Concerns about Grad School
Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 1:15 am
Hey there,
I am currently a sophomore at a fairly well respected university in the US, I am a physics/math double major with a current cumulative GPA of 3.173/4 and a major GPA of 3.050/4. I have summer research (this summer) lined up in cond-mat-ex, and a possible research opportunity next summer in hep-th (of which I am most interested). I have no current publications, and an extensive list of extracurriculars. I know my GPA's are not where they should be, however I plan to raise them in the next few semesters (shouldn't be too hard, I have all B's and about 3 A's, no grade less than a B-) as I take the big courses in my physics program (CM I&II, EM I&II, QM I,II,&III, SM I .... As well as others). I'm very confident that I will do well on the big courses that are coming up, for several reasons I won't elaborate on, assuming nothing in my life goes horrendously wrong.
My main concern is that if I continue on the "normal" application track (i.e. applying for grad school in the fall of your senior year) that I will have an extremely limited window to study and take both the GRE and PGRE (my course plan forces me to take many "crucial" courses in my senior year, after they would be useful on the GRE/PGRE, mainly EM) I have attempted to rectify this with changing up my plan, etc. but it seems that this is my only option. In addition, this track would prevent me from fully raising my GPA before applying (a max of ~3.75, but more realistically ~3.6) which I feel may harm my chances.
An alternative for me would be to suspend Grad school by a year and take the summer after my graduation as a study period for the GRE/PGRE, or possibly more research if a professor allows it. As well as possibly take supplementary graduate courses as a part-time student during the two following semesters (Fall/Spring) before going to grad school. This allows me ample time to study for the tests, and allows me to get a complete education of the subjects before taking the test (otherwise I would take the test without completing an electrodynamics course). Would the alternate path harm my chances at all, since I would be taking a year off? Or is it worth going both routes and seeing if something works out the first time?
For reference, my current grad school prospects are: (By no means final, #1 & #2 are my top choices, although somewhat unrealistic given my stats)
1) Stanford
2) MIT
3) University of Delaware (I have good connections in the department here)
4) Purdue University
5) Virginia Tech
6) Carnegie Mellon
7) Temple University (Safety)
Thanks in advance for any feedback or assistance.
I am currently a sophomore at a fairly well respected university in the US, I am a physics/math double major with a current cumulative GPA of 3.173/4 and a major GPA of 3.050/4. I have summer research (this summer) lined up in cond-mat-ex, and a possible research opportunity next summer in hep-th (of which I am most interested). I have no current publications, and an extensive list of extracurriculars. I know my GPA's are not where they should be, however I plan to raise them in the next few semesters (shouldn't be too hard, I have all B's and about 3 A's, no grade less than a B-) as I take the big courses in my physics program (CM I&II, EM I&II, QM I,II,&III, SM I .... As well as others). I'm very confident that I will do well on the big courses that are coming up, for several reasons I won't elaborate on, assuming nothing in my life goes horrendously wrong.
My main concern is that if I continue on the "normal" application track (i.e. applying for grad school in the fall of your senior year) that I will have an extremely limited window to study and take both the GRE and PGRE (my course plan forces me to take many "crucial" courses in my senior year, after they would be useful on the GRE/PGRE, mainly EM) I have attempted to rectify this with changing up my plan, etc. but it seems that this is my only option. In addition, this track would prevent me from fully raising my GPA before applying (a max of ~3.75, but more realistically ~3.6) which I feel may harm my chances.
An alternative for me would be to suspend Grad school by a year and take the summer after my graduation as a study period for the GRE/PGRE, or possibly more research if a professor allows it. As well as possibly take supplementary graduate courses as a part-time student during the two following semesters (Fall/Spring) before going to grad school. This allows me ample time to study for the tests, and allows me to get a complete education of the subjects before taking the test (otherwise I would take the test without completing an electrodynamics course). Would the alternate path harm my chances at all, since I would be taking a year off? Or is it worth going both routes and seeing if something works out the first time?
For reference, my current grad school prospects are: (By no means final, #1 & #2 are my top choices, although somewhat unrealistic given my stats)
1) Stanford
2) MIT
3) University of Delaware (I have good connections in the department here)
4) Purdue University
5) Virginia Tech
6) Carnegie Mellon
7) Temple University (Safety)
Thanks in advance for any feedback or assistance.