Nov 3rd Scores out

  • If you want to know something about the GRE subject test in physics then chances are you will find it in here.
  • If something about the physics GRE it isn't already discussed in here then please put it in here.

Jia
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Nov 3rd Scores out

Post by Jia » Sat Dec 01, 2007 8:01 am

I got a 910, 90%
This is my second time, and this is enough.

mamal
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Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2007 8:25 am

Post by mamal » Sat Dec 01, 2007 10:06 am

Hi guys,

I got 680/890 (63%) on the gre subject math rescaled. Any hope for getting attmited to the applied math prog at brown ? my gpa is 3.83 and my major is mechanical engineering. I've got 1 publication (journal paper) and other 6 submitted ones. My toefl (as I am an international student) is 647 PBT (113/120 iBT). I have not yet get to know of my gre general scores.

Oh what about these schools

Caltech
Michigan
Cornell
Berkeley

schandre
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Post by schandre » Sat Dec 01, 2007 12:18 pm

I also got a 910 - 90%. :D
I still can't believe it: I only managed to answer 77 questions on the test day.

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twistor
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Post by twistor » Sat Dec 01, 2007 12:52 pm

I just tried but they said my score isn't available yet :(

theodiggers
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Is this good?

Post by theodiggers » Sat Dec 01, 2007 2:04 pm

710, 59%

I was a CS kid from a Top 10 and I taught myself (more or less) calculus and physics over the past two years on my own outside of school. I had no stat mech and so was already at a 12 pt handicap. I was able to get recs from Mathematics, Experimental Physics, and Technical Writing. I have one publication on clustered computing and two years work in systems development. How do you think I will look to grad schools with this ranking?

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Sat Dec 01, 2007 2:49 pm

Everybody put ur damn score down! ! Just call F****** ETS!

Take it easy guys!

I took OCT test and totally screwed it up! I ended up getting 850 (nearly shitty score) Don tell me this is good now! F*** the ETS!

theodiggers
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Post by theodiggers » Sat Dec 01, 2007 4:03 pm

Whats up with all you guys flipping out over your scores? Look at mine :) An 840 would have made me ecstatic, but for my situation I just hope I did well enough. The GRE is not the nobel prize. ;) If you're going to do something great in physics, you will do it regardless of where you are. If you're experimental, sure you want the top programs because of the money and facilities, but if you are theoretical, does it matter where you are as long as you are supported, have access to journals and a library, and are happy?

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Sat Dec 01, 2007 5:27 pm

Yeah GRe is not a noble Prize. I agree!

But if you are a theorist, you still want to go to the top progrm and work with top people. This will help you "think" in the right direction!! O/w you may be working in a problem which will be challenging but not important or in other words,nobody will like to read your paper!!

For an experimentalist a top program is need for proper funding, likewise, for a theorist, a "proper direction" is needed. Here is an example,
if you work with a Prof. who is productive but is unaware of choosing the right quality of books or the right articles, then you will be at serious disadvantage. I am not saying that this will hinder you from doing a good work, because we all know that in Physics, you can go very far without understanding much( for instance, look at the derivation of Plank's law. Again, I am not saying that Plank was stupid or anything like that).
Also, note that only one paper gets you to the Noble Prize not all those crappy papers out there. So you should know what paper is gonna take you there!

Another example, we all learn statistical physics from Reif, Huang etc. Have we ever tried reading stat physics from Schwabl( or from Kardar's note)? This is what I am talking about. Only a good instructor can tell you where to look for and what to read. There are jillions of mathematical techniques in Physics. If you do not have a solid background and a good Prof. to tell you where to dive in to look for a formula that would give you the answer that you are looking for, it is very likely that you may get drowned and overwhelmed by the jargon and details in Physics.
Jus my opinion, take it with a grain of salt!

theodiggers
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Post by theodiggers » Sat Dec 01, 2007 6:12 pm

RG: who's to say what is or is not an important problem in Physics? Also the notion of "thinking in the right direction" sounds very troublesome. As long as you are _thinking_ and your thoughts and their mathematical expression agree with experiment, what is to distinguish one 'right direction' from another?

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Sat Dec 01, 2007 7:08 pm

@theodiggers,
Every one from all the Universities, work on a theory problem that matches the exp. But in the end, one gets the Noble Prize, or other distinctions!!
This is where I think is we need a "right direction"! Every problem is intereting, but think about this- would not it be so cool that we solve a problem that is intereting to a broad spectrum of people!! For this, we need a "right direction" and right papers, right books!!


okay theodiggers! let us drop this topic here. don get me wrong and keep working the way you think is better!! This is how we should work!!
I am back on reading the article where people from Italy claim that Ising model in 3 D is solved!!! I am freaking out here trying to read this freaking article!
If you have taken stat physis , I sugget you try read this article, and help me understand this freaking article!! I am assuming you know what Ising model is!

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jdhooghe
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Post by jdhooghe » Sat Dec 01, 2007 7:29 pm

740/ 65% Bah....I answered 80-90 questions though! >.<

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will
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Post by will » Sat Dec 01, 2007 8:32 pm

I thought they'd already proved that the Ising model had no analytic solution in three dimensions. Do you mean a numerical solution? 'Cause I thought that was old news too...

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Sat Dec 01, 2007 9:27 pm

NO! not the numerical result! Who cares numerical! Doing numerical is like eating scraps, hahaha, jus kiddin, (i hate programing so)
I am talking about purely mathmatical solution of Ising model and the solution is possible in "ANY DIMENSION" All that proof you have heard of (but never really got a chance to go through) on the unsolvabiltiy of Ising model is NOT GENUINE( I am guessing that you did not actually read the article, but relied on somebody else)

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grae313
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Post by grae313 » Sat Dec 01, 2007 10:18 pm

750 / 68% :evil: I can't believe I did worse than on the 0177 practice test. I studied my ass of for a week after I took that practice test and my score went down. And I felt so much better after I got out of the actual test. Bewildering.... Frustrating... :( oh well, I can't stress over what's already been done.

Maybe time to put some more backup schools on my list?

On the other hand, compared to other women I did pretty well:
Image
Although this data may not be credible because it's from a website whos entire mission in life is to show how stupid women and minorities are compared to the white male. :roll:

So what do you guys think?

Physics and chemistry double major (math minor, of course)
600 / 85% Verbal, 780 / 90% Quantitative, 5.0 / 73% Writing, 750 / 68% Physics
3.93 upper division physics gpa
3.97 upper division chemistry gpa
3.75 overall gpa
just over a year of research in applied/CM physics
3 publications, one as first author
If our abstract is accepted, I'll be presenting my research at the Materials Research Society's spring conference.

Should I bother applying to Harvard's and Stanford's Applied Physics programs?

U Washington (Seattle), UCLA, and UC Santa Cruz were my "backup" schools, but now I'm thinking I might be aiming a bit too high.

aanaa
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Post by aanaa » Sat Dec 01, 2007 10:50 pm

-
Last edited by aanaa on Sat Feb 09, 2008 4:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

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twistor
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Post by twistor » Sat Dec 01, 2007 11:04 pm

Again we find ourselves measuring our worth by arbitrary test scores. Will we ever overcome this self-esteem dessicating masochism?

As for the Ising model, I don't recall learning that it was unsolvable, only that no one had solved it because it was very difficult.

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jdhooghe
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Post by jdhooghe » Sat Dec 01, 2007 11:12 pm

grae313 hah pretty close on this test also. Anyway, I retake the general the 14th. My stats are as follows

Overall: 3.32
Physics: 3.67
Research: No internship but strong background in laboratory classes and an outside project in Non-newtonian fluids in the spring
Physics GRE: 740(65%)....which by the way is a perfect opportunity to go to the bars

My schools:
Syracuse
Maryland
SUNY, Stony Brook
U. of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Rutgers
Pennsylvania State University
University of California, Davis

What do you all think, do I have a shot? Or should I apply to oklahoma or kansas?

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Sun Dec 02, 2007 12:57 am

F*** THE ETS!!! :twisted:
This is what we all shud say! In one voice!!

@grae313,
don worry you will be fine, you SHOULD apply to Stanford and Harvard! Make your SOP good!
GOODLUCK!

schandre
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Post by schandre » Sun Dec 02, 2007 3:33 am

Last year I attended lectures on Numerical Methods applied to Statistical Mechanics and I remember being told that it was proven that the partition function of a 3D (and higher dimensions) Ising model belonged to a class of problems - NP problems - which are believed to be intractable, although this has not yet been proved.

This nontechnical article should clarify a bit for people like myself who hardly know anything about the Ising Model and NP problems: http://www.cs.brown.edu/~sorin/pdfs/Sci ... e_2000.pdf

It's kind of nice how the replies deviate from the proposed topic! :)[/url]

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butsurigakusha
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Post by butsurigakusha » Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:30 am

@grae313

I am not going to tell you that I think you still have a good shot at Stanford or Harvard, because I honestly have no idea. From what I've heard, I think the the importance of the GRE varies drastically from school to school, year to year, and depends on who is on the admissions committee. So getting below 800 might not even make much difference, compared to getting above 800. Then again, it might make the difference. No one you ask is going to have much more than a guess at what you chances are.

Unless money is an issue, you might as well apply.

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grae313
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Post by grae313 » Sun Dec 02, 2007 6:05 am

Yeah you're right. I might as well just apply.

Ack, I think I should add another backup school though.

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Sun Dec 02, 2007 11:45 am

@schandre,
I cant believe that Sceince reported such a bogus ***. Back in 1969, it was reported that the Ising model can be fermionized, that is, it is isomorphic to spinless particles that obey fermi statistics. Now, we all know that fermi statistics is exactly solvable in any dimension. So what the heck computer genious from University of Georgia!that sucks!

Again, in 2007, similar but simplified method is proposed, and they have proven that fermionization for 1 D is possible and believe 100%(they already have a general self consistent equations that work for any dimension) that fermionization is possible in 3 or higher dimension also(EASILY)!!! They have a set of equation, which only needs to be solved and they have submitted for publication!!
Last edited by cancelled20080417 on Sun Dec 02, 2007 3:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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will
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Post by will » Sun Dec 02, 2007 12:30 pm

They have a set of equation, which only needs to be solved!!
So does Einstein!

dunecastle
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Post by dunecastle » Sun Dec 02, 2007 1:46 pm

mine is 990, 97%...thanks for useful guides and preparation advice on the forum.

My condition is 3.55 overall GPA, 4 publications, one 1st author. My research field is computational electromagnetic and photonics crystal.

As an international student, I dare not apply many prestigous schools, the most favorate schools on my list is:

Columbia
Cornell

RPI
PSU
Rugsters

Could anyone give some advice on choosing a safe school for me? Thanks a lot

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twistor
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Post by twistor » Sun Dec 02, 2007 1:47 pm

Last year I attended lectures on Numerical Methods applied to Statistical Mechanics and I remember being told that it was proven that the partition function of a 3D (and higher dimensions) Ising model belonged to a class of problems - NP problems - which are believed to be intractable, although this has not yet been proved.
So does this imply that P=NP?

nvanmeter
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Post by nvanmeter » Sun Dec 02, 2007 3:07 pm

whether or not P equals NP is the biggest outstanding problem in computer science.

i just called and got my score. 990 woohoo!!!!

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Sun Dec 02, 2007 3:22 pm

@will,
I think you do not understand! If i give you 10 equations, and tell you that you have ten variables,and not more, CANNOT YOU SOLVE the system of equation?

I guess u SHUD FIND the article first( which I am not going to post it here) and try to read the article first!
Last edited by cancelled20080417 on Sun Dec 02, 2007 9:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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fermiboy
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Post by fermiboy » Sun Dec 02, 2007 6:31 pm

@RG,

Just because you have 10 equations and 10 variables DOES NOT mean the system has a unique solution. What if the coefficient matrix is not invertible? So no, you cannot always uniquely solve such a system.

If you are saying you have 10 independent equations, then I agree with you.

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Sun Dec 02, 2007 7:04 pm

It is really interesting to have discussion like this where people provide a "constructive criticism" on any flaw they find in other's argument!!!
This is what I am really missing in this FUGLY liberal arts College, where there are not ANY F********* Physics major. This place has been a hell to me.

@fermiboy, Thanks for your comment!!
that was simply a metaphor and Ising problem solution is not as simple as solving 10 equations !!! Also, I meant 10 independent equations, and coefficient matrix is non-singular( now, plz don ask me if the system is LINEAR or not !! hahaha)

I think it is constructive to find the article first, and go through the proof( if your are CMT), then we can discuss..

By the way,
F*** the ETS :evil: I just feel like telling this after I got shitty score in my GRE. :cry:
Last edited by cancelled20080417 on Sun Dec 02, 2007 7:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Sun Dec 02, 2007 7:07 pm

@nvanmeter,
You made it!! 990. So u will be in UC santabarbara next year. Thats where you wanted to to go, right? Good luck.
By the way, you never mentioned about your published article on Physical review! Is it too personal to ask about your article!! Sorry!

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will
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Post by will » Sun Dec 02, 2007 8:08 pm

I was actually going to ask for the reference to the article. The point I was making with the Einstein comment is that even though the field equations are well defined, even the binary system doesn't have a complete solution without a great number of assumptions. If they don't have a system of linear equations then I don't see why the insult to my intelligence was really in order.

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Sun Dec 02, 2007 9:57 pm

@ will,
I REALLY din mean to insult you! I mean, why would I want to insult somebody for nothing! Take it easy!

I am just saying that you SHOULD prolly FIND the article first, then go through it and then tell us if its like Einstein's field theory equation or the different!

Sorry if I said anything wrong!

I thought everyone of us who is applying for a PhD program knows how to sit down and find the article that is there online if we are really interested in it!! Isnot this a FIRST step towards so called "RESEARCH"!
You should find it for yourself!
I am sorry, i do not want to post the link here! If you think it is worth looking at, please find it for yourself, o/w you can simply IGNORE my post!
Take it easy!

nvanmeter
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Post by nvanmeter » Sun Dec 02, 2007 10:20 pm

yeah i made it, but that doesn't mean i get a free ticket. and while it is my favorite choice in terms of location, i'm strongly considering other schools. at this point, i don't think i have anything missing from my application but that certainly doesn't mean i have a free ticket to any of these kinds of schools. i'm from LSU (go tigers, BCS national championship!) and some of my professors have told me that these kinds of programs look down on people from a dumb southern state school. i guess we'll see.

as for the article, search for it on the arxiv with my last name (vanmeter). it'll be published in Phys Rev A within the next few weeks, but isn't actually on there yet.
Last edited by nvanmeter on Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Mon Dec 03, 2007 12:30 am

vanmeter,
NEAT!

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will
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Post by will » Mon Dec 03, 2007 2:17 am

No one releases a paper and in the references section says "well you should know how to do this part yourself, researchers!"

I'm not asking for a link or a reprint, just the citation of the article.

ashar84
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Well, there's always the next test in April

Post by ashar84 » Mon Dec 03, 2007 7:18 am

Christ, did I do bad. 650/ 47th percentile.

I won't blame ETS though. I suppose it was just fate being really cruel to me. ( I work 14 hours a day in a non-physics field..been out of college for 2 years now..and I didn't even find this website till two days AFTER the test)

Any how, I have already paid the application fees and what not for the following schools:

1. University of Florida
2.Texas A&M
3.Ohio State
4.Univ. of Cal. at Irvine
5. SUNY at Stony Brook
6. Univ. of Tenn.
7. Univ. Of Texas at Austin
8. Iowa State
9. Univ. of Illinois
10. Penn State Univ.

My GRE General score was 1340, my grade point average in physics-subjects was 3.72 and I had three killer recom. letters. ( No publications). I'm an international student and have applied to experimental High Energy Physics in all the above.

What do you suppose I should do now? Get ready for the April test, or cross my fingers?

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:25 am

@ashar84,
you will be fine!! don worry! I am not quite sure about Austin, Penn State and Ilinois though!!!
But you should def. try!
best of luck!

@nvanmeter,
your article looks awesome!! too technical for me to understand!! I read the abstract and lil bit of QM!! I am more inclined towards Stat physics !!!!
You will def. ge into the school of you choice! Your work counts,not the school u r from! I mean, without knowing Physics you won't be able to write a paper or get 990!
So, if Stanford and Harvard don accept you, F*** them all! but you will get into there for sure!!
I have no chances into those schools, coz i have 850GRE. I cancelled my Nov test and relied on Oct. I was expecting exactly 900 or 890 at least!

@will

ok here is the deal:
I don wanna tell you where the article is!!
Is this good? if not ,I will find something else!

Mindaugas
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Post by Mindaugas » Mon Dec 03, 2007 12:59 pm

Hello,

I have just known my results - 920 (91%). It is a quite a good score, but I hoped to get higher. During the test I didn't know the answer just for 1 question, and worked through all the questions successfully. It seems now that actually I made quite a lot of mistakes (20-25 wrong probably).

It would be so interesting to know now where mistakes were made.. Have anybody ever ordered hand scoring for Subject test?

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will
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Post by will » Mon Dec 03, 2007 3:32 pm

That's fine. I'll believe that the Ising model has been solved generally when I see it from a credible source.

Mindaugas, a 920 is an awesome score. Some schools have an established cut-off, and they'll just throw your application out if you score less than 90% at, say, MIT or Stanford (unless you know someone on the admissions committee ;)). But above that threshold (which you are), then the actual score itself takes a back seat to the rest of your application. A 98% isn't significantly better than a 90%. Conceivably the gap could be less than a point. So you've got nothing to worry about.

As far as hand-scoring goes, I think it's a waste of money for someone in your position, not to mention that ETS is a fickle beast, and the hand-scorer might come back with something worse than what the computer said.

vicente
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Post by vicente » Mon Dec 03, 2007 4:05 pm

@Mindaugas,

920 is fine, even though you're an international student. If you're above the 90th percentile GRE scores don't make a difference.

@ashar84, you might have some difficulty getting into UT Austin, Penn State, Illinois, and UC Irvine, the latter mainly because UC's don't really let in intl students unless they're stellar. You might want to pick some schools slightly down the list and cross off all UCs.

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dlenmn
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well, I might as well join in...

Post by dlenmn » Mon Dec 03, 2007 10:43 pm

Just got my scores, and they're not what I was looking for -- 710. Figure I might as well stop forum lurking and join in with the "where can I get in?" questions. Here's the quick version (more at applycorner):

Male, white, US citizen, go to a school with name recognition
GRE (Q/V/W/Phys): 800/630/5.5/710
GPA (overall, Physics, Math (double major)): 3.56, 3.56, 3.67
Done several research projects (including an REU) but no publications
Don't really know where my interests are... I say experimental condensed matter
Recs are good, but aren't going to knock anyone's socks off.

Anyhow, here are some of the places I was/am thinking about (roughly in order of preference):

UCSB
Cornell
U Penn
U Colorado
U Wisconsin-Madison
Penn State
Johns Hopkins
Carnegie Mellon
Boston U
Brown
Lehigh

Thoughts? I always thought the first two were a stretch -- it's the next four that I'm most curious to hear opinions about. Maybe the numbers are telling me that I should do math instead of physics :) Thanks.

doom
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score increase

Post by doom » Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:20 pm

I gained 60 points on my November test from my October score, moving from 710 to 770. Hope everyone else who took it twice got similar results.

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:27 pm

@dlenmn,
Here is what you gotta say, after hearing the score! This is what I said to that robotic voice after I screwed it up !
F*** the ETS!

I am just kiddin ok!

Since your are a US citizen you have chances for the last four. I am not quite sure about the "next four" !! Your research exp. will take you there, may be!!!

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:46 pm

Here is a small piece of information:


If any of us do not have GRE physics above 900( I don't)
Forget about these schools:
MIT( bitch)
Princeton
Stanford
Harvard


I am pretty sure about these four! My Prof. knows some people from
admission commitee in MIT!!! My Prof. was simply extrapolating for the rest three, but his reasoning made perfect sense to me!!

This is how it works at least in MIT:

First they look at your GRE Physics : above 900 pass, o/w fail completely

(If you are above 900, and NO research then it is not worth applying)

Then publication: if you have one- pass, if NONE, then not completely fail, but nearly so!

Then GPA: above 3.75 Pass, if below 3.7 line, then again not completely fail but very very close to it!!!

Then comes your REC(Unless you have a letter from Nobel Prize winner, in that case your letter is more imp.): good- pass( doesnot have to be excellent), not good then you are on the brink again!

SOP: doesnot mean anything, but they read it though, JUST to have fun amidst all the hectic admission process!

poor SOP does not matter for 990, with publication!!

NOW, at last comes the GRE general: so its not worth it, we all know by now!


Now, by this time these places will have already collected 150 applications who have all those above mentioned quality!

you are welcome to disagree with this process! but it is the truth!!
Last edited by cancelled20080417 on Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

ashar84
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Post by ashar84 » Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:49 pm

@RG and Vicente

Thanks guys. :)

vicente
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Post by vicente » Tue Dec 04, 2007 12:13 am

@ dlenmn:

You're a U.S. citizen, so 710 for a subject score isn't going to keep you out of any non-top-10 schools. Though I'd worry about Cornell or UCSB. If 3.5 is close to the average as you said, it might not be very impressive to those two schools. But I think you have a good chance with all of the rest. Maybe you could put another UC instead of UCSB (but not Berkeley!). I think your research experience will help you get into a better school than your stats might make you aim. How are your reference letters?

(btw I posted this on your applycorner page too)

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dlenmn
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Re: vicente

Post by dlenmn » Tue Dec 04, 2007 12:53 am

@ vicente

Thanks for the reply. UCSB already has my money :) so I might as well go through with it. I might not go through with Cornell -- I'm still thinking about it (going to talk with some profs -- can't get all my advice from folks online). I was also thinking of adding a UC school, but I haven't had time to look in to it (but a quick glance show that applications for UCLA and UCSD are due the 15th, so I should get on that. Irvine is another option. I actually just got an email from Riverside (courtesy of ETS) saying that "we will waive your application fee if you have a GPA > 3.5 and General GRE > 1200"... not sure what to make of that).

Like I said, I expect that my letters are good but not excellent. Two are from people I've done research for (free electron laser, and plasma), and one is from a math prof. I've taken 5 classes from him and done well in all of them (including a graduate analysis class that I'm taking now) -- unfortunately there aren't any physics profs who have taught me in more than one class. But physicists are occasionally known to listen to mathematicians... Thanks again for your thoughts.

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quizivex
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Post by quizivex » Tue Dec 04, 2007 1:15 am

Then publication: if you have one- pass, if NONE, then not completely fail, but nearly so!
By "having a publication," do you have to be first author, or can just having your name tacked onto the end of a marathon list of grad students be acceptable too?

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fermiboy
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Post by fermiboy » Tue Dec 04, 2007 1:22 am

@RG,

I'll disagree with you, at least about Harvard and Stanford. How can they cut on physics GRE of 900 if Stanford's avg. score is 814, and Harvard's is around 890? I've only taken one stats class, but I don't think it's possible to have every data point greater than the mean :?

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quizivex
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Post by quizivex » Tue Dec 04, 2007 1:27 am

i think he was referring only to international students?



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