Physics GRE Discussion Forums

Good day everyone.

Background:
I come from a school that is in the top ten list for Engineering Physics.
I have about a year and a half of undergraduate work left in my Engineering Physics degree with a minor in Applied and Computational Mathematics. My GPA is an atrocious 3.1. I had one semester where I was overloaded with Phys, Math, & Engineering courses, I got quite a bit of C's.

Problem:
1)I am very interested in studying Plasma Physics. However, most schools for this field look out of my league.
2)I did a semester abroad program and took some upper division courses[QM & Thermal Physics] in Physics. I don't know if this will be pleasing to the admissions board.


I do have some advantages that I hope can compensate for my low GPA.

1) By the time I graduate I will have had research in the following areas:
Bose Einstein Condensates & Solitons
Applications of Network Theory
Soliton Theory--In the math department
Wavelet Theory

2) I know I will be able to get extraordinarily strong letters of recommendation from two professors.
3) Youth Assistance: preparing high schoolers for college calculus.
4) I have taken an extra graduate math course in: Numerical PDEs

Assuming a decent score on the PGRE(800?), do I have a chance at a decent graduate school.

Bests to all.

you should post your profile as detailed as you can (like what you wrote above) in 2010 admission profiles and ask for ideas in Discussion thread. if you get decent GRE scores you can compensate your low GPA. universities consider the whole application so if you don't have good GPA try to make other parts strong.

I should have added that I am looking for a M.S. program only.

An MS in plasma physics? Is that your end goal? That strikes me as a little odd... care to explain?

And yeah, you should post your profile so we can see all the relevant information in a standard format.

A M.S. is not my end goal. I am just not ready to commit to a full PHD, yet.
I figure if I am lucky enough to get into grad school I'll do my best for a M.S.
If I get excellent grades, and depending where I am in life, then I will apply for a Phd program at a top school.

Dreamer, just so you know there are very few masters programs that offer funding. Remember that you can always choose to leave a Phd program with a masters degree without ever being specifically enrolled in a masters program.

Thank you for that very valuable information!
Does this hold true for most Universities?