 2008

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
- Best Senior Project in Experimental Physics (Liquid Crystals)
- Awards for high yearly GPA

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
- 1 year in laser optics industry (sales position)
- Online Physics tutor for 2 years
- Lab TA for 2 years

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
Earning a Masters in Education (GPA 4.0)

Special Bonus Points:
One of my recommenders (my advisor) frequently collaborates with Kent State LCI
The institution I visited for my international research also collaborates with Kent

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
My last three semesters of undergrad were straight A's and A-'s in all classes
Except my last semester, I took 20 credits (or more) each semester

Applying to Where:

Kent - Liquid Crystal Institute - Chemical Physics Unofficially accepted via e-mail 2/14; Accepted via phone 2/16 with IGERT (See below)
Lehigh - Physics - Nonlinear Optics Accepted via e-mail 2/5 1 yr 25k Fellowship and 1 yr TAOffer declined 2/18
Rochester - Institute of Optics - Optical Engineering Accepted via e-mail 2/10 with 1 yr 26k Fellowship and 1 yr TA; invited to Open House 2/26-2/27Offer declined 2/17

IGERT Fellowship (Kent Only) Unofficially accepted via e-mail 2/14; Accepted via phone, 30k fellowship for 2 years

Undergrad Institution: Liberal arts. Not sure about it's reputation. I thought it was a fantastic department.
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.53
Overall GPA: 3.42
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: N/A. School doesn't really rank students to my knowledge (neither does my department). I perform better than (basically all) classmates in upper level courses.
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores:
Q: 670 - 65% (oops?)
V: 510 - 64%
W: 5.0 - 81%
P: 710 - 54%


Research Experience: 3 research programs.
-REU at large state school doing polymer engineering
-Semester worth of work with faculty at my school (positronium annihilation lifetime spectrums)
-Full year (Summer before senior year through graduation) with faculty member at my school (nonlinear dynamics/chaos experiment). Publication conditionally accepted (first author). APS conference talk given (Division of Fluid Dynamics -- DFD).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Just some dean's list awards (semester GPA of 3.5 or higher).

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: First year physics student tutor and TA (to help first years, not as a first year).

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: None.

Special Bonus Points: None

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Given a few other talks at my school and other places (one was a poster talk for REU students held at NASA). Minor talks, but still on my resume.

Applying to Where:

All programs are for experiment. A couple I indicated some interest in NLD or AMO or plasma.

U of Wisconsin at Milwaukee - Physics - Accepted via email 1/15 (my first acceptance!!!), details to follow Offer declined
U of Wisconsin at Madison - Physics - Rejected via email 1/27
Colorado State U - Physics - Accepted via email 1/29, 20k 9 month TA + 3 month RA offer Offer Declined
Oregon State U - Physics - Accepted via email 2/4, 1750$ a month TA Offer declined
Brandeis U - Physics - Offer to visit via email 2/4. Decision will be made after visit Offer Declined
Ohio State U - Physics - Accepted via email 2/12. 1908$ a month TA offer! Open house March 11-12. ATTENDING!
U of Iowa - Physics - Accepted via email 2/12. TA offer. No specific details Offer declined
Rice U - Physics - Accepted via email 2/17. Fellowship offer! 26k$ per year! Offer declined
U of Michigan - Physics - Rejected via email 2/19
Lehigh U - Physics - Accepted via email 2/19. 22k$ a year TA offer Offer declined
U of California at Merced - Physics - Phone interview via email 2/24 Offer declined
U of Oregon - Physics - Rejected via snail mail 2/27 (letter dated 2/19)
U of Arizona - Physics - Accepted via email 3/1 $15k per year TA + $3.5 to $7.9k summer TA/RA Offer declined
Colorado U - Boulder - Physics - Rejected via email 3/5
U of Texas at Austin - Physics - Reject via website 4/22.

Undergrad Institution: Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad India. Very reputed for earth science, but no reputation in physics.
Major(s): Mechanical Engineering
Minor(s): No provision in my institute
GPA in Major:7.5/10 (absolute)
Overall GPA:7.5/10
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: 7th out of 53.
Type of Student: International

GRE Scores:
Q:790 [92nd percentile]
V:670 [90th percentile]
W:4.0 [55th percentile]
P: 990 [95th percentile]


TOEFL Total: took iBT 113
Reading-29, Speaking-26, Writing-29, Listening-29

Research Experience: 1 month graduate level study program on Statistical Mechanics in Harish Chandra Research Institute (HRI), India.
1 summer research in HRI on varying dark energy model using generalized scalar potential in a curved universe, inorder to account for the accelerated expansion.

No publications

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 1. Best technical paper presented in the departmental annual day in home institute, paper was based on the recent advances in fusion propulsion.
2. best pick and place robot (is that a relevant achievement?) in departmental annual day in home institute.
3. One of the lead organizer of an annual Technical Festival in home institute.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: 1. got highest in all the math courses (9/10 1st sem, 10/10 in 2nd sem and 9/10 in 3rd sem)
2. got highest grades in seminar in 5th and 6th semesters.. it might help me to get a TA position I suppose.
3. Attended a summer school on Gravitation and Cosmology in HRI, India
4. Gave a talk on dark energy and the accelerated expansion of the universe in HRI, India.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: taught 6 high school students physics for IIT Joint Entrance Exam.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: my engineering background might prove to be a hindrance for me especially for the top schools..

Applying to Where:
Everywhere for Cosmology th/HEP th

Princeton (hee hee I know its an audacious hope..) Rejected 2/19 via email....welcome to reality
UT-Austin - Rejected
UCSC - Rejected via email on 03/06
Penn State-Rejected on inquiry via email on 02/26
U of Florida-Accepted via email 03/10 tuition waived+stipend $21000+health insurance Attending
Purdue - Rejected
UIUC - Rejected
U of Penn - Rejected
U of Maryland - Rejected via Email on 03/20
NYU - Rejected via Email on 03/29
UNC, Chapel Hill - Rejected
U of Michigan - Rejected via email on 02/24
TAMU -Accepted via email on 03/05, on inquiry they sent me the scanned offer letter (it was dated 03/03 TA $1850/month(for 9 months)+ $2000 fellowship+tuition Declined Offer
Syracuse- Application withdrawn 03/23
SUNY- Rejected via email 2/19
UC Davis- Rejected

Undergrad Institution: Muslim minority engg college, no reputation whatsoever
Major(s): Electrical Engg
Minor(s): not applicable
GPA in Major:: 68%
Graduate Inst: UT Arlington
Major(s): Electrical Engg
GPA in Major: 3.67
Length of Degree: 4+ 2+ 0.5 (internship)
Position in Class: no idea
Type of Student: International.

GRE Scores:[/b]
Q: 790 (92%)
V: 640 (92%)
W: 3.5 (23 %)
P: 660 (46%)

Research Experience:: At my graduate school for M.S thesis; conference/journal paper under works. Iternship in a project related to my work.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Reciepent of Dean's scholarship for two years

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked as mentor in IEEE office,Graduate teaching assistant for few EE courses. Engineer in a good company in my specialization.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: A few awards at my work place

Special Bonus Points: not really.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Good grades in UG MATH, Grad MATH, Information theory, Optics. One minus point is poor grade in an Applied Physics course in UG. Even PGRE did not help

Applying to Where: program is Ph.d, unless mentioned

UCSD - Applied Physics from EE dept
Caltech - Information theory from EE dept
Stanford - EE-QIS, Applied for M.S (HCP-EE option) too- Rejected 01/29 by email
Berkeley - EE-Quantum Systems Engg -Rejected 02/15 by online status check
Yale - Applied physics-Quantum optics-Rejected 02/23 by online status check
Harvard - Applied physics/ Eng Sci-Quantum optics- Rejected 03/15 by snail mail dated March 10
Princeton - EE- Electronic materials and devices-Rejected 02/26 by email
______________________________________________

Undergrad Institution: Big state school (not really known for physics but has good physics professors)
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top or near top
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores:
Q: 2nd: 790 (92%) 1st: 700 (71%)
V: 2nd: 670 (95%) 1st: 720 (98%)
W: 2nd: 4.5 (63%) 1st: 4.0 (41%)
P: 830 (77%)


Research Experience:
Research in experimental particle physics since May 2009 at my undergrad institution. I have helped in the development of a computer program that is of high interest in the ATLAS experiment. Gave a small presentation to a DOE representative but this was held in my professor's office so it was not a public thing. However, my professor informed me about this talk only a week before and it was right in the middle of finals. Therefore, the fact that I gave a good talk with such short notice is something I'm sure my professor will keep in mind as he writes me a recommendation.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: I have won a few scholarships that my physics professors have nominated me for but nothing all that significant.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I have done tutoring in physics, math and general chemistry for over a year now.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: No, not really.

Special Bonus Points: I think my letters of recommendation will be quite good. I am currently taking a graduate class in Information Physics and will be taking another one in Computational Physics in the spring. One of my recommenders has a few connections at the schools I am applying to.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Nothing I can really think of

Applying to Where:

Interests: HEP (theory/exp) and/or gravity (theory). Still not entirely sure which I would like to do.

SUNY Stony Brook - Physics -accepted by email (2/6/10)--TAship +summer + fellowship (at least $29,145)---90% health coverage---Tuition(in-state)---Declined 4/13/10
University of Pennsylvania - Physics-Rejected via online status check 4/9/2010
Penn State - Physics---accepted via email (2/12/10)---[TAship---fellowship----summer support---(at least $24,705)---tuition(out of state)--- benefits----Declined 4/13/10
University of Minnesota - Physics---accepted via email (2/12/10)--TAship (at least $16,419)--tutition(out of state)---health benefits----Declined 4/13/10
University of Rochester - Physics - Accepted by email (2/10/10)---TAship+summer ($24,000)---Health Insurance---Tuition (in-state)----Declined 4/13/10
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill-Physics-Accepted by email (1/30/10) TAship +summer ($22,080), Tuition (out-of-state), Health Insurance----Declined 3/19/10
University of Maryland-Physics---Accepted via e-mail (2/24/10) Fellowship, tuition, TA/RA, at least ($28,050)----Will attend, Accepted offer 4/12/10
Cornell University-Physics-Rejected via email (2/11/10)
Yale University-Physics-Rejected via online status check (2/15/10)


______________________________________________

______________________________________________

Undergrad Institution: USTC ,Top 10 in China, Top 5 for Physics in China
Major(s): Physics | theory
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 3.85 / 4.3
Overall GPA: 3.78 /4.3 (in my Univ., A+ = 4.3)
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: I don't know, but 3/25 in theoretical physics, 23/110 in the department
Type of Student: International , Male

GRE Scores:
Q: 800 94%
V: 350 21%
W: 3.0 10%
P: 980 94%

TOEFL Total: 93/120 (iBT)

Research Experience:
>some research experience on nano-structure materials -- no publication (Fall, 2008);
did some boring measurement
>some research experience on complex and nonlinear physics --no publication, it's a pity (summer, 2009);
built some models through programming. Later on, proposed an approximate solution of the Prisoner's Dilemma Game model (I did not find, but I think somebody might have done this. So I didn't publish the result)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Silver award for outstanding undergraduate ( Top 10%)
Outstanding Undergraduate Research

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
took some grad-level courses (but were actually required for my specialization):
GR, Advanced QM, Many-particle Quantum Phys., QFT, Advanced Statistical phys., Group Theory
Special Bonus Points:[b]

[b]Applying to Where:

UT-Austin - physics- AMO experiment Rej
CU-Boulder - physics - AMO experiment Rej.
Brown U - physics- AMO experiment Rej.
Indiana U - physics- AMO experiment Rej.
U Arizona - physics- AMO experiment Rej.
Penn. St U - physics- AMO experiment Rej.
U Virginia - physics- AMO experiment Rej.
Ohio St U - physics- AMO experiment Rej. but say I'm welcomed to apply again. (That's funny...)
Duke U - physics- AMO experiment Rej.
Minnesota U - physics- AMO experiment Rej.
Iowa State U - physics condensed matter physics Theory offer and I've accepted.

If you like, you could visit my homepage for more information.
home.ustc.edu.cn/~leeyoung

I ended up deciding to apply to math programs rather than physics, but maybe this will end up having some meaning to someone somewhere. *shrug*

Undergrad Institution: Ivy, good reputation in math and physics
Major(s): Math
Minor(s): CS
GPA in Major: 3.47
Overall GPA: 3.38
Length of Degree: 4 (graduated in 2008)
Position in Class: not sure. probably not much better than average.
Type of Student: US citizen, white, male.

GRE Scores:
Q: 800 (94)
V: 710 (98)
W: 4.5 (54)
P: 990 (95)
Math: 860 (94)

Research Experience: an undergrad thesis, but not really anything notable.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: ...

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TAed for a summer math program. Been doing some tutoring since graduating. Studying math and physics topics on my own.

Applying to Where: All math programs, but with stated interest in mathematical physics.
MIT - Rejected by email (2/9)
UC Berkeley - Rejected by email (3/4)
Cornell - Rejected by email (3/10)
UT Austin - Rejected by website (3/4)
UI Urbana-Champaign - Wait list by post (3/4) then rejected by email (4/12)
SUNY Stony Brook - Rejected by email (3/12)
UW Seattle - Rejected by email (2/27)
Georgia Tech - Accepted by email (2/17), TAship + 5.5k/yr fellowship - will attend
UC Santa Barbara -
U Colorado Boulder - Accepted by email (2/18), TAship - declined
USC - Accepted by email (2/10), 30k/yr fellowship for 2 years - declined
Colorado State - Accepted by email (3/4), TAship - declined

Undergrad Institution: University of Mumbai, India. No reputation in Physics.
Major(s): Mechanical Engineering
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: We don't have GPA, we just calculate the overall percentage for all the semesters. I have 66% (first class).
Overall GPA:
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Near top. I think 5th or 6th out of 60.
Type of Student: International Male.

GRE Scores:
Q: 780
V: 610
W: 3.5
P: 630 (2008) , 900 (2009)


TOEFL Total: Took the toefl ibt. 112/120
Reading-29. Listening-30. Speaking-24. Writing-29.

Research Experience: Only my undergraduate project for which I built a three wheeled automobile with a chain driven differential. Sadly no research experience in Physics.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: None

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: some small projects.
1) I built an infrared sensor for measuring fluid depth in automobiles.
2) I did an analysis and also gave a presentation for the flow of a Non-Newtonian fluid through an annulus.
3) I was one of the main organizers for a national conference that was held in our college.


Special Bonus Points: I think I will get good recommendations.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I think the previous PGRE score might hurt. Also, I'm from engineering, which I don't think will do me any good.

Applying to Where:
Everywhere in Cosmology/Astroparticle physics. I am inclined towards theory.


NYU - Rejected on 3/16 via email.
USC- Accepted on 1/26 via email. (financial details to follow) Offer declined.
Penn State - Rejected on 2/26 via email.
Carnegie Mellon
University of Minnesota, Twin cities - Rejected on 3/23 via email.
University of Pittsburgh - Accepted on 2/22 via email. Offer accepted.
Case Western - Application withdrawn.
Tufts - Application withdrawn.
Darthmouth - Application withdrawn.

Undergrad Institution: UIUC
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 3 years (graduated in May 2009)
Position in Class: ~3? Unofficial
Type of Student: International
GRE Scores:
Q: 800 (94%), 790 (92%)
V: 640 (92%), 590 (84%)
W: 4.0 (41%), 5.0 (81%)
P: 1st try: 810 (74%) 2nd try: 950 (92%)

Research Experience:
Summer Research at UIUC with CMT professor
1 year work at a research company
No publications...

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Bronze Tablet, Phi Beta Kappa

Special Bonus Points:
Completed graduate sequence of QM, QFT; graduate Stat Mech and Math Methods 1

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Fully funded for 5 years from fellowship

Applying to Where:

UCSB - Physics - Condensed Matter Theory - 22 Mar - Accepted via Email - Attending!
Berkeley - Physics - Condensed Matter Theory - 26 Mar - Accepted via Email
UIUC - Physics - Condensed Matter Theory - 18 Feb - Accepted via Email - 20K TA
MIT - Physics - Condensed Matter Theory - 2 Mar - Rejected via Email
Harvard - Physics - Condensed Matter Theory - 26 Feb - Rejected via Email enquiry
Stanford - Physics - Condensed Matter Theory - 3 Feb - Phone Interview by Prof (mentioned on SOP) - 24 Feb - Rejected via Email

Undergrad Institution:Arizona State University, I think we're middle the road
Major(s):Physics and Math
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:4.0
Overall GPA:4.0
Length of Degree:4 years
Position in Class: The top but there's no official ranking
Type of Student: Domestic,male,white

GRE Scores:
Q:790 (92%)
V:450 (49%)
W:4.0 (41%)
P:870 (83%)


Research Experience: None, I spent 3 summers as a systems engineering intern at a mid sized aerospace defense company

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: One small department award in each physics and math, dean's list every semester

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I was a tutor for three years

High Energy Physics Experimental
Stanford - Rejected via e-mail 2/24
Berkeley -
CalTech -
UCSB - Accepted via e-mail 2/19
UCLA - Accepted via e-mail 2/3
UCSD - Accepted via e-mail 2/23
UC Irvine - Accepted via e-mail 1/20
UC Davis - Accepted via e-mail 2/5
U of Colorado at Boulder - Accepted via e-mail 2/26

Undergrad Institution: Local Community College then degree from Midwest commuter state school. US. Not much of a reputation in physics, maybe nano stuff, nothing else.
Major(s):BS Physics
Minor(s):Math
GPA in Major:3.94
Overall GPA:3.95
Length of Degree: 3.5 years.
Position in Class: Top in a very small graduating class (maybe 5 total).
Type of Student: Domestic, dude, white, honkey. Are there any other adjectives that describe my utter lack of 'diversity'?

GRE Scores:
Q: 790
V: 580
W: 4.0
P: 790 (71%)




Research Experience: Absolutely none. We'll see how bad this one hurts, but I am interested in theory, maybe they are lenient on that.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A couple small scholarships for continuously good grades in physics.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Supplemental Instructor in math for a year at a community college.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: I am sure I will have really good letters of recommendation from all three professors.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I hope that doing the degree in less than the normal time will help explain the lack of research done. I did at least two classes a summer and just booked on getting through the academic stuff because I started college 5 years later than most.

Applying to Where:

University of Michigan - Physics - Theory - Accepted by email 2/9 - Fellowship - Will Attend!
Michigan State - Physics - Theory - Contacted for Paid Visit - Accepted by mail 2/10 - Fellowship - Offer Declined
Washington University - St. Louis - Physics - Theory - Accepted by email 1/29 - TAship - Offer Declined
Caltech - Physics - Theory - Rejected by email 3/12
MIT - Physics - Theory - Rejected by email 3/2
Berkeley - Physics - Theory - Rejected by email 3/18
U Colorado - Boulder - Physics - Theory - Rejected by email 3/22



As a side note, I can delay my entry into grad school if I don't get into the top programs this year, it is not huge deal. But next year I absolutely have to go.


Note to next years applicants on MSU: That place was amazing. The faculty were crazy smart and all of the research fields were pretty interesting (and the school obviously had $$$). They were especially amazing in anything Nuclear. So if you like Nuclear stuff, apply here, the group of people they have there is very bright. The condensed matter people impressed me too. The CM people I talked to would be great to have as an advisor. I didn't talk to their HEP people much but they do have big connections with CERN and Fermilab. Bottom line is that it is an amazing place for experimentalists (they have a huge lab on campus), and a great place for theorists that are interested in heavily computational fields.

Undergrad Institution: Berkeley
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.2
Overall GPA: 3.5
Length of Degree: 3.5 (one semester off for internship)
Position in Class: Would say slightly above average
Type of Student: Domestic female

GRE Scores:
Q: 790
V: 530
W: N/A
P: 570 (25%)

Research Experience: 1 year at LBNL, 1 year at SSL, 1/2 year at JPL, 1 semester with professor, currently working at observatory. All different fields. No papers, one poster at AGU.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 1 semester as quantum mechanics grader

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: None that I can think of.

Special Bonus Points: 4th letter of rec from a Nobel Laureate

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:

All for Astronomy/astrophysics with research interest of instrumentation and observation

Harvard
University of Arizona
UCSC
Berkeley
UCLA
University of Hawaii
Caltech
University of Colorado-Boulder
JHU

Rejected by all

Will try again next year. Goes to show you that the Physics GRE is the gate keeper. Let's see how the April GRE goes

Undergrad Institution: University of Texas at Austin
Major(s): Physics, Mechanical Engineering
Minor(s): none
GPA in Major: 4.0 in Physics, 3.53 in ME
Overall GPA: 3.76
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: Near Top (unsure of exact rank)
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores:
Q: 800 / 94%
V: 650 / 93%
W: 4.5 / 63%
P: 910 / 87%


Research Experience:
-- 3 years at school affiliated research lab: High velocity impact phenomenology, shock physics of condensed matter - mostly numerical simulation work and analyzing experimental results.
-- One summer at a national lab modeling and researching detonation, resulting in talk at student symposium.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Multiple scholarships within the school (from both the physics and ME department).

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Leadership positions in school chapter of American Nuclear Society

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Eagle scout (don't know if that carries any weight these days).

Special Bonus Points: Grad class in QFT this fall, will take grad classes in string theory and methods of mathematical physics in spring. Completed phy. coursework in two years (officially began in Fall 2008) while finishing engineering.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where: All in HEP Theory

Texas - Physics - Invited to Open House, Email - 2/1; Accepted! Website, 3/1: 16.5k/9 months, plus insurance, tuition, etc. Will Attend!

UC Santa Barbara - Physics - Rejected, Website - 3/23
Chicago - Physics - Rejected, Email - 3/5
MIT - Physics - Rejected, Email - 3/2
Harvard - Physics - Rejected, Postal - 3/1
Princeton - Physics - Rejected, Email - 2/19
Cornell - Physics - Rejected, email - 2/11

Note for future applicants: I had verbal confirmation from two of my professors here at UT that I would be accepted. I really like the program here, so I only applied to schools that I knew I would like better, even if my odds of getting in were slim to none. Anyone with a similar profile to mine should strongly consider applying to schools that would be safer bets, though certainly not guaranteed (Columbia, Colorado, UIUC, Stony Brook, Penn, etc.). Had I to do it over again, I certainly would forgo MIT, Harvard, and Princeton for some of those and at least had some options for next year.

Bachelor's Degree Institution: Top 10 Liberal Arts College (Graduated in 2003)
Major: Physics
GPA in Major: 3.5
Overall GPA: 3.5

Master's Degree Institution: Unknown State University (Will Finish Spring 2010)
Major: Physics
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0

Type of Student: Domestic, Male

GRE Scores:
Q: 790 (87%)
V: 560 (77%)
W: 4.0 (41%)
P: 890 (85%)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
5 Years as an optical engineer.
1.5 years numerically modeling hard disk write heads.
1 summer designing experiments for a graduate optics lab.

Research Experience:
5th author for 2008 paper in The Astrophysical Journal
3rd author for 2005 paper in Physical Review A
4th author for 2003 paper in The Astrophysical Journal
Presented numerical modeling results through a poster presentation at a conference in China.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
I slacked off very badly during my last few semesters of my undergrad (7 years ago). I received C's and even a D in upper level physics courses.

Applying to Where: (hep-th was my stated interest in all schools)
Caltech - Rejected 3/12 by email
MIT - Rejected 3/02 by email
Berkeley - Rejected 3/09 by email
Stanford - Rejected 2/24 by email
Harvard - Rejected 2/27 by postal
Princeton - Rejected 2/19 by email
Cornell - Rejected 2/09 by email
Chicago - Rejected 3/05 by email
Columbia - Rejected 3/12 by email
Santa Barbara - Rejected 3/23 by website
UT Austin - Rejected 4/22 by website
Maryland - Accepted 2/26 by email - will attend!
UCLA - Rejected 3/02 by website
John's Hopkins - Accepted 2/16 by email
Davis - Accepted 2/09 by email
Santa Cruz - Waitlisted 3/05 by email

Undergrad Institution: Small, Jesuit, liberal arts university. Not extremely well known in physics.
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.98
Overall GPA: 3.94
Length of Degree: Four years (graduated in 2009)
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: Domestic, white female.

GRE Scores:
Q: None
V: None
W: None
P: None

**Note: I applied to overseas graduate schools that did not require the GRE.

Research Experience: No publications currently, but expecting a publication within the next few months (I did mentioned this in my personal statement). 1. Research assistant at university involving LIGO-Livingston data analysis. 2. Independent research in cosmic topology and general relativity leading to a senior thesis. 3. University of Chicago REU involving the analysis of QSO absorption spectra using SDSS. 4. NASA Space Grant to work at Fermilab involving DES. 5. Currently a guest scientists at Fermilab working with weak gravitational lensing analysis and strong gravitational simulations with DES.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Clare Boothe Luce scholar, a few departmental and university awards.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: SGA college president, SPS president, Mathematics tutor, see 'research experience'.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I have a lot of computational experience. Matlab, LaTEX, C++, Python, IDL, IDL Shapelets, Elliptomatic, IRAF, Java, Source Extractor.

Special Bonus Points: I'm female, this may help. And, I am spending my 'year off' working at Fermilab in the Experimental Astrophysics Group.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I've taken courses from three different universities due to Hurricane Katrina. I hope this isn't detrimental.

Applying to Where:

University College London - Physics - Exp Astrophysics/Astronomy - Accepted through email, no funding -cries- I need funding!
Imperial College London - Physics - Exp Astrophysics/Astronomy - Accepted through email, no funding
King's College London - Physics - Theoretical Astrophysics/Astronomy - Accepted through email 2/25
University of Sussex - Physics - Exp Astrophysics/Astronomy - Accepted through email 2/3
Oxford - Astronomy - Exp Astrophysics/Astronomy - Interview 3/11 Rejected 3/20 due to "lack of funding"
Portsmouth - Mathematics - Exp Astrophysics/Astronomy - Interview 4/13
University of Exeter - Observational Astrophysics (star formation) - Accepted + tuition waiver + £13,000 (about $19,000) stipend + an extra £15/hr from laboratory instructor position (if I have time, this is not required). - Will attend! YAY!

Undergrad Institution: Decent Canadian university, probably top 10 or 15 in research
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 4.30 (out of 4.30)
Overall GPA: 4.30
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top (not that it's a huge department)
Type of Student: International, white Canadian male

GRE Scores:
Q: 800 (94%)
V: 710 (98%)
W: 5.0 (81%)
P: 980 (94%) this year, 810 (74%) last year


TOEFL Total: NA

Research Experience: Four summers of research: two with a very well respected prof big in Lithium-ion batteries, did both theory and experiment (one publication in Journal of Physical Chemistry C, fourth author); another two with a less well known prof in polymer physics, did computational stuff and theory (submitted one paper to Europhysics Letters, first author, but it hasn't been accepted yet)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Finished first overall at my university (not just in physics). I also won pretty much all the physics awards my department gives. But again, it's not a huge department. I also won a couple of fairly prestigious research scholarships from my university which supported two of my summers doing research.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Nothing really.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I spoke at the Canadian Undergraduate Physics Conference twice, and got an honourable mention once.

Special Bonus Points: Like I said, one of my recommenders that I did research with is a pretty big name; I remember him being the only Canadian on some "highly cited" list.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Well, I didn't do as well on the PGRE last year (not that 810 is that bad). Also, I'm currently taking a year off, I'm not sure what departments think of that.

Applying to Where:

Harvard - Physics - Theory - Rejected
Princeton - Plasma Physics - Theory - Waitlisted - Rejected via email on 04/19
MIT - Physics - Theory - Waitlisted as of 04/28
Cornell - Physics - Theory - Rejected
Columbia - Physics - Theory - Rejected
University of Chicago - Physics - Theory - Rejected
Caltech - Physics - Theory - Rejected
Stanford - Physics - Theory - Rejected
Berkeley - Physics - Theory - Rejected
UCSB - Physics - Theory - Rejected
U. of Toronto - Physics - Theory - Accepted, will attend

As of right now, still waiting on Princeton and MIT, not holding my breath. Will probably go to UofT.

Undergrad Institution: Tech School, 25-50 range in physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.76
Overall GPA: 3.87
Length of Degree: 3.5 years
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: domestic white male

GRE Scores:
Q: 770 (88%)
V: 640 (91%)
W: 4.0
P: 720 (59%)

Research Experience: 1 REU in astrophysics (at Stony Brook ) , 1 Summer Research in optics, 1 semester research in FTIR / Optics. 1 publication (Obscure journal, no first author) - 1 quasi-publication (APS conference proceedings, has my name on it for some reason.)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: SPS, minor award from school

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Grad TA

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: none.. recommenders ok but not stellar.. I am currently a graduate student at my undergrad institution but am transferring, this may help me, but according to Cornell it won't.

Applying to Where:
All physics departments, with various interests

Cornell - applied math stuff - Rejected 2/9
Princeton - Rejected 2/19
MIT - quantum information theory -Rejected 3/2
Stony Brook - Accepted 3/4 ($17,500 TA position + $4000 summer) - Will attend (obviously)
Columbia - Rejected 3/12
NYU - nonlinear dynamics/chaos -Rejected 3/29
University of Pennsylvania - Rejected 4/15
University of Maryland - QI - Rejected 4/14 via phone
Boston University - QI - waitlisted via phone in march - never heard
Rutgers - never heard
Penn State - Rejected 4/14
Brown - Rejected 3/4
Syracuse - Application withdrawn 4/12

Lessons for future applicants: Move really quickly on PGRE, you need to answer way more then on practice exams in order to get a good percentile score. If you do poorly on the PGRE , don't waste money at top schools unless you really feel you can get in for some reason. Apply to lots of safties.

Undergrad Institution: California State University,
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:
Overall GPA: 3.77
Length of Degree: 4yrs
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: International Asian Male

GRE Scores:
Q: 730(78%, 08), 760 (85%, 09)
V: 390(32%, 08), 370 (27%, 09)
W: 3.0
P: 810(74%)


TOEFL Total: N/A

Research Experience: 1 summer research at my own school, publication is still in preperation

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 3 scholarships from my own school (Math dept, physics dept, and international center)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: tutor for 4 years

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points:

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:
University of Pennsylvania
Duke University
New York University
UC, Irvine
UC, Riverside

Undergrad Institution: University of California
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:3.87
Overall GPA: 3.61
Length of Degree: 4yrs
Position in Class: ?
Type of Student: white US resident

GRE Scores:
Q: 700(71%, 9/09), 790 (92%, 12/09)
V: 530(70%, 9/09), 580 (85%, 12/09)
W: 6 (98%), 6 (98%,)
P: missed the test. this really sucked. see below

Research Experience: 1.5 years undergrad research. 1 year postgraduate research. All in nanotechnology. Research is one of my strong points. Completed honors Senior thesis but no publications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: distinction in the major, highest honors in physics

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: some volunteer work (emphasized it in application)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: one year of grad level research at Hvd.

Special Bonus Points: One recommended from the dept. at Hvd.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: i switched to physics at the beginning of sophmore year, i stressed the difficulties of no math or phys background i the app.

Applying to Where:
Harvard SEAS (applied physics)- accepted 2/25/10 via email $2,449 for 9 months Will Attend
Yale Applied Physics-phone interview 2/6/10... accepted 2/24/10 via email $31,500+$2,500 signing bonus
Michigan applied physics-accepted-25k 2 years + tuition/fees

NSF- denied

I have been referencing this site for a while so i thought i would offer some words for the wise.

1. the physics GRE is only offered 3 times a year. if you miss the November one you cant take it again until April (so dont miss it). If you do miss it like I did, all is not lost. The 3 schools i applied to do not require the physics gre. furthermore, students in Harvard SEAS can take all their classes through MIT or Harvard physics dept. One can even do their research and complete a thesis at MIT or Harvard phys. one just gets a diploma from SEAS. An advisor in the Harvard Physics dept. said that PGRE scores are not the be all end all, she said one year the admission committee even covered up the PGRE scores while choosing students.
2. Final note on the GRE. ETS says it takes 10 to 15 days to send scores. So one can technically take the test that many days in advance and still get the scores in on time.
3. from my experience talking to professors and admissions offers. Research is extremely important. make sure that you have strong research experience, with a good letter from your Principle Investigator and you should be good to go.

Undergrad Institution: Good state school, not very well known for physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.5
Overall GPA: 3.5
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top quarter
Type of Student: Domestic male

GRE Scores:
Q: 730
V: 730
W: 6.0
P: 630


Research Experience: Lab work since sophomore year, currently working on a senior thesis. no publications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Summer Stipend, Sigma Pi Sigma, Dean's List

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Not really.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Hopefully some schools value writing skills?

Special Bonus Points: At least one of my recommendations will be very good.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: GPA showed an upward trend throughout UG

Applying to Where:

MIT - Physics - Rejected 3/2
Cornell - Physics - Rejected 2/9
UPenn - Physics - Rejected 4/6
UMich - Physics - Rejected 2/19
UIUC - Physics - Rejected 4/9
Yale - Physics - Rejected 2/15
Boston University - Physics - Rejected by snail-mail 2/13
Northwestern - Physics - Rejected 4/14
Northeastern - Physics Accepted 2/11
Brandeis - Physics - Accepted 2/4 ATTENDING 24k TA
Tufts - Physics - Rejected 4/9 !?!??

Undergrad Institution: Big State, no reputation in physics/unranked
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: ~3.7
Overall GPA: 3.64
Length of Degree: 5 (one year undeclared set me back)
Position in Class: Top 3
Type of Student: domestic white male

GRE Scores:
Q: 790
V: 430
W: 4.0
P: 810

Research Experience: Just over a year working in a soft condensed matter theory group. One publication in review as second author. Currently working in an atomic theory group publication and senior thesis in the works.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Nothing meaningful

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Lots of teaching/tutoring experience from my jobs which includes teaching many sections of a math class at my school. Also SPS president last year... for what that's worth

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Nothing noteworthy

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I have contacted several groups at my top choices and some have expressed a strong interest.

Applying to Where:
Boulder - Physics - Atomic theory - Rejected
Washington - Physics - undecided - Accepted - TA/RA + 4k scholarship
WSU - Physics - Atomic theory - Accepted 2/2 - 31K first year
UCSD - Physics - undecided - Rejected
Austin - Physics - undecided

______________________________________________

Undergrad Institution: National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, India...no reputation in Physics..
Major(s):Electronics and Communication Engineering
Minor(s):not applicable
GPA in Major:8.95/10
Overall GPA:NA
Length of Degree: 4 years (changed an institute after 1 year)
Position in Class: 5/69
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores:
Q:800
V:640
W:4.0
P:870 83%


TOEFL Total: 109(24 in speaking)

Research Experience:
1.I have co-authored (first author) a paper selected to be presented as a talk in an international Conference. (Its not a publication)
2. Visiting Students Research Programme at the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Pune (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research), which operates the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope. I worked on imaging and subsequent analysis of a giant radio galaxy observed at different frequencies with the GMRT using the Astronomical Image Processing Software (AIPS).
3.A short three week project on the Epoch of Reionization and the Challenges Involved in Designing Radio Telescopes to Detect the Cosmological EoR Signature at Raman Research Institute, Bangalore.
4.A six-week Project on “Deep Space Communication Link Architecture” as part of the ISRO Induction Training Programme.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Merit Scholarship during undergrads
Paper Presentation awards

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Employed as a Scientist/Engineer in the Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
Performed exceedingly well in several domestic national level Physics tests (JEST and GATE) for admission to graduate programmes but screwed up d all important PGRE

Special Bonus Points: -none-ordinary recommendors(college profs)-1 phy 2 ece

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:

Harvard - Astronomy - Observational Cosmology-Rejected via postal mail 03/22
Berkeley - Astronomy - Observational Cosmology- Rejected via email 02/23
Caltech - Astronomy - Observational Cosmology-Rejected via email 03/18
UIUC - Physics - Observational Cosmology
Columbia - Astronomy - Observational Cosmology-Rejected via email
UMich Ann Arbor - Physics - Observational Cosmology- Accepted via email on 02/26 quarter time GSI combined with dept fellowship
UChicago - Astronomy - Observational Cosmology- Waitlisted in response to email enquiry
UChicago - Physics - Observational Cosmology-Rejected via postal mail 03/22
JHU - Physics and Astronomy - Observational Cosmology-Rejected via email 03/17
Stanford - Applied Physics - Observational Cosmology-Rejected via postal mail 03/22
UPenn - Physics and Astronomy - Observational Cosmology
Pennstate - Physics - Observational Cosmology- Appl forwarded to A&A dept. and unofficially accepted
Princeton- Astrophysical Sciences - Observational Cosmology- Rejected via email 02/01
CMU- Physics - Observational Cosmology
UWM- Physics - Observational Cosmology- Waitlisted via website
PSI- Physics MS

Undergrad Institution: Big state university, top 10 in physics
Major(s):Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:3.97
Overall GPA:3.88
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class:
Type of Student: international in the U.S

GRE Scores:
Q:800
V:690
W:4.0
P:810 74%



Research Experience:
- one summer and a semester in an experimental HE group doing electrical/ computer engineering stuff, resulted in a talk at a national lab
- one summer and a semester in an experimental AMO group building electronics
- one year and on going in an experimental CM group (my intended field), resulted in a senior thesis, poster session and presentation at the university. working on a publication to a respected journal as a first author

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: university scholar, nothing significant

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: physics tutor

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: one grad course in quantum taught by a very famous professor, does this count?

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
I also went to high school in the U.S as an international student. Hope that they go easy on me as far as my PGRE score is concerned.


Applying to Where: Interested in CM experiment

15 schools, I will update them once results come in

Princeton - Electrical Engineering - Accepted via email 2/25
Stanford - Applied Physics - Rejected via phone inquiry 3/3
Harvard - Applied Physics - Rejected via mail 3/15
Cornell - Applied Physics - Accepted via email 2/11
Yale - Applied Physics - Accepted via website 2/24
University of Michigan - Physics - Accepted via email 2/26
University of Maryland - Physics - Accepted via email 3/05
University of Colorado - Physics - Rejected via mail 3/22
University of Wisconsin-Madison - Physics - Accepted via email 1/28
University of Texas-Austin - Physics - Accepted via email 3/12
Johns Hopkins University - Physics - Accepted via email 2/4
Penn State University - Physics - Accepted via email 2/12
Ohio State University - Physics - Accepted via email 2/9
Michigan State University - Physics - Application withdrawn
University of Rochester - Physics - Application withdrawn

Undergrad Institution: Canada... pretty well known
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.5
Overall GPA: 3.5
Length of Degree: 4
Type of Student: Canadian

Grad Institution: a different school in Canada...
Major(s): Astro
GPA in Major: 4.0
Length of Degree: 1.5
Position in Class: near top

GRE Scores:
Q: 800
V: 580
W: 4.5
P: 600

Research Experience: Honours thesis, summer research, Master's thesis... all in Astro

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: NSERC USRA

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for 1.5 years in Physics

Special Bonus Points: Recommenders are well acquainted with folks at the school where I'm applying

Applying to Where:

Galaxy Dynamics

NYU - Physics - Accepted 03/02 email - ~$30k/yr fellowship/RA - this is where I'll be
UCSB - Physics - Rejected
UCSC - Astro - Rejected 03/01 email
UCB - Astro - Rejected 02/22 email
Chicago - Astro - Rejected 02/16 email
Caltech - Astro - Rejected
Arizona - Astro - Rejected 02/24 email
OSU - Astro - Rejected 03/06 website

Undergrad Institution: American Liberal Arts College. No traditional physics program.
Major(s): Liberal Arts
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.88
Overall GPA: 3.88
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Not tracked by the school. Near top?
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores:
Q: 740 (80%)
V: 700 (97%)
W: 6.0 (96%) (I wrote about physics)
P: 920 (88%)

Research Experience: One summer at NIST Gaithersburg, resulted in AJP publication (first author). 2.5 years working in industry doing physics research. One publication submitted to PRL (also first author).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Won awards in school wide math competitions. Awarded funding for a summer internship Junior year.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Math tutor for my school. Private SAT and AP exam tutor.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Spent 2.5 years working after school.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I have a B.A. in liberal arts...not sure how that is going to play. Since gradation I've taken 4 physics courses at MIT and gotten A's in all four classes, hopefully this makes up for not having a B.S.

Applying to Where:

MIT - Physics - Condensed Matter/Quantum Information Rejected by e-mail 3/02
Harvard - Physics - Condensed Matter/Quantum Information Rejected by snail mail 2/25
Yale - Physics - Condensed Matter/Quantum Information Rejected through website 2/15
Cornell - Physics - Condensed Matter/Quantum Information Rejected by e-mail 2/12
Princeton - Physics - Condensed Matter/Quantum Information Rejected by e-mail 2/19
U Maryland CP - Physics - Condensed Matter/Quantum Information Accepted by e-mail 2/24 (15k fellowship plus TA/RA)
UC Boulder - Physics - Condensed Matter/Quantum Information Accepted by e-mail 2/24 (6k fellowship pluse TA/RA)
CalTech - Physics - Condensed Matter/Quantum Information Rejected by e-mail 3/13
UC Santa Barbara - Physics - Condensed Matter/Quantum Information Accepted through website 2/19 (standard TA/RA offer)
Stanford - Physics - Condensed Matter/Quantum Information Rejected by e-mail 2/24

NDSEG - Physics - Condensed Matter/Quantum Information

Undergrad Institution: MIT
Major(s): physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.7/4.0
Overall GPA: 3.6/4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: above average
Type of Student: domestic white female

GRE Scores:
Q: 800, 94%
V: 570, 80%
W: 5.0, 81%
P: 940, 91%

Research Experience: every year at school and a summer at SLAC with the SULI program, no publications

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: nope

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: SPS VP

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: nope

Special Bonus Points: nah

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: hopefully not haha

Applying to Where:

Stanford - Physics - AMO experiment - Accepted 2/23 by email, declined 4/3
Berkeley - Physics - AMO experiment - Accepted 2/26 by email, declined 4/2
UChicago - Physics - AMO experiment - Accepted 3/3 by post, declined 4/12
Caltech - Physics - AMO experiment - Accepted 2/9 by email, declined 4/2
Boulder - Physics - AMO experiment - Accepted 2/24 by email - WILL ATTEND!
Maryland - Physics - AMO experiment - Accepted 2/25 by email, declined 4/12
UIUC - Physics - AMO experiment - Accepted 2/17 by phone, declined 2/24

NSF - Nope
DOE - Nope
NDSEG - Nope

Undergrad Institution: Top 10 in Physics, Applied Science and Engineering School
Major(s): Engineering Physics
Minor(s): Applied & Computational Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.3
Overall GPA: 3.1
Length of Degree:5 years-1.5yrs left
Position in Class: Average
Type of Student: Domestic, Male, Minority

GRE Scores:Have not yet taken
Q:
V:
W:
P:


Research Experience:
Bose Einstein Condensates & Solitons
Soliton Theory
Complex Network Theory-- 1 published journal
Wavelet Theory

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: small scholarship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Calculus tutor, Youth Assistance: preparing high schoolers for college calculus

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points:
Minority: Pacific Islander
Have taken 1 graduate math class: Numerical PDE's
2 extremely strong letters of recommendation

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Participated in semester abroad study. Took two upper division physics/math classes.

Applying to Where:

University of Maryland - Physics - Plasma Physics
Columbia University - Applied Physics & Math - Plasma Physics
University of Wisconsin - Physics- Plasma Physics
University of Colorado: Boulder - Physics- Plasma Physics
University of California- Irvine - Physics- Plasma Physics

___________________________________________

Undergrad Institution: Mid sized state school, not much reputation for physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Applied Math
GPA in Major: 3.7
Overall GPA: 3.8
Length of Degree: 4 years B.S., 2 years M.S.
Position in Class: Near top
Type of Student: Domestic non-minority male

GRE Scores:
Q: 790 92%
V: 640 92%
W: 4.5 63%
P: 560 22% (11/07), 720 59% (10/09)

Research Experience: 1 year as an undergrad with HEP group and at DOE lab, poster presentation at 2008 SPS Congress. 1 year as master's student in materials research lab.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Graduate:
University fellowship
Dept MS Student of the Year
Undergraduate:
B.S. Magna Cum Laude
Degree with Honors (from physics dept)
Dean's List (5 awards)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...)
Graduate:
President of grad student organization
Undergraduate:
Tutor for math/science classes for 2 years
SPS member
Lots of outreach stuff

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
Not sure how much it'll hurt but I didn't exactly nail the PGRE either time I took it, although I did make a big improvement (22% to 59%)

Special Bonus Points:
My current MS advisor is an APS fellow and got his PhD at one of the schools I'm applying to

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
I'm finishing my MS at my undergrad institution this year (after bombing the PGRE the first time and getting a full round of rejections). Much more focused on school in general now and on what kind of research I want to do, which should help when they read my SOP.

Applying to Where:

Northwestern University - Materials Science and Engineering Rejected 2/7 via website
Michigan State University - Chemical Engineering and Materials Science - Email 3/4: $20.7k fellowship + tuition + health ins + fees + paid visit [accepted offer]
Clemson University - Physics - Phone call 1/28: $16k TA [declined]
University of Toledo - Physics - Email 2/17: $19k TA + $2k/yr fellowship + $1.8k scholarship + paid visit [declined]

DOE SCGF - Rejected 4/14 via email - I guess I was a finalist, but didn't win one

Undergrad Institution: Big state: not too well known for physics, but has good professors
Major(s): Physics, Mathematics
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 3.96
Overall GPA: 4.00
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Scores:
Q: 800, 94%
V: 590, 81%
W: 5.0, 80%
P: 740, 62%

Research Experience: Research in optics at home institution for 3 years with one symposium presentation. REU in high energy physics at University of Oklahoma with oral presentation. Some independent research in ultracold neutron physics. No publications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Sigma Pi Sigma, Phi Beta Kappa, couple of scholarships, Dean's list for all semesters.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Undergraduate Lecture Assistant for Calc II, Counselor at Ross Math Program, SPS member.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Budapest Semesters in Mathematics

Special Bonus Points: Several grad level physics classes, many grad level math classes, well known recommender.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: None I can think of...

Applying to Where: (All programs are in Experimental Nuclear Physics)


MIT Rejected by email 2/02/10
SUNY Stony Brook Rejected by email 3/13/10
Duke University Accepted by email 2/09/10 - Tuition Waived, James B. Duke Fellowship and TA Offers Declined 4/06
University of Pennsylvania Rejected 4/09/10 by email/website
University of Maryland - College Park Rejected 3/20/10 by email
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Accepted by email 1/30/10 - Tuition Waived, Health Insurance, TA Offer - Declined 3/08
University of Washington - Seattle Unofficially rejected by email 3/10/10(sent email asking about my status). Officially rejected 4/01/10
University of Indiana - Bloomington Accepted by post 2/19/10 - Tuition Waived, TA Offer, Fellowship Accepted 4/06/10
University of Virginia - Charlottesville Accepted by email 2/08/10 - Tuition Waived, Fellowship - Declined 3/31

NSF Rejected by email 4/06/10
NDSEG Rejected by email 4/12/10

Undergrad Institution: not known in phys
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major: around 3.3
Overall GPA: around 3.3
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student:Int. male

GRE Scores:
Q: 780
V: 260
W: 4
P: 620


TOEFL Total: 102 (IBT)
Research Experience: Some research on condensed matter

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: some scholarships, honor and rarely high honor degrees

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for multiple times

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I love physics

Special Bonus Points:

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where: all condensed matter

UCSD - Physics - CM rejected
Rutgers - Physics - CM rejected
Minnesota - Physics - CM rejected
U. of Maryland - Physics - CM
UIUC - Physics - CM
UPenn - Physics - CM

Conclusion: You can try your chance at graduate schools with such a profile, but you can not be more than a dreamer, either create a better profile or wait for another time to apply (after an ms if possible).

I did my BS in Physics, but have applied to Materials Science and Electrical Engineering PhD programs. Just in case it helps someone...

Undergrad Institution: State University of New York at Buffalo (moderate engineering and chemistry reputation, VERY mediocre physics reputation)
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.95
Overall GPA: 3.96
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: Shorthair Domestic, White Male

GRE Scores:
Q: 800 / 770
V: 590 / 500
W: 4.0 / 4.0
(second time taken 10/2009 / first time taken 1/2009)


Research Experience: 3 semesters of research experience in my university's chemistry department in inorganic nanomaterials. Fifth author (out of seven) on a publication in Langmuir (an ACS journal). A poster session at a regional conference. Also, one summer of research experience in the Molecular Foundry at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (also in inorganic nanomaterials).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A couple awards for high GPA within my university and department. First place at a research poster competition at a regional APS conference. Phi Beta Kappa.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Vice-president of my university's chapter of SPS. Undergraduate physics tutor.

Applying to Where:

Stanford - Materials Science and Engineering - Rejected 2/2/10
Cornell - Materials Science and Engineering - Accepted 2/12/10
University of Michigan - EECS - Accepted 4/6/10
UCSB - Materials - Accepted 1/20/10
RPI - Materials Science and Engineering - Accepted 1/29/10
University of Minnesota - Materials Science and Engineering - Accepted 1/13/10 Offer accepted and deferred to Fall 2011
CalTech - Materials Science - Accepted 3/15/10
University of Washington - Materials Science and Engineering - Accepted 1/29/10

NSF Fellowship- Rejected 4/6/10
DOE Fellowship- Rejected 4/15/10

Undergrad Institution: UC Berkeley
Major(s): Engineering Physics
GPA in Major: 3.8 (3.9 in physics)
Overall GPA: 3.8
Length of Degree: 4 years, May 2009
Position in Class: 2nd in major I believe (school doesn't release in major rankings)
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores:
Q: 800
V: 580
W: 5.5
P: 750

Research Experience: 3 year internship at The Aerospace Corporation in the Electro-Optics department (sensor modeling, optics, material science type stuff.) 1 year research at LBNL material sciences dept./center for x-ray optics research in EUV lithography/optics/nanotechnology.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Incoming freshman highest honor offered, several department scholarships, High honors

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for lower division physics class--lectured & held lab.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: First author publication from my research at LBNL

Special Bonus Points: Two very good rec letters (they showed me and asked if that was enough), connections at U of A, one grad level class in Mechanical Engineering

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: MATLAB programming, Visual Basic programming, I think I have a solid PS--showed it to a lot of people and got feedback. Member of various societies. I didn't send my PGRE to MIT, Harvard, Michigan, and Columbia (they don't require for the department I applied to).

Applying to:

MIT - Material Science - Rejected 3/16 email

Harvard - Applied Physics - Accepted 2/9 email, 29.4K Fellowship for 1 year. WILL ATTEND
Yale - Applied Physics - Phone interview 2/3--Rejected 2/23 email
Columbia - Applied Physics - Accepted 2/16 email, at least 30K TA then RA (5 year guarantee)
Michigan - Applied Physics - Accepted 1/29 email, 25K Fellowship for 2 years

UCLA - Physics - Accepted 2/24 email, 15K Fellowship + 8.3K TA for 9 months + 3K Summer RA
UCSD - Physics - Accepted 2/23 email, 11K Fellowship + 16.6 TA for 9 months
Boston University - Physics - Accepted 2/8 email, 28K/year TA
UW-Madison - Physics - Rejected 1/27 online status page
Colorado-Boulder - Physics - Accepted 2/25 email, 4K Fellowship + 27.4K RA for 1 year(offered from individual professor after recruitment weekend)

Arizona - Optical Sciences - Accepted 1/19 email, 26K/year RA and 10K fellowship

Note to future applicants: Harvard and Michigan's Applied Physics programs let you work with nearly any professor you want as long as it's related to physics, and at Harvard you can even work with professors at MIT. In the end I chose Harvard, but I was very impressed by Michigan's program and would recommend it to anybody.

Undergrad Institution: Caltech
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 3.7
Overall GPA: 3.6
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Unknown, probably average
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores:
Q: 800 (94%)
V: 590 (84%)
W: 5.0 (81%)
P: 770 (68%)

Research Experience: Experimental Physics SURF at Caltech after Freshman and Sophomore years in neutrino physics. Performed research during the year for credit in 3rd term of Junior year. SURF through Caltech performed at UC Berkeley after Junior year in Experimental AMO. Currently performing a senior thesis in experimental neutrino physics. No publications yet, but presented research at 2 conferences (the first a poster, the other oral).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Nothing too significant; earned a couple of named SURFs and a minor scholarship in both my freshman and sophomore years.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for sophomore level physics lab during both Junior and Senior years. Held a student job since the middle of sophomore year (1.5 hours per night, every weeknight).

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Not that I can think of.

Special Bonus Points: Taken a few grad classes, visited and spoken with some of the Professors I want to work with.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Member of several societies (OSA, APS, SPS and Sigma Pi Sigma). My letters of rec should be really good... Apparently Caltech students generally don't do as well on PGRE, I hope that doesn't affect me too much. Nothing else that I can think of...

Applying to Where: Interested in Experimental AMO - Quantum Information Science

CU Boulder - Physics - Accepted via email, 2/25, WILL ATTEND
Maryland - Physics - Accepted via email, 3/2, declined 4/15
UIUC - Physics - Accepted via phone, 2/17, declined
Michigan - Physics - Accepted via email, 2/26, declined
Duke - Physics - Accepted via email, 2/11, declined
MIT - Physics - Rejected via email, 3/2
Harvard - Physics - Rejected via snail mail, 3/2 (letter dated 2/24)
UC Berkeley - Physics - Rejected via Phone, 3/5 (spoke with previous advisor who said PGRE is what prevented me from being accepted)
Princeton - Physics - Rejected via email, 2/19
UCSB - Physics - Rejected via email, 3/23
Caltech - Physics - Rejected via email, 3/12
Stanford - Applied Physics - Rejected via snail mail, 3/8 (letter dated 2/19)


NSF Fellowship - Award Offered via email/website, 4/6
NDSEG Fellowship - Rejected via email, 4/12
DOE SCGF - Rejected via email, 4/15
DOE CSGF - Rejected via snail mail, 4/5 (letter dated 3/30)

Undergrad Institution: Foreign state university, not known for physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Not applicable
GPA in Major: 98/100
Overall GPA: Not applicable
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores:
Q: 790 (92%)
V: 570 (80%)
W: 4.0 (41%)
P: 840 (79%)


TOEFL Total: 111/120

Research Experience:
1.- 2 RA in my university in a non-related topic to my research interests with no publications.
2.- 1 REU in an USA institution in a non-related topic to my research interest.
3.- 1 just finished research project in a non-related topic to my research (no publication, yet).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)
- Higher GPA in class.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
- Secondary school teacher for a few months.
- Temporary teacher substitute at my university (I guess an unofficial TA).
- Member of the tutoring team for undergraduate physics a math courses in my university.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Recommendation letters from the professors I worked in the RA?

Special Bonus Points: Did the REU at one of the universities I'm applying?

Applying to Where:

Urbana-Champaign - Physics - Theoretical Biophysics
UCSD - Physics - Theoretical Biophysics Rejected 3/16 by email
UMD - Physics - Theoretical Biophysics Rejected 4/13 in response to inquiry
BU - Physics - Theoretical Biophysics Rejected 4/6 in response to inquiry
Washing University at St. Louis - Physics - Theoretical Biophysics Accepted 2/3,TA 19.5K/9months - Declined offer 4/8
Bloomington - Physics - Theoretical Biophysics Accepted 3/16 via email (after inquiry on 4/1, apparently I had been accepted but I did not realize it since the email was a bit confusing and contained to financial info- TA, 15.3k/1 year + 2.5k for first year with health insurance on 4/8 Accepted offer on 15/4
Minnesota - Physics - Theoretical Biophysics Phone interview by professor on 3/9 - Rejected 4/2 in reply to inquiry, received official general rejecting email a few hours later

Undergrad Institution: Big state school. Well ranked and rising astro program, alright physics program.
Major(s): Physics (BS), Astronomy (BS)
Minor(s): Anthropology
GPA in Major: 3.82
Overall GPA: 3.89
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: unknown. not reported by the school. probably pretty good though.
Type of Student: white, domestic, male

GRE Scores:
Q: 770 (87%)
V: 750 (99%)
W: 5.5 (92%)
P: 690 (53%)


Research Experience: 1 year in astro department with well-known professor in his field. Gave conference (AAS) presentation, and am currently working on the paper for that work. 1st author out of 3.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: National Merit Scholar, Anderson Scholar High Distinction (in school award)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Physics tutor, member of SPS and Undergraduate Astrophysics Society.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Have done lots of astro/science outreach volunteering

Special Bonus Points: Letter writers aren't exactly famous, but all are well known in their fields and well connected. Especially strong connections at UC Santa Cruz and UF.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Lots of programming experience in lots of relevant languages, can pick up languages and technical stuff fast. My research is programming heavy. My tutoring job is more like teaching a discussion session than tutoring, and I have lots of stuff that indicates teaching/people skills.

Applying to Where:
All are astronomy or astrophysics if they don't have an astronomy phd

UC Santa Cruz - Rejected via website, 2/27
Caltech - Rejected
University of Washington - Rejected via email, 2/8
University of Virginia - Accepted via email, 2/5
University of Wisconsin-Madison - Accepted via email, 2/2
University of Maryland - Accepted via email, 2/10
University of Florida - Accepted via email, 1/29
University of Arizona - Rejected via mail, 2/20
Harvard - Rejected via mail
New Mexico State - Accepted via email
University of Texas-Austin - Accepted via email, 2/1
Ohio State - Rejected via website, 2/11
University of Hawaii - Manoa - Wait listed via email, 2/15
University of Colorado - Boulder - Accepted via FedEx, 2/11

Undergrad Institution: Smaller UC w/ great astrophysics program.
Major(s):Astrophysics(Physics)
Minor(s):N/A
GPA in Major:3.7
Overall GPA:3.22
Length of Degree: 5+
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: White-ish

GRE Scores:
Q:760
V:500
W:4.0
P:610

Research Experience:
2 years High Energy Particle Astro (w/ Swift and VERITAS) as an undergrad.

2 years exoplanet research/design for the Gemini Planet Imager. My boss was on the team that discovered the 3 planets around HR8799. His postdoc, who I also work for, was a part of the group that discovered the planet around Fomalhaut. Both wrote letters for me. (Note: these are the only exoplanets EVER to be directly imaged)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Departmental Honors

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor, math and physics.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I'm a decent second-baseman, played collegiality.

Applying to Where:

UCLA - Astronomy - Rejected via email 2/18
UNC - CM
Ohio State - CM
UW-Madison - Plasma exp. - Accepted via email 1/19 - Offer Accepted
Michigan State - CM - Invited for paid visit 1/27 - Withdrew Application
CU - Plasma exp. - Rejected via email 3/5
UCD - CM
UM-Twin Cities - CM
U Maryland - Plasma exp.
UCR - CM - Accepted via email 2/25 - Declined Offer
U of Iowa - Plasma exp. - Accepted via email 2/12
Princeton - Electrical Engineering - Rejected via email 2/25

Master's Institution: Another big state school...good for astronomy/astrophysics
Undergrad Institution: Big state school...good for physics and astronomy (top 50 I think)
Major(s): Physics & Astronomy
Minor(s):Russian
GPA in Major:3.68
Overall GPA:3.66
Length of Degree: 5 years undergrad, 1.5 years grad so far
Position in Class: Above average
Type of Student: Domestic white female

GRE Scores:
Q: 780 (89%)
V: 690 (96%)
W: 6.0 (98%)
P: 680 (50%)...I took it 4 times, but this was my best score of the 4...I can't seem to get past 50%. This test is kind of the bane of my existence.


Research Experience: Two summers doing theory work (theoretical astrophysics and nuclear theory) at my undergrad institution with an honors thesis in astro, 2 publications (not first author) from helping out with observing, paper in the works and poster presentation done on work done with my current graduate advisor (who is extremely prolific) on observational x-ray astronomy

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Phi Beta Kappa, partial fellowship at my current grad institution, other small institution/department level stuff

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA, RA, Graduate Women in Science

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I'll have my Masters by the time I transfer

Special Bonus Points: Lots and lots and lots of leadership/extracurricular, I got a letter from my (hopefully) future advisor at Cornell, and I do a whole lot of outreach

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I'm transferring (combination of personal and academic reasons)

Applying to Where:

Cornell - Astronomy & Space Sciences - Theoretical Astrophysics - Waitlisted via email 3/17 - Accepted via email 4/28 w/ $21,800 (9 month) TA + $8,800 summer research - Will attend

NSF Grad Fellowship - Rejected via email on 4/6
DOE Office of Science Grad Fellowship - Rejected via email on 4/15
DoD NDSEG - Rejected via email on 4/12
DOE Computational Science Grad Fellowship - Denied 03/31 via phone inquiry (I never received the decision email sent on 03/26.)

Undergrad Institution: Top 20 Physics
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 3.7
Overall GPA: 3.6
Length of Degree: 4.5
Position in Class: Probably near top
Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Scores:
Q: 800
V: 690
W: 5.0
P: 790

Research Experience:
2 Semesters as an FIR spectroscopy intern
3.5 Years with an atomic group--produced one second author publication
2 Years in industry as a test engineer for an optoelectronics company

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...)
Mentioned above

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
I've constructed an atom trap from scratch, among other misc. lab accomplishments.
Programming skills in MATLAB and LABVIEW, I use both to automate data acquisition, processing, and analysis in my current position.
I have trans-navigated Europe on my bicycle with a fellow physics grad (Shout out to Ol' Bone). This is featured prominently in apps requesting a "diversity statement".

Special Bonus Points: Just the quantity and quality of my laboratory experience
4 Letters from recommenders with whom I've worked closely

Applying to Where:

Experimental AMO/Condensed Matter emphasizing quantum computing/information

Princeton-Rejected (2/19, email)
UCSB-Accepted (2/22, Letter dated 2/17)-->Attending
Berkeley-Rejected (3/9, email)
UIUC-Rejected (Early April, Email)
Maryland-Rejected (Late March in response to inquiry)
UW-Madison-Accepted (1/22, email)
CU-Boulder-Waitlisted (3/11, email)-->Rejected (Late March)
Michigan-Rejected (2/24, email)
U-British Columbia-Accepted (3/8, email)
Penn State-Accepted (2/10, email)
Rochester-Rejected (Early April)
Oregon-Accepted (2/4, email)

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Good Luck Everyone!
______________________________________________

Undergrad Institution: Small private liberal arts
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.95
Overall GPA: 3.63
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: no idea
Type of Student: domestic male

GRE Scores:
Q: 800
V: 540
W: 4
P: 630



Research Experience: 1 REU, exoplanet stuff, telescope stuff

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) Some school ones

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...) Lab TA, physics tutor

Applying to Where:

Harvard - Astronomy (Rejected)
UH manoa - Astronomy (Rejected - 4/15 off waitlist)
UCSC - Astronomy (Rejected)
Boulder - Astronomy (Accepted - 2/11 via fedex)
UC Davis - Physics (Accepted - 2/17 via email)
Cornell - Astronomy (Accepted - 4/14 off waitlist)

NSFGRFP- HM

Undergrad Institution: Ivy
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Environmental Studies
GPA in Major: 3.64
Overall GPA: 3.49
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Average
Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Scores:
Q: 800 (94%)
V: 620 (89%)
W: 5.5 (92%)
P: 740 (63%)


Research Experience: 6 month faculty research project at home institution, no pubs.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Honor Roll, once.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 2 summers and 1 full year (in progress) teaching high school physics.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Don't think so.

Special Bonus Points: Nope.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: GPA shows an upward trend, significant experience living abroad.

Applying to Where:

UCSC - Astronomy and Astrophysics - High-Energy Astrophysics - Rejected via Website 2/27
Cornell - Astronomy - High-Energy Astrophysics - Rejected via Postal Service 2/22
UC Boulder - Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences - High-Energy Astrophysics - Rejected via Postal Service 2/20
Penn State - Astronomy and Astrophysics - High-Energy Astrophysics - Waitlisted via Email Inquiry 2/25
UT Austin - Astronomy - High-Energy Astrophysics - Rejected via Website 2/5
UCSB - Physics - High-Energy Astrophysics - Rejected via Website 3/23
UW Madison - Physics - Particle Astrophysics - Accepted 1/22 via email

Undergrad Institution: Big State University, average reputation in physics/engineering
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.73
Overall GPA: 3.73
Length of Degree: 3 years (see below for info on this)
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: domestic white male

GRE Scores:
Q: 770
V: 540
W: 4.0
P: N/A


Research Experience: One year of research in materials physics at home university; One REU in materials physics at another large state university

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: small scholarship given to the top handful of students in the department, by GPA

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: SPS President for one year, volunteer tutor for a couple years

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I got my first bachelor's degree in a completely unrelated field several years ago, and spent a few years working before I went back to school for physics. My GPA from this first undergrad was much lower.

Applying to Where:

Berkeley - Nuclear Engineering - Fission Reactors / Nuclear Materials Rejected 4/23, email
Michigan - Nuclear Engineering - Fission Reactors / Nuclear Materials Invitation to visit 2/11, email; Accepted 3/24, email, 2200/month RA/fellowship. ACCEPTED OFFER
MIT - Nuclear Engineering - Fission Reactors / Nuclear Materials; Rejected, 4/07, email
NC State - Nuclear Engineering - Fission Reactors / Nuclear Materials Accepted w/ $22,800 GA, email declined
Tennessee - Nuclear Engineering - Fission Reactors / Nuclear Materials Accepted via snail mail, 3/15. Declined before financial offer
Texas A&M - Nuclear Engineering - Fission Reactors / Nuclear Materials withdrew before decision
Georgia Tech - Nuclear Engineering - Fission Reactors / Nuclear Materials Accepted 4/12, phone declined


Fellowships:

NSF Rejected 4/06, email
NDSEG Rejected 4/12, email
NNSA Rejected 4/06, email
Rickover rejected via snail mail, 3/17
CSGF Rejected 4/05, email

Some advice based on my experience: For schools with a late deadline, don't wait to apply. They likely do rolling admissions, and waiting will put you in the back of the line. I don't know if this hurt my chances at any schools, but it sure delayed some decisions.

Undergrad Institution: Average-sized State Sports School; good physics department, but not highly ranked
Major(s): Physics (Astronomy emphasis)
Minor(s): Math, German
GPA in Major: 3.631
Overall GPA: 3.763
Length of Degree: 4 years, B.S.
Position in Class: no clue
Type of Student: Domestic male of completely European descent

GRE Scores:
Q: 800 (94%)
V: 570 (80%)
W: 5.0 (81%)
P: first time: 680 (50%); second time: 730 (60%)


Research Experience:
One Astronomy REU at well-known astronomy program (AGB stars). Fourth (last) author on an A&A paper.
One year of quasar observations at my school (professor left). Quite a few publications where I'm in the alphabetical section of about forty authors.
Five years (summers and breaks) in a mechanical engineering lab (thin membranes) in my hometown (one summer as REU). Conference proceedings papers every year; I presented the latest one and am first author.


Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Dean's List and some automatic, GPA-based honors for athletics
Physics Department Scholarships
National Merit Scholar
Athletic scholarship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Undergraduate Teaching Fellowship - astro help center and telescope operator for student projects
I'm currently a Physics MS student at the same school (see "other info") so I'm a full TA - teach an E&M lab and grade for astronomy classes

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points:
I'm an athlete? They keep telling us that employers like athletes, so maybe grad schools do, too. Beats me.
At least one of my letters is very strong.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
I stuck around as a masters student after getting my BS in order to use my final year of athletic eligibility, so I'm already a grad student who's taken grad courses, been a TA and done very well on a qualifying exam. I hope that helps.

Applying to Where: (all main campuses)

Texas - Astronomy - Rejected 02/28, website
Hawaii - Astronomy - Never heard back
Florida - Astronomy - Accepted 01/29, email <--Attending!
Cornell - Astronomy - Rejected 02/26, letter
Colorado - Astronomy -Accepted 02/11, FedEx
Wisconsin - Astronomy - Invited to visit 01/26, email
Penn State - Astronomy - Accepted 01/24, phone call
UC Santa Cruz - Astronomy - Rejected 02/28, website