2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

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

metapuff
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2015 11:28 am

2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by metapuff » Sat Sep 10, 2016 11:15 am

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
Last edited by quizivex on Sat Sep 24, 2016 6:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

cleverphysicsname
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2016 8:59 am

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by cleverphysicsname » Sun Sep 11, 2016 11:04 am

Undergrad Institution: Average size state school, known for engineering
Major(s): Physics / Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.5
Overall GPA: 3.4
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: >50%
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores
Q: 162 (82%)
V: 155 (68%)
W: 4.0 (59%)
P: 700 (51%)


Research Experience: Three years on the same particle experiment. Work led to several presentations for the group. My name is on two published papers which both have 50+ authors.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: I got a physics scholarship, and am planning on graduating with departmental honors.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Nationally certified physics tutor for 2 semesters.

Special Bonus Points: Got a good grade in a grad level physics class. I’m also a first generation college student. Probably neither of those matter and I didn't mention them anywhere. I do have an upward trend in GPA: 3.8 over the last 3 semesters.

Applying to: Other Rejected Accepted

New Mexico – HEPex: email 1/30
Colorado State – HEPex: email 1/31
Texas A&M - HEPex: Withdrawn 2/1
New Mexico State – HEPex: email 2/21
Arizona – HEPex: Waitlist 3/2
Colorado Boulder – HEPex: email 3/3
Utah – Cosmic Ray Experiment: email 3/7
Oregon State – HEPex: Waitlist 3/14
Arizona State – Instrumentation: ASU email 3/27

Pert' near exactly what I expected to happen. Assuming rejection from waitlist schools here at the end of March. I had detailed conversations with faculty at 4 schools, 3 of which accepted me. I had canned or no responses from faculty at the other 4. My advisor personally knew faculty at 3 institutions - 1 acceptance and 2 rejections. My personal statement listed specific faculty at 6 schools, went 4/6 on those - rejected by the other two. Thats plenty of data for you to overanalyze.

The schools are listed by date of response, but I had in mind that I applied to 2 "safety-ish" schools, 5 "match" schools, and 2 "shot-in-the-dark" schools. Good luck with your applications, and remember a PhD anywhere puts you in the most-educated 3% of the USA. How could an employer turn that down?
Last edited by cleverphysicsname on Wed Mar 29, 2017 4:32 pm, edited 10 times in total.

queenbee
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2016 10:29 am

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by queenbee » Mon Sep 12, 2016 10:46 am

I decided to fill this out in an effort to cope with my freaking out about this whole process.

My background: I graduated in 2009 and have been in the workforce in mostly non-technical positions for the past 7.5 years. I am so bored and unchallenged, and I really miss physics. I am still not 100% sure that getting my PhD is the right path (omg the lost earnings), but I am seriously enough interested that I want to start going through the process. I've been studying for the PGRE for about 2 months now, and that's obviously been very stressful since I am basically re-teaching myself all my undergrad work.

Undergrad Institution: Undergrad-only institution, no real physics rep that I am aware of (~4000 students total, ~30 in Physics each year) ((hm, I was on my alma mater's physics dept website the other day and saw they are claiming a #8 ranking for physics from someone))
Major(s): Astrophysics
Minor(s): Spanish Language Studies
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.92
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: white domestic female

GRE Scores :
Q: 170 (97%) (2016)
V: 170 (99%) (2016)
W: 4.0 (59%) (2016)
P: 820 (74%) (2016)

Research Experience: Basically none. I did one semester of a research elective and had my name on an extremely minor paper (not even sure it counts as a paper).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Phi Kappa Phi

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: President of the Astronomy Club for 2 years, had one astronomy tutee, and did do some technical training and work in a semi-related field after graduating (nuclear engineering and operations)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Sadly, no

Special Bonus Points: Not sure that being a woman should be considered bonus points, but I am one. Also a former Navy officer, but not sure if that would matter.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I'm old (29)!

Applying to Where:

My main interest is in planetary astronomy (exoplanets) but I'm not 100% set on that. This list is a bit in flux--I know I'm shooting high and trying to figure out where I have a real chance.

Caltech - Geological and Planetary Sciences | Submitted 22 Nov - Rejected 14 Feb
MIT - Physics | Submitted 25 Nov - Skype Interview 6 Jan - Accepted 9 Feb - ~$3k/month stipend for first year (afterwards RA/TA) - DECLINED
UC Berkeley - Astrophysics | Submitted 30 Nov - Phone Interview 13 Jan - Rejected 9 Feb
University of Chicago - Astronomy and Astrophysics | Submitted 2 Dec - Accepted 26 Jan - $32,300 stipend + $8,000 scholarship - WILL ATTEND! :D
University of Washington - Astronomy | Submitted 30 Nov - Rejected 3 Mar
University of Hawai'i - Manoa - Astronomy | Submitted 23 Nov- Accepted 17 Feb - ~$31,500 stipend for first year - DECLINED
University of Texas - Austin - Astronomy | Submitted 7 Dec- Rejected 13 Apr

I am very surprised and thrilled with my results! Everyone I know (outside the field) is like duh pick MIT but I feel like, while they may have wider name recognition in general, UChicago and MIT are really pretty equivalent in terms of quality, rankings, etc. NO clue what I am going to do!!

Final edit: WOW that was a tough decision. I changed my mind a dozen times in the last day before accepting, there were tears, there were sleepless nights. In the end, I just had to go with the one that was best for me as a whole. I know I will be fine and would have been with any choice, so it's just focusing on the future now. Best of luck to everyone!!
Last edited by queenbee on Sun Apr 16, 2017 3:43 pm, edited 18 times in total.

milkywayguy
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2016 5:34 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by milkywayguy » Mon Sep 12, 2016 11:21 pm

Undergrad Institution: Big state school in California, known for Engineering, Astronomy program has been very successful over the last 5 years!
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 4.00
Overall GPA: 4.00
Length of Degree: 4 yrs
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: International Male

GRE Scores : (revised )
Q: 161 (79%)
V: 159 (82%)
W: 5.0 (93%)
P: 970 (93%)


Research Experience: Been working as a collaborator for the Milky Way Project https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/pov ... ay-project, a citizen science initiative for the past year. I resurrected this international collaboration with my mentor's help and we are re-launched it last September. I developed a data reduction pipeline to aggregate all the clicks made by the volunteers in order to produce a catalog of interesting astrophysical phenomena. My mentor mentioned that this process was done by a University of Oxford post-doc prior to him leaving for a data science job at Google. We couldn't run his code effectively so I developed my own pipeline to handle this task. A first author publication is being prepared and I am expecting a couple of Nth author papers to come out of this in the next couple of years.
I've also concurrently conducted Physics Education Research (PER) with a different mentor. My project was on understanding how lower-division students enrolled in calculus-based physics courses tackled continuous charge distributions. Another first author paper, based on this research, is being prepared for publication.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: AAS FAMOUS grant, Departmental Scholarship, President's list, Dean's list, etc..

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked as a Learning Assistant for 2 quarters (lower div physics). Currently employed as a Student assistant at the College of Science advising center and as a student ambassador for the university. I will also be working as a grader during my senior year for lower-div/upper-div physics courses.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Worked on two research projects concurrently! I also helped revive the Milky Way Project :)

Special Bonus Points: The Astronomy professors in my department have good connections with many universities (Harvard, Caltech, University of Wisconsin, Penn State, etc)

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

Applying to Where:

Harvard - Astronomy
Caltech- Astronomy
Penn State- Astronomy(Accepted 1/24, Funding:27k)
University of Arizona- Astronomy (Accepted 1/18, Funding: 30k +2.5k 'settling in' grant)
University of Washington- Astronomy
Ohio State University- Astronomy(Accepted 1/20)
John Hopkins- Astronomy
Yale- Astronomy
University of California - Berkeley- Astronomy
University of Texas - Austin- Astronomy
Last edited by milkywayguy on Wed Jan 25, 2017 3:18 am, edited 4 times in total.

sabreitweiser
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2014 4:52 am

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by sabreitweiser » Fri Sep 16, 2016 2:20 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top 10 Private
Major(s): Math, Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:
Overall GPA: 3.29
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Middle
Type of Student: Domestic white male

Masters Institution: Top 30 Private
Major(s): Physics
Overall GPA: 3.67
Length of Degree: 1.5

GRE Scores :
Q: 170 (November 2014)
V: 167
W: 5.0
P: 960 (April 2014)

Research Experience: Working on spectroscopic experiments and simulations of condensed matter systems (~9 months) at masters institution. One or two n-th author papers in the works; new project might yield first or second author, but unlikely to come out in time to affect applications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA (2 undergraduate courses, 1 graduate(!) course)
Worked for a while as a software engineer between undergrad and masters (unsure if this helps?)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Some math stuff from undergrad, doubt it will make a difference (study abroad program, reading program)

Special Bonus Points: I expect a pretty strong LOR from my current advisor

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Clearly, I messed up undergrad; no research experience and low GPA precluded most PhD programs. Worked for a while in industry as a software engineer before deciding to go back to school, so if nothing else I have great technical skills. My strong GRE got me into a good master's insitution, and I think I've managed to make the most of it so far. I'm unsure how my "non-traditional" background is going to play out, so I'm applying to a wide spectrum of schools and see what I get.

Applying to Where: (All in Condensed Matter Experiment)

Stanford - Rejected 2/10 via email
UPenn - Accepted 1/27 via email Will attend
UCSB - Rejected 2/24 via email to check website
UCLA - Accepted 2/16 via email
UC Boulder - Accepted 2/16 via email
UC Berkeley - Rejected 3/8 via email
Princeton - Rejected 2/16 via email
MIT - Rejected 2/10 via website
Hopkins - Waitlisted 4/12 via email (declined)
Harvard - Rejected 2/16 via email
Caltech - Rejected 2/24 via email
NYU - Accepted 1/31 via email
Columbia - Waitlisted 3/15 via inquiry - Rejected 4/10 via website

Edit 4/15: In retrospect it seems I picked about the right level of schools, thanks largely to very good advice from my advisor. I had several strong offers to choose from, and was very interested in all of them (except maybe UCLA, which I did not feel was a good research fit after visiting). Of course I was disappointed at some of the rejections, but it seems this year was very competitive for CME.

The only mistake I feel I made was not reaching out to professors before applying. Most of my SOPs listed particular groups I was interested in, and I think I was considered more seriously at the one or two schools where I had discussed it with them before.
Last edited by sabreitweiser on Sat Apr 15, 2017 6:44 pm, edited 18 times in total.

danielfaraday
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Nov 30, 2014 8:56 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by danielfaraday » Fri Sep 16, 2016 9:33 pm

Undergrad Institution: state school, rank ~70 in physics
Majors: Honors BS Physics, Bachelor's of Biomedical Engineering
Minors: Philosophy, Bioelectrical Engineering, and Electrical & Computer Engineering
Undergrad GPA: 3.6 / 4.0
Position in Class: not sure, probably in the upper 25%
Length of Degree: 4 years
Grad GPA: 2.9/4.0 (1 year, 18 credits)
Type of Student: Domestic male, Filipino American

GRE Scores :
Q: 166 (91%)
V: 156 (72%)
W: 5.0 (93%)
P: Sept 2014 - 750 (62%)
Sept 2016 - 800 (70%)

Research Experience: Two years of undergraduate research in plasma physics (1 publication). Currently working as a Research Technician at top ranked medical school (7 abstract submissions, 5 posters, 2 conferences, 1 publication in progress). Miscellaneous research odd jobs in Biomedical Engineering and HEP-EX.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Received an award for my undergraduate research at my graduation. University honors program, dean's list, scholarships, etc.

Miscellaneous: I am applying as a transfer student. I am currently on a Leave of Absence from a PhD program in physics. The school wasn't right for me and it didn't match my current research interests. I am considering other options. Hopefully, admission committees won't think less of my application. But...my grad gpa wasn't that great either.

Applying to Where:
Carnegie Mellon - Applied Physics - Submitted 11/30 Official Rejection 3/30 via Email
Cornell - Applied Physics - Submitted 12/1 Official Rejection 2/16 via Email
Duke - Medical Physics - Submitted 11/27 Official Rejection 1/27 via Website
Johns Hopkins - Physics - Submitted 11/29 Official Rejection 3/9 via Email
Northeastern - Physics - Submitted 12/1 Official Rejection 2/23 via Website
Penn - Physics - Submitted 11/28 Official Rejection 4/6 via Website
UNC Chapel Hill - Physics - Submitted 11/28 Skype Interview with PI 1/25 Official Acceptance 1/30 via Email Will Attend!
Vanderbilt - Physics - Submitted 12/1 Waitlist 3/10 via Email Official Acceptance 4/28 via Email
Virginia - Physics - Submitted 12/1 Official Waitlist 3/9 via Email Official Rejection 4/13 via Email
Yale - Applied Physics - Submitted 11/29 Official Rejection 2/27 via Website
Last edited by danielfaraday on Mon May 01, 2017 3:49 pm, edited 38 times in total.

metapuff
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2015 11:28 am

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by metapuff » Fri Sep 16, 2016 10:36 pm

First, thanks to everyone who posted in these threads in previous years. Can't believe it's my turn!

Undergrad Institution: Big state, meh reputation in physics
Major(s): Physics and math
Minor(s): Nada
GPA in Major: 4.00
Overall GPA: 4.00
Length of Degree: (Are you graduating after 3, 4, or 5 years?) 4 years
Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?) Top, but I don't think grad schools actually care.
Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?) Domestic white male

GRE Scores :
Q: 170 (97%)
V: 167 (98%)
W: 4.5 (82%)
P: 990 (94%, October 2015)


Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...) In chronological order: One summer doing computational cosmology, two semesters working on some cool gravitational lensing stuff, a summer working on topological superconductors, and about a year doing things related to TQFT. Six published papers: one in cosmology, two in gravitational lensing, one in superconductivity, and two in TQFT-related things. All are first author, and one of the TQFT ones is by myself. Two more TQFT-ish papers submitted (both second author) and another in prep. Also worked on some algebraic geometry stuff for a semester, if that counts for anything.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) A few local scholarships and the Goldwater

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

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: A few talks at my school, a talk at an APS meeting, and posters at a few conferences.

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...) O(10) grad classes in math and physics, plus a supervised independent study on representation theory in particle physics. Attended a really kickass summer school on topological quantum matter and learned a ton from that. Also took a month off of school during fall of my senior year to hang out at the KITP (totally worth it).

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Am applying for theory but didn't take a QFT class until this semester, since my school is weird and doesn't offer it very often (went through most of Peskin and Schroeder and Fradkin's books, though). Also did a bit of lecturing for a study group on category theory in physics.

Applying to Where: All for topological CMT stuff, but also interested in quantum information, and some hep-th (it from qubit stuff). In no particular order,

MIT - Accepted, 2/9/2017 Attending! Yay c:
Yale - Accepted, 3/1/2017 Declined
UCSD - Accepted, 1/8/2017 Declined
Caltech - Accepted, 2/15/2017 Declined
Stanford - Accepted, 2/10/2017 Declined :--(
Harvard - Accepted, 2/10/2017 Declined
Boulder - Accepted, 1/26/2017 Declined; no skiing or climbing for me :--(
UCSB - Accepted, 1/31/2017 Declined :--(
Princeton - Accepted, 2/10/2017 Declined
Chicago - Accepted, 1/24/2017, Yoichiro Nambu fellowship Declined

Also, applying for

NSF GRFP - Awarded! c:
Hertz - got a first round interview - got a second round interview - AWARDED! $250,000 award, mega-psyched. Got lucky on this one.
NDSEG - Awarded! c:

####################

Unsolicited advice for future applicants: Get involved in research early, and make a point of trying your hand in several different research areas. I was introduced to CMT after doing astro research only because I thought it'd be fun to do more math, and not because I thought CMT was particularly cool. I'm very glad I did, and I think it's good to use the freedom you have as an undergrad to explore different fields. Also, don't obsesses and worry about people who have been doing physics longer than you or go to fancier schools—I got a D in AP physics (and graduated high school with a 2.7 GPA!), so you don't need to be a crazy physics prodigy to get into good schools. Lastly, if you're the kind of person who would enjoy having an oral final exam in one of your physics classes, you should totally apply for the Hertz fellowship: they ask you awesome technical questions in the interviews, which are tons of fun. Good luck!
Last edited by metapuff on Sat Apr 15, 2017 10:36 pm, edited 22 times in total.

theladybug
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2016 9:26 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by theladybug » Sun Sep 18, 2016 9:47 pm

Undergrad Institution: Big state school, not much reputation for anything but football and racism
Major(s): Physics and math
Minor(s): German and Russian
GPA in Major: 3.92
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Not sure, probably near the top but not very top
Type of Student: Domestic white female

GRE Scores :
Q: 169 (97%)
V: 168 (98%)
W: 4.5 (82%)
P: 990 (94%) (this forum was invaluable for study material recommendations; I got like 20 questions right on my first practice test and was convinced I would fail the PGRE and have to do my PhD in nuclear engineering instead)

Research Experience: Two years HEPex at my school. Three summer internships at universities/national labs: one in materials science, one in nuclear physics, one in plasma physics. Presented a few posters at conferences in student sessions. No publications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Full tuition merit scholarship at my school, Dean's List or better every semester, won an award for best student poster at my plasma internship.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Three semesters as an undergraduate Learning Assistant. Apparently I'm pretty good at that.

Special Bonus Points: Well, I'm a girl (and gay, but I'm only mentioning that on apps that want a diversity statement). I just went to a conference in the field I want to study in, so hopefully I made a good impression. My poster didn't win anything but I talked to a lot of professors, and got some interest from WVU and the Max Planck Institute. Friendly with professors at two schools I'm applying to (they helped me with my Fulbright application). My reference writers seem to think I'm awesome, not sure how well-connected they are.

Applying to Where:
Fellowships:
Fulbright Open Research/Study at Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik in Greifswald - Selected as semi finalist 1/19 - Awarded 3/23 WILL ACCEPT and defer graduate school matriculation for a year!!

Grad schools:
Princeton - Plasma physics - Accepted 2/15 via email - WILL ATTEND
UCLA - Plasma physics - Accepted 2/16 via email
MIT - Plasma physics - Rejected 2/10 via website
MIT - Nuclear engineering - Accepted 2/15 via email
Wisconsin - Plasma physics - Accepted 1/24 via email
Wisconsin - Nuclear engineering - Accepted 1/27 via email
Columbia - Plasma physics - Accepted 1/25 via email
UT Austin - Plasma physics - Invited to visit 2/4 via email - Accepted 3/9 via email
UC Irvine - Plasma physics - Accepted 1/24 via email
Auburn U. - Plasma physics - Application withdrawn 2/15
West Virginia University - Plasma physics - Accepted 2/2 via email
Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik in Greifswald - Plasma physics - Accepted 2/27 via email
Last edited by theladybug on Tue Apr 11, 2017 7:16 pm, edited 38 times in total.

tooterfish
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon May 16, 2016 12:05 am

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by tooterfish » Sun Sep 18, 2016 11:22 pm

Undergrad Institution: State university.
Major(s): MS Physics, unrelated undergraduate degree
GPA in Major: 3.98
Overall GPA: 3.98
Length of Degree: 2 yr MS program (took longer for me, due to transitioning from non-STEM undegrad)
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: American male

GRE Scores :
Q: 170 (97%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 4.5 (82%)
P: 990 (94%)

Research Experience:
- Year and half experience working with optical media, both experiment and simulation.
- Contributing author on one paper, accepted for publication but still in press. (update: Paper released 2/17!)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)
-Two prestigious scholarships, outside school. Won it twice.
-Awarded a selective spot in a two-week conference on high performance computing in the sciences
-Awarded first place in our campus research and poster presentation event

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
-Five years of tutoring and classroom experience.
-TA grader for upper level phys courses

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
-Student organizations: Optical Society (student chapter president), SIAM (member)
-My background was not originally in physics (or in STEM at all). I imagine some schools would view my success upon transitioning positively, and some might view transitioning negatively. I've heard that MS students are put under harsher vetting than undergrads. Maybe that would factor in as well.

Applying to Where:
All applications are for Physics, Condensed Matter.
My emphasis is in both CMT and CME, with a preference towards theory.


Cornell - Accepted
U Washington - Accepted - WILL ATTEND
CU Boulder - Accepted


MIT - Rejected
Princeton - Rejected
Harvard - Rejected
Stanford - Rejected
CalTech - Rejected
UC Berkeley - Rejected
U Chicago - Rejected
Urbana-Champaign - Rejected
Columbia - Rejected
U Michigan - Rejected
UCLA - Rejected
UC San Diego - Rejected
Brown - Rejected
Last edited by tooterfish on Fri Apr 21, 2017 8:48 pm, edited 5 times in total.

Zopy
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2016 10:52 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Zopy » Mon Sep 19, 2016 11:13 pm

I've been lurking on these forums for the past couple of years. It's been more than helpful in my preparations for going to grad school. Now that it's my turn to apply, I'm excited to the return the favor! :D

Undergrad Institution: Big state university. Good engineering program, but not too well-known for physics
Major(s): Physics & Mathematics
Minor(s): University-specific research minor
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 4 Years
Position in Class: No numbers, but probably near the top
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores :
Q: 168 (95th)
V: 155 (68th)
W: 4.0 (59th)
P: April 2016: 660 ; September 2016: 740; October 2016: 820 (74th)

Research Experience: 3 years of HEP-ex research with the same faculty adviser. No proper publications, but my name is on a couple internal analysis notes and other official reports/papers. Along with this, I spent the summer of 2015 doing an REU for HEP-ex, and this past summer (2016) I had a non-REU research position doing quality control on components for particle detectors.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Received a full-tuition scholarship from my school. President's List every semester so far. Was awarded "Outstanding First-Year Physics Student." Had a small monetary award for my physics grades during my freshman year as well.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I've been working as an undergrad TA for the past 3 years. For my sophomore and junior years, I assisted with entry-level mechanics and electromagnetics courses (both algebra-based and calculus-based, as well as honors and non-honors). This year, I'm assisting with our junior-level electromagnetics course.

I've presented my research at a university-wide conference two years in a row. During my REU, I did a poster presentation at an end-of-summer symposium, as well as an oral presentation a week prior. I've also done a poster presentation at a regional APS meeting, and am planning to do so again later this semester.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I'm in the executive cabinet of my university's Student Government Association.

Special Bonus Points: I've made some pretty good connections during the summers of 2015 and 2016, so that should definitely help. My research adviser seems to have a lot of connections at various universities, but I'm not 100% sure where.

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

Applying to Where:

All for HEP-ex except where otherwise noted

Michigan State - ACCEPTED January 18th 2017 via email - Declined
SUNY Stony Brook - ACCEPTED January 28th 2017 via email - Declined
Oregon - ACCEPTED February 2nd 2017 via email - Declined
Virginia Tech - (Neutrino Physics) - ACCEPTED February 2nd 2017 via email - Declined
Rutgers - ACCEPTED February 15th 2017 via email. Awarded Torrey & Excellence Fellowships - Declined
Cornell - ACCEPTED February 16th 2017 via website - WILL ATTEND!!
Brown - ACCEPTED February 17th 2017 via email - Declined
Florida - ACCEPTED February 17th 2017 via email - Declined
Virginia - ACCEPTED February 22nd 2017 via email - Declined
CU Boulder - ACCEPTED February 23nd 2017 via email - Declined
Baylor - ACCEPTED March 2nd 2017 via email - Declined

MIT - REJECTED February 10th 2017 via website
Princeton - REJECTED February 16th 2017 via email

Lessons Learned:

I think this'll be my last edit on my applicant profile, unless I can think of anything helpful to add later. All in all, I'd say that this was a very successful application season for me. My general strategy was along the lines of "throw a lot of darts at the dartboard, and some are sure to stick," but things definitely went better than I had expected. For people applying to PhD programs in the future, here are some lessons I've learned over the past few months.

1. The thing that I think helped me out the most was my research experience. I started doing undergraduate research my sophomore year, both at my home institution and at other institutions. If you haven't started doing research yet, I'd recommend doing so as soon as possible. Not only does it build your physics background, but the relationships you form with your advisers will allow them to write extremely insightful and well-crafted letters of recommendation.

2. Be prepared to potentially spend a ton of money. Between taking the pGRE thrice, the general GRE once, and all the application fees, I spent just shy of $2,000 (I was keeping a spreadsheet of expenses). This is one thing that I wish I knew going into the process.

3. Conquering the Physics GRE is a major asset. It helped me improve my pGRE score from a 660 to 820. Not perfect by any means, but still a step in the right direction.

4. The grad school application process was a very stressful time for me, and I'm sure it is for many others as well. So just be sure to balance everything you do. Make sure you take a step back from your applications and schoolwork to just unwind. For me, my "escape" was hiking. Just do whatever you enjoy to help keep a healthy, clear mind!
Last edited by Zopy on Sun Apr 09, 2017 5:43 pm, edited 24 times in total.

muonneutrino
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2016 9:41 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by muonneutrino » Tue Sep 20, 2016 11:24 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top 20 or 30 public school
Major(s): Physics (main) and mathematics
Minor(s): Astrophysics
GPA in Major: 3.96
Overall GPA: 3.85
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Not sure, probably above average
Type of Student: Domestic white male, gay (not sure if that helps)

GRE Scores : (revised)
Q: 168
V: 170
W: 4.0
P: 990

Research Experience: 2.5 years in astroparticle physics at home institution (mostly computer work, no presentations or publications but will have an honors thesis). I also spent a month in New York helping build a prototype telescope.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Various school scholarships, offered departmental scholarship (declined for complicated reasons), Dean's list 5/6 semesters, invited into Sigma Pi Sigma

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Taking graduate quantum senior year

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

Applying to Where: Expressing interest in HEP-ex and HEP-th, with emphasis on experiment
Princeton - Physics Rejected
Stanford - Physics Rejected
UCSB - Physics Rejected
Columbia - Rejected
Chicago - Physics Accepted with fellowship Will attend!
Boston- Physics Accepted with fellowship Declined
University of British Columbia - Physics Waitlisted, Declined
Maryland - Physics Rejected
Washington - Physics Accepted 1/19 Declined
Minnesota - Physics Accepted with quarter fellowship Declined
Last edited by muonneutrino on Tue Apr 04, 2017 8:36 pm, edited 9 times in total.

ndrach
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2016 7:27 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by ndrach » Tue Sep 27, 2016 8:19 pm

Undergrad Institution: Large liberal arts school in Boston, not a great reputation in physics but has a few professors doing good condensed matter research
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.1
Overall GPA: 3.0
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: average
Type of Student: domestic hispanic male

GRE Scores : (revised)
Q: 166 (91%)
V: 166 (97%)
W: 5 (93%)
P: 820 (74%) (Up from a 620 (33%) 2 years ago, so I'm pretty happy about this)


Research Experience: During college: 0.5 years in a condensed matter lab at undergrad institution working on the development of novel thermoelectric materials. 1.5 years in another condensed matter lab working on plasmonics in nanostructures, led to a poster at a New England APS meeting and a Senior Honors Thesis.

After College: I've been working full time for the past 1.5 years in a radiology lab at an Ivy League school working on hyperpolarized MRI. So far I have one 1st Author paper in a medical physics journal as well as 2 co-authorships on other papers, Im hoping to get another 1st author paper out in the next month or two before applications go out. I've also had 3 posters and one talk at international conferences, I'll have submitted 2-3 more abstracts for posters/talks by the time applications go out but wont hear back about them until ~February. Also had a handful of posters at internal conferences but I figure those don't count for much.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Not much, 2 undergraduate research fellowships (just an award to get research funded), and a couple of semesters on the dean's list

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Currently volunteering as a TA for an introductory physics class for post-bacc students.

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

Special Bonus Points: Should have 3 pretty good letters, Hoping that having >1 year experience working full time as a researcher will give me a bit of a boost.

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

Applying to Where: All for physics Phd except from UCSB which is for their interdepartmental Biomolecular Science & Engineering program

Harvard - Physics - Biophysics Experiment REJECTED (2/16)
Caltech - Physics - Biophysics Experiment REJECTED (2/24)
UC Berkeley - Physics - Biophysics Experiment REJECTED (3/8)
UC Santa Barbara - Biomolecular Science & Engineering - Biophysics Experiment Invited to Interview 1/24. ACCEPTED! official email on 2/21, 28K/yr stipend Offered Regents Fellowship 3/15, extra $2k for first year, and no requirement to TA
University of Pennsylvania - Physics - Biophysics Experiment REJECTED (4/06)
University of Wisconsin - Madison - Physics - AMO REJECTED (2/15)
University of Colorado - Boulder - Physics - Biophysics Experiment REJECTED (3/3)
Brown - Physics - Biophysics Experiment ACCEPTED! Unofficial email on 2/16. First acceptance :D , 25K/9mo stipend Offered Diversity Fellowship 3/21, extra $3k for first 3 years, and no requirement to TA Will Attend!
Washington University in St. Louis - Physics - Biophysics Experiment Never heard back, assumed rejection (4/13)
UC Irvine - Physics - Biophysics Experiment REJECTED (4/06)
Tufts - Physics - Biophysics Experiment REJECTED (3/6)
Northeastern University - Physics - Nanophysics REJECTED (2/23)

Notes: Applied to 12 schools, got into 2. Main thing that held me back was obviously my undergraduate grades, but I was able to salvage my chances with 2 years of postgrad research and a couple of publications. If I were to go through all this again I would have applied to less extreme-reach schools and applied to more second/third tier schools to give me some more options. In the end I'm extremely happy that I at least got one good acceptance at a school that has several faculty matching my research interest.
Last edited by ndrach on Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:18 pm, edited 29 times in total.

BigCatM17
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 4:08 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by BigCatM17 » Tue Oct 04, 2016 12:52 am

Undergrad Institution: Public Ivy and top 15 in physics for 7 semesters, one semester abroad at top Dutch university for astrophysics
Major(s): Physics and Astronomy
GPA in Major: 3.74, 3.82
Overall GPA: 3.69
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top 10%
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores : (revised version)
Q: 167 (93%)
V: 161 (88%)
W: 5.0 (93%)
P: 860 (80%)

Research Experience: Cosmology for one summer (astro-ph), Exoplanets for one semester (astro), Star formation models for one semester that we will be submitting for publication, writing a thesis (and hopefully an additional paper) on gravitational collapse using wave turbulence formulation (hep-th, gr), presented thesis findings as a poster at a big conference.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: University Honors 6x (was not at home university for one semester), Sigma Pi Sigma

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Undergrad TA for summer school, helped develop Modern Physics lab, Grader

Special Bonus Points: Recommenders are solid (one was part of AAS council, other has been on the faculty of several schools on my list.) Took one graduate class (theoretical mechanics.)

Applying to Where (primarily theoretical astrophysics):

Princeton Astrophysical Sciences - Rejected by email, 02/03
Harvard Astronomy - Rejected by website, 02/10
Caltech Astronomy - Rejected by email, 03/01
Berkeley Physics - Rejected after inquiry, 03/07
Columbia Physics - Rejected by website, 03/16
Yale Physics - Rejected by website, 03/06
Cornell Physics - Rejected by email, 02/14
UCSB Physics - Rejected by website, 02/24
Maryland Physics - Rejected by email, 02/10
Arizona Physics - Accepted by email, 02/14
Georgia Tech Physics - Accepted by website, 03/03, will attend
LSU Physics - Don't really care
Last edited by BigCatM17 on Tue Apr 18, 2017 11:00 pm, edited 36 times in total.

tattooedphysicist
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2016 8:44 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by tattooedphysicist » Tue Oct 18, 2016 9:33 pm

Undergrad Institution: State school satellite campus, basically unknown for physics
Major(s): Physics, Pure and Applied
Minor(s): Astrophysics, Mathematics
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 3 years
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: domestic minority female, adult student (over 30)

GRE Scores : new version
Q: 166
V: 167
W: 5.5
P: 910

Research Experience:
(1) Home institution - observational astronomy - resulted in poster presentation at home institute research symposium, trip to Arecibo
(2) REU - quantum optics - resulted in award-winning poster presentation at APS April Meeting
(3) REU - solar modeling - resulted in award-winning poster presentation at PhysCon, first author paper in prep, and honors senior thesis continuing the project

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
2016 Quadrennial Physics Congress - OSA Poster Award for Theoretical/Computational Physics (for solar poster)
APS April Meeting - Undergraduate Research Presentation Award (for optics poster)
Society of Physics Students - big merit scholarship
Home institution - Academic Athlete award for two years (for 4.0, includes a scholarship), Dean's List all semesters (includes scholarship), several other merit scholarships
Home department - two merit scholarships, for multiple years running

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
SPS president and national council member (2 years)
Tutor (3 years)
Graded briefly...

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
I've given two invited talks at well known schools, but on science & society topics.
I'm a grown up, so I have a work history and life experience that led me to take this whole school thing pretty seriously.

Special Bonus Points: I'm a female minority student...

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I have a BA in Musical Theatre from 2007 and used to be a touring musician, so that could swing either way...

Applying to Where:

Accepted - Waitlisted - Rejected

Stanford - Physics - high energy/cosmo Accepted 2/10 : Fellowship - 5 yr
UC Berkeley - Physics - high energy/cosmo, computational astro Accepted 2/17
UC Santa Cruz - Astronomy & Astrophysics - TASC Accepted 1/27 : Fellowship - 5 yr
CU Boulder - Astrophysical and Planetary Science - computational solar Accepted 1/27 : TA/RA
Montana State U - Physics - Solar, corona dynamics Accepted 2/08 : TA/RA & small Fellowship
Louisiana State U - Physics - computational physics Accepted 2/06 : Fellowship - 5 yr
University of Maryland - Astronomy - computational astro Withdrawn 1/29
Cornell - Astronomy - Theoretical astro Accepted 2/06 : Fellowship - 1 yr
MIT - Physics - Kavli Institute is an astro dream... Accepted 2/09 : Fellowship - 5 yr
Harvard - Physics - Theoretical High Energy or astro Rejected 2/16
Last edited by tattooedphysicist on Mon Feb 27, 2017 1:08 pm, edited 10 times in total.

uwlaxphysics
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2016 10:32 am

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by uwlaxphysics » Sat Oct 22, 2016 11:58 am

Undergrad Institution: Small midwest state school with no graduate program.
Major(s): Physics and Math
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 4.0, 3.87
Overall GPA: 3.78
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: Top-ish
Type of Student: Domestic male

GRE Scores :
Q: 163 (85%)
V: 156 (72%)
W: 4.0 (59%)
P: 820 (74%)


Research Experience:
3 years of research in computational astrophysics at current school that will accumulate into a paper by the end of the year (hopefully by the end of this semester if I don't get too bogged down with graduate school applications). This research was funded over a summer by an awarded space grant and has led to two poster presentations. Last summer I interned at a national lab in high energy density physics (HEDP). That research has accumulated in a paper that is currently in review.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List, local scholarships

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 3 time TA for two intro lab courses and a physics for future elementary school teachers course. Physics tutor for the past 2.5 years.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Physics club president (SPS chapter)

Special Bonus Points: My summer research advisor did his PhD at Rochester and has set up meetings with professors out there. So I believe I will have strong connections there.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I'm applying with a more general research scope in mind. I don't have a specific research interest (as you'll see in my scattered research topics below). That's why I'm applying to large programs that do a variety of interesting things. However, I am drawn towards theory projects since I like computational work (first principle simulations).

Applying to Where:

Waitlisted, Accepted, Rejected

Cornell - Physics - Theory Astrophysics, Exp HEDP Rejected 2/14/2017
MIT - Physisc - HEDP, Plasma Rejected 2/13/2017
Michigan - Physics - Theory Astrophysics, Theory HEDP, Exp Nuclear Rejected 3/09/2017
Maryland - Physics - Nonlinear systems, Plasma, AMO Accepted 2/09/2017 - Will Attend!
Colorado - Boulder - Physics - Astrophysics, CM Rejected 3/03/2017
Ohio State - Physics - Exp HEDP, Theory CM, Exp Nuclear Accepted 1/27/2017 + 1st year fellowship
Carnegie Mellon - Physics - Computational physics - Astro Waitlisted, but invited to visit 2/17/2017
Rochester - Physics - HEDP, Astrophysics (plasma) Accepted 2/06/2017
University of Arizona- Physics - Theory Astrophysics Accepted 2/14/2017
NC State - Physics - Theory&Exp Nuclear Astrophysics - Accepted 1/18/2017
Last edited by uwlaxphysics on Mon Apr 10, 2017 9:23 pm, edited 22 times in total.

StopScatterTime
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2016 9:25 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by StopScatterTime » Wed Oct 26, 2016 9:40 pm

Undergrad Institution: Large State School
Major(s): Physics / Mathematics
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.94
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE Scores : (revised)
Q: 163
V: 162
W: 4
P: 990

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)
In the summer of my freshman year, I did research in graph theory and presented it at a conference. I also worked for two years in a high energy experiment lab and will have a publication by the time I graduate along with two presentations. I have been in a nuclear theory group for 6 months.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)
Several department scholarships.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...)
Sigma Pi Sigma President
Tutor for upper level classical mechanics

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
3rd place in local math competition.

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)
I have taken grad courses on particle physics, nuclear physics, computational physics, quantum field theory and differential topology.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Applying for an NSF Fellowship.

Applying to Where:

UC Berkeley - hep-th Rejected 3/8 by email
U Chicago - hep-th Rejected 2/17 by email to check website
U Michigan - hep-th Rejected 2/10 by email
U Maryland - nuclear-th Admitted 2/9 by email
U Washington - nuclear-th Admitted 1/18 by email. Will Attend
Cambridge - MAST Applied Math and Theoretical Physics Admitted 1/12 by email
CalTech - hep-th Rejected 2/24 by email
Harvard - hep-th Rejected 2/16 by email to check website
MIT - hep-th Rejected 2/10 by website
Princeton - hep-th Rejected 2/16 by email
Last edited by StopScatterTime on Wed Mar 08, 2017 4:25 pm, edited 8 times in total.

moon
Posts: 14
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2014 6:52 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by moon » Sat Oct 29, 2016 5:59 pm

Undergrad Institution: UC
Majors: Physics & Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.30
Overall GPA: 3.30
Length of Degree: 3 years
Position in Class: average
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores:
Q: 158 (70%)
V:160 (85%)
W:3.5 (42%)
P: 790 (69%)

Research Experience:
- 0.5 years in semiconductor/HEP-ex
- 1.25 years in an HEP-th simulation

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
- Dean's List one quarter

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
- 1 year tutoring intro physics and math.
- Independent data science coursework through coursera.
- Independent study on QFT, QG, and various topics in Algebra.
- 2 years @at big tech company: software QA, vehicle physics analysis, C++ experience

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
- Senior Thesis in HEP-th

Special Bonus Points:
- good letters

Applying for HEP-th/ex mostly, but some CMT/CME & GR/Mathematical Physics

USC - rejected 3/28 after responding to my email inquiry
Texas A&M - Offer sent 3/4 by email - WILL ATTEND!!!
UCLA - rejected 3/1 via email
U Minnesota - rejected 2/21 via email
UC Irvine rejected 4/11 via email
Yale - rejected 3/6 via email
UC Davis - rejected 4/11 via phone inquiry
Penn State - rejected 3/13 via email after inquiry
UW Milwaukee - application withdrawn
Arizona State University - application withdrawn
Last edited by moon on Sat Apr 15, 2017 12:07 pm, edited 12 times in total.

asmull
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:01 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by asmull » Fri Nov 11, 2016 5:39 pm

Undergrad Institution: Biggish state school, not particularly lauded for Electrical Engineering or physics
Major(s): Electrical Engineering (B.S. and M.S. with Thesis)
Minor(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 3.97 B.S./ 3.98 M.S.
Overall GPA: 3.97 B.S./ 3.98 M.S.
Length of Degree: 6 years for both degrees
Position in Class: Top of my class for undergrad
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 168 (95%)
V: 169 (99%)
W: 5.0 (93%)
P: 990 (94%)




Research Experience: Around 2 years of research in computational elecromagnetics. Currently have a paper submitted after its second revision, on it as second author. Conference talks at URSI and IEEE Antennas and Propogation Society. Additionally, one summer in the research program at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Magna cum laude, university honors scholar, undergraduate research award, several scholarships.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 3 semesters as a TA teaching labs, 1 semester as a course instructor for a class of ~170 students.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Hoping my grad degree helps out a little bit. Strong letters or recommendation, including a Stanford alum. Only problem is, they are from electrical engineering faculty.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Again, my undergraduate and M.S. are not in physics. I'm hoping this is not held against me, but it's making me very anxious.

Applying to Where:

MIT - Physics, AMO/Quantum Information Rejected by website 2/23
MIT - EECS, AMO/Quantum Information Rejected by website
Berkeley - Physics, AMO Accepted, 2/24 :D
Stanford - Applied Physics, AMO Rejected 2/6 ... Ouch
CU Boulder - Physics, AMO Accepted, 1/26 :D
University of Washington - Physics, AMO Accepted, 1/18
University of Wisconsin Madison - Physics, Plasma Physics/Fusion or AMO Accepted 1/24
University of Wisconsin Madison - Electrical Engineering, Plasma Physics/Fusion or AMO Invited to Visit 1/19
University of Wisconsin Madison - Nuclear Engineering/Engineering Physics Invited to Visit 1/17
UT Austin - Physics, AMO Invited to Visit 2/4
University of Arizona - Optical Sciences, Quantum Information Accepted, 1/27
Oregon State - Electrical Engineering, RF electronics Contacted 2/4, Withdrawn
Last edited by asmull on Sat Feb 25, 2017 1:15 pm, edited 15 times in total.

quantz
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2016 7:52 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by quantz » Wed Nov 16, 2016 8:04 pm

Undergrad Institution: UT Austin
Major(s): Physics, Electrical Engineering
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.99
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: top? We don't get rankings.
Type of Student: domestic male

GRE Scores :
Q: 166
V: 162
W: 4.0
P: 870

Research Experience: Two years working on thin film research in an AMO lab. No publications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Various scholarships

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Spent two summers as an intern at an electrical engineering company

Special Bonus Points: Advisor/recommender is very well known

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Study Abroad in India working for Xilinx. Also, a section leader in the marching band.

Applying to Where:
Condensed matter, quantum information

UCSB - Physics - Accepted 1/31
Yale - Applied Physics -Accepted 2/24 Will Attend
UC Berkeley - Physics - Rejected
Caltech - Physics - Rejected
Illinois - Physics - Rejected
Stanford - Applied Physics - Rejected
Chicago - Physics - Rejected
MIT - Physics - Rejected
Colorado Boulder - Physics - Accepted 1/26
Princeton - Physics - Rejected
UT Austin - Physics - Accepted
Wisconsin Madison - Physics - Accepted 1/24
Last edited by quantz on Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:31 pm, edited 15 times in total.

Tygrum
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2016 7:46 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Tygrum » Tue Nov 22, 2016 8:02 pm

Undergrad Institution: Extremely selective Near-Ivy. ~25 in physics
Major(s): Physics
Overall GPA: 3.47
GPA in Major: 3.51
Junior/Senior GPA: 3.68
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Average
Type of Student: White Male

GRE Scores :
Q: 167 (93%)
V: 162 (90%)
W: 3.5 (42%)
P: Sept- 780 (67%), Oct- 790 (69%)

Research Experience: 6 months full-time theoretical biophysics research (~50hrs/wk). 2 publications - 1 2nd author, 1 1st author - both in the well respected biophysics journals

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor for physics and math at undergrad institution

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Very involved in redesigning the undergrad curriculum

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My recent grades are much better than my older grades

Applying to Where:

Cornell - Biophysics Accepted 2/21
Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences - Physiology, Biophysics and Systems Biology - Accepted 1/30
UC Berkeley - Biophysics - Rejected 1/19
University of Chicago - Biophysical Sciences Accepted 2/8
Vanderbilt - Quantitative and Chemical Biology Accepted 2/2
Columbia - Biophysics - Rejected 1/25


Note: I thought there were too many 4.0, 990, 3 years research + 2 REU students on here, so I figured I would throw my stats up on the board. My expectation is not to get in anywhere, but I will be very pleased if I do. I hope that I can squeeze in with the biophysics niche at a great school, but if not I have other plans. Good luck everyone!
Last edited by Tygrum on Tue Feb 21, 2017 6:20 pm, edited 5 times in total.

opelton
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Sep 17, 2016 3:47 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by opelton » Fri Nov 25, 2016 4:04 am

Undergrad Institution: Big private school, ranked ~50 ish
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
Overall GPA:3.89
Length of Degree: Degree is 4 years, but graduating in 7 years (took 3 years off for volunteer work)
Position in Class: close to top
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 162 (82%)
V: 165 (95%)
W: 4.5 (82%)
P: 820 (74%)

Research Experience: 6 publications (3 of 6 not accepted yet: One as 1st author, not submitted yet. Two as 3rd author, under review). SULI internship studying condensed matter, 2 years in condensed matter group at my school, 1 year in molecular biology lab.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: a few standard things, deans list, a few scholarships, etc. Multiple APS conference talks.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA'd for three different physics classes

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Fluent in a difficult 2nd language. My 3 years off from school probably add a lot of 'diversity' to my profile.

Applying to Where:


Columbia - Physics (biophysics emphasis) Accepted (will attend!)
Stanford -Biophysics Invited to interview -> Rejected
U Chicago -Biophysical Sciences Invited to interview --> Accepted
Harvard -Biophysics Rejected
Yale - Physics (biophysics emphasis) Rejected
U Pittsburg - Biophysics Invited to interview -->Accepted
Princeton - Physics (biophysics emphasis) Rejected
Last edited by opelton on Tue Jul 04, 2017 11:17 pm, edited 2 times in total.

AlexisPrel
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2014 9:26 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by AlexisPrel » Fri Nov 25, 2016 4:30 pm

Undergrad Institution: French public university, with a rather good reputation in physics.
Major(s): Bs. in Physics, Ms. in Physics and Materials
GPA in Major: ca. 85% in bachelor, 80% in master
Overall GPA: 90% in bachelor, 80% in master
Length of Degree: 3 yr Bsc. + 2 yr Msc.
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: International male, not minority.

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 166 (91%)
V: 161 (87%)
W: 3.5 (40%) (was tempted to retake but well).
P: 810 (72%)

TOEFL Total: 110 (but only 22 in speaking, which is sometimes below requirements. I contacted the programs and made sure this would not be a problem before applying, turns out those minima aren't that strict in general ... ;) )

Research Experience: 3 summer internships including one abroad. The two most recent are in my field of research.
I mentionned in SOP that my 5 months long master thesis will take place during next spring, and is traditionally when European students sign their first publication(s).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Got various scolarships to study abroad, once each from French Embassies in USA and Belgium and twice from EU.
Graduated with high honors from my bachelor and high school.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Animated a workshop about physics in a primary school;
Taught personal lessons in mathematics to high school students (I mention my interest in teaching in my SOP);

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
Got involved in the creation of a FabLab at my home institution ;

Special Bonus Points:
One of my recommender had me for three different classes at a graduate level and knows me very well. Another was the internship supervisor I got along best with. The last one has known me for 2 years. I expect very positive recommendations from all of them.

Very specific research interests that I have been consistent with through my education, such that my elective courses and internships are quite adapted to the kind of research I am applying to.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
1 semester abroad during bachelor at UCONN and 1 year abroad during master at UAntwerpen.
Research interest is really at the boundary between physics, chemistry, MSE and EE, and I happened to have worked with people from each of those background, so I mention this in my SOP hoping that counts.

I specifically mention the professors I want to work with in my statements.

Applying to Where:

Requires or recommends PGRE
Boston University - Physics - Computational physics applied to solar cells 04/10 - Rejected by e-mail.
Harvard - Chemistry- Solar cells understanding - 01/30 - Rejected by e-mail to check website.. Retrospectively, I could have expected it and spare me the trouble of applying.
MIT - Physics- Photonics - Rejected by e-mail to check website. Can't find the e-mail of rejection now.
Northwestern University - Applied Physics - Solar cells understanding - 01/26 Invited to send a video of introduction as part of the next stage of application. then waitlisted for several months 04/17 Rejected by e-mail, asking not to ask for details given the number of applicants. This was the most difficult to receive, because I feel like I was really standing a chance, also the incertitude of being waitlisted for several months is unbearable!  

No subject test asked
CMU - MSE - Computational physics applied to solar cells - 03/9 Rejected by e-mail to check website they replied very kindly to my e-mail asking for what were the main flaws of my application, which softened the blow. :-)
MIT - MSE - Solar cells fabrication - 12/02 IELTS waiver request rejected One has to pay the application fee just to know weither the IELTS waiver will be granted or not. They gave me a new deadline to send scores, but it was impossible to meet since all upcoming test taking dates were already booked. Well, I tried.
UMich Ann Arbor - MSE - Solar cells fabrication - 04/11 Rejected by e-mail.

Reflexion a posteriori on my application
I was aware that I was applying to strong programs with many applicants, but I know that I still have my chances in Europe therefore I am not worried. If I had to do it again, perhaps I would not consider MIT and Harvard: they were essentially out of reach and made me loose a lot of time in perfecting my letters. Particularly disappointing was the way some programs kept me waiting without any indication: I had to ask about my status to know that I was waitlisted and the number of waitlisted students or positions remaining was never communicated.

Overall, I really disliked this experience full of stress. The principle of applying to a phd program rather than a phd project was very confusing and gives the impression of being very small in a gigantic crowd of applicants. All the places I am applying to in Europe were civil enough to let me know how many applicants are being considered, what my status is and to invite me for interviews less than a month after the first contact.

The unexpected positive experince was the PGRE: sure it's a pain, but once I read "Conquering the PGRE " and made myself sheets of formulas, it became so much easier to work on it (I had taken it two years before) and also quite valuable to have all the electromagnetism formulas refreshed in mind. So, to all international applicants out there: do embrace this test. In spite of its many flaws it is a very effective recap of everything you know.
Last edited by AlexisPrel on Sat Jun 17, 2017 8:19 am, edited 3 times in total.

gts5073
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 1:03 am

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by gts5073 » Sat Nov 26, 2016 1:21 am

Undergrad Institution: Large state school with a well regarded program
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math, Materials Science
GPA in Major: 3.98
Overall GPA: 3.97
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: White Domestic Male

GRE Scores : (revised)
Q: 165 - 89%
V: 164 - 94%
W: 5.0 - 93%
P: 920 - 87%


Research Experience: Condensed matter experiment research at home institution since Freshman year. 3 summers of full time research including 2 REUs - one at my home institution and one at a top 5 Materials Science department.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Various departmental awards, Goldwater Honorable Mention

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Learning assistant for one semester sophomore year.

Applying to Where:

MIT - Physics - CME - REJECTED (02/10)
MIT - Materials Science - CME - ACCEPTED (01/19) - $32,616/year + benefits
MIT - EE - CME - ACCEPTED (02/01) - financials forthcoming
UChicago - Molecular Engineering - CME - ACCEPTED (01/06) with fellowship - $36,702/year + benefits - WILL ATTEND
Cornell - Physics - CME - ACCEPTED (02/01) with fellowship - $29,722/year + benefits
UC Berkeley - Physics - CME - REJECTED
Stanford - Applied Physics - CME - ACCEPTED (02/06) - $38,736/year + benefits
UC Santa Barbara - Materials Science - CME - ACCEPTED (01/18) - $31,520/year + benefits
Princeton - Physics - CME - ACCEPTED (02/10) - financials forthcoming
Yale - Applied Physics - CME - ACCEPTED
Minnesota - Physics - CME - ACCEPTED (02/06) - financials forthcoming
Wisconsin - Physics - CME - ACCEPTED (1/24) - $26,716/year + benefits
Last edited by gts5073 on Sun Jun 25, 2017 12:55 pm, edited 24 times in total.

violinasb
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 2:10 am

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by violinasb » Sat Nov 26, 2016 2:38 am

Undergrad Institution: State School, Top 25 in Physics
Major(s): Physics, Spanish
Minor(s): Math, Violin Performance
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: Domestic female

GRE Scores :
Q: 168 (95th %)
V: 165 (95th %)
W: 4.5 (82nd %)
P: 920 (87th %)
It's a literal miracle that I did so well on the PGRE. My advice is to take as many of the official practice tests as possible but focus on the newer versions. And Conquering the Physics GRE by Kahn/Anderson is a lifesaver.

Research Experience:
Three and a half years working with a professor at my school in the Auger Collaboration on ultra high energy cosmic rays. 3 conference talks, one collaboration meeting, senior thesis in the works
One semester working on Auger when I studied abroad in Spain
One and a half years working in the LIGO stochastic group. I started through an International REU in Australia and then an REU at Caltech. One short author list and 2 full collaboration list papers in the works

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Goldwater Scholar (and honorable mention the previous year)
Astronaut Scholar
NASA Space Grant for Women in Science and Engineering Research
Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Pi Sigma (Physics honor society)
Scholarships and awards for good grades at my school/ from my department

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Learning assistant (like a volunteer undergraduate teaching assistant) for Intro Mechanics and Intro to Quantum
Physics outreach work in Spain

Special Bonus Points:
Well connected in LIGO with a recommendation letter from a very well-known collaboration member
Female and first generation American

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Not sure how my Spanish double major and Violin performance minor will factor into things, if at all

Applying to Where:
Fellowships:
Fulbright Open Research/Study at Monash University in Melbourne Australia for gravitational waves Selected as semi finalist 1/19 via email Selected as recipient 3/15 via email! I'm going to Australia and deferring grad school for one year!
Churchill (1/10 via email) and Gates-Cambridge (12/19 via email) Fellowships for Maths Part III (Accepted without funding 1/4)
NSF GRFP for gravitational waves
Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans (like the NSF but open to any field) Selected as finalist 1/6 via phone call

Grad Schools: Physics Department for gravitational wave data analysis/theory for all. The plan is to defer for one year if I get accepted to any of the fellowships.
Caltech - Accepted via email 2/15 - $34,000 first year fellowship DECLINED
MIT - Invited for Skype interview 1/5 via email - Accepted 2/9 via email - $36,552 first year fellowship WILL ATTEND!
U Florida - Accepted 2/17 via email - $25,000 four year fellowship DECLINED
Columbia - Accepted 2/7 via email to check website - $37,720 five year Dean's Fellowship DECLINED
Cornell - Accepted 2/1 via email - $29,722 first year fellowship DECLINED
U Maryland - Accepted 2/8 via email - Financial offer unclear DECLINED
U Minnesota - Accepted 2/9 via email - $24,000 three year fellowship + $6357 summer DECLINED
Penn State - Accepted 2/13 via email - $30,925 first year TA DECLINED
UT Austin - Invited to visit 2/4 via email - WITHDREW APPLICATION
UC Santa Barbara - Accepted 2/1 via email - At least $30,000 first year TA DECLINED
U Chicago - Accepted 1/24 via email - $46,800 fellowship for first three years - (I'm not crying, you're crying) DECLINED
Princeton - Accepted 2/10 via email - $33,150 first year fellowship + $6200 summer DECLINED
Northwestern - Invited for Skype interview 1/11 via email - Accepted 1/25 via email - $30,780 first year fellowship DECLINED

****************
Reflections: The whole grad school admissions process has made this the most stressful year of undergrad for me because both applying in the fall and visiting places in the Spring is very time consuming. Listen to your advisors when they give you advice about which schools and how many to apply to, because I could have saved myself some hassle and some money in application fees. The PGRE can be very daunting, but if you actually put in the time to study effectively, you can do well. My score improved by ~200 points from the first time I took it. The fellowship application process can also be very rewarding, and sometimes you get lucky and things work out! If you're thinking about taking a year off for research or a masters abroad, go for it! School are very open to allowing deferrals for circumstances like this.
Last edited by violinasb on Sat Apr 15, 2017 1:41 am, edited 24 times in total.

muon
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:03 am

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by muon » Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:20 am

Undergrad Institution: Caltech
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Computer Science
GPA in Major:3.4
Overall GPA:3.5 (:/ but my school is reasonably well known for grade deflation. We'll see how much this hurts.)
Length of Degree:4 years
Position in Class: Not tracked, but probably upper interquartile by GPA (IIRC average physics GPA is 3.4)
Type of Student: Domestic male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 170 (97%)
V: 167 (98%)
W: 4.5 (82%)
P: 970 (93%)
My score jumped up almost 200 points (from first attempt, with no studying) from about a week of semi-intensive studying right before taking the test. Just memorize/cache as much stuff as you can and it'll probably improve your score by at least 100 points. Conquering the physics gre is a good resource, but the practice tests aren't great or similar to the actual PGRE. I would recommend using every available past PGRE test and making flashcards for random things you can memorize.

Research Experience:
Two first-author publications, one scientific software development project with a repository I can link to:
  • 1 year geophysics research with well-known mentor, resulted in poster presentation at AGU and a first author publication in Geophysical Research Letters.
  • 1 summer particle physics with well-known mentor, resulted in first author CMS analysis note (not quite same level as a journal article, but hopefully it helps).
  • 1 summer software development for SLAC, technical repository I can link to but no publication.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Undergraduate research award
A few awards/honors from high school that are sufficiently prestigious that I'll include them (Davidson, ISEF, JSHS)
Didn't think to apply to a lot of scholarships, missed the boat on Goldwater :/

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Tutor for basically every class.
TA for an introductory CS class.

Special Bonus Points:
Two recommendations from very well-known professors in their respective fields.
Minority points - LGBT
Lots of graduate physics and CS classes, including a quantum computing course that is well known (linked to a lot by other courses).

Applying to Where:

Stanford - Applied physics, Quantum information - Accepted by email from dept. chair 2/5, $38,000/yr research position, no TAing required. WILL ATTEND!
UC Berkeley - Physics, Quantum information - They literally never got back with me, after emailing them twice.
MIT - Physics, Quantum information - Rejected by website (no email notification) 2/15 (bish you weren't my first choice anyway)
Harvard - Physics, Quantum information - Rejected by email
Princeton - Physics, Quantum information - Rejected by email
Yale - Physics, Quantum information - Rejected by email
Columbia - Physics, Quantum information - Rejected by email
UCSD - Physics, Quantum information - Accepted by email 1/30
UCSB - Physics, Quantum information - Accepted by email 1/31, "at least" $30,000 TA stipend
UChicago - Physics, Quantum information - Accepted by phone call from potential PI on 1/31, offer forthcoming
UColorado Boulder - Physics, Quantum information - Accepted by email 2/5, $34,000 TA stipend + $10,000 "signing bonus"
Last edited by muon on Mon Apr 10, 2017 5:48 pm, edited 10 times in total.

the notorious higgs
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2016 3:56 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by the notorious higgs » Tue Nov 29, 2016 4:18 pm

Undergrad Institution: University of Washington
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics, Political science
GPA in Major: 3.94
Overall GPA: 3.88
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: topish
Type of Student: Domestic male, Asian/white

GRE Scores :
Q: 170 (98%)
V: 164 (94%)
W: 5 (93%)
P: 960 (92%)


Research Experience:
1.5 years particle experiment, neutrino detection stuff for SNO+
1.5 years astrophysics, gravitational lensing simulation
1 year particle experiment, neutrino detection stuff for COHERENT
2 summers at NASA, one at GSFC (exoplanet detection) and one at MSFC (xray astronomy)
one coathor publication in SPIE
poster coathor at SPIE
one conference presentation at Carnigie institute of washington
3 intern poster presentations for NASA

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Physics honors
magna cum laude
sigma pi sigma
dean's list every quarter as full time student
best poster in science at NASA MSFC poster presentation

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
worked in a nuclear physics lab as hourly for 2 years
worked as a TA for a year at UW
currently spending my gap year working for NASA on exoplanet research

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points:
I know like fifty physics pun

I found out after the fact that the adviser to my research adviser (at UW) was on the admissions council at Stanford, and it is plausible that this put my research experience in a particularly favorable light. Additionally, my 3 recommenders had alma maters at (Stanford, UCSB, and Berkeley) two of which I got into, so it is also plausible that this helped.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
I applied to, Stanford, Berkeley, Princeton, UMD, UC boulder, UCSB, Chicago last year and was rejected from all of them, I had an 840 PGRE that year, and has 1 year less experience at NASA, and didn't have my second or third research experience at UW, didn't have my conference presentation eitehr, had not actually graduated etc. Last year I also was applying to PT exclusively. Anyway hopefully my app is stronger this year

Applying to Where:

Princeton - PHYS - HEPEx rejected 2/16, email
Harvard - PHYS - not specified rejected 2/16, email
Stanford - PHYS - HEPEx accepted 2/10, email
Berkeley - PHYS - HEPEx rejected 3/08, email
UCSB - PHYS - HEPEx accepted 2/03, email to check website
UC Boulder - PHYS - thoery generic rejected 3/03, email
Chicago - PHYS - HEP generic rejected 2/17, email
Maryland - PHYS - Experiment generic waitlisted 2/10
Cornell - PHYS - not specified rejected 2/17, email
Caltech - PHYS - Cos-Ex accepted 2/15, email

Reflections:

Wow what a roll, the schools I got into versus not getting into is really interesting. For instance both Stanford and Caltech but not Maryland or Colorado. I definitely would not have predicted this. Overall I am pretty pleased, I got into 2 out of my top 3 choices. Maybe this is indicative of schools actually considering a good "fit" and not just test scores. I was very specific about projects I wanted to work on so this could also have helped/hurt.

This cycle was a reapplication (last year I only got into my alma matter, UW). I had a better pgre by 120 pts, an additional year of research experience at NASA and UW, a slightly higher GPA, and also demonstrated competence in upper level physics classes. I also changed my research intent from HEP-T to HEP-Ex (although I stated in my letter that I am undecided on theory vs experiment, which is true). My reccommenders also had had more research experience with me and presumably knew me better this round and had more nice things to say. It is very difficult to say what factor contributed to more success this round as I tried to cover all of my bases. However, what is evident is that taking a gap year and reapplying is not entirely pointless (I moved up from a top 20ish school with UW to a top 5ish school with Caltech or Stanford; and got rid of the incest stigma of attending the same undergrad as grad school).

At this point, I am torn between attending Caltech and Stanford, they both seem like excellent schools. I am leaning towards Stanford because they allow you to rotate through research groups your first year while Caltech seems to want you to start in a group immediately which isn't very conducive to being torn between several interests as I am. If you have any questions about my application or decision processes please feel free to message me.
Last edited by the notorious higgs on Wed Mar 08, 2017 6:34 pm, edited 11 times in total.

Manet225
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2016 5:43 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Manet225 » Sun Dec 04, 2016 6:11 pm

Undergrad Institution: Liberal Arts College, strong Astronomy department
Major(s): Astronomy, Physics, English
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 3.66
Overall GPA: 3.59
Length of Degree: 3.5 years
Position in Class: Better than average
Type of Student: Indian International Male

GRE Scores :
Q: 166 (91st %ile)
V: 167 (98th %ile)
W: 4.0 (59th %ile)
P: 690 (49th %ile)

Research Experience: Started early. 3 summer projects: 1 at home institution, 1 at Space Telescope Science Institute, 1 Caltech SURF.
1 publication. Writing a thesis that developed out of 5 semesters of astronomy research working with Kepler/K2 data, data from a 24" telescope on campus, and spectra from Keck and VLT. 2 semesters in a molecular spectroscopy lab.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Student Director of 24" telescope observing program since sophomore year (observer since freshman fall). TA for a Special Relativity course and Observational Astronomy course. Ran office hours, lab sessions, graded homework. Department Peer Advisor for Physics and Astronomy.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Graduating early?

Special Bonus Points: (Assumed) Strong rec letters from advisors for each summer project. Possibly strong connections because of my Caltech research advisor.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Presented at 1 conference, will present at another conference in January.

Applying to Where: All Astronomy unless otherwise specified, applying for Exoplanets

Caltech - Geological & Planetary Sciences - Rejected by email (14 Feb)
MIT - Earth & Planetary Sciences - Rejected by email (27 Feb)
UWashington - Rejected by email (3 Mar)
Harvard - Rejected by website (10 Feb)
Princeton - Rejected by email (3 Feb)
Cornell - Rejected by email (10 Feb)
CU Boulder - unofficial acceptance by email (27 Jan),~$32K (TA or RA, not yet clear) WILL ATTEND
Pennsylvania State - Rejected by email (1 Feb)
UC Santa Cruz - Rejected by email (13 Feb)
UChicago - Rejected by website (10 Feb)

Aimed high and did just well enough to get what I need, if not as well as I would have liked. Weakest points of application were PGRE, GPA, and possibly funding issues due to being International (speculation). Good luck to people reading this for next year or later.
Last edited by Manet225 on Tue Mar 14, 2017 3:19 pm, edited 11 times in total.

janghun
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2014 9:36 am

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by janghun » Thu Dec 08, 2016 3:27 am

Undergrad. and Grad. Institution: Decent private school, South Korea
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 3.95/4.0 (4.14/4.3) (B.S.)
Overall GPA: 3.61/4.0 (3.77/4.3) (B.S.), 4.0/4.0 (4.22/4.3) (M.S.)
Length of Degree: 3.5 years(B.S. in Physics, early graduation), 1.5 years(M.S. in Physics, Particle physics theory, early graduation)
Position in Class: a nearly top, maybe.
Type of Student: International asian male

GRE Scores: Revised GRE
Q: 166 (91%)
V: 144 (23%)
W: 3.5 (42%)
P: 990 (94%, PHYSICS)

TOEFL Total: ~Minimum

Research Experience: HEP theory (Particle Phenomenology) -undergrad's research 3 years, grad's research 1.5 years.; one SCI paper as 2nd author of 3; one paper in preparation.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Two honors, many scholarships.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA 1.5 years, 4 summer and winter schools for theoretical physics, instituted by KIAS, APCTP, and SNU (including particle physics)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: To fulfill military duty in my country, I have worked for Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) as an Officer for about 3.5 years (Final Rank : First Lieutenant). Currently, I work for the Korean Physical Society as an editor of JKPS(Journal of the Korean Physical Society) which is a SCI journal and covers all-round fields of physics, ranging from condensed matter physics to high energy physics.

Special Bonus Points: I guess all the letters of recommendation will be very strong.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Exceptionally, I participated in a particle theory lab as a freshman. Also, I have earned credits of all the core subjects in physics as a sophomore, such as QM, EM, SM, end so on. So I have special research experiences for about 4.5 years. At that time, I studied QFT and Particle phenomenology with my advisor through one-on-one seminars.


Applying to Where: All Physics PhD programs (High Energy Physics Theory: Quantum fields & Superstring, Quantum Gravity)
Accepted, Rejected

Updated as of April 16, 2017.

New York University (NYU) - Waitlisted via Inquiry (Feb. 15) via Official Email (Feb. 22) => Accepted (Apr. 16) via Email - Henry M. MacCracken Fellowship full funding!!![Stipend($27912/9months+$10500/summer = $38412/year + $1000 Dean's Fellowship Grant for the first year)+Tuition&All Fees Waivers + Premium Health Insurance] WILL ATTEND!!! I finally got accepted off the top of their waitlist. :D
University of Arizona - Accepted via Email (Feb. 15), HEP-th, Tuition + TA ($18k/9months + $3.5~7.5k/summer) + Insurance (~$2k) :D This is my first acceptance. I love it cuz UA has excellent Physics PhD program and renowned faculty! This first offer saved me! *I requested that the deadline be extended until April 18, 2017. Fortunately, they permitted this. They are cool! Declined (Apr. 16)
Brown University - Accepted to unfunded Master's program in Physics via Email (Feb. 23) Declined (Feb. 23)
City University of New York (CUNY) - Waitlisted via Email (Mar. 11) => Accepted via Email (Apr. 7), HEP-th, Tuition + CUNY Science Scholarship (stipend: $29k/year) guaranteed for 5 years + Insurance Declined (Apr. 15)
*CUNY's offer seems good....but its ranking is too low....well....I will probably decline this soon.
University of Kentucky - Accepted via Email (Feb. 15), HEP-th, Tuition + TA ($17k/9months + $3k/summer) + Fellowship ($3k) + Insurance :wink: Thanks, UK, but this school is an ultra-safety one. Declined (Apr. 4)
Michigan State University - Rejected via Website (Apr. 11)
Purdue University - Rejected via Email (Apr. 11)
Indiana University Bloomington - Rejected via Email (Apr. 11)
University of Virginia - Rejected via Email (Mar. 18)
University of Iillinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) - Rejected via Email (Mar. 11) :cry: This was one of my dream schools....
University of Rochester - Rejected via Email (Mar. 7) :roll: Well....
University of Colorado Boulder - Rejected via Email (Mar. 4) :( This was expected as well.
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities - Rejected via Website (Feb. 18) :? I can't understand this rejection.
Syracuse University - Rejected via Inquiry (Feb. 24) :wink: This was expected, but I don't care.
Brown University - Rejected via Email (Feb. 23), via decision made email (Mar. 9)
Ohio State University (OSU) - Waitlisted via Email (Mar. 16) => Rejected via Email (Apr. 12) :) It was not expected.
University of Cincinnati - Invited for an interview via Skype - Declined (Mar. 10). :wink: Thanks, UC, but this is also an ultra-safety school.
TAMU - Withdrawn
Last edited by janghun on Tue May 02, 2017 12:34 pm, edited 224 times in total.

corebake
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2016 10:08 am

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by corebake » Thu Dec 08, 2016 10:23 am

Undergrad Institution: Small liberal arts college
Major(s): Physics, Mathematics
Minor(s): none
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 :
Q: 170 (97%)
V: 162 (90%)
W: 4 (59%)
P: 880 (83%)

Research Experience: 2 summers, one at my home institution in the lab that I've been a part of for the last 3 years, both in experimental AMO. No publications but two poster presentations at national conferences. I'm currently working on a full-year thesis

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Some departmental awards a grants to support research, but nothing outside my school.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 3 years tutoring/TAing undergrad math plus some grading and TAing in physics

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I have taken every junior and senior level physics course available at my institution

Special Bonus Points: I'm pretty close with my advisor who's known me for over 3 years, so his rec. letter should be strong.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Eh, nothing too noteworthy

Applying to Where:

Physics - Experimental AMO
Harvard rejected
MIT rejected
UCSB rejected
Berkeley rejected
Boulder rejected
Stanford rejected


Go big or go home!
Edit: I guess I'm going home - at least w.r.t. physics. Got into an applied math program.
Last edited by corebake on Sun Mar 26, 2017 9:58 am, edited 2 times in total.

CosmologicalRedshift
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2016 5:16 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by CosmologicalRedshift » Sat Dec 10, 2016 1:48 am

Undergrad Institution: Medium sized state school with no reputation for physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics and Astronomy
GPA in Major: 3.9
Overall GPA: 3.9
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top/Near Top
Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Scores : (revised or old version?)
Q: 165 (89%)
V: 156 (72%)
W: 4.5 (82%)
P: 770 (65%)



Research Experience: One REU program working on particle and cosmology theory. 3 years at my school: astronomy and planetary science (observational and modeling). Independent studies on differential geometry for two quarters, general relativity for two years, and abstract algebra for two quarters.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Sigma Pi Sigma, Science Honors, etc.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor for physics and mathematics for 3 years

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: One recommender has good connections, as well as knowing both of my other recommendors for most of my undergraduate career. I have worked with all of my recommenders on research.

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

Applying to Where: All for particle/cosmology theory

Princeton - Astrophysical Sciences - Rejected via email on 2/3. This was completely expected, but I had to try!
Chicago - Astronomy - Rejected via website on 2/10. This was also expected, so no big deal!
UPenn - Physics and Astronomy - Rejected via email to check website on 4/6.
Columbia - Physics - Rejected via email to check website on 3/16. Not surprised, so not worries about it.
UC Irvine - Physics and Astronomy - Accepted!! Via email on 2/3. My first acceptance! WILL ATTEND!!! I'm super excited!
Pittsburgh - Physics and Astronomy - Withdrawn
NYU - Physics and Astronomy - Rejected via email on 3/13.
Northwestern - Physics and Astronomy - Withdrawn
William & Mary - Physics - Withdrawn
Delaware - Physics and Astronomy - Accepted via email on 3/1! I actually meant to withdraw from this one earlier, but apparently didn't. Declined

Overall, I'm very happy with how things turned out. Once I got UCI's offer, I was much more relaxed. Their particle and cosmology theory group is great, and I'm really excited to go there.
Last edited by CosmologicalRedshift on Sat Apr 08, 2017 8:40 pm, edited 15 times in total.

rosoe
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2016 1:36 am

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by rosoe » Sat Dec 10, 2016 3:58 pm

Undergrad Institution: Large State School, Top 15 in Physics
Major(s): Physics (was a double major with Aerospace Engineering for 3 years before dropping after last semester)
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 4.00
Overall GPA: 3.97
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Top or close to it (school doesn't rank)
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE Scores :
Q: 167 (93%)
V: 158 (80%)
W: 4.0 (59%)
P: 840 (77%)


Research Experience: I have done quite a lot of research, but no publications. Honors program for my university that involved a 3 year group research project in magnetostatics. Resulted in a poster and an oral presentation at undergraduate research events at my university. 6 months for a near space science group that performed experiments in weather balloons at high altitudes. Summer research in nonlinear dynamics that resulted in an undergraduate research presentation. 1 year of research on data analysis for a cosmic ray detector that is about to be operational. Resulted in a presentation at a the cosmic ray group's biannual conference. 1 year of work on numerical relativity simulations of gravitational wave simulations. This started shortly before LIGO detected gravitational waves. I am presenting my research at the APS April 2017 Conference (which is January for some reason :? ). 2 months of work on developing data analysis techniques for the upcoming NICER mission to study neutron stars using X-rays.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Presidential Scholarship, Dean's List every semester, multiple honors societies

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutored physics for 1.5 years

Special Bonus Points: I am currently taking grad classes. In addition, this will be the first round of grad school apps since LIGO and I am applying to do research in numerical relativity. I am hoping schools will be looking for people in fields such mine related to gravitational wave physics.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I got a lot of A+'s on my transcript which give the same gpa as an A despite being much harder to get. I also have a lot of technical courses on my transcript.

Applying to Where: All Numerical Relativity

California Institute of Technology-Physics-Rejected 2/24 via email
Cornell University-Physics-Rejected 2/17 via email
Harvard University-Physics-Rejected 2/16 via email to check website
Massachusetts Institute of Technology- Physics-Rejected 2/10 via website
Princeton University-Physics-Rejected 2/16 via email to check website
Rochester Institute of Technology-Physics- Accepted 3/1 via email
Stanford University-Physics-Rejected 2/10 via email
Syracuse University - Physics- Accepted 2/15 via email with 24k TA stipend
University of California, Berkeley-Physics-Rejected 3/8 via email
University of Colorado, Boulder - Physics- Accepted 2/9 via email
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Physics- Accepted 2/7 via email with 22k TA stipend-Will Attend
University of Maryland - Physics- Accepted 2/9 via email
University of Toronto -Astronomy and Astrophysics-Rejected 4/13 via email


Fellowships Applied :
NSFGRFP-Rejected

All in all, I am happy about how things went. It ended up as a really close choice between UIUC and RIT, but I decided to go with UIUC in the end because there will be better opportunities to build connections outside my field. If I had to do the process over again, I would have applied to less reach schools and more lower ranked schools specializing in numerical relativity such as Wisconsin, Penn St, and LSU (especially for the free visits :D). Also, I should have tried to gear my personal statement for experimental gravitational wave physics forplaces where they have a lot of that going on like Caltech to lower PGRE thresholds. I hope my experience will help others through this process.
Last edited by rosoe on Thu Apr 13, 2017 9:52 pm, edited 12 times in total.

tmcbizzle
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2016 5:33 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by tmcbizzle » Sat Dec 10, 2016 6:12 pm

This is for all you future domestic white male theory applicants out there trying to gauge how tough admissions are. Best of luck!

Undergrad Institution: Decent private school, not an especially strong reputation for physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math, Electrical Engineering
GPA in Major: 3.94
Overall GPA: 3.91
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Presumably near the top - does anywhere actually post class position?
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores :
Q: 169 (97%)
V: 158 (80%)
W: 3.0 (17%) :wink:
P: 910 (86%)


Research Experience:
~2 years electrical engineering/applied physics/materials research -> 4 publications (ranging from 3rd to 5th author), conference poster presentation,
1 REU in nuclear theory (good amount of QFT) -> paper in preparation

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Honors society stuff, nothing that sticks out

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points:
Graduate courses: Quantum 1-2, Quantum Field Theory, Solid States

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Late switch from engineering to physics

Applying to Where:
All high energy theory (hep-th), particle cosmology and phenomenology

In rough descending order of hopelessness:
MIT - Rejected (2/10)
Harvard - Rejected (2/16)
Princeton - Rejected (2/16)
Stanford - Rejected (2/10)
Caltech - Rejected (2/24)
Berkeley - Rejected (3/9)
Cornell - Rejected (2/17)
Chicago - Rejected (2/17)
UCSB - Rejected (2/24)
Penn
UW-Madison - Accepted! (1/24)
Michigan - Rejected (2/10)
UW-Seattle - Accepted! (1/23)
JHU
SUNY-Stony Brook - Accepted! (1/28)
Rutgers - Accepted! (2/22)
NYU - Waitlisted (2/27) - NYU's weird.. they are only willing to accept "top students" if they give them full fellowship funding. This is why they have so many waitlisted people - there are only a couple of fellowship spots available but a lot of "top students".

Well, there you have it. Not only do I get to spend the next 4-5 years of my life thinking about physics all day, but I'm getting PAID to do it! HEP-th is getting increasingly competitive, and this year especially, it seemed there were very few spots everywhere. Perhaps there were a few areas where I could have made my application marginally stronger and gotten into more "prestigious" schools, but it's a crapshoot for pretty much everyone, and I was fortunate enough to have acceptances to some fantastic programs. So for future theory applicants, if a big name school is your goal you will probably end up disappointed, but there are many more places you can do great physics. Don't be deterred by all of the people whining on the internet about not getting into Stanford et. al. - if you're dead-set on high energy theory, and you cast a wide application net and work your @$$ off, you'll do fine.
Last edited by tmcbizzle on Sun Mar 12, 2017 1:20 pm, edited 13 times in total.

eddie.ss
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:56 am

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by eddie.ss » Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:11 am

______________________________________________
Undergrad Institution: Developing country, not very famous in Physics
Major(s): Physics Engineering
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.94 (97%)
Overall GPA:
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: First
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores : 2016?
Q: 170 (97%)
V: 161 (88%)
W: 4.0 (59%)
P: 780 (67%)


TOEFL Total: 116 (IBT)

Research Experience: Undergradaute research since my freshman year on thermal characterization and data acquisition systems. Summer research internship on AMO. Senior thesis on X-ray diffraction. After graduating, I remained at my home university during a year doing research in X-ray. One first author paper, several poster presentations and seminars.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Summa cum laude, my summer internship was in Canada and I received a full fellowship for it (:

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I have been a TA for 3 elementary Physics classes, 1 Microscopy elective class, and 3 Adv. Experimental Physics Labs. My current job at my home university is a mixture of being a TA+RA.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: I did a study abroad program in the US during my junior year. I was able to take several graduate classes, particularly one in AMO Physics. Also, I freelance as a science graphic designer , i.e. I do graphical abstracts and diagrams for papers (that is quite random, but it might help)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I have a professional webpage with my portfolio and detailed info about my experience (research, work, etc).

Applying to Where: All in AMO experimental Physics

RICE - AMO Physics - ACCEPTED! (12/21) - ~$30k + extra fellowship + external aid fellowship !
Stanford - AMO Physics - REJECTED! (02/10) -
Colorado Boulder - AMO Physics REJECTED! (03/03) -
UC Berkeley - AMO Physics - REJECTED! (03/08) -
UIUC - AMO Physics - REJECTED! (03/10) -

12/21/2016: The RICE acceptance letter was a really nice, early Christmas gift though!

03/14/2017:
Well, admission season is FINALLY over! What a stressful time it was ...

It seems like my application bombed on every university but RICE. I didn't expect much from Stanford or Boulder because they never answered my emails, but a professor in Berkeley told me that my profile was good. Not good enough I guess!

I got a really nice fellowship, and RICE is top ranked in AMO, so things went really good anyways! For any AMO guy/gal in the future, check RICE! They even accept you early and don't have to suffer the seemingly eternal wait for decisions.
Last edited by eddie.ss on Tue Mar 14, 2017 11:32 am, edited 6 times in total.

feliperosso
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2016 7:10 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by feliperosso » Thu Dec 15, 2016 5:36 pm

Undergrad Institution: Latin America, big university with good reputation in Physics
Major(s): Physics
Overall GPA: 9.53/10
Length of Degree: 6 years (Licenciatura)
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores :
Q: 164 (87%)
V: 155 (68%)
W: 3.5 (42%)
P: 920 (87%)


TOEFL Total: 111/120 (R 30, L 29, S 26, W 26)

Research Experience:
1 year theoretical research experience in HEP-TH. Paper being written but not published before deadline. 1 poster presentation and 2 lectures given.
1 year experimental research experience in Laboratory of Plasma. 1 poster presentation.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
2 years as a Scientific Disseminator for the university

Special Bonus Points:
Took lots of graduate courses, in particular in String Theory, QFT and General Relativity.

Applying to Where:
Physics Department with interest in HEP-TH in all cases

Caltech - Feb. 24 Rejected
Stanford - Feb. 10 Rejected
Harvard - Feb. 16 Rejected
Princeton - Feb. 16 Rejected

University of California, San Diego - Feb. 24 Rejected
University of California, Los Angeles - March 1 Rejected
Stony Brook University - Feb. 22 Rejected
Rutgers University -
New York University - Feb. 21 Waitlisted
Boston University -

University of Southern California - March 3 Accepted with Fellowship
Brandeis University -
Last edited by feliperosso on Fri Mar 03, 2017 9:54 pm, edited 12 times in total.

kot95
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2016 3:53 am

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by kot95 » Fri Dec 16, 2016 4:27 am

Undergrad Institution: UC
Major(s): Physics (Astrophysics)
Overall GPA: 3.3
Length of Degree: 4
Type of Student: African-American Male

GRE Scores :
Q: 154 (55%)
V: 154 (64%)
W: 3.0(17%)
P: awful


Research Experience:
1 year research on galaxies
3 months research on AGN
summer REU

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Grader for lower division courses

Special Bonus Points:
Letter writers are all very well known in the field
Two papers to be published in coming months
Tons of observing time/experience

Applying to Where:
Astronomy & Planetary Science programs

Yale- Astronomy Received email to check website 2/6
UT Austin-Astronomy Rejected by email
Boston University-Astronomy Rejected by email
U of Arizona-Astronomy Rejected by email 1/25
U of Arizona- Planetary Science Rejected by email 2/4
Arizona State U- Astrophysics Rejected by email 6/29 :evil: took so long!
Penn State-Astronomy Rejected-Email Inquiry 1/25
McGill University - Physics (Astrophysics) Rejected by email 5/24
Leiden university - Astronomy Accepted by email 2/22 WILL ATTEND!
SDSU- Astronomy - Accepted by email 4/17
Last edited by kot95 on Fri Jun 30, 2017 10:40 pm, edited 15 times in total.

coolgod
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2016 2:06 am

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by coolgod » Sat Dec 17, 2016 1:07 am

Undergrad Institution: Big Canadian University
Major(s):Electrical and Computer Engineering
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:3.83
Overall GPA:3.83
Length of Degree: 4 yrs
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: International asian male

GRE Scores : revised
Q:170 (97%)
V:162 (90%)
W:4.0 (59%)
P:750 (62%)



Research Experience:
Senior year research project on integrated couplers for quantum optics
Junior summer researched simulations of condensed matter systems in optical systems in Germany
Freshman summer researched fabrication of microstructures for biomedical applications at home university, gave a poster presentation.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: nothing significant, Dean's list, scholarships, research funding awards etc

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: worked in FPGA company during sophomore summer

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:nah

Special Bonus Points: misc math and cs grad classes

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:My niche research interest is in quantum computing, applying to physics dept hoping some profs might be interested.

Applying to Where:

University of Maryland - physics - Quantum information
University of Wisconsin - physics - Quantum information
UC Santa Barbara - physics - Quantum information
Caltech - physics - Quantum information
Yale - applied physics - Quantum information

Waterloo - physics - Quantum information Accepted
Last edited by coolgod on Sat Apr 08, 2017 2:33 am, edited 3 times in total.

mmmquarks
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2016 6:59 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by mmmquarks » Thu Dec 22, 2016 6:08 pm

Undergrad Institution: top 20 private research university, little reputation for physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): none
GPA in Major: 3.62
Overall GPA: 3.53
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: ~75th percentile is my guess
Type of Student: domestic white male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 170 (97 %ile)
V: 168 (98 %ile)
W: 5.5 (98 %ile)
P: 990 (94 %ile)

regarding the PGRE: the conquering the physics GRE book is amazing. 1 year ago I took the test and got in the 28th percentile. If you are willing to put in some serious study time and make a poop load of flashcards, this test can be dominated. Also helps to have good standardized test skills (which, because of my job, I have).


Research Experience: yearlong fellowship during which I designed numerical methods to test for physics beyond standard model using astrophysical photons.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Cum Laude, dean's list two semester

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I am currently a math, physics, and test prep tutor. Have been a substitute teacher for years. Also do volunteer tutoring.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I graduated on time and completed my honors thesis in spite of a serious head injury that forced me to withdraw for first semester of my senior year.

Special Bonus Points: I don't think much. I got a 990 on the PGRE after being out of school for three years but I don't think they'll care much about that beyond the fact that the score is good and recent. My research advisor is writing a great rec. A friend of a family friend is director of graduate studies in physics at yale.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: one disciplinary action taken at undergrad, some schools have asked about this. marked these with a D.

Applying to Where: (in descending order of US News rank)

Rejected
Waitlisted
Accepted
Withdrawn

MIT app 12/15 - WILL ATTEND Condensed Matter / Astrophysics (spoke with two professors, one hinted he might pull strings, the other I did not impress) - accepted 2/9 via email. 36K research assistantship. i'm dyinggggg. going to withdraw from a couple places (probably yale,brown, bu, northwestern)
Harvard app 12/15- Condensed Matter (spoke with one professor)
Berkeley D app 12/16- Condensed Matter - 32 K TA ship
Caltech app 12/15- Condensed Matter
Stanford D app 12/13- Condensed Matter - rejected 2/10 email
U of I - Condensed Matter - rejected 4/1 email
Columbia D - Condensed Matter (spoke with one professor and we really hit it off. this is where I want to go in my heart of hearts) - rejected 3/16 email
Yale D - Condensed Matter - rejected 3/6 email to check website. I don't know how but I knew it.
UMD D app 12/15 - Condensed Matter - rejected 2/10 email
Johns Hopkins app 12/15- Condensed Matter - accepted via email feb 8. My first acceptance!!!
Northwestern - Condensed Matter (spoke with one professor and he is a friggin weirdo) - withdrawn... and then rejected on April 19?
Brown - Condensed Matter (meeting with one professor) - withdrawn
BU - Condensed Matter - withdrawn

Interested in both Exp and Th but I am especially interested in ab initio methods so the faculty preferences lean a little bit toward Th.

I'm including predictions because I want to see how good my intuition is.
My grades are good but not very impressive so I have covered the competitiveness spectrum I think. Of the MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, Caltech, Stanford, and U of I contingent (the tippy top schools) I predict I will get into 0-1 with MIT (correct) actually being the most likely to admit followed by Berkeley (correct). I only predict MIT because I think this one astro professor is really interested in me. Berkeley is next because of the size of the admitted class and my second essay for them was very good. I think next most likely is U of I.

I predict Columbia is 60/40 accept and Yale will reject me almost certainly (in spite of family connection). I don't know why but I have this feeling Yale won't buy what I'm selling (correct).
I predict UMD will accept (I am MD in state) (incorrect) and I predict acceptance at 2/4 of Hopkins, Northwestern, Brown, BU (untested).

In total, anywhere between 3 and 6 acceptances would not surprise me.

I think it is unlikely but not impossible I get in nowhere. I'd give this a 5-10% chance of happening. Hope I don't eat my words.

closing thoughts: I am deliriously happy. Hopkins is great but I will be deciding between Berkeley and MIT. I think my best advice for future students is to get started in research early and really really work at talking to professors at schools. I am quite sure I got into MIT because I spoke with a professor there. Also, apply to the top 5 schools if at all possible even if they are a longshot. The money of applying is short term pain but getting into one of those places sets up connections that last a career ( or so I think. which may be bad advice).

I ended up choosing MIT! I'll do astro for a while there and if I like it, stick with it (but probably transfer to CM). I'm super excited but jesus that was hard. I have cried tears of confusion so many times. Berkeley is amazing. I hope I get to go there some day.
Last edited by mmmquarks on Wed Apr 19, 2017 4:04 pm, edited 14 times in total.

wbyron
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2016 3:19 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by wbyron » Fri Dec 23, 2016 4:06 pm

Undergrad Institution: Medium Size Private School. Good Undergrad. Little Graduate Physics rep.
Major(s): Physics, Math
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.88, 3.90
Overall GPA: 3.88
Length of Degree: 4.5 years
Position in Class: Topish
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE Scores : (revised)
Q:168 (95%)
V:162 (90%)
W:4.0 (57%) Meh.
P: 880 (83%)


Research Experience: One independent study doing AFM. Two summers as a NIST SURF intern in the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) working in the Neutron Physics/Fundamental Physics Group. One 5 month period working full time at the NCNR as a guest researcher. All with the same collaboration. Will result in authorship on three papers.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Just university scholarships and such.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: SPS President for a year. Professional tutor for 1.5 years. Worked as an instructor at a education non-profit.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I took off a semester of school and thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail if that counts for anything. Maybe it hurts.

Special Bonus Points: Should have 3 solid LORs.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I had to take an extra semester of just 3 credits because taking time off for my hike offset my schedule in an odd way. Hope that doesn't hurt too much.

Applying to Where:

Accepted Waitlisted Rejected

Berkeley - Physics - HEP / Nuclear Experiment DENIED 3/10
University of British Columbia - Physics - HEP / Nuclear Experiment ACCEPTED 1/30, 1980/month
UCSB - Physics - HEP DENIED 2/24

CU Boulder - Physics - HEP / Nuclear Experiment ACCEPTED 2/22, 29k/34k (TA/RA) per year + 6000 signing bonus
University of Washington - Physics - HEP / Nuclear Experiment ACCEPTED 1/10, 28k per year + 1200 signing bonus WILL ATTEND!
UC Davis - Physics - HEP ACCEPTED 2/1, 2172/month + 5000 scholarship + 440 in moving expenses
ASU - Physics -Nuclear Experiment ACCEPTED 2/5 No info.
University of Oregon - Physics -HEP/LIGO Group ACCEPTED 2/1 1982/month

Colorado State - Physics - Neutrino Physics ACCEPTED 1/23 1900/month (this includes 1500/yr scholarship)
UNM - Physics - Neutrino Physics ACCEPTED 2/5 1985/month
University of Tennessee - Nuclear Experiment ACCEPTED 1/20 2625/month for 4 years (includes 10k scholarship)
Tulane University - Physics - Neutron Physics ACCEPTED 3/1 30K /yr fellowship

Applying to What: (why not?)
NDSEG -
NSF GRFP -

Additional Comments: This thread caused me a lot of anxiety over the past year but I think in the end it helped me a ton in deciding what schools were realistic for my profile. We will see. Good luck everyone and congrats on getting these god-forsaken apps done! You would think with all the great minds in physics we could standardize the application process a bit. Haha. It's ridiculous.

(After the process is over) Comments: I am really excited about the research at UW. It's a pretty great place for experimental nuclear. Seattle should be great. Now off to 7 weeks in Nepal!! Good luck everyone.
Last edited by wbyron on Sun Mar 12, 2017 6:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.

spotsallthewaydown
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Dec 30, 2016 10:09 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by spotsallthewaydown » Fri Dec 30, 2016 10:33 pm

I'm new to the board but I found these threads via some search and thought I'd contribute!

Undergrad Institution: Flagship state school, R1, good physics reputation
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.82/4
Overall GPA: 3.86/4
Length of Degree: 4 years physics
Position in Class: My class is pretty small (like 10-15 people max) but I'm probably in the top 3 at least
Type of Student: Domestic white female

GRE Scores : I think the revised version? I took them this year
Q: 156 (~67th percentile)
V: 167 (98th percentile)
W: 5 (92nd percentile)
P: 700 (51st percentile)

Research Experience:
  • Two experiences at my school (paid)
  • Two REUs, one at a private university and one at another big state school (that I applied to graduate school also)
  • No publications
  • Three posters (distinct projects)
Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
  • Handful of scholarships from my school
  • An award from my university
  • Two small departmental awards
  • Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Award from American Astronomical Society (AAS)
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: SPS officer (webmaster, then president, now student advisor). I also work 20 hours/week in a non-science, on-campus staff job.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
  • Attended and presented at AAS, PhysCon, AMS (coming this January), two instances of CUWiP
  • Led charge on making significant improvements to local SPS chapter organization and governance
  • A bunch of outreach
Special Bonus Points:
  • I have a bachelor's degree in the arts (physics is my second bachelor's degree)
  • One of my recommenders is fairly well known in my goal field (astrophysics) and has a lot of connections with schools, NASA
  • Am a non-traditional student
  • Long history with programming, new experience with data science
Applying to Where:

My research interest: exo/planetary science, data science, climate science. The schools are listed in approximate order from top picks to last picks, but the latter 6 are kind of fluid. The top 4 are pretty definite in order.

Accepted Waitlisted Rejected

University of Colorado Boulder - Astrophysics & Planetary Sciences - WILL ATTEND! Funding: ~$31,700 TA/RA including summer positions*. Accepted! 27 January 2017, by email

University of Washington - Astronomy - Rejected by email 3 March 2017
University of Arizona - Astronomy - Rejected by email 27 January 2017
Northern Arizona University - Physics & Astrophysics - Declined - and it was hard. NAU people and department were wonderful. Accepted! 2 February 2017, by email, $26,000/year via TA/RA
Cornell - Astronomy - Waitlisted, 9 February 2017, notice by email
University of California Santa Cruz - Astronomy - Rejected by email 13 February 2017
MIT - Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences - Rejected 27 February 2017 by email
University of British Columbia - Physics & Astrophysics (Master's program) - Declined Accepted! 13 January 2017, by phonecall; base $21,662 (TA/RA) (BEFORE tuition and fees--net was about CAD $17,000)
Northwestern University - Physics & Astrophysics
University of Texas Austin - Astronomy - Rejected by email 29 March 2017

Also applied:

NSF GRFP - Rejected by email 17 March 2017

That's it--I'll update the list with rejections and (hopefully) acceptances!

* There was some weirdness with Boulder APS being really noncommittal about the amount -- we were told it would be sent by mail, then in the mail it said we'd find out at the visit. At the visit, everyone I talked to (faculty, grad students) gave similar numbers between $30,000 and $40,000 a year. We strongly voiced our concern with the department not putting it in writing and we finally got something from admin stating that this year's package was ~$31,700 with summer work (not guaranteed, but everyone does it) and that it would "almost never decrease."
Last edited by spotsallthewaydown on Wed Apr 05, 2017 8:39 pm, edited 15 times in total.

abhi2017
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Dec 21, 2016 4:54 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by abhi2017 » Wed Jan 04, 2017 12:06 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top Science Institute in India
Majors: Physics
GPA in Major: 3.60
Overall GPA: 3.60
Length of Degree: 4 years + 1 year masters
Position in Class: average
Type of Student: International Male

GRE Scores :
Q: 163 (85%)
V:153 (60%)
W:3.5 (42%)
P: 920 (87%)

Research Experience:
- 3 summer projects (2-3 months) in astronomy at top astronomy institutes in India
- 2 long projects in astronomy (bachelor project- 7 months, currently master's project ongoing) at top astronomy institutes
- 1 course project in mechanics
- 1 summer project in particle physics at top science institute
Imp : - No publication yet, but soon be able to publish my bachelor's project. Current MSc thesis going quite well, might be able to publish.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
- Institute scholarship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:-


Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:


Special Bonus Points:
- recommenders are fairly known in universities where I am applying.

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


Applying to Where: All Astronomy

U of Arizona - Rejected (01/24) - by email
Ohio State - Rejected (02/21)- by email
UT Austin - Rejected (03/04) - via website
UMD, College Park - Rejected - decision through website (02/15)
Penn State - Rejected (02/01) - by email
ANU - Rejected (02/23) - by email
U Michigan, Ann Arbor - Rejected (03/08) - by email
U of Toronto - Rejected (03/16) - via email
Vanderbilt University - Rejected (03/04) - via website
UIUC - Rejected (03/11) after enquiry
U of Virginia - Rejected (02/11) by emailil
NMSU - Rejected (02/21) - by a very polite email
U of Florida - Rejected (03/03) - by email
MIT (Planetary science) (once in lifetime just for my satisfaction) - Rejected (02/27)- by email, expected
ETH, Zurich - Institute for Astronomy (just for one project) - Will be rejected very soon

PS: Although I have not got any emails from the last one, but I am completely sure about the rejection, so just waiting for official email.
Last edited by abhi2017 on Thu Mar 16, 2017 12:40 am, edited 16 times in total.

cosmosis
Posts: 59
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2016 2:20 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by cosmosis » Thu Jan 05, 2017 2:43 am

Undergrad Institution: R1 private-school. Well known for AMO research but not so much for astronomy.
Major(s): Physics & Astronomy
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.83
Overall GPA: 3.88
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: Near top
Type of Student: Domestic Asian male

GRE Scores : Revised
Q: 160 (74%)
V: 160 (86%)
W: 5.0 (93%)
P: 780 (67%)


Research Experience: 4 REUs. One project was on astrometry, two on stellar astronomy and the most recent one on galactic astronomy. Two first-author papers (AJ and MNRAS), two AAS posters and one AAS talk. Continuing my galactic astronomy REU project as my senior thesis in spring 2017.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater, SPS Scholarship, internal awards and scholarships for research and academic aptitude.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TAed for four semesters. Tutoring physics for four years. Current SPS president and was involved with the astronomy club in the past. A lot of scientific outreach activities

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Not sure if this is relevant but I am interested in science policy and I am currently involved in a science policy project which I mentioned in some of my SoPs.

Special Bonus Points: Recommenders seem to be pretty well known in astronomy and I personally visited five schools and talked to interested faculty members.

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

Applying to Where:

Harvard - Astronomy - Cosmology - Accepted on 04/14. ATTENDING.
MIT - Dept. Physics, Astronomy Division - Cosmology - Rejected on 02/10.
Columbia - Astronomy - Cosmology - Rejected on 04/15.
NYU - Physics - Cosmology - Rejected on 03/15.
Johns Hopkins - Physics & Astronomy - Cosmology - Accepted.Declined.
U Chicago - Astronomy - Cosmology - Rejected on 02/10.
Michigan Ann Arbor - Astronomy - Cosmology - Accepted. ~$29k.Declined.
U Arizona - Astronomy - Cosmology - Accepted. $30,400 stipend + $2,500 additional research grant.Declined.
Vanderbilt - Astronomy - Cosmology - Rejected on 03/04.
UCLA - Astronomy - Cosmology - Accepted. $19k TAship.Declined.
UCSC - Astronomy - Cosmology - Accepted. Declined.
UC Davis - Astronomy - Cosmology - Accepted. TAship $20k for 9 months. Declined.
Last edited by cosmosis on Sat Apr 15, 2017 5:52 pm, edited 23 times in total.

SpaceFace33
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2017 3:16 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by SpaceFace33 » Thu Jan 05, 2017 3:32 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top tier research school in Canada
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.9
Overall GPA: 3.9
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: Domestic male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 163 (85%)
V: 158 (80%)
W: 6 (99%)
P: 950 (91%)

Research Experience: Finishing up 2 year MSc degree in theoretical/computational astrophysics, simulating giant planet formation. First author ApJ paper. Also did a one year undergrad thesis working with particle accelerator simulation data, as well as a summer research project working with the VERITAS collaboration.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: NSERC USRA, FQRNT scholarship, graduate fellow, miscellaneous entrance awards.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 2 years tutoring at college, 2 years TA-ing

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: A lot of outreach work, visiting elementary schools, organizing public lectures etc.

Special Bonus Points: Undergrad was very intense with physics courses (i.e. 5+ grad courses during undergrad). From what I can tell, much more extensive course background than most US schools.

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

Applying to Where:

MIT - Astronomy/Astrophysics - invited for skype interview 01/04 - Accepted 02/09... holy ***
Harvard - Astronomy/Astrophysics - Rejected 02/10
University of Toronto - Astronomy/Astrophysics - invited for skype interview 01/18 - Accepted 02/06
Stony Brook - Astronomy/Astrophysics - Accepted 01/28
Princeton - Astrophysical Sciences - Rejected 02/03
Cornell - Astronomy/Astrophysics - Accepted 02/06
Rice - Astronomy/Astrophysics - Accepted 02/02 on website - Official acceptance letter 02/06
Caltech - Astronomy/Astrophysics
University of Washington - Astronomy/Astrophysics
Last edited by SpaceFace33 on Fri Feb 10, 2017 3:31 pm, edited 8 times in total.

SpaceFace33
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2017 3:16 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by SpaceFace33 » Thu Jan 05, 2017 3:32 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top tier research school in Canada
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.9
Overall GPA: 3.9
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: Domestic male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 163 (85%)
V: 158 (80%)
W: 6 (99%)
P: 950 (91%)

Research Experience: Finishing up 2 year MSc degree in theoretical/computational astrophysics, simulating giant planet formation. First author ApJ paper. Also did a one year undergrad thesis working with particle accelerator simulation data, as well as a summer research project working with the VERITAS collaboration.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: NSERC USRA, FQRNT scholarship, graduate fellow, miscellaneous entrance awards.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 2 years tutoring at college, 2 years TA-ing

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: A lot of outreach work, visiting elementary schools, organizing public lectures etc.

Special Bonus Points: Undergrad was very intense with physics courses (i.e. 5+ grad courses during undergrad). From what I can tell, much more extensive course background than most US schools.

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

Applying to Where:

MIT - Astronomy/Astrophysics - emailed about skype interview
Harvard - Astronomy/Astrophysics
University of Toronto - Astronomy/Astrophysics
Stony Brook - Astronomy/Astrophysics
Princeton - Astronomy/Astrophysics
Cornell - Astronomy/Astrophysics
Rice - Astronomy/Astrophysics
Caltech - Astronomy/Astrophysics
University of Washington - Astronomy/Astrophysics

carokann
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Sep 07, 2016 2:12 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by carokann » Thu Jan 05, 2017 4:44 pm

Well, It's my turn

Undergrad Institution:Middle of nowhere
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 3.2
Overall GPA: 3.2
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: I think it's average
Type of Student: Domestic, male

GRE Scores :
Q: 162 (82%) :?
V: 147(34%)
W: 3.5(42%)
P: 850(78%)


TOEFL Total: 105 (R:30 L:29 S:22 R:24)

Research Experience:
(1) 1 year research in soft matter physics and fluid simulations
(2) 1 year study on polymer with course-grain simulations
(3) 6 months research on complex networks and Econophysics
(4) 6 months research on Nonlinear Physics and the outcome was a paper in a good journal and I am the first author 8)
(5) and a few minor course projects

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Nothing special

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Organizer of a science program in my university

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: two talks in weekly seminars

Special Bonus Points: strong letters(I hope :roll: ) and strong researches in my interests

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I had a terrible start :x and a bad GPA but in the middle of my studies I tried hard to cover my mistakes, my last 60 credits GPA is 3.7, I got A and A+ marks in all courses which are related to my interests (including a PhD level course), good knowledge of programming and simulation, I hope admission committees consider these points and forgive me for my bad grades in the first half of my studies. :cry:

Applying to Where:

Pending-Accepted- Waitlisted - Rejected

in order of my preference:

Michigan - Physics- REJECTED Feb 5 :x
Edinburgh - Physics- Complex Systems- REJECTED 3/13
Neils Bohr institute - Physics- BioMed- ACCEPTED! for MA 3/6 no funding
McGill - Physics- interviewed 3/8-ACCEPTED! for MA 5/9+ 24 k ,Will ATTEND!! finally! :D
Stuttgart - Physics- ACCEPTED! for MA 4/1
Ohio State - Physics- ACCEPTED! 2/26
Northeastern - Physics- REJECTED 2/24 kidding me?!
Brown - Physics- REJECTED 2/23 offered Master degree with no funding
Emory - Physics- Statistical Physics- invited for interview 2/5-ACCEPTED! 2/16- 25K/yr +tuition coverage
UMass - Physics- REJECTED 4/15
Calgary - Physics- Complex Systems- invited for interview 2/14 - ACCEPTED! for MA 2/18 + 25K/yr + 5K

Scholarships:

IMPRS nope!!
SUPA prize--> rejected from Edinburgh University so nothing.


Update on 2/24 : well I really didn't expect a rejection from Northeastern considering my own research background and their research areas. I was ready for Brown, my GPA had its influence on my application (a rejection from UMass can prove this, lets see what will happen!). So even universities like Brown which pay attention to your research can get disappointed by looking at your low GPA. However, everything in process of applying is just so chaotic. At the best situation with the best GPA and research background, your chance is 50/50.

Update on 4/1: Wow! Acceptance from Stuttgart was so surprising, waiting for financial support. I messed up on the interview with a supervisor in McGill. Not familiar with his type of research, although I may have some chances with another one.

Update on 5/9 : Well, it is finished, I got McGill and definitely I cannot believe this!! For everybody who is applying in the future, if you have a good research background and you GPA is poor, try to apply for few dream schools, it worth it! As I said At the best situation with the best GPA and research background, your chance is 50/50. Best wishes for all. Glade to find this great website. :wink:

Hints: Do research! apply according your research background,take interviews much more seriously and for practice speak loudly to yourselves
Last edited by carokann on Thu May 11, 2017 2:22 pm, edited 39 times in total.

palton
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2017 7:21 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by palton » Thu Jan 05, 2017 7:43 pm

I'm so tired of working on applications. :cry: Time to procrastinate one last time! I'll keep it short.

Undergrad Institution: Big state research school
Major(s): Applied Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.98
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top, probably
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores :
Q:170 (97%)
V: 158 (80%)
W: 4.0 (59%)
P: 880 (83%)


Research Experience: About a year of research in hep-ex. Mostly electronics and programming for DAQs, nothing too specific to hep-ex. Also a couple other side projects for other professors.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list many times. Will graduate with high honors (hopefully :P).

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I tutor about 5 hours a week, and set up/manage drop-in physics tutoring for lower-division physics students.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Most of my grades are A+'s. Officer in physics club, have gone to many outreach events.

Special Bonus Points: One letter writer is pretty well known and has connections.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Eh, none that I know of.

Applying to Where:

Stanford - Physics- CME Accepted 2/10! This was my top choice. I'm a little excited, to say the least. Will Attend!
Caltech - Physics- CME Rejected 2/24. Nuuuu!
UCSB - Physics- CME Rejected 2/24. My first rejection ;A;
UC Berkeley - Physics- CME Rejected 3/8.
UCSD - Physics- CME Accepted 1/31! No financials yet.
UC Irvine - Physics- CME Accepted 1/24! Chancellor's Fellowship + TAship
USC - Physics- CME Accepted 1/26 (by email at 8:30 at night? lol)! TAship for 4 years
University of Washington - Physics- CME Accepted 1/23! Yay first acceptance! TAship
UC Davis - Physics- CME Accepted 2/4! TAship, tuition aid, summer teaching
Last edited by palton on Fri May 05, 2017 5:49 pm, edited 9 times in total.

ChelseaZ
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2017 11:17 am

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by ChelseaZ » Thu Jan 05, 2017 9:50 pm

Cannot believe it is already our turn to post this!

Undergrad Institution: Small liberal arts college. Good reputation in Physics.
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Double major in Philosophy
GPA in Major: 3.95
Overall GPA: 3.97
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: International Asian Female

GRE Scores :
Q:170 (97%)
V: 165 (95%)
W: 4.0 (59%)
P: 960 (92%)


Research Experience: Two years in Nuclear Physics & HEP-exp. Intense computational simulations. Two REU at home institution. Four different projects including developing an open-source data library. Researching at the level of PhD students (aka working with Post-doc on the same project that was previously undertaken by a PhD student). Present research results to the collaboration group on a regular basis. No publications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: PBK. A highly competitive research award within the department. Several other named scholarships/fellowships.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs :none.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: At least one of my recommendation letter is superrrr strong (from my research advisor whom I had a really good relationship with)

Special Bonus Points: none.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I phrased my SoP to indicate that I am open to different options other than HEP. And my SoP are basically fun stories of my research project that I hope professors will enjoy reading.

Applying to Where:

Stanford - Physics 2/10 rejected upon email
Caltech - Physics 2/15 admitted via email
Yale - Physics
MIT - Physics 1/4 invited for interview. Astrophysics division 2/9 accepted by email
Harvard - Physics 2/10 accepted by email right after the rejection from Stanford
Princeton - Physics
Cornell - Physics

And yes....I didn't apply for a safety. We will see if that is a good or bad decision.
Last edited by ChelseaZ on Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:44 am, edited 3 times in total.

electronrunaway
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2017 6:10 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by electronrunaway » Sun Jan 08, 2017 6:25 pm

Undergrad Institution: Large State School Very Good Physics Reputation
Major(s): Engineering Physics (Focused on Plasma Physics)
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.89
Overall GPA: 3.824
Length of Degree: 3 at degree granting university, lots in community college
Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?)
Type of Student: Domestic White Male
GRE Scores :
Q: 167 (93%)
V: 165 (95%)
W: 5 (93%)
P: 840 (77%) :shock: (That's what I get for taking it before I finished all the classes it tested on)


Research Experience: 2.5 years doing research work in radiation detection and measurement. SULI at PPPL last summer. 2 research papers as contributing author from research work 1 in preparation as first author. Multiple conference presentations.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Deans list and honors every semester. One local scholarship.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: See research work

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Not really

Special Bonus Points: I have taken most of the graduate level plasma physics classes that are offered at my university and was consistently one of the top students in the class (and the only undergrad). Two of my recommenders are quite well known in the field.


Applying to Where:

University of Wisconsin - Madison - Engineering Physics - Plasma Physics - Accepted by Email 1/27
University of Wisconsin - Madison - Physics - Plasma Physics - Accepted by Email 1/24 $21,716 FW TA, Summer RA + $5000 Fellowship
University of Michigan - Applied Physics - Plasma Physics - Accepted by Email 2/9 - Fellowship $29,016
UCLA - Physics - Plasma Physics
Princeton - Astrophysics - Plasma Physics - Rejected by Email 2/16 - Moral of story, study more for Physics GRE
MIT - Nuclear Engineering and Rad Science - Plasma Physics- Accepted by Email 2/15
Columbia - Applied Physics - Plasma Physics

Did not apply for safety let's hope it works out.
Last edited by electronrunaway on Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:42 pm, edited 10 times in total.

muskratsam
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2017 12:55 am

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by muskratsam » Mon Jan 09, 2017 1:12 am

Undergrad Institution: Top liberal arts, strong in Physics. Known for grade deflation.
Major(s): Physics with computer science minor
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: Not great :shock: A little under 3.0
Overall GPA: 3.1
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Average
Type of Student: Domestic Caucasian female

GRE Scores :
Q: 167
V: 168
W: 6.0
P: 820 (74%)

Research Experience: All at my school. 2 summers and one semester of CS research on computer storage efficiency, presentation at a storage conference. 2 semesters and 1 summer of physics research in condensed matter, characteristics of alloys with focus on magnetism. Includes projects with Los Alamos Laboratory and poster presentation at a large conference.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Involved in community outreach project on science to local schools from my college

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Good CS skills, experience in working with large datasets. Some specific lab experience that could be helpful.

Special Bonus Points: Female, primary advisor seems well connected. All 3 rec letters are from research advisors, and all should be strong.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Goal is to work in a government lab or industry.

Applying to Where: All Physics or Applied Physics, interested in condensed matter and magnetism research. List was primarily built around schools with multiple researchers in my area of interest, connections to national labs doing magnetism research where possible, and places I thought I had a shot given my not-so-great GPA.

FSU - Accepted 2/16 with TAship plus $1000 Dean's scholars ship plus $3000 fellowship. $700 to cover a visit, but from the west coast that does not cover it. VIsit wasn't super -- nice equipment, but not my tribe.
Rutgers - Emailed for update on 3/17, they responded and said they have made 2 waves of offers and are "working on developing their waitlist". They posted rejection on the website on 4/14.
University of Connecticut - Accepted 2/10 with email saying check the website. TA/funding info came a couple days later. Visited UConn, gotta say. Their travel reimbursement process is a nightmare. You have to register as a vendor, provide a W9, etc. Just to get your airfare back.
Iowa State - Accepted via email 2/1 with 9 month TA offer and paid visit. No interview, they asked for 1st semester grades a couple of weeks ago. Surprisingly great visit, Attending!!
Colorado School of Mines - Received email on 1/24 with invitation for phone interview, then nothing until denial posted on website on 4/14.
Colorado State - Accepted via email 1/31, 9 month TA position. No interview prior to acceptance. Visit offered. Declined, not visiting.
UColorado - Colorado Springs - Accepted via email on 2/8, declined when visits started stacking up
Montana State - Received email on 1/21 with invitation to visit 2/23-2/26, then acceptance on 2/9. TA offer details received 2/11, guaranteed summer TA or RA position summer after 1st year. Visited, offered an RA spot while there. They asked for answer by March 10 (even though they are part of the group that isn't supposed to get answers til April 15).
Oregon State - Received email on 2/7 with invitation to visit 2/24 or cost covered for visit on a different date. Followed by acceptance on 2/8.
Northern Illinois University - Didn't hear anything by March 11, withdrew application
Miami University (Masters) - Didn't hear anything by March 11, withdrew application
Last edited by muskratsam on Thu Apr 20, 2017 12:41 am, edited 19 times in total.

tman1027
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2016 12:54 am

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by tman1027 » Mon Jan 09, 2017 3:03 am

I really hope that I get admitted somewhere so I can give hope to all of the average and unaccomplished Physics students. Perusing this forum just amplifies my admissions anxiety. So many people who are such great applicants and also so very nervous.

Undergrad Institution: Smallish Southern State school with little physics reputation
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Japanese and Math
GPA in Major: 3.7 or something around that (I don't want to redo that calculation)
Overall GPA: 3.58
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: top 35% maybe? My school doesn't have this on my transcript it seems
Type of Student: Domestic White male

GRE Scores :
Q: 160 (76%)
V: 164 (94%)
W: 4.5 (82%)
P: 760 (63%)


Research Experience: I worked on a Senior thesis in acoustics that became a conference talk and the thesis is recorded on the net (though not published)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: I got departmental scholarships each year after Freshman year, Cum Laude?

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I was a TA and I am currently working in Americorps

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I am an Eagle Scout and an Americorps VISTA. My advisor said that my thesis defense was on of the best he had ever seen.

Special Bonus Points: I think my rec letters will be strong. All are from professors and 1 is from my advisor who worked with me on my thesis. Cum Laude?

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I have been out of school for a year and a half now

Applying to Where: I applied to a lot of programs because I am really nervous about my prospects

All for CME
University of Texas at Austin -
University of Michigan - Rejected as of 2/10 :(
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Pennsylvania
Ohio State University
University of Florida
University of Iowa - accepted as of 2/9
Boston University
University of Washington
Last edited by tman1027 on Fri Feb 10, 2017 2:44 pm, edited 4 times in total.

ckitc
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2017 4:52 pm

Re: 2017 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by ckitc » Mon Jan 09, 2017 5:06 pm

Ahh, why not...

Undergrad Institution: Large public R1 in the Southeast. Mediocre reputation as a commuter school. Not a great physics program. Astro program is very well recognized in the field, however.
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 3.89
Overall GPA: 3.95
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Very near the top
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores:
Q: 167 (93%)
V: 166 (97%)
W: 5.0 (93%)
P: 730 (57%)

Research Experience: Three years research experience with recognized research group doing stellar astronomy. One second author publication, one first author publication in prep as of application submissions. Also one summer at high profile REU, first author publication in prep as of application submissions. Two AAS presentations. One of many authors on an astro paper in an unrelated subfield (I did some observing).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater Scholarship, one notable university-wide academic achievement award, Sigma Pi Sigma inductee, standard "Dean's List" kind of stuff.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Lab instructor for several semesters.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: A good bit of experience in classical observing at a government observatory.

Special Bonus Points: First generation college student. Research advisor at my home institution is incredibly well known and liked around the field, and my other letters should be fairly strong as well (though they're from professors earlier in their careers).

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I'm also a nontraditional student - I'm not super explicit about it in my applications beyond mentioning that I was a few years late starting college for various reasons.

Applying to Where: All in astronomy, expressed interest in stellar and substellar observation.

University of Arizona - accepted by phone 1/20, University Fellowship $30,500 first year plus bonuses, similar afterwards - WILL ATTEND
Ohio State University - accepted by email 1/20, Dean's Distinguished University Fellowship $31000 for three years - declined 4/08
Pennsylvania State University accepted by email 1/24, University Fellowship $35,700 first year, $27800 afterwards - declined 4/08
University of Colorado - Boulder accepted by email 1/27, standard stipend $32,000 - declined 4/08
University of Texas - Austin - Skype interview 1/16 - accepted by email 1/27, standard stipend $28,000 - declined 4/08
Caltech - Skype interview 1/16 - accepted by phone 1/27, standard stipend $33,200 - declined 4/08
Indiana University - Bloomington - accepted by email 2/07 - declined 2/10
Harvard - accepted by email to check website 2/08, RA $35,760 - declined 4/08

University of Washington - Skype interview 2/15 - waitlisted by email 2/27
University of California - Santa Cruz - Skype interview 1/25 - rejected by email 1/27

University of Toronto - no response as of 4/08 (how rude!)
Last edited by ckitc on Sat Apr 08, 2017 1:13 pm, edited 17 times in total.



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