==> Sticky: 2011 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

  • This has become our largest and most active forum because the physics GRE is just one aspect of getting accepted into a graduate physics program.
  • There are applications, personal statements, letters of recommendation, visiting schools, anxiety of waiting for acceptances, deciding between schools, finding out where others are going, etc.

grom
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2011 10:09 am

Re: ==> Sticky: 2011 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by grom » Sat Apr 16, 2011 10:15 am

Undergrad Institution: top 10 physics
Major(s): Physics, Math
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.9
Overall GPA: 3.8
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class:
Type of Student: domestic female
GRE Scores:
Q: 800
V: 730
W: 5
P: 960


Research Experience: No publications, 3 research experiences totalling two semesters and two summers. All in different but related fields than I was applying for in grad school. No one minded.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: not really

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: not that would help...

Special Bonus Points:

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Recs. were from last two researches and a class. Took a year off; no professor I spoke to even remembered this.

Applying to Where:
All in CM/AMO exp.
UWSeattle - Physics - Accepted
UMichigan - Physics - Accepted
MIT - Physics - Accepted
Princeton - Physics - Accepted
Harvard - Physics - Accepted
UChicago - Physics - Accepted
UC Boulder - Physics - Accepted
Stanford - Physics - Accepted
UC Berkeley - Physics - Accepted

aideen
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2011 1:23 pm

Re: ==> Sticky: 2011 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by aideen » Sat Apr 16, 2011 1:39 pm

Undergrad Institution: MIT
Major(s): Physics, Math
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 4.6, 4.8
Overall GPA: 4.5
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class:
Type of Student: international female
GRE Scores:
Q: 800
V: 660
W: 5.0
P: 890


Research Experience: research for 3 summers with 2 different groups, one year as a research assistant; 2 publications submitted but not yet accepted

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: none

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: not really

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: not really

Special Bonus Points: don't think so

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: two recommenders very famous in the field

Applying to Where:

Harvard - Astronomy - Waitlisted, then Accepted by email 04/14 Will attend
Caltech - Astronomy - Accepted by phone 02/03
Caltech - Planetary Science - Accepted by email 01/24
Caltech - Physics - Accepted by email 02/24
Berkeley - Astronomy - Rejected by email 02/17
MIT - Physics - Rejected by email 02/28
Stanford - Physics - Rejected by email 02/24
Princeton - Astrophysical Sciences - Waitlisted, then Rejected by email 04/06
UCSC - Astronomy - Accepted by email 02/08
UCSB - Physics - Rejected by website 02/28
UCSD - Physics - Rejected by email 03/22
Maryland - Astronomy - Accepted by email 02/16
Washington - Astronomy - withdrew application

kjlkjlkj
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:05 pm

Re: ==> Sticky: 2011 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by kjlkjlkj » Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:36 pm

Undergrad Institution: south american uni, one of the best in the country in science and tech.
Major(s): Elec. Engineering + MSc in high energy theory.
GPA in Major: 85%
Length of Degree: Engineering, 6 years, MSc, 2 years.
Position in Class: top in undergrad and postgrad.
Type of Student: international male
GRE Scores:
Q: 800
V: 550
W: 4
P: 890
TOEFL ibt: 107

Research Experience: some research assistantships, 1 pub. as first author in PRD.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: typical stuff, best of blablabla and blabla.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for several years, spent one year at Göttingen studying physics (good grades there too).

Special Bonus Points: good recs + external scholarship that covers the costs of everything.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: 1 well known rec., extracurricular activities, studies in a music conservatorium, contacts with one of the top universities I applied, varying knowledge in 3 languages, besides spanish.

Applying to Where: everything hep-th

Harvard-Stanford-Columbia-Cornell-UCB-UCSB: Rejected
Purdue-SUNYSB-UCSC-Durham(UK)-Rutgers: Accepted

Moral of the fable: hep-th is a very competitive subject. Play well your chips when choosing unis, be aware that for an international and even for an american it is very hard to get in hep-th in a top uni. There are a lot of great students around the world, and most likely there are many that are better than you (and me), and with better connections. Spend as much time as necessary looking in spires for the work of the faculty members at each institution before deciding where to apply. Good luck!

signminus
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2010 12:15 pm

Re: ==> Sticky: 2011 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by signminus » Tue Apr 19, 2011 12:19 pm

Undergrad Institution: large Canadian school
Major(s): Physics, Math
Minor(s): none
GPA in Major: 3.98
Overall GPA: 3.88
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: Canadian male

GRE Scores:
Q: 800 (94%)
V: 660 (94%)
W: 5.5 (94%)
P: 850 (80%)


Research Experience: 3 summers:
- 1 at national lab --> many-authored conference proceeding
- 1 at other university --> no pubs
- 1 at home university, in area I'm applying for --> first-authored publication
- also, undergrad thesis in area I'm applying for (in progress during application season)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: several school-based scholarships, decent Putnam score

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: some physics- and math-related outreach activities

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: non-scientific writing for community publication

Special Bonus Points: recommenders have connections at some schools I'm applying to

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

Applying to Where: (all physics, for a specific field)

Stanford - Accepted 2/23 by email
Berkeley - Accepted 3/10 by email
Caltech - Rejected 3/15 by email
MIT - Rejected 2/28 by email
Chicago - Accepted 3/1 by email
UT Austin - Invited to open house 2/2 by email; Accepted 3/2 by email
Columbia - Rejected 4/1 by website
Penn - Rejected 3/4 by website
UC Santa Cruz - Withdrew application
Toronto - Accepted 2/17 by email

pranjal.bordia
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2011 9:44 am

Re: ==> Sticky: 2011 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by pranjal.bordia » Thu Apr 28, 2011 9:52 am

Undergrad Institution: IIT Bombay, India. Not famous worldwide for Science. Known for Engineering.
Major(s): Engineering Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: ~ 3.8
Overall GPA: 3.7
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: International Male

GRE Scores:
Q: 800
V: 530
W: 4.0
P: 990


TOEFL Total: 113

Research Experience: 1 simulation projecton cold gases, one expt. project at Max Planck for Quantum Optics, 1 theory project on neutrino oscillations

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for 1st Year Electricity and Magnetism

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: None

Special Bonus Points: None

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Strong Recommendation from Max Planck Director

Applying to Where:
Everywhere in Atomic, Molecular, Optical and Laser Physics
UC Bouder, Stanford, Rice, Arizona State : Accepted
Harvard, MIT, Chicago, Caltech, Berkeley : Reject

Accepted Stanford.
_________________________________________

desperatephysicist
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 10:27 pm

Re: ==> Sticky: 2011 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by desperatephysicist » Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:52 pm

Undergrad Institution: liberal art school. not so reputed in physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.7
Overall GPA: 3.5
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: average to top
Type of Student: International female (eastern Europe)

GRE Scores:
Q: 800
V: 350
W: 4.0
P: 760


TOEFL Total: 600 pbt - 100 iBT

Research Experience: one year research in quantum optics at home institute. mostly experimental work. one summer working in x-ray crystallography lab. no publication.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Undergraduate fellowship for four consecutive years

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: tutoring for two 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:


UIUC - Physics - CME - rejected by email 12/2/2011
Boston - Physics - CME - rejected by email 21/3/2011
Universit of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) - Physics - accepted 10/2/2011 - $22k per year TAship --- will go there
Northeastern - Physics - CME -accepted 18/2/2011 by email - ~$19k for 9 months TAship
Arizona State University - Physics- Semiconductor Physics - (my application never left the grad school because of paperwork)
University of California Riverside - Physics - CME - rejected by email 7/4/2011
USC - Physics - CME - rejected by email 7/4/2011
Wisconsin Madison - Physcis - CMP - rejected by email 23/1/2011
Oklahoma - Physcis - CMP withdrawn

User avatar
Andromeda
Posts: 127
Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2008 3:17 pm

Re: ==> Sticky: 2011 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Andromeda » Fri Jun 17, 2011 4:41 pm

I was here two years ago when applying for a PhD but decided to leave my program with an M.S. and apply to schools primarily in Europe (where often the M.S. is the required threshold) as an American. This is a rather unusual thing to do, but I'm posting it in case there are other "domestic" students out there trying to think outside the box!

M.S. Institution: Technical University in the USA well-regarded in Physics
Field: Physics, astrophysics concentration
GPA in Major: ~3.0, passed the qualifier
Length of Degree: 1.5 years
Position in Class: average
Type of Student: female from the USA

Undergrad Institution: Same as the M.S. university
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): History
GPA in Major: ~3.0
Overall GPA: 3.26
Length of Degree: 4.5 (semester abroad got in the way)
Position in Class: average
Type of Student: female from the USA

GRE Scores: I didn't take them this time around (as European universities don't need them, but from two years ago I think it was something like this...
Q: 720
V: 670
W: 5.5
P: 12th percentile because I am awesome

Research Experience: A great REU my last summer of undergrad in radio astronomy, and at my university I worked on and off for a HEA professor for 5 years (including my senior thesis and M.S. thesis), built a radio telescope with the Ham radio club on campus

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Service Award from the Physics Department, an award from the National Association of Science Writers to attend AAAS

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA'd for a year, heavily involved with the Physics and Astronomy Club, lots of public outreach (such as doing the Science Cafe in my town one month)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I do a lot of writing and science outreach and in fact currently do freelance work for various pop science magazines (Astronomy, Discover, that ilk)

Special Bonus Points: Was in the physics department but took a few astronomy courses along the way even at the graduate level, very strong letters of recommendation as I am close to all my letter writers

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I'm not a good student academically because I'll do the homework but am awful at test-taking, so my transcripts are all over the place.

Applying to Where:

USA:
Columbia - Astronomy - rejected upon inquiry
Boston University - Astronomy - rejected via email
UC- Santa Cruz - Astronomy - rejected via email

Europe:
Oxford - Astronomy - Radio Astronomy rejected via email
Edinburgh - Astronomy - Experimental Astronomy interviewed 3/18 via Skype
St. Andrews - Astronomy and Physics - Experimental Astronomy never heard back :?
Imperial College - Astronomy and Physics - Experimental Astronomy rejected via website
Leiden - Astronomy - Radio Astronomy waitlisted 12/15
University of Amsterdam - Astronomy - Radio Astronomy interviewed 4/29 via Skype, accepted 5/9, will attend
MPI- Heidelberg - Astronomy - High-Energy Astrophysics rejected via email
MPI- Munich - Astronomy - Experimental Astronomy rejected via email
MPI- Bonn - Astronomy - Radio Astronomy interviewed 1/27 via Skype

Needless to say it's been a crazy past few months, but here are a few notes for anyone considering throwing a few darts into Europe:

1) No one needs the GRE over there, which is great if yours was as bad as mine, but you usually need a M.S. to apply. It is also free to apply and everyone's ok with non-official transcripts until you're admitted (the exception to both counts being Oxford) so this alone is a good reason to apply I think!
2) I found English-speaking programs for physics/astronomy in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland. On "the Continent" your citizenship doesn't really matter when it comes to funding but in the UK the majority of their funding is pretty much reserved for UK residents (though EU citizens can have their tuition fees covered, ie no stipend) unless it's from the European Research Council in which case all nationalities can apply. Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, and Manchester were the big schools I found in Europe who had consistent opportunities for international students.
3) The interview was really important as they use this to gauge your knowledge in the field etc in lieu of having a Physics GRE or whatever. It took a little bit of getting used to as I'd never done one before but definitely be able to talk about basic concepts you learned in your classes and prepared answers for the basic questions... While I liked having an opportunity to have a say in the application process there are definite downsides to it as well, as I think I would've preferred an outright rejection compared to learning for example it was between two people for one position and the other guy got it.
4) Grad school varies place to place but as a general rule you need the M.S. because you are considered done with classes and just focusing on research for your PhD, which will last 3-4 years (some schools make you TA a bit just due to a lack of warm bodies, but it isn't expected to take more than 20% of your time). Stipends vary too- in Holland for example you are classified as a junior employee of the university instead of a student, so in addition to incredibly nice benefits (full medical insurance and five weeks vacation anyone?) I get pay that is similar to what a post-doc makes in the USA and increases each year.

So that's been my little forray into the other side of the pond :) Really recommend it as some of the world-class research is focused in Europe, and feel free to PM if you have any questions about applying there.

Septo
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2011 4:41 am

Re: ==> Sticky: 2011 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Septo » Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:36 am

Undergrad Institution: Berkeley
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): CS
GPA in Major: 3.94
Overall GPA: 3.86
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE Scores:
Q: 800
V: 640
W: 4.5
P: 910


Research Experience: 3 research experiences, 0 publications. All 3 were in different, but related fields.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: none

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Summer at Facebook, and Lockheed Martin

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: none really =\

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I wrote a few android apps that were related and mentioned them

Applying to Where:

UC Berkeley Accepted
Columbia Accepted Unofficially in January via phone, officially early February
MITAccepted
Harvard Accepted
UCLA Accepted
UCSBAccepted
UCSDAccepted
now for the sad :(
Stanford(topchoice) Rejected
PrincetonRejected
CalTechRejected

grep
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2011 6:17 pm

Re: ==> Sticky: 2011 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by grep » Sat Jul 23, 2011 1:22 am

______________________________________________
Undergrad Institution: State University with no reputation for physics (or anything)
Major(s): (Primary) Mechanical Engineering (Secondary) Physics
Overall GPA: 3.82
Length of Degree: 4.5
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: white domestic male

GRE Scores:
Q: 790 (91%)
V: 550 (75%)
W: 3.0 (10%)
P: 880 (84%) November; 830 (78%) October

Research Experience:
One summer REU in computational solid state at home university
Three years in computational biophysics (one conference talk, a couple posters, no publications before acceptance)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
local outstanding physics student award
honors college and a few scholarships

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Tutored physics/chemistry for a year

Special Bonus Points:
My research adviser put in a good word for me, outside of recommendations.
I know atleast one really strong recommendation

Applying to Where:

Research interest in theory/computational materials for all of them
In the order that I heard back from them:

Notre Dame - Physics [Accepted]
Princeton - Mechanical Engineering [Accepted]
Mcgill - Physics [Accepted]
Carnegie Melon - Physics [Accepted]
Yale - Applied Physics [Rejected]
Cornell - Applied Physics [Rejected]
Harvard - SEAS [Rejected]
MIT - Applied Physics [Rejected]



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