I'm planning to apply to a few Phd programs in the US this year.
My specialization would be Quantum gravity (Black holes, and black holes thermodynamics) or String theory.
I'm from Italy, so I have already obtained a bachelor's degree in physics a couple years back, and I'm supposed to graduate in the next few months in theoretical physics (master's degree).
I wanted to know if I stand a chance in getting in a top Phd program in the US.
First of all, I'm a girl, so that might help if the admission committee is looking for diversity
![Razz :P](./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif)
Bachelor's degree: I've graduated with an overall average of about 3.6. I lowered my average with exams such as chemistry and programming (which were mandatory at my uni), but I got perfect A's in advanced exams such as Quantum mechanics and General Relativity. I've written a thesis with title "Hidden conformal symmetry of the Schwarzschild black hole", so a quite advanced and very theoretical thesis for a bachelor's degree (I think).
Master's degree: I don't know my exact overall average yet, but it should be somewhere around 3.8/4.0. I've taken a bunch of theoretical exams in my master's degree (quantum field theory, quantum information, superstring theory, differential geometry, lie groups, etc), and I'm writing a thesis on generalized complex structures in string theory compactification (in other words, some geometrical techniques used to study, on a formal level, the geometry of the compactified dimensions in string theory).
Given a good toefl score, decent/good scores in the gres, great lors, and the gpas mentioned above, what are my chances of getting in a theoretical hep phd program in one of the top uni in the US (stanford, Harvard, Caltech, etc...)? I know there's a lot of competition, so I wanted to ask you if I should even give it a chance!
Thanks to whoever replies
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