Abominable PGRE

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lxhrk9
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:56 pm

Abominable PGRE

Post by lxhrk9 » Sun Nov 27, 2011 1:20 pm

Greetings,
I am finalizing my list of schools to apply to. My interest is in theoretical condensed matter with an emphasis in spintronics. Does anyone know of good schools to which I should apply? I am trying to add to my list due to a terrible PGRE score. My "stats" are below:

GPA: 3.98-Physics; 4.00-Math; 3.99-overall
GRE: 790-Quant; 710-Verbal; 4.5-Writing
PGRE: 680-50% percentile (need sobbing "smiley" here)
Research: 2 REUs in condensed matter theory with PRL pubs (1 first author, 1 second);
McNair Scholars; Undergraduate Research Mentorship Program;
Research for Honors in Mathematics; currently employed as research assistant in area of interest
Involvement: Pres-Sigma Pi Sigma; Pres-Women's Association of Physical Sciences; VP-Society of Physics Students; Phi Beta Kappa member
TA: Teaching Assistant/Recitation Instructor for 2 years
Teaching Assistant for a Time for Physics First (teaching 9th grade science teachers)
Other: QuISU participant at MIT; 2 contributed talks at APS March Meetings; contributed talk at an advanced workshop in Brasov, Romania

Thank you for any input.

bfollinprm
Posts: 1203
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:44 am

Re: Abominable PGRE

Post by bfollinprm » Sun Nov 27, 2011 1:32 pm

I doubt, but don't rule out, the top 10, and would imagine you'll get in somewhere in the top 30 for sure. PRL publications are powerful: remember, the PGRE is important mostly because it's a standardized (though poorly correlated) method of measuring graduate success. Since grad school is about research, the two PRL publications prove your ability to succeed in grad school, and your GPA shows you have the motivation to jump the prelim hurdle and get to what you do best. You should talk to people at the universities you apply to though, it's much easier for an admissions committee to accept someone who has a professor already ready to take the student on their research group (and with your strong research background, you should manage to find such people).

ALSO, share your profile!

einsteinchris
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:39 pm

Re: Abominable PGRE

Post by einsteinchris » Sun Jan 29, 2012 1:53 pm

I think that you have a very good profile. The proof is that you already got accepted to Cornell. If you have the opportunity to get into a top 10 school (which I definitely think you will), then I strongly suggest that you go for it.

Good luck with your applications and I whish you all the best.

asdfuogh
Posts: 78
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2011 11:21 pm

Re: Abominable PGRE

Post by asdfuogh » Tue Jan 31, 2012 3:28 am

UCLA, we have a very good spintronics program.. I think. CNSI collaborations, etc. I think our engineering department has a lot of projects on that stuff. Also, I did research with the physics group that did stuff on this! Although.. it was a minor part of the group (the spintronics) because it's a quantum group. Anyway, I think you should check the CNSI website for more schools that work on spintronics.

http://www1.cnsi.ucla.edu/index

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lxhrk9
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:56 pm

Re: Abominable PGRE

Post by lxhrk9 » Tue Jan 31, 2012 5:53 pm

Thanks! It's funny you should mention UCLA. One of my REUs was there. Definitely a great school (& area to live) and yes, I did apply :)



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