2013 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

[macroshea]

This is the most useful resource PhysicsGRE has to offer. If you have used this information in the past or are currently using it to help decide upon schools, I highly suggest you help out and post your own profile once you have applied to schools. Future members of this forum will find it very useful! Don't be shy!

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]: (revised or old version?)
[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 the template from previous years.

[macroshea]

Undergrad Institution: Large state school, top 20 in physics
Major(s): Physics, Math
Minor(s): Astronomy
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.98
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Near top I guess
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 170
V: 169
W: 6.0
P: 990 (Apr 2012)

Research Experience: 2 summer REUs, one working on topological insulators resulting in a Phys Rev B publication, one on optimization of neutron scattering parameters for probing of crystal lattice structures (no publication). Also working with a professor at my school on ARPES characterization of transitional states of strongly correlated electronic systems (3rd author in Nature, and and another publication in progress)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater scholarship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Chairman of SPS, physics tutor for 2 years

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Did collegiate sports in my freshman year?

Special Bonus Points: Nah

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

Applying to Where:


MIT - AMO Accepted 13 Feb with fellowship
Harvard - Condensed Matter Accepted 15 Feb with Peirce fellowship
Princeton - Condensed Matter Accepted 14 Feb
Berkeley - Condensed Matter Accepted 5 Feb
UCSB - Condensed Matter Accepted 7 Feb with Broida fellowship
Stanford - Condensed Matter
Boulder - AMO Accepted 8 Feb with 15K signing bonus
Cornell - Condensed Matter Accepted 1 Feb with fellowship
U Wash - Condensed Matter Accepted 17 Jan with 20K signing bonus
UCSD - Condensed Matter Accepted 5 Feb with Ticho fellowship
Caltech - Condensed Matter Accepted 22 Feb

[DiracMan]

Undergrad Institution: Small Liberal Arts School
Major(s): Physics / Math Double Major
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 4 (the first two were also my junior and senior years of high school, but I imagine that is irrelevant)
Position in Class: Not enough students in department to be statistically meaningful.
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 167 (96%) (800 on old GRE)
V: 168 (98%) (~720 on old GRE)
W: 5.0 (92%)
P: 840 (80%)

Research Experience: 1 summer at SLAC doing femtosecond spectroscopy through the SULI program, 1 summer REU at Cornell doing beam dynamics simulations; both produced unpublished papers, and may produce published papers over the next three months; Ongoing numerical research in nonlinear dynamics (hopefully will produce at least senior thesis...)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Holder of endowed full-ride scholarship at my institution; Scholarship awards in both math and physics for excellence; Sigma Pi Sigma; National AP Scholar and National Merit Scholar back in the day (do grad. programs actually care about these?)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Three years TAing high school precalc. and calc. I; Going into second year as SPS president (we received an award for the quality of our outreach work last year, which I guess will look good)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Ummm...no? Maybe?

Special Bonus Points: Well...I will have a LOR from SLAC and Cornell. I guess that counts? The professor I plan to ask for a LOR from is an MIT alumnus.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Nothing comes to mind...

Applying to Where:

I expressed interest in experimental condensed matter and AMO physics (or accelerator physics where applicable):

Stanford - Rejected 4/2 by Phone, After Much Back-and-Forth
Berkeley - Rejected 3/5 by Email
MIT - Rejected 2/15 by Email
Cornell - Rejected 2/12 by Email
U. Chicago - Rejected 3/1 by Website
U. Illinois - Accepted by Email (4/2) - $21k TA Will Attend, 4/8
U. Maryland - Rejected 3/11 by Email Inquiry
Michigan State - Accepted by Email (1/18) - $26k Fellowship Declined, 4/8
Kansas State - Wait-listed 1/31 by Email

NSF Fellowship - Awarded via Website (3/30)
______________________________________________

[photonic]

Undergrad Institution: State School, good grad physics program, meh undergrad.
Major(s): Physics/Math
GPA in Major:3.97/4.0
Overall GPA:3.97
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Near Top
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q:168 (97%)
V:168 (98%)
W:6
P: 880 (84%)

Applying to Where:

All HET & CMT. Should be interesting to see how what I put down and/or emphasized affects admissions.

Harvard: CMT/HET Rejected
MIT: CMT Rejected
Princeton: CMT/HET Rejected
Cornell: HET Accepted
Columbia: HET
UPenn: CMT/HET
Maryland: CMT Accepted
Brown: HET Accepted
Rutgers: CMT Accepted
Yale: CMT Accepted-Attending
Boston: HET/CMT Accepted
NYU: HET Accepted
Cambridge Part III - Accepted Just waiting on scholarships to see if I can afford it.

[StewieVader]

Undergrad Institution: Indian Institute of Technology. Reputed for engineering. Unknown for physics
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 9.3
Overall GPA: 9.2
Length of Degree: 5
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: International Male

GRE Scores : Revised
Q: 167 (96%)
V: 160 (83%)
W: 4.0 (49%)
P: 990 (95%)

TOEFL Total: 117/120

Research Experience:
2 Summers of research experience on laser physics at TIFR and Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Garching.
Internship on ultracold atoms at ParisTech, resulting in publication in Physical Review Letters (4/8)
Poster on non-linear optics at International Conference in India (1/3)
Master's thesis on non-linear optics, published in Optics Express (4/6)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Prestigious undergraduate fellowship from Dept. of Science and Technology
WISE fellowship from DAAD and ParisTech fellowship for internships
Award for academic excellence at Institute
First prize in national level essay competition on laser physics

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Representative for two years on student council. Active participation in robotics activities.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: None

Special Bonus Points: Strong recs from research supervisors. Worked in research group of really famous physicist in Europe.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: None

Applying to Where:
Experimental AMO/Quantum Optics
Caltech - Accepted (02/22) - Attending!
University of Colorado, Boulder - Accepted (02/09) - Declined
University of Maryland, College Park - Accepted (02/21) - Declined
State University of New York, Stony Brook - Accepted (03/01) - Declined
Harvard - Rejected (15/02) by post
MIT - Rejected (02/15)
Cornell - Rejected (02/13)
Stanford - Applied Physics - Rejected (02/02) by post
UC Berkeley - Rejected (03/02)
Rochester - Rejected (15/04) by email

and in the UK
University of Cambridge (Cavendish Laboratory) - Accepted (02/23) Offered partial funding through Cambridge Trust Scholarship. Also shortlisted for the Manmohan Singh Cambridge Graduate Fellowship interview. All of this though happened after the April 15th deadline and I had to decline them.

[tamakas]

Undergrad Institution: Truman State (Physics), Missouri S&T (Aero)
Major(s): Physics and Aerospace Engineering
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.94 (AE) 3.93 (Physics)
Overall GPA: 3.80
Length of Degree: 5.5 years. I transferred and got two nearly unrelated degrees, so it took a bit longer...
Position in Class: I'd imagine near the top for both.
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: ?
V: ?
W: ?
P: ?


Research Experience: Nope. This will probably be my biggest weakness.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Just the usual scholarships and the like.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutored for 3 years and was a TA for a freshman level Physics course. For Aerospace I was a member of a design team for two years.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Can't think of any right now.

Special Bonus Points: Two of my rec letters for Aero are graduates from VT. Sadly, my Physics rec letters aren't very well connected. Truman's faculty is full of professors who want to teach, not do research. A couple of graduate level computational courses in AE, should crossover well for both applications.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Very strong record in two STEM fields, probably would help more if I was applying to interdisciplinary fields. I think that my AE degree will hurt my chances at Physics, whereas my Physics degree won't affect my Aero chances at all.

Applying to Where:
Tenitive Lists. I already have a job offer as an engineer, so I'm aiming a little high and if I don't get in, it's not the end of the world.

Physics:
Maryland - Physics - Physics Education
Colorado - Physics - Physics Education
Illinois - Physics - Physics Education
Ohio State - Physics - Physics Education
Missouri - Physics - Undecided

Aerospace Engineering:
Georgia Tech - Aerospace - Aerodynamics
Virginia Tech - Aerospace - Aerodynamics
Maryland - Aerospace - Aerodynamics
Illinois - Aerospace - Aerodynamics
Texas - Aerospace - Aerodynamics

[Skullgrid]

Undergrad Institution: UC, reputable for Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Major(s): Physics, Philosophy
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.88, 3.85
Overall GPA: 3.85
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: Near Top
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE Scores :
Q: 168 (97%)
V: 165 (95%)
W: 4.0 (49%)
P: 910 (88%)

Research Experience: One summer in medical/particle physics, paper forthcoming (5th author, or something like that). One summer in CMT, more of an independent study than actual research. Two years in Theoretical/Computational High-Energy Astrophysics, 1st author paper forthcoming.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I lead a study group concerning accretion physics.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Grad courses in Stat Mech and Non-Rel QM (also audited Grad QFT and Particle Physics). I took nearly every physics elective offered. Strong Letters.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I'm pretty proud of my SOP.

Applying to:
All astronomy departments with interest in Computational/Analytical High-Energy/Compact Objects/GR/Plasma.
All physics departments with the above astro interests, and additionally a slight interest in Computational/Analytical CM (Quantum Phases/Strong Correlations).

Caltech - Astronomy - Accepted 2/1 email - $31k/yr
Princeton - Astrophysical Sciences - Accepted 2/4 email - $24k Schwarzschild Fellowship + $8k summer stipend
Chicago - Astronomy and Astrophysics- Waitlisted 2/9
Harvard - Astronomy - Rejected 2/11 email inquiry

Cornell - Physics - Accepted 2/1 website - $27k/9mo Fellowship
UCSD - Physics - Accepted 2/4 email - Funding TBA
UCSB - Physics - Accepted 2/7 website - $3k Broida Fellowship + $17.6k/9mo TA + $7.5k Paxton Fellowship
MIT - Physics - Accepted 2/14 email - Funding TBA
UC Berkeley - Physics - Accepted 2/15 email - Funding TBA
Caltech - Physics - Accepted 2/21 email - Funding TBA
Columbia - Physics - Accepted 2/27 email - Funding TBA
UMD - Physics - Accepted 2/28 email - $5k/yr Dean Fellowship + TA/RA = $26.5k/yr
Stanford - Physics - Accepted 3/1 email - ~$36k/yr

[gabobaby]

Undergrad Institution: Big state school, top 20 physics
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major: >3.0
Overall GPA: ~3.0
Length of Degree: 6 yrs (two transfers)
Position in Class: probably average
Type of Student: domestic male hispanic

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 160/760 (81%)
V: 158/580 (77%)
W: 4.0 (49%)
P: awaiting score (practice tests ~700, 56%)

Research Experience: Biophysics lab (currently, 1 yr so far, working on senior thesis), computational plasma (full summer), Heavy ion collision (couple of months), oncology microbio lab (full summer, over 5 yrs ago).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: NSF undergrad funding recipient, sigma pi sigma inductee, SPS officer for a year, Honor Roll, and Dean's List for a few semesters, Terry Scholar for two years (full tuition and living scholarship).

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: equivalent of undergrad TA for non-science-major physics, tutored math & physics, student grader/assistant for intro physics.

Special Bonus Points: minority status, my research advisor (letter of rec) pioneered photonic force microscopy, for whatever that's worth. Also, er, computer skills (Fortran, java, unix CLI, mathematica, latex)?

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Particularly weak grades for the first few semesters.

Applying to Where: my tentative list, in order of descending US News' physics ranking. Currently trying to shorten my list.

(All Biophysics unless otherwise specified)
UC Berkeley
Cornell
UC Santa Barbara
Columbia
UC San Diego
UT Austin
UC LA
UCol Boulder
UWash Seattle
UC Davis
Georgia Tech
UC Irvine - Math, Comp, & Systems Bio.
UArizona
NYU
UC Santa Cruz
ASU

It seems that a lot of schools have separate PhD programs for biophysics. My hope is that they are easier to get into than the straight physics programs because they are probably less popular amongst undergrad physics students applying to grad programs. Also, a lot of these programs are interdisciplinary, accepting apps from bio, chem, eng, phys undergrads. This may give me an advantage? It should be obvious that I am smarter than anyone with a lesser science degree, right?

[slothrop]

Undergrad Institution: Top 5 LAC
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 3.28
Overall GPA: 3.14
Type of Student: white male

Grad Institution: Unknown State School
Major(s): Mechanical Engineering (CFD)
GPA: 3.35
GPA after first term 3.62

GRE Scores
Q: 168 (97%)
V: 166 (96%)
W: 5.0 (92%)
P: 870 (83%)

Research Experience: 3 projects over 4 years, all computational

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dept. Honors, Sigma Xi

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Some grad classes in Statistical Physics.

Special Bonus Points: Recs should be speak to a variety of different strengths (might not even sound like the same person?)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Undergrad GPA is low in the middle, high on the ends. Doesn't look too good. Grad GPA is pulled down by one terrible undergrad class I thought I should take.

Applying to Where:
All Condensed Matter Theory

U Chicago Rejected via e-mail 3/1
U Maryland Rejected via e-mail 4/10
U Colorado Rejected via e-mail 2/25
U Michigan Rejected via e-mail 2/12
U Washington Rejected via e-mail 3/13
Brown Accepted via e-mail on 2/21 with TA 22.2 k/9 months +2.5k/month for summer !!! Will Attend! 4/6
Northwestern Rejected via check of website 4/21
Carnegie Mellon Rejected via e-mail 4/25
Boston U Rejected via e-mail 2/14
NYU Rejected via e-mail 3/12
Northeastern Accepted on 2/28 via e-mail with TA 30 k / year Declined 4/6
Brandeis Invited to open house via e-mail on 1/29 Declined 2/22
Illinois at Chicago Withdrawn 2/28 Accepted Anyway on 3/1 via e-mail with TA $15,570 / 9 months
U Connecticut Accepted on 2/12 via e-mail with TA 20.4 k / year Declined 2/22

Comments: If I could do it again, I would have shaved off some of the reach schools that I had less positive e-mail correspondences with (i.e. Maryland) and maybe a backup (i.e. Illinois at Chicago) and replaced them with a selection from Johns Hopkins, Duke, UCSD, UCI, Virginia, Penn based on the enthusiasm of e-mail correspondence with professors. I also tried to correspond/list 3 professors in each application, but in retrospect this was too much. I would have focused on 1 or 2 professors except in rare circumstances. I am not surprised by the acceptance at Brown/ rejection elsewhere in the top 50. The school seemed a good match for my personal statement / the video segment of their app (which everyone but me seemed to be complaining about) and my background resonated with some specific projects. Don't let a low undergrad GPA deter you from applying to schools. Work hard for the tests and work to widen your net of quality/terse e-mail correspondences like it's a full time job, especially if your background and skill set are relatively unusual. In addition, I would like to echo the comment posted on the profile below about the PGRE, which is that based on the practice exams I expected to score in the upper 900's and was blindsided by a much lower score. The scoring on the practice exams, especially the older ones, is probably much softer than the tests which are now given, beware!

[Meteorshower]

Undergrad Institution: St Andrews University (Scotland!) Fairly good for physics
Major(s): Theoretical Physics and Mathematics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: Doing some conversions it seems to be 3.91
Overall GPA: 1st class (3.87)
Length of Degree: 4 years, but it's a Masters i'll have a the end.
Position in Class: Not the top but not too far off hopefully.
Type of Student: International white male

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 168 (97%)
V: 166 (96%)
W: 4.5 (73%)
P: 800 (74%) Very disappointed with this


Research Experience: One REU at Montana State University working on solar physics, one summer in St Andrews working on condensed matter theory. Both times my worked seemed to be more than satisfactory. No publications though, wasn't really feasible with what I was doing in the time frame (I tell myself).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Just deans list 2 out of 3 years

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I have no idea what sps, ta etc mean so i'll assume not.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Nothing physics related really.

Special Bonus Points: The professor I worked with at MSU did has PhD at one of the places i'm applying. Will have taken 6 Graduate level courses and a masters project if that helps?

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I have taken more credits than I needed to and at a higher level.

Applying to Where: Mostly for CMT apart from Montana State

Stanford - Rejection
Cornell - Rejection 02/12
University of Washington - Rejection
Universirty of Michigan - Rejection 02/12
University of Colorado Boulder - Rejection
Princeton - Rejection
Montana State University (for solar) - Acceptance Declined
Harvard - Rejection
Berkeley - Rejection
MIT - Rejection
University of Wisconsin Madison - Acceptance 01/24
University of Chicago - Rejection

Gotta say, I'm fairly pessimistic after receiving my Physics GRE score, can definitely see myself getting rejected by pretty much everywhere.

Edit - So as expected rejected from almost everywhere. Fairly disappointed, but my PGRE really is just too low. I would advise anyone if possible to try and sit it twice, however confident you are. I thought i'd get 950+ (aiming for 990) and I have no idea how I didn't given how confident I was after the test but hey it happened.

[relativeflux]

Undergrad Institution: Military Service Academy
Overall Reputation in Physics? None, huge engineering reputation
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.86
Overall GPA: 3.4
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top 20%
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 770 83%
V: 520 61%
W: 4.0 49%
P: April 2012: 680 51% October 2012: 720 59%


Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)
Undergrad
Variable star and exoplanet observation, modeling and simulation 1 year- one conference poster
Government DoD Laboratory
Remote sensing/spectroscopy 1.5 years- One conference publication as a second author/Master's Thesis
Fuel Cell research involving spectroscopy 2 years- Submitted publications: second author in JACS, first author in PChem C. Poster presentation at American Chemical Society National Meeting.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: In-house research of the Quarter award

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...) Government laboratory scientist for 4+ years

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Have a MS in Applied Physics GPA 3.56, conecentration was lasers and spectroscopy. Beam time at Argonne National Laboratory's Advanced Photon Source.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: As a military officer, my job was to conduct and manage research at a government laboratory. Most of my research was in electrochemistry but I hope the duration (4+ years) and responsibility ($Ms in portfolio) of my position shows a general competence in research. However, I have also been out of academia for a while now.
Also, I have a little bit lower GPA than I would like. This is somewhat due to the large core curriculum and type of classes that factored into my GPA like unarmed combat, water survival, and military tactics classes that I did not always get an A in.

Applying to Where: Plan to do astrophysics research at each institution. Preferably in galactic or extragalactic evolution/dynamics, cosmology, or high energy astrophysics.

Minnesota-Astro - Accepted via email 24 Jan Will attend.
UNC-Physics - Accepted via email 1 Feb
Kansas-Physics - Accepted via email 11 Feb
Illinois-Astro - Wait Listed via email 7 March- Withdrawn
Maryland-Astro - Wait Listed via email 22 Feb- Withdrawn
Yale-Astro - Rejected via email to check website 25 Feb
Texas-Astro - Rejected via email to check website 8 Feb
Columbia-Astro - Rejected via email to check website 22 March
Ohio State-Astro - Rejected via email inqury 12 March

[Catria]

Undergrad Institution: University of Montreal (big public school, top-5 in Canada for physics)
Major(s): Joint physics-mathematics
Minor(s): Not applicable
GPA in Major: 3.69
Overall GPA: 3.69 (there hasn't been any room for non-major electives until next semester, and no general education courses either)
Length of Degree: 3 years (but since Quebecer high schoolers go to two years of CEGEP after grade 11, I'm on an even playing field as far as out-of-province schools are concerned)
Position in Class: Above average (~25% rank)
Type of Student: (International for Tufts, domestic otherwise) Chinese-Canadian male

GRE Scores: (not taken yet for real; revised)
Q:169 (on a practice test)
V:159 (on a practice test)
W:
P:


TOEFL Total: Not taken yet

Research Experience: None

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None, unless dean's list counts (all semesters, requires 3.65+ overall)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Even though in an unofficial capacity I helped run recitations in applied analysis (MAT2466) and differential geometry (MAT2300)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: None (unless sitting on a department assembly for the final undergrad year counts)

Special Bonus Points: I wonder where taking courses as an undergrad that are graduate level at Tufts for is one for Tufts, but wouldn't be one for Canadian schools

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: First-generation college student (only appears on the Tufts application)

Applying to Where: (GRE-optional unless otherwise indicated)

Safety school:

Polytechnique - Mathematics and industrial engineering - Operational continuity Accepted 12/3 ($17k yearly) Will not attend

Match schools:

McGill - Mining and materials engineering - Tribology Withdrawn 4/5
York University - Physics and astronomy - Dark matter Rejected 2/15

Reach schools:

McGill - Physics - Astrophysics (cosmology)
University of Montreal - Physics - Astrophysics (cosmology) Unofficial acceptance 2/27, official snail mail acceptance 4/5 ($18,000; $10,000 as an entry scholarship, $8,000 in stipend)
University of Toronto - Astronomy and astrophysics - Astrophysics (may not apply) Withdrawn
Tufts (GRE-mandatory) - Physics and Astronomy - Galactic physics Withdrawn

[quantum_fan]

Undergrad Institution: Big state school - top 20 in physics.
Major(s): Physics, Math
Minor(s): none
GPA in Major: Physics: 3.86, Math: 3.76
Overall GPA: 3.86
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: unknown
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 168 (97%)
V: 166 (96%)
W: 5.0 (92%)
P: 840 (80%)

Research Experience: 1 year at home institution doing computational plasma physics, 3rd author on one paper. 2 quarters at home institution doing an independent study in nuclear theory. 1 summer SULI at Princeton Plasma Physics Lab doing computational plasma physics.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: University Honors program, departmental honors, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Pi Sigma, dean's list, nothing out of the ordinary.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 2 quarters freshman physics TA, 1 quarter math TA, 1 year SPS vice president, 1 year as undergraduate representative on physics faculty committee.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: none.

Special Bonus Points: none.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: none.

Applying to Where: All for theory/computation. Concentration mostly undecided.

Washington - Physics - Plasma/HEP/CM - accepted 1/17
Wisconsin - Physics - Plasma/HEP/CM - accepted 1/23
Illinois - Physics - HEP/CM - accepted 2/18
Colorado - Physics - Plasma/HEP/CM - accepted 2/22
Maryland - Physics - Plasma/HEP/CM - accepted 3/5
Princeton - Astrophysical Sciences - Program in Plasma Physics - phone interview 1/24, waitlist 2/12, accepted 4/14

Cornell - Physics - HEP/CM - rejected 2/18
Stanford - Physics - HEP/CM rejected 3/1
Berkeley - Physics - HEP/CM rejected 3/5
UCSB - Physics - HEP/CM rejected 3/21
UCSD - Physics - Plasma/HEP/CM rejected 3/22

In retrospect, I know how I could have somewhat significantly improved my SOP, but I doubt that would have changed much.

[Gorgy]

Undergrad Institution: Top 2 in nation (Chile), good physics and astronomy depts.
Major(s): Astronomy
Minor(s): None (Physics if any)
GPA in Major: 3.0 (i guess i don't know the scaling/conversion)
Overall GPA: 3.0
Length of Degree: 4 years on paper, I did it in 6 D:
Position in Class: always a fighter, never a winner.
Type of Student: International "latino" male.

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 161 (83%)
V: 161 (86%)
W: 3.5 (30%)
P: 630 (39%)

TOEFL Total: 108

Research Experience: No publications , done spectral line analysis , modeled stars through evolutionary track, worked on rendering binary models. all with an appropiate profs.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Graduated with honors (barely).

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: None whatsoever, did some astronomy outreach a couple of years ago but it was brief.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: nope.

Special Bonus Points: I should be latino but thats kinda lame nowadays.

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

Applying to Where:

UC Santa Cruz - Astro & Astrophys - MHD/WD evolution/Stellar Evolution - Rejected
UC Los Angeles - Astronomy - MHD/WD evolution/Stellar Evolution - Rejected
UC Santa Barbara - Physics & Astronomy - MHD/WD evolution/Stellar Evolution - Rejected
UC San Diego - Physics - MHD/WD evolution/Stellar Evolution - Rejected
Ohio State University - Astronomy - MHD/WD evolution/Stellar Evolution - Rejected
Chicago - Astro & Astrophys - MHD/WD evolution/Stellar Evolution - Rejected

Should've put in some safeties

[discgolfguy]

Undergrad Institution: small, private school. no physics reputation
Major(s): Physics, Chemistry
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.88
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: domestic white male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 90ish
V: 80ish
W: 70ish
P: 50ish

Research Experience: SULI Program at Princeton Plasma Physics Lab - presented at APS Division of Plasma Physics Conference in Salt Lake City; Honors Project in fulfillment of honors program (roughly 1-2 years of research); Summer Research at my school over the summer

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: dean's list every semester, honors program, departmental scholarships

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: tutor, physics TA, chemistry TA over the summer, honors program representative

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: none

Special Bonus Points: none

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: resident assistant, president of the disc golf club, fluent in german and english

Applying to Where:

Cornell - Condensed Matter
Brown - Condensed Matter - Rejected 2/22
Illinois - Condensed Matter - Rejected 3/5
Colorado - Condensed Matter - Rejected 2/25
UC Davis - Condensed Matter - Accepted 2/12 - Will Attend!
William & Mary - Condensed Matter - Accepted 1/29 (contacted by professor) (22k yearly) Declined

Fellowships:
NSF GRFP - Not Selected
DoD NDSEG

[Minovsky]

Undergrad Institution: Private. A few professors known in their fields, but otherwise a no-name in physics.
Major(s): Mathematics and Physics
Minor(s): Marine Science, Mechanical Engineering
GPA in Major: 3.6
Overall GPA: 3.5
Length of Degree: 5
Position in Class: Above average? (school doesn't keep track)
Type of Student: Domestic, Male, Non-minority

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 161 (83%)
V: 159 (80%)
W: 5.0 (92%)
P: 720 (59%)



Research Experience: 1 Summer Computational Condensed Matter, 1 Semester Field Oceanography, 1 Semester Experimental Plasma, 1 Semester Mathematical Physics. 1 poster presentation at a national conference. No publications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Various internal awards (Honors Student, Dean's List, Merit Scholarship).

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Math & Physics Tutor, SPS President for 2 years, industry internship related to scientific research.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I've been teaching myself differential geometry, QFT, and fluid mechanics.

Special Bonus Points: All three recommendations are from research advisors and arevery strong. Graduate coursework in Particle, QM, Solid State, Real Analysis, Nonlinear Diff. Eq.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Used to be an engineering major and got really poor grades.

Applying to Where: (Theory)

BU - Physics - Condensed Matter - Rejected 2/15 via email
U Chicago - Physics - Condensed Matter - Rejected 3/1 via email to check website
Duke - Physics - Nonlinear - Rejected 2/15 via email to check website
UC Irvine - Physics - Particle - Waitlisted 2/27 via email
UC Davis - Physics - Nonlinear - Accepted 2/12 via email (~$26k TA)
UCSD - Physics - Nonlinear/Plasma - Rejected 3/21 via email
UMD College Park - Physics - Chaos - Rejected 4/7 via email to check website
UNC Chapel Hill - Physics - Particle - Accepted 2/19 via email ($22.8k TA)
Perimeter Institute - (MSc) Physics - Rejected 4/5 via email
LMU Munich - (MSc) Theoretical and Mathematical Physics
Bonn-Cologne - (MSc) Physics - Invited for interview 2/15 via email - Accepted 3/29 via email (€700/mo. Scholarship)

DAAD Scholarship - Rejected 3/28 via email

[Dionysus]

Undergrad Institution: East Coast Research University, Top 20 in Physics and Astronomy
Major(s): Astronomy and Physics
GPA in Major: 3.87 / 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.92 / 4.0
Length of Degree: 4 year, B.A.
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 170 (99%)
V: 160 (83%)
W: 4.5 (73%)
P: 690 (53%)

Research Experience: 4 years of research with faculty at university, 2 REUs, 3 Presentations at American Astronomical Society Meetings, 1 First Author paper, Other papers in preparation

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List - Every Semester

Special Bonus Points: Good Recommendations from strong people in Astronomy, President of Astronomy Society at my university for 3 years.

Applying to Where:
(Astronomy - Radio Astronomy / Galactic Structure)

Harvard - Rejected via snail mail 2/2.
UC Berkeley - Rejected via email 2/13.
Caltech - Rejected via email 2/11.
Cornell - Accepted 1/28 via email. $32,752/year + health ins.
Columbia -
Chicago -
Maryland -
Virginia - Accepted 2/6 via phone. Waiting on financial info.

[Scotthew]

Undergrad Institution: Top 1 or 2 in Canada for physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): -
GPA in Major: >4.0/4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0/4.0
Length of Degree: 5 years because of a brief/misguided foray into engineering
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: white Canadian male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 168 (97%)
V: 164 (93%)
W: 4.5 (73%)
P: 870 (83%) - I underestimated the relative importance of a perfect PGRE

Research Experience: Two years of real research - 1 year in theoretical/simulation biophysics; 1 year working with a particle theorist on the dynamics & deconfinement transition of certain gauge theories and by simulating spin models that are dual to the gauge theories. My supervisor is relatively well known in the hep-th community so hopefully this bodes well. This work resulted in a paper that has been published in JHEP. I'm also doing a Higgstrahlung decay analysis throughout this school year, and am continuing my work with the particle theorist on a project about the symmetries of moebius fermions with yukawa couplings (related to regulating chiral gauge theories on the lattice). A few years ago I developed computational physics material for second-year physics courses.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Scholarships every year for academic performance.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I act as a TA for a computational physics course

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Taken cross-listed grad courses in HEP and GR, taking full on grad courses QFT 1 this fall and QFT 2 this spring. Also doing a full-year experimental Higgs analysis as a project course, and supervised study in string theory in the spring. My transcript is littered with A+s (haven't had an A in over 2 years), including high A+s in grad courses.

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

Applying to Where:
All for hep-th (mainly in formal aspects of field theory with interest in string theory, AdS/CFT, phenomenology and applications of QFT to condensed matter systems)

University of Toronto - Accepted for direct-entry PhD via email (2/6)
McGill - Accepted via email (2/6) - will attend due to fantastic match with supervisor
Cornell- Accepted via website (2/7) - $25,594 TA + summer stipend
Yale - surprise phone interview on (2/1), unofficial acceptance (2/11), accepted via email (2/18) - $31,250
UBC - Accepted via email (2/26)
UCSD - Accepted via email (3/13)

Princeton - Rejected via email (2/14)
MIT - Rejected via email (2/15)
CalTech - Rejected via email (2/28)
Stanford - Rejected via email (3/1)
UChicago - Rejected via email (3/1)
UC Berkeley - Rejected via email (3/1)
Harvard - Rejected via post (3/11)
UCSB - Rejected via email (3/21)
Columbia - Rejected via email (3/26)
Perimeter Scholars International - Rejected via email (4/5) - this one really surprised me, not sure how I could have improved my profile for this program


Welp, there you have it folks, the PGRE is the gatekeeper (at least for international theory applicants)

[samanark]

Undergrad Institution: UC Riverside
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): n/a
GPA in Major: 3.11
Overall GPA: 3.12
Length of Degree: 5 years (transfer student)
Position in Class: Average? A little less than?
Type of Student: Domestic Female

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 152/52% (screw you ETS, I can do diff eqs)
V: 158/77%
W: 4.5/73%
P: Abysmal



Research Experience: Summer REU at UCSD doing brown dwarf stuff. Got like 85% of the way to a paper. Gave a small presentation at the end of the REU session.
11 months and ongoing with prof at UCR doing PAH analysis. Trying to get the paper on arxiv before the application deadlines so I can put it on my CV, will be first author. Also doing a poster for this at the AAS meeting in January.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Research Assistant

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: none

Special Bonus Points: Female. Plus two very strong letters of rec. from well connected people. Oh yeah, almost forgot, I can program like a boss and pick up various programming languages fairly quickly.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I have clinical depression but I was only recently able to get it diagnosed and start treatment this June (I didn't have the means to do so before). It trashed my lower div GPA and was threatening to do the same for my upper div. It didn't leave me with a whole lot of time to study for the PGRE either (had to adjust to meds, etc). Since most of my application deadlines are in January, I will have my GPA from this quarter to not only boost my GPA overall but to give as an example of my real potential. Hopefully my semi-decent (except for thermo) upper div grades and good recommendations will alleviate my PGRE score a little...........

Applying to Where:

Theory or Obs. - Cosmology, quasars

UCSD - Physics & Astronomy - Rejected
Arizona State - SESU - ???
UCSC - Astronomy - stuff didn't get there in time
Caltech - Astronomy - Rejected (lol wasn't expecting to get in anyway)
U Arizona - Physics & Astronomy - Rejected
Penn State - Astronomy - Rejected
U Virginia - Astronomy - Rejected
U Washington - Astronomy - stuff didn't get there in time
UCR - Physics & Astronomy - Rejected
Rutgers - Astronomy - Rejected

Yeah, this was the result I expected. Maybe I will try again this year or wait, save up some money, and try next year so I can also apply to some European schools.

[Throwaway1]

Undergrad Institution: Northeastern state school
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 3.65
Overall GPA: 3.7
Length of Degree: 5 years (started physics year and a half in)
Position in Class: No idea/don't care
Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 167 (practice test)
V: Taking GRE 11/19
W: GRE 11/19
P: ? - November test date. Timed 2008 practice exam - 870



Research Experience:

1) One year - Developed program to simulate muon lifetime in an experimental spark chamber. Now in use in an intermediate physics lab.

2) One year - Produced original research on charged granular media. Academic award. Honors thesis. Publication as first author in progress.

3) By the time of deadlines, one year at the National Institutes of Health. Will remain there until graduate school begins. Bio-physics. One publication as first author in progress. Another publication as second author in preparation. Another publication that will be started for submission ~spring 2013 (1st author). Current work is beginning to look like an additional publication before Fall 2013. My current work is entirely my own design, with some input from PI.

4) Several posters and presentations.

Poster- Small liberal arts college.
Poster- NIH post-bac poster session.
Poster- Small conference.

Talk: Honors thesis defense.
Talk (upcoming) - Seminar series.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Graduated with honors. Magna cum laude. Honors with Great Distinction. NIH fellowship award.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: University hired Physics and Math tutor for 2 years. Private tutoring for 2 years. Supplemental instructor for a physics course for 1 year. Undergraduate physics TA for a year.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Nope.

Special Bonus Points: Strong letters of recommendation. Two are well established in the field I am applying to with hundreds of publications under their belts. Two are Harvard alum and one Princeton, if that matters.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Medical circumstances (extended hospitalization) one semester resulted in an F in a course. (should have explored campus resources to deal with the matter, which probably could have been resolved). Strong interdisciplinary marks (Physical chem, Organic chem, and biology courses)

Applying to Where:

Tentative list for bio-physics and applied physics:

Harvard (applied physics)
MIT (Medical physics program)
Johns Hopkins (Bio-physics)
UCSF (Bio-physics)
UC Berkley (Bio-physics)
UPenn (Bio-physics)
Yale (Bio-physics)
Cornell (Bio-physics)
UChicago (Bio-physics)
U Wisconsin-Madison (Bio-physics and applied physics)
Stanford (Bio-physics)
Princeton (Bio-physics)
U Maryland (Applied physics)
Oxford (NIH-Ox-Cam program)

My greatest challenge will be submitting everything in on time. Some GRE scores (subject only) will be past some deadlines. Those programs allow official score reports after the deadline, so long as everything else is in. Just hope it doesn't hurt my chances. If not this year, there's always next year, which I think I will be a much stronger applicant with all those papers in the works. Can't stand to think of being in limbo from Sept 2013-August 2014, which might happen. Significant other (4 years together) is applying to medical school, so out of interest of staying together, I may only consider schools in the same area.

[prash]

Undergrad Institution: Columbia University, SEAS and Sewanee: University of the South, TN (private, liberal arts)
Major(s): Applied Physics, Physics, Math
Minor(s):None
GPA in Major: >4
Overall GPA: >4
Length of Degree: 5 years, 3-2 combined plan engineering program
Position in Class: Number one in class of 2012 at Sewanee
Type of Student: International, Male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 166 (~94%)
V: 157 (~73%)
W: not received yet
P: 980 (94%)


Research Experience: A couple at Sewanee, one at MIT, and for the last year and half at Columbia, still collaborating with the group at MIT.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Class Valedictorian, 2012, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Pi Sigma, Honors in Physics, some more math and physics awards.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Math tutor for 3 years.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Filed for a patent a few months ago, and working on a paper. However, it might not be published by the time I apply. Have some conference proceedings instead of a paper.

Special Bonus Points: Taken a couple of grad classes. Professors who know me really well are writing me reference letters.

Applying to Where:

MIT- EECS - Engineering PhysicsRejected
Harvard-Applied Physics
UCSB- Physics- Accepted via email w/stipend
Stanford-Applied PhysicsRejected
Cornell-Applied Physics
U C Berkley
Yale-Physics-Skype interview Invited to open house Accepted 2/18
U of MarylandAccepted 2/26 at JQI!
Columbia
______________________________________________

[nicholls]

Undergrad Institution: University of Toronto, top in Canada and arguably in North America
Major(s): Engineering Physics (Engineering Science)
Overall GPA: 3.91/4.00
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top 10 out of 200 in engineering science. No idea what my ranking in physics classes is.
Type of Student: Domestic (Canadian) white male

GRE Scores (revised version):
Q: 165 (92%)
V: 165 (95%)
W: 5.0 (92%)
P: 780 (70%)

Research Experience: Currently doing a thesis on the design of a superconducting TE sample host cavity in partial collaboration with TRIUMF. Spent last summer at DESY working on a 3-5 MeV electron accelerator. Spent summer before doing research under an NSERC USRA in computer architecture and was second author in a paper (had a small contribution to paper).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Departmental Research Fellowship, NSERC USRA, Entrance Scholarship, Dean's Honour List every semester

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Used to be a ski instructor.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Not really.

Special Bonus Points: Took a grad class on computational electrodynamics first semester of final year. Recommender from work at DESY is a well known professor who does electron diffraction and goes to both Stanford and Cornell quite frequently. May or may not be helpful. My thesis is emulating a paper written by a person in one of the groups I want to become a part of at Cornell. Thus, I have communicated with the professor who runs the group quite a bit. My thesis also is for a group working at TRIUMF, thus I have communicated with them and the professors at both UBC and UVic quite a bit. Professors at University of Toronto in EM group I know quite well. Basically, I have good connections everywhere I am applying except Stanford.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Applied for NSERC PGS, application was moved on to Ottawa so I could potentially get it.

Applying to Where:

Stanford - Applied Physics - Accelerator Physics Accepted (02/2) via email. Research assistantship - $2,845/month.
Cornell - Physics - Accelerator Physics Accepted (06/2) via website. Graduate Fellowship - $27060/9 months Offer and fellowship deferred one year.
University of British Columbia - Physics - Accelerator Physics Accepted (08/2) via email. Base MSc Stipend - $21305/year
University of Victoria - Physics- Accelerator Physics Accepted (19/2) via email. Awaiting financial info.
University of Toronto - Electrical and Computer Engineering - Electromagnetics Group Accepted (19/2) via email. Base MASc Stipend - 23k/8 months minus tuition Will attend for a two year Master's.

[fizik]

Undergrad Institution: Liberal arts school, top state school in NY. Biggest physics department among primarily undergraduate institutions.
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.81
Overall GPA: 3.79
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: don't really have it. Probably top 5 of 40?
Type of Student: domestic white male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 168 (97%)
V: 159 (80%)
W: 4.0 (49%)
P: 840 (80%)

Research Experience:
Summer at my home institution working on a large photometry project.
Two academic years on this same project.
REU summer program in galactic astrophysics.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Dean's list every semester
Sigma Pi Sigma
Golden Key Honor Society
Research Scholarship from my institution
Physics department presidential scholar nominee (only 2 for the department)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Undergraduate Lab Instructor for General Physics I, General Physics II, and Astronomy labs. I will have done this for 5 semesters.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points:
Took about 3 more physics courses than required by the major
All letters should be strong. 2 from research advisers and one from an academic professor. Also getting a letter from an Indiana grad, U of Rochester grad, Berkeley Grad, and a current RPI professor.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Quite a bit of coding/scripting experience...although probably lots of people have this.

Applying to Where:

Applying to all astronomy/astrophysics specialties

Physics Departments:
Caltech -- REJECTED
Stanford -- REJECTED
UCSB -- REJECTED
UC Berkeley -- REJECTED
Chicago -- REJECTED
University of Rochester -- ACCEPTED February 7 via email. 18756/9mo + ~5500 summer.
RPI -- ACCEPTED January 9 via email. 18k/9mo.

Astronomy/Astrophysics Departments:
Cornell -- REJECTED February 14 via email.
Michigan -- ACCEPTED February 6 via email.
Penn State -- ACCEPTED January 24 via phone then email. 18.5k/9mo + 6k/summer.
CU Boulder -- ACCEPTED February 15 via email. Will attend! 19368/9mo + up to 11736 summer + 2k signing bonus
University of Indiana -- ACCEPTED February 18 by email.

[iahs81]

Columbia University (top ten in physics)
Major(s): Physics/Math/Philosophy
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.85
Overall GPA: 3.84
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: not reported
Type of Student: domestic jew

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 167
V: 170
W: 4
P: 930 (still havent gotten november test back. hopefully did better on that)


Research Experience: Summer REU in Math, unpublished paper. RISE program in Berlin on theoretical physics, presented poster on this research at several conferences. currently doing theoretical research with 2 different professors, one on lattice QCD, the other on dynamic mean field theory. Recs are all from people ive done research with.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: deans list every semester (like everyone else), won ISEF for teams in high school, was selected for Hertz interview in january (does that look good? i wont know if i get the award until after I apply)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for 7 math/physics classes so far (including QM this semester). attended several summer physics schools for grad students on grants (nice tropical locations)

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)
ive taken 6 grad classes (i mean real grad classes, all students are phd students except myself) so far, and will take 2 more next semester. I will have finished all the grad school requirement classes for Columbia by the time i graduate.
ive also taken 153 credits (i average 9 classes per semester). ive also taken every math/physics undergrad class offered at my school, as well as most of philosophy.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
I got one bad grade, B in undergrad QMII which i took sophomore year, which im embarrassed about.

Applying to Where:

Harvard
Yale
Princeton
MIT
Columbia
UChicago
Stanford
Caltech
Berkeley
Santa Barbara

all for theoretical physics, specifically Condensed Matter

[guy]

Deleted.

[kboone]

Undergrad Institution: top 3 in Canada
Major(s): Engineering Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 93.8% physics, 93.9% electrical/computer engineering
Overall GPA: 90.3%
Length of Degree: 5 years
Type of Student: domestic (dual Canadian and US citizen)

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 170 (99%)
V: 159 (80%)
W: 5.0 (92%)
P: 920 (89%)

Research Experience: 8 months full time at TRIUMF, 4 months full time at CERN, term project on ATLAS this year. 1 paper (4th author), 6 internal ATLAS notes. 2 talks.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: a few different minor scholarships, did well on a physics prize exam.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: worked at Activision as a software developer for 4 months

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: lots of computer projects, did some open source stuff, some of which is very high profile.

Special Bonus Points: My recommenders are well connected in the ATLAS experiment (which I'm applying for) and I have contacts at most places that I am applying to. I take heavy courseloads, I'll have 225 credits when I graduate (graduation requirement is 120).

Applying to Where:

Berkeley - Physics - hep-ex - accepted - will attend!
Caltech - Physics - hep-ex - accepted
MIT - Physics - hep-ex - accepted
UCSB - Physics - hep-ex - accepted
UPenn - Physics - hep-ex - accepted
Brown - Physics - hep-ex - accepted

[jonadamczewski]

Undergrad Institution: Top few in Europe for physics
Major(s): Physics (masters)
Minor(s): -
GPA in Major: 77% ~ somewhere between 3.7-4.0 (UK percentile system)
Overall GPA: 77%
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: top 10%
Type of Student: international

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 169 (98%)
V: 164 (93%)
W: 5.5 (96%)
P: 870 (83%)




Research Experience: Currently research assistant in Japan (QI/CMT), reference from a well respected and well liked professor in the CMT field

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: nada

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: several years tutoring maths&phys up to undergraduate level

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: None.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: five grad courses including qft, gr, etc, with high scores, hoping this makes a difference.

Applying to Where:

Harvard - physics - CMT/QI- Rejected March 6st Mail
Berkeley - physics - CMT/QI- Rejected March 8th Mail
Stanford - Physics - CMT/QI- Rejected March 1st Email
Caltech - Physics - CMT/QI - Rejected 28th Feb, finally! Email
Chicago - Physics - Hep-Th / CMT- Rejected March 1st Email
Columbia - Physics - Hep-Th / CMT Rejected April 5th
Toronto - Physics - Hep-Th / CMT Accepted March 14th min $20,000 stipend
PSI - Physics - Masters Rejected April 5th
Imperial - QI / Foundations (CQD DTC) Accepted April 5th

For all those interested in quantum foundations and informaiton, Europe is a really good option. Imperial has probably the best group in England, along with Oxford. FU Berlin is very good, and Vienna is amazing. Barcelona has an amazing group, with the likes of Andreas Winter for all you foundations/info crossover people. Pavia and Pisa in Italy. Who could forget Hamburg, R Werner at Hannover, Popescu in at Bristol, and the big-shots in Munich and Hamburg. Too many to mention. Obviouly theres CQT in singapore for all those who dont mind living in a fascist island-city-state. Good luck!

[esopterodactyl]

Undergrad Institution: lib arts
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.8+
Overall GPA: 3.7
Length of Degree: 4 (graduated in '12)
Position in Class: top of physics class
Type of Student: Domestic (studying in England right now)

Graduate Institution: in UK
Concentration: HEPth
Length of Degree: 1 year (equiv. ~10 grad level courses)

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 790
V: 610
W: 5.0
P: 870 (83%)

Research Experience: Undergrad in unrelated field, 2 years, 0 pubs, 1 senior thesis.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Good recognition at college.

Special Bonus Points: My master's is teaching me everything needed for hepth research. 10 or so courses + dissertation all in one crazy year.

Applying to Where: (HEPth)

Columbia - Applied - withdrawn 3/17
Yale - Rejected - 2/14, email
SUNY SB - Rejected - 3/16, email
MIT - Rejected - 2/15, email
Northeastern - Applied - withdrawn 4/13

SUNY Albany, nanoscale science - Accepted - 4/5, email - RA offer - Will attend!

After analyzing my situation very carefully, I decided to jump ship on HEPth and move on to the nanotech world. If you're interested in Albany, send me a message!

[varses]

Undergrad Institution: Large public state school, top ~10 physics
Major(s): Physics and Chemistry
Minor(s): Philosophy of Science
GPA in Major: 3.95
Overall GPA: 3.9
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: Domestic white male
GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 163
V: 166
W: 5
P: 990 (nov 12, 2012), 750 (oct 11, 2011)

Research Experience: 2 years Molecular Biology, publication. 3 years Physical Chemistry, publication in progress. Summer RISE internship Max-Plank Institute Heidelberg in attosecond physics. Publication in APL. Contributed to posters and presentations at conferences. Spintronics research as full time employee after graduation. Research for credit (A+’s)
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Had no B’s-Angell scholar every term. University Honors every term. Phi Kappa Phi. Sigma Pi Sigma. Wiley book award.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: tutoring, TA for intro EM. SPS. PenPal for underprivileged kids. Grader. Taught high school kids
Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments/bonus points A+ in Quantum, advanced EM, and Modern Physics. Graduate materials science class. Applying to NSF, DOE and NDSEG fellowships. Accepted into UCSB last year

Applying to Where:

Harvard - Physics - AMO/Condensed matter experiment - Waitlisted (Feb 15) Accepted (April 16)
MIT - Physics - AMO/Condensed matter experiment - Accepted (Feb 14)
Caltech - Physics - AMO/Condensed matter experiment - Accepted (Feb 22)
UC Berkeley - Physics – AMO/Condensed matter experiment - Accepted (Feb 15)
Stanford - Physics - AMO/Condensed matter experiment - Rejected (March 1)
UCSB - Physics Condensed matter/Quantum Information experiment - Accepted (Feb 7)
Chicago - Physics - Condensed matter/Institute for Molecular Engineering- Accepted (Feb 13) - will attend!
Boulder - Physics - AMO/Condensed matter experiment - Accepted (Feb 8)
Maryland - Physics - Condensed matter/Quantum Information experiment - Accepted (Feb 28)
Princeton - Physics - AMO/Condensed matter experiment - Accepted (Feb 14)
Michigan - Physics - AMO/Condensed matter experiment - Accepted (Jan 20)

Fellowships:
NSF - Honorable Mention 2013 Honorable Mention 2014
NDSEG - Rejected 2013 Accepted 2014!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DOE CSGF - Rejected (4/16)

[jonesram]

Undergrad Institution: Public state school, top 20
Major(s): Physics, Astronomy
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.56
Overall GPA: 3.60
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Not sure
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 161 (83%)
V: 157 (73%)
W: 4.5 (73%)
P: 790 (72%)

Research Experience:
Two years modeling gravitational lenses. One publication as second of four authors.
Six months working on statistical methods in cosmology.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Not really. . . deans list for most quarters, small scholarship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Three years as private tutor for math, physics, and chemistry

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: None.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Age? Started undergraduate at 16, graduating at 20.

Applying to Where:

Stanford - Cosmology Theory - Rejected 3/01 via email
UC Berkley - Cosmology Theory - Rejected 3/07 via email
University of Chicago - Cosmology Theory - Rejected 3/01 via email to check website
University of Minnesota - Cosmology Theory - Accepted 1/18 via email. 17k TA + 6k fellowship - Will attend!
UC Davis - Cosmology Theory - Accepted 2/12 via email. 17.6k TA/9 months + 4k summer TA + 5k Fellowship - Offer Declined 4/05
UC Santa Cruz - Cosmology Theory - Accepted 3/01 via email. 17.7k TA + 5k fellowship - Offer Declined 4/10
University of Oregon - Cosmology Theory - Accepted 1/27 via email. Anticipating offer. - Offer Declined 4/05

[magdelynpierce]

Undergrad Institution: Top 20 Liberal arts college, no physics reputation
Major(s): Physics/Mathematics
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 4.18 (Hooray for grade inflation!)
Overall GPA: 4.20
Length of Degree: 3.5 years
Position in Class: 1/519 in full school, top of 7 in physics
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE Scores:
Q: 170 (99%)
V: 165 (95%)
W: 5.5 (94%)
P: 800 (74%)

Research Experience:
1 Summer + 2 semesters in computational biophysics at my home institution
1 Summer in high energy at NIST Gaithersburg (on neutron decay)
1 Summer in experimental gravitation at Sapienza University in Rome, Italy (on VIRGO)
Senior thesis on loop quantum gravity

Biggest issue is I have no publications (not even in the et. al.), only a couple dinky conference presentations

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater scholarship, and a bunch of college prizes for having a nice GPA

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I graded P-chem for a semester.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: A couple decent Putnam scores (28 in 2010, 10 in 2011, and though it didn't help, 30 in 2012)

Special Bonus Points: Nope

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I have never been arrested - that should count for something, right?

Applying to Where (All in gravitational physics/cosmology, with theory emphasis):

Columbia - Rejected 3/26/2013 by email to check website
Michigan - Waitlisted 3/18/2013 by email then Rejected 4/2/2013 by email
Maryland - Rejected 3/16/2013 by email to check website
UC Davis - Accepted 2/5/2013 by email. TA @ $21,600 +$5k fellowship Will Attend!
LSU - Accepted 1/25/2013 via email. TA @ $22,000 yr-1 Declined (Great group in gravity, though; it was a tough call!)
Perimeter PSI program - Rejected 4/5/2013 by email

Post-script: Ironically in hindsight, if I'd spent the summer between my junior and senior year studying for the PGREs instead of doing work on VIRGO, I could've had a chance at the top 20. But 74% just ain't going to cut it, particularly for theory, particularly with no papers, particularly from a liberal arts college. I guess I get what I deserve.

[mrusama]

______________________________________________
Undergrad Institution: foreign (Pakistan) Small physics dept. but good
Major(s): Electrical Engineering
Minor(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: International, male

GRE Scores (revised/old version): revised
Q:165 (92%tile)
V: 159 (80%tile)
W: 3.5 (30%tile)
P: 990 (95%tile)


TOEFL Total: Didn't Give TOEFL
IELTS:
Overall: 8
Reading: 8.5
Listening: 8.5
Writing: 7.5
Reading: 7

Research Experience: Just started working on two projects. Hopefully a publication in 3 or 4 months.

Awards/Honors/Recognition: Received merit scholarship throughout undergrad (like fellowship)
2nd in class for freshman and sophomore year
1st in class for senior and junior year across all undergrads in the university

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Have done 9 TAships in total. 2 in Electrical Engineering, 1 in CS, 1 in Biology and Rest in Physics

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: None I guess

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

Applying to Where:

MIT - Physics - Quantum Information - Rejected via Email Feb 16
Stanford - Applied Physics - Quantum Information - Rejected via Email - Emailed the department to check status
USC - Physics - Quantum Information - Accepted via Email on Feb 20 - 5 year Graduate Merit Scholarship - $30K
UIUC - Physics - Quantum Information
McGill - Physics - Quantum Information
Waterloo- Physics - Quantum Information

______________________________________________

[InquilineKea]

<deleted>

[kyashtyur]

Undergrad Institution: Ivy
Major(s): Linguistics (Yes, indeed...) *read note below
Minor(s): not offered
GPA in Major: 3.95 in Physics/Math courses
Overall GPA: 3.98
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: not officially stated
Type of Student: domestic Asian male

*Although, unfortunately, it says linguistics under my major, I have completed all of the required courses for the undergraduate degree in physics at Princeton (except for Advanced Lab). That said, while I am looking at pursuing study in planetary science, I have not taken any astronomy/astrophysics courses, just one relevant geosciences course.

GRE Scores (revised version):
Q: 170 (99%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 5.5 (96%)
P: 990 (95%)


Research Experience:
-Conducted research for over 2 years in the quantum control group at Princeton, investigating the application of theoretical controllability results to the study of nuclear excitations. Funded during the summers by the Princeton Plasma Laboratory. 1 first-author publication in Physical Review A; another first-author manuscript in preparation.
-Summer research internship in the Astro department at Princeton, working on DDSCAT code for calculating electromagnetic properties of cosmic dust.
-Work/research intern at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL (helping design, build, test, and run simulations of Pulsed Inductive Thrusters).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
-various physics prizes during my freshman and sophomore years
-several prizes for high GPA
-Phi Beta Kappa

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
-helped run the Princeton Society of Physics Students my senior year, though I'm sure that is not a significant activity

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: probably not

Special Bonus Points:
-2 very strong recommendations from researchers very well known in their respective fields (another less strong)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
-fluent in Russian and Japanese...

Applying to Where:
All in astronomy/astrophysics or (if available) planetary science

UCLA- Astronomy - Accepted by email 2/5 - Declined
UC Berkeley- Earth and Planetary Science - Invited for Skype interview by email 1/23 - Accepted by phone 2/8 - Declined
UCSC- Astronomy and Astrophysics - Invited for Skype interview by email 1/22 - Accepted by email 2/6 - Declined
Caltech- Planetary Science - Accepted by phone 1/18 - WILL ATTEND!!!
Stanford- Physics - Accepted by email 3/1 - Declined
ASU- Astrophysics - Accepted by phone 1/31 - Declined
Arizona- Astronomy - Accepted by phone 1/30 - Declined
UChicago- Astronomy and Astrophysics - Accepted by email 1/29 - Declined
Ohio State- MS Astronomy - Waitlisted by email 1/31 - Application withdrawn
Penn State- Astronomy and Astrophysics - Accepted by phone 1/24 - Declined
Johns Hopkins- Earth and Planetary Sciences - Accepted by email 2/26 - Declined
MIT- EAPS - Waitlisted by email 3/12 - Accepted by email 4/2 - Declined
Harvard- Earth and Planetary Science - Rejected by mail 3/2

My main hope is for the admissions committees to overlook my highly unusual undergraduate concentration and consider my coursework, research, and test scores.

[betelguese05]

Undergrad Institution: Huge State, top 20 in physics.
Major(s): Physics, Math (honors program)
Minor(s): -
GPA in Major: 3.93, 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.95
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 167 (98%)
V: 166 (94%)
W: 6.0 (99%)
P: 860 (82%)

Research Experience: Did experimental research on superconductors freshman year (I only lasted a couple months). Joined theoretical group at my university that summer, and have stayed there for the last three years. First project was on metamaterial waveguides (Goldwater honorable mention), then the following summer did the NUF program at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Presented at the 2011 APS plasma meeting as both a poster and a talk to the beam physics group (Goldwater scholarship). Continued the project for the next year (waiting on experimental data for journal publication - but PPPL published my report locally already), then researched topological insulators abroad at Wuerzburg the next summer. Now doing thesis project on photonic topological insulators.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater, various university scholarships and research fellowships, Marshall scholarship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for two years, "Student Ambassador" (recruitment stuff)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Rhodes finalist, Phi Beta Kappa

Special Bonus Points: 5 grad classes including QFT, good recs

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: With the math major, there are a lot of esoteric math courses on my transcript that might be pertinent to theory and theorists.

Applying to Where:

Harvard - Physics - CMT
Cambridge - Part III - Accepted, email notification - Will attend!

Hertz - Interview (January) - Did not receive

*An interesting note about the NSF, which should also apply to the other governmental fellowships - they apparently stopped letting people use these fellowships at non-US schools a couple of years ago, so if you plan on going abroad for your graduate studies, you have to find some other source of funding. Further, the way I read the rules at least, you can't even defer an NSF if you're planning to go to a non-US institution for a master's - which in my opinion is kind of absurd. (The rules state that you can only defer if you're at an institution at which the NSF is tenable. See the FAQ (http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/nsf12062/nsf12062.pdf), questions 10 and 52.)

[mnakusor]

.

[goingnuclear]

Will post after all is said and done.

[numeric]

Undergrad Institution: Top 25 overall, Top 25 Physics(transferred from community college)
Major(s):Physics
Minor(s):None
GPA in Major:3.85
Overall GPA:3.86
Length of Degree: 5 years(3 at community college, 2 after transfer)
Position in Class: Probably top 20%
Type of Student: Domestic, hispanic male

GRE Scores: Revised
Q: 168 (97%)
V: 160 (83%)
W: 5.0 (92%)
P: 870 (83%)


Research Experience: 3 summer REUs. All three at large state schools. Two of them at top 25 physics schools. One summer in condensed matter, one in plasma physics, and one in nuclear physics.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List for GPA.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Several tutoring jobs. Homework grader.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: None.

Special Bonus Points: None.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: None.

Applying to Where:

Applying to all for high energy particle experiment. Second interest in quantum information or condensed matter.

Stanford Accepted 3/1 by email
Harvard
Caltech Rejected 2/28 by email
MIT Accepted 2/14 by email
Princeton Rejected 2/14 by email
UC Berkeley
Cornell Rejected 2/12 by email
Chicago Rejected 3/1 by email to check website
UCSB Accepted 2/11 by email
Columbia
Yale Rejected 2/22 by email to check website
UCLA Accepted 2/9 by email with Fellowship for first and fourth years. 37k total with 25% TA for first 9 months

[dsboonejr]

Undergrad Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Major(s): Double Major - Chemical-Biological Engineering; Physics
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 3.1/4.0
Overall GPA: 3.1/4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Average
Type of Student: Domestic Black Male

Graduate Institution: Johns Hopkins University
Major(s): MS - Applied Physics
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 3.9/4.0
Overall GPA: 3.9/4.0
Length of Degree: 2 years, part time
Position in Class: Top

GRE Scores : Revised
Q: 162 (86%)
V: 168 (98%)
W: 5.0 (92%)
P: 830 (78%)


Research Experience: 2nd author publication - Journal of Polymer Science; research positions in plasma physics and quantum information

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: ROTC Scholarship; Won a prize for Science Writing

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: None

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Served five years as a naval officer doing nuclear engineering

Special Bonus Points: 4 recommendations, one of which was from the director of research at JHU. I'm a black male, so I'm fairly uncommon in physics.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: None

Applying to Where:

Stanford - Applied Physics - Quantum Information -- Accepted by email 2/1
University of Chicago - Physics - Condensed Matter Experiment -- Accepted by email 2/13
Cornell - Physics - Condensed Matter Experiment -- Accepted by website 2/7
UCLA - Physics - Condensed Matter Experiment -- Accepted by email 2/9
NYU - Physics - Condensed Matter Experiment -- Accepted by email 2/7
Duke - Physics - Condensed Matter Experiment -- Rejected by website 2/18

[friedrice]

Undergrad Institution: Public University, Top 20 for physics
Major(s): Physics and Engineering
GPA in Major: near 4.0
Overall GPA: near 4.0
Position in Class: Don't know
Type of Student: International Asian Male
Plus points: One first-author paper published in Phys Rev. Research experience and work experience.

GRE Scores (revised version):
Q: 170 (99%)
V: 162 (89%)
W: 5.5 (96%)
P: 990 (95%)

Applying to Where:
(in alphabetical order)
Caltech—Accepted
Chicago—Rejected
Cornell—Accepted
Harvard—Rejected
Maryland—Accepted
MIT—Accepted—Attending
Princeton—Waitlisted to no avail
Stanford—Rejected
UC Berkeley—Rejected
UCSB—Rejected

[crw888]

Undergrad Institution: Mid-sized state school, more known for experimental condensed matter. Only two faculty are astrophysicists.
Major(s): Physics, Computer Science
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 3.91, 3.81
Overall GPA: 3.80
Length of Degree: I graduated in May of 2012 as a returning student.
Position in Class: I graduated Magna Cum Laude, which is typically top 10%
Type of Student: Domestic, non-minority male

GRE Scores : Revised
Q:158/74%
V:164/93%
W:3.5/30%
P:540/18%

Research Experience: I spent two years as an undergrad research assistant for one of the astro professors. I'm 2nd author on one, and ~7th author on another paper, both of which have yet to be published. I'm also around 120th on a data release paper for a very large Hubble survey collaboration. As an undergrad, I also did one poster presentation at the AAS in 2011, and four talks at regional conferences.

I started my master's this fall. I'm working with another astro professor in the department and should be submitting a paper in the spring. I gave a talk at the AAS in January of this year.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: I received a physics department scholarship for this academic year. I also received three semesters of funding through the NASA Space Grant Consortium for my state.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I spent the last three semesters as a TA for an introductory astronomy lab, two semesters as an introductory physics tutor and one semester as a lab assistant for introductory physics.

Applying to Where:
McGill - Physics - Computational/Observational Astrophysics (Extragalactic) - Pending - Application withdrawn
McMaster - Physics & Astronomy - Computational Astrophysics (Extragalactic) - Pending - Application withdrawn
New Mexico State - Astronomy - Computational/Observational Astrophysics (Extragalactic) - Waitlisted - Application withdrawn
Queen's - Physics, Engineering Physics & Astronomy - Computational/Observational Astrophysics (Extragalactic) - Accepted ($24,600+/year: RA and TA. Tuition scholarship for first year) Will Attend!
Toronto - Astronomy & Astrophysics - Computational Astrophyiscs (Extragalactic) - Pending - Application withdrawn
Vanderbilt - Physics & Astronomy - Computational Astrophyiscs (Extragalactic) - Pending - Application withdrawn
Western Ontario - Physics & Astronomy - Observational Astrophysics (Extragalactic) - Accepted ($22,600+/year: RA and TA) - Offer declined

[sjc8593]

Undergrad Institution: Commuter school in Texas, no rep in physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.84
Length of Degree: Uhh pretty long. Took 2 classes/semester at a community college for 4 years before I even knew I wanted to do physics, then 3 years after that. Transfered twice.
Position in Class: near top?
Type of Student: Domestic white female

GRE Scores : revised version
Q: 159/77%
V: 159/80%
W: 3.0/11% -- I totally freaked on the first essay!
P: 600/32%


Research Experience: 3 years of space physics research at my university during undergrad. One co-author paper and few talks at Texas section of the APS meetings.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Graduated magna cum laude, inducted into Sigma Pi Sigma, and two awards from my department in recognition of my research and academics.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Astronomy Lab Assistant for 2 years, SPS historian and treasurer.


Special Bonus Points: I'm a female, but I don't think it counts as a special bonus point in astro programs.

Applying to Where:

Hawaii - Astro - Solar/Galactic rejected via mail 2/17
U of Arizona - Astro - Solar/Galactic rejected via email 2/8
U of New Mexico - Astro - Solar/Galactic accepted via email 2/12
U of Maryland - Astro - Solar/Galactic rejected via email2/15
Rochester - Astro - Solar/Galactic rejected via email
U of Pittsburgh - Astro - Solar/Galactic wait listed
New Mexico State - Astro - Solar/Galactic wait listed
West Virginia - Astro - Solar/Galactic accepted via email 2/26
Iowa State - Astro - Solar/Galactic accepted via email 3/11

[psykes]

Undergrad Institution: Engineering, ~Top 50 in the country, International ... No reputation in Physics
Major(s):Electronics & Communication
GPA in Major:
Overall GPA:71.4/100
Length of Degree: 4 Years
Position in Class: top 10%

Grad Institution: MBA, Top 50 in the country (US Midwest)
Major(s):Finance
GPA in Major:
Overall GPA:3.5/4
Length of Degree: 2 Years
Type of Student: International, male

GRE Scores : revised
Q:160 (81%)/162 (86%)
V:158 (77%)/163(91%)
W:3.5(30%)/4.0(49%) -Don't know why I scored so less.. Scored 5.5 in GMAT few years ago
P:560(23%) Oct 2012/640 (42%) Nov 2012

Research Experience: None whatsoever ! unrelated Major in undergrad and grad.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Don't know if it matters but got a couple of performance awards at work

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Have around 7 years work experience including 3 years in Technology and 4 years in Finance

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: None

Special Bonus Points: Not sure if it helps but have done lot of financial and statistical modeling, lots of experience working with large data sets and databases

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:for what its worth, two academic projects in undergrad using microcontrollers

Applying to Where:

UCSD - Hep Ex
UCI - Hep Ex
UCSC - Hep Ex
UCD - Hep Ex
UCLA - Hep Ex
U Washington - Seattle - Hep Ex

In the Oct exam I wasn't prepared and attempted less than 50% . In Nov 2012, (Dang ) was well prepared and hoped for 800+. Must have messed something up. I have low expectations on getting an admit this year and I am not sure how I can improve my overall application except for an improved PGRE score. Hopefully my SOP does a good job of explaining the convoluted career path to a Physics Phd. I did not want to apply to a lot of safety schools just to get an admit. I would like to get into a program I want to get into but I am getting older with each passing year . Hoping for the best!!

[blochcloud]

Undergrad Institution: University of Houston (transferred from UT Austin after freshman year for research assistantship)
Major(s): Physics, Mathematics
Minor(s): -
GPA in Major: 3.94/4.0
Overall GPA: 3.91/4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: Domestic white male
GRE Scores : revised
Q: 159/170 (77%)
V: 161/170 (86%)
W: 4.0 (49%)
P: 790/990 (72%)

Research Experience: NSF Quarknet Summer Research fellowship before freshman year in chemical physics, 2 years in chemical physics developing numerical techniques for bound state quantum systems (various presentations, 3 publications including a second-author J Phys A paper and two textbook chapters), 1 year working for the Mission-Oriented Seismic Research Program (theoretical geophysics), summer internship at CERN writing 2D advection-diffusion simulation of charge carriers in Medipix3 silicon pixel radiation detectors (I am carrying out this project through graduation)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater Scholarship (2012), Goldwater Scholarship Honorable Mention (2011), Outstanding First Year Student (Honors College), Provost Undergraduate Research Scholarship, Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Astronaut/Space Studies Endowment Scholarship, Quarknet Research Fellowship (2009)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: - SPS President (2012), Sigma Pi Sigma, etc.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Six graduate courses in physics (all As); One graduate course in math

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Transfer from top 20 to school with no reputation in physics

Applying to Where:

Harvard - SEAS - Applied Physics - Rejected 3/11 by snail mail
Columbia - SEAS - Applied Physics -
Yale - App Phys - Quantum Electronics - Rejected 3/4 by e-mail
UC Berkeley - App Sci & Tech - Applied Physics - emailed for phone interview 2/2
UCSB - Physics - CMT - Rejected 3/21 by e-mail to check website
Cornell - Physics - CMT - Rejected 2/18 by e-mail
U Chicago - Physics - CMT - Rejected 3/1 by e-mail
Boston U - Physics - CMT -
U Maryland - Physics/JQI - CMT/QC - Rejected 3/29 by e-mail to check website
U Washington - Physics - CMT/QC - Accepted (1/29); $25k TA + $5k departmental scholarship
UC Boulder - Physics - AMO - Accepted (2/8); $30k RA + $7,000 departmental scholarship; WILL ATTEND!

[xhaos]

Undergrad Institution: one of the Cal States
Major(s): BS Applied Math / MS Physics
Minor(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 3.22 / 3.87
Overall GPA: 3.1 / 3.87
Length of Degree: 6 / 2
Position in Class: Not the worst but not the best.
Type of Student: Domestic female

GRE Scores : Revised
Q: 161
V: 164
W: 4.5
P: 660


Research Experience: 1+ year at MS level, 1 publication, 2 talks, bunch of papers/talks in progress/planned while I was applying.
7 months as an undergrad, nothing came of it. Both experiences in experimental labs but also did a lot of simulations.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: CSU Research fellowship, couple CSU physics scholarships.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Female

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: had a strong SOP, high level of interest in research and a good idea of what I want to do, maturity, poor background ($).

Applying to Where:
Top 30s:
UC Berkeley - Rejected when I asked
UC Boulder - Rejected 2/25/13
UC San Diego - Accepted
Rice - Accepted 1/9/13, $27,500 TAship --> Added $2500 scholarship -- Accepted offer 04/09/2013
UC Irvine - ???

30-60
Arizona State University - Accepted 1/10/13, $1700/mo TAship, $5,000 one-time award ---> Upped to full $17,000 fellowship -Declined offer
Rochester - ???
UC Riverside - Accepted 2/17/13 with fellowship offer - Declined offer
Vanderbilt - Accepted - Declined offer
U of Iowa - Accepted 2/28/13 - Declined offer

60s-beyond
Virginia Tech - Accepted 2/6/13, $1600/mo TAship - Declined offer
Oregon State University, Corvallis - Application Withdrawn (They indicated they were going to accept me but I had already got into Rice)
U Mass Lowell - Application Withdrawn

[mattlight]

Undergrad Institution: Midwest liberal arts, strong undergrad research focus but otherwise little or no reputation for physics
Major(s): Physics, Math
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 3.8
Overall GPA: 3.78
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Unknown, but near top
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores : new edition
Q: 170
V: 167
W: 170
P: 750 (65%)

Research Experience: Math research for one summer with basically nothing but a letter of rec to show for it, 2 summers + semester research doing theoretical Astrophysics. No publications yet but on track to be one of the authors on a paper next year. A couple conference poster presentations.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list, bronze prize for the university physics competition, passed the first exam for actuarial science.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA all through undergrad for physics, tutor for physics and math, lab TA and grader for math and upper level physics courses.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: None in particular...

Special Bonus Points: None really, and switching research interests so maybe special demerits.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Taken a lot of extra engineering and comp sci classes.

Applying to Where:

University of Chicago - Physics - Condensed Matter Exp or Quantum computing
University of Maryland, College Park - Physics - Condensed Matter Exp or Quantum computing
University of Minnesota - Physics - Condensed Matter Exp or Quantum computing
University of Washington - Physics - Condensed Matter Exp or Quantum computing
Northwestern University - Physics - Condensed Matter Exp or Quantum computing
Purdue University - Physics - Condensed Matter Exp or Quantum computing -- Accepted!!! via e-mail. 18K a year for TA
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign - Physics - Condensed Matter Exp or Quantum computing

[ThatTallGirl]

Undergrad Institution: smallish state school, decent reputation
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.8
Overall GPA: 3.8
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: Domestic white female

GRE Scores : (revised)
Q: 165 (92%)
V: 156 (69%)
W: 3.5 (30%)
P: 750 (65%)

Research Experience: 2 REUs at Michigan State and Notre Dame in low energy nuclear physics, 6 ADNDT publications (5 1st author of 2, 1 2nd author of 3), 1 publication in the works from last summer, 2 APS conference posters, a CUWIP poster, and a poster at the state AAPT meeting

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Kappa Mu Epsilon, Sigma Pi Sigma, department scholarships

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: tutor for 3 years, TA for 2.5 years (10 labs total), physics club president

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I spent a week at RCNP for an REU

Special Bonus Points: Female, did REUs/have recommenders from MSU and ND

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

Applying to Where: (all for low energy nuclear experiment)

Michigan State University Accepted by Email (1/18) - $20k, First year fellowship (1/23) -$26k, NSCL fellowship (3/12) $28k for 5 years
Yale University Rejected by website (2/14)
Rutgers University Accepted by Email (2/14)-$29k fellowship
University of Notre Dame Accepted by Email (2/6) - $20k TA-Withdrawn

[Gominec]

Undergrad Institution: Top University in Romania, good reputation in Physics
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 4.00
Overall GPA: 3.96
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: International female

GRE Scores : (revised)
Q: 167 (96%)
V: 152 (53%)
W: 4.5 (73%)
P: 720 (59%)
TOEFL Total: 113/120
Research Experience:
- project at my university - Propagation of ultrasound pulses in a nonlinear acoustic lens; 1.5 years; no publication
- project at University of York, UK - Exchange bias in pollycrystalline thin films; 3 months; no publication; participated at a few national conferences and an international conference with posters on this
- project at my university (for BSc thesis) - Electrical and optical diagnosis of a DBD plasma; 1.5 years; no pub; one poster at a national conference
- poster at a national conference in teaching section
Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
-Dean's list
-1st prize for poster presentation at a student conference at my school
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
-completed a 6 semester teaching course, with 2 semesters of assisting and teaching in high schools
-internship at a research institute in Romania
-internship 3 months at University of York, UK
-summer school in plasma technologies for environmental protection, Lithuania
-paid internship at a telecommunication company in Romania
Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I found the summer school and sponsorship to attend it on my own.
Special Bonus Points: Female, wrote to some professors I'd like to work with and they spoke to the adcoms. Also, I have one well-reputed recommender in magnetic materials.
Applying to Where:

Boston U - Physics - CME - Reject i guess? 03/25 withdrawn due to incomplete application by the deadline (don't know why..)
Boston College - Physics - CME Unofficial accept 03/25 $ 24.5k 12 months
Tufts U - Physics - CME - Accepted! 02/22 - 23k TA 9 months + McCarthy Fellowship 5k + 5.5 k Summer TA
Northeastern - Physics - CME -Accepted 03/05 - TA - 30,9k year round
Brandeis U - Physics -CME - Rejected
Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Physics - CME Accepted 01/24 via EMAIL TA 1.9k$
Clark U - Physics - CME - Not admitting students at this time (not sure what that means)
UMass Amherst - Physics - CME - Accepted 03/23 TA 18k + summer up to 6,9k
Dartmouth U - Physics - CME - Rejected
UMass Lowell - Physics - CME - Never heard back from them

So it seems that a low score in Physics GRE is not the end of the world
__________________________________________

[wlshrt]

Undergrad Institution: Medium size Canadian university
Major(s): Engineering Physics
Overall GPA: 4.26/4.3
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: top or near top
Type of Student: international male

GRE Scores :
Q: 163 (88%)
V: 165 (95%)
W: 5.0 (92%)
P: 920 (89%)

Research Experience: Two internships: one in AMO experiment at a top Canadian university, one in AMO theory at FU Berlin via the RISE program. Three posters, two conference talks, one manuscript submitted in September 2012 to PRL (first author of two), rejected but resubmitting in January 2013. Ongoing undergrad thesis in AMO theory.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Plenty of internal "you have good marks" awards, not much else to speak of.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor for two years, TA for one.

Special Bonus Points: One grad class, one somewhat famous recommender, one other recommender that's well-known in his field.

Applying to Where:

MIT - Physics - AMO - Rejected 2/15 by email
Harvard - Physics - AMO - Rejected
Stanford - Physics - CM - Rejected
Caltech - Physics - AMO - Accepted 2/22 by email
Chicago - Physics - AMO - Rejected
Columbia - Physics - CM - Rejected
Boulder - Physics - AMO - Accepted 2/8 by email, RA + $10k scholarship - Will attend
Toronto - Physics - CM - Accepted 2/6 by email
McGill - Physics - CM - Unofficially accepted 1/15 via email from prospective prof

[alittlebehind]

Undergrad Institution: Mid-sized state school, relatively good physics rep.
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.87
Overall GPA: 3.89
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: upper 20%
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores : (revised)
Q: 168 (97%)
V: 169 (99%)
W: 4.5 (73%)
P: 850 (82%)

Research Experience: No publications. One year in a solar physics group at my school. The same project employed me for for a year after I graduated, which included 6 months at Lockheed Martin's Solar and Astrophysics Lab. The work was mostly in optics (90% experiment, 10% theory).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Full Tuition, honors program at undergrad institution. Several departmental and outside scholarships. Physics Department's "Outstanding Senior Award".

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: SPS officer for one year. See "Research Experience".

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Strong "community service" profile ... not that these schools will care about that.

Special Bonus Points: No grad classes. No real connections. Should be decent recommendations.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Took a year off to do random, unrelated things (like play in a band and travel).

Applying to Where: I'm aiming at Astrophysics/Cosmology (and gravity theory, where relevant) ... not particularly easy fields to get into, especially considering my research experience is totally unrelated, and I've not taken the corresponding grad courses.

UT-Austin - Physics (accepted 2-25, $16,550 TA + 6000 1yr fellowship)
U Chicago - Astronomy and Astrophysics - Rejected
UCSB - Physics (accepted 2-7, TA post $17,655/9months)
Stanford - Physics (rejected 3-1 via email)
Tufts - Physics and Astronomy (accepted 2-25 via email, 23k TA over 9 months)
Arizona State - Physics
Pitt - Physics and Astronomy (accepted 2-6, 1yr fellowship $29,559 over 9 months)

I'm starting to think I aimed too high. I'm nervous, but hey, who isn't at this point? Good luck everyone!