2016 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.

Dishsoap
Posts: 50
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2015 12:31 am

2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Dishsoap » Mon Aug 24, 2015 12:32 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.

______________________________________________
Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?)... Overall Reputation in Physics?)
Major(s):
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:
Overall GPA:
Length of Degree: (Are you graduating after 3, 4, or 5 years?)
Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?)
Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?)

GRE Scores : (revised or old version?)
Q:
V:
W:
P:


TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this)

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)

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

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)

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

Applying to Where:

School - Department - Research Interest
School - Department - Research Interest
School - Department - Research Interest
Last edited by quizivex on Sat Sep 24, 2016 7:03 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Reason: Locked the 2016 Profile Thread

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

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by moon » Thu Sep 03, 2015 11:12 pm

Undergrad Institution: UC known for astro
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 : (old, thinking about a retake)
Q: 158 (71%)
V:160 (85%)
W:3.5 (38%)
P: 790 (69%)

Research Experience:
- 0.5 years in a semiconductor/HEP-ex lab
- 1.25 years in an HEP-th group doing 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.
- Current entry level industry job in QA for a large tech company

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

Special Bonus Points:
- good letters

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


Applying to Where: All for HEP-th / Gravitation and Mathematical Physics

Stanford - Rejected 2/22 by email
Yale - Rejected 2/26 by email
U of Illinois, Urbana Champaign - Rejected 3/6 by email
UW, Madison - Rejected 2/5 by email
Penn State - Rejected 3/3 by email
UCLA - Rejected 3/9 by email
U Michigan, Ann Arbor - Rejected 2/15 by email
Brown U - Rejected by email
Michigan State - Rejected 4/2 after checking website
Arizona State U
Last edited by moon on Sun Apr 03, 2016 2:53 am, edited 20 times in total.

cwr
Posts: 35
Joined: Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:41 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by cwr » Sun Sep 06, 2015 2:09 pm

Undergrad Institution: UC (lesser-known campus)
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): (may end up minoring in Mathematics, but not listing this on my app as it's not certain)
GPA in Major: 4.00
Overall GPA: 4.00
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: Domestic male, non-minority

GRE Scores :
Q: 168 (95%)
V: 165 (95%)
W: 5.5 (98%)
P: 920 (87%)

Research Experience: 3 years of experimental HEP research on the LHC (SUSY searches), 1 sole-author publication in undergraduate journal, 4 (and counting) conference talks including 1 APS meeting, 3 public talks to ≥200 people each

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)
  • Goldwater Scholarship (national award)
    Strauss Scholarship (CA state-wide award)
    UC Regents Scholarship (system-wide)
    UC LEADS Fellowship (system-wide)
    Phi Beta Kappa
    Top student in my year (awarded freshman, sophomore, and junior year)
    Top student in the department (awarded sophomore and junior year)
    Various other research awards/fellowships/etc. (campus or department level, ~$17k in total)
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
  • Two years tutoring experience –- primarily AP classes (e.g. physics, chemistry, calculus) and intro-level college courses in the same subjects, plus tutoring SAT/ACT during the summer

    Three years working with my college's science outreach/advocacy program (VP as a junior, President as a senior)

    Three years of physics outreach experience (with the two faculty who I work with on research), including developing and getting $10k of funding for a year-long outreach program this year
Special Bonus Points: Grad courses in Math Methods and Particle Physics, three very strong LoR's from physics faculty (plus strong letters from my college's Dean and the head of the honors program –- using these for scholarships/fellowships but not PhD programs)

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

Applying to Where:

Fellowships/Scholarships

Marshall Scholarship - Cambridge (Part III) and Imperial College (QFFF) – Submitted (5 October) –- Finalist (notified via email on 28 October, interview on 12 November) Not selected as recipient
Gates-Cambridge Scholarship - Cambridge (Part III) – Submitted (13 October) -- Finalist (notified via email on 11 December, interview on 30 January) Awarded (via email, 3 February)
Churchill Scholarship - Cambridge (Part III) – Submitted (9 November), Not selected as recipient
NSF GRFP – Submitted (30 October), Honorable Mention

Masters Programs
University of Cambridge – MASt in Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics –– Admitted (via email, 27 November) (Will attend)

PhD Programs (safety)
Texas A&M - HEP-ex -- Admitted (contact with POI, early February) Fellowship @ $34k/yr for 3 years
UC Davis - HEP-ex -- Admitted (via email, 17 February) 20 hr/wk TA + Fellowship @ ~$27k/yr
Michigan - HEP-ex -- Admitted (via email, 12 January) TA + Fellowship @ $2,418.75/mo

PhD Programs (match)
Wisconsin - HEP-ex -- Admitted (via email, 25 January) TA + summer funding @ ~$20k/yr, plus $10k fellowship bonus first year
UCSB - HEP-ex -- Admitted (email to check website, 11 February) TA @ $30k/yr
Cornell - HEP-ex -- Admitted (email to check website, 1 February) One-year fellowship @ $3,222/mo + TA @ $2,987/mo thereafter
UC Berkeley - HEP-ex -- Rejected
Chicago - HEP-ex -- Admitted (email to check website, 19 February) TA + Fellowship @ $36,875/yr

PhD Programs (fingers crossed...)
Princeton – HEP-ex -- Admitted (via email, 12 February) $33,400/yr + $4k/yr Centennial Fellowship (Will attend)
Yale - HEP-ex -- Admitted (email to check website, 19 February) "(¿)University Funds(?)"/RA for first two years @ $33,150/yr, plus note about requirement that all students TA for at least 3 terms
Caltech - HEP-ex -- Admitted (via email, 2 February) Fellowship @ $34k for 1st year, TA/RA thereafter.
MIT - HEP-ex -- Admitted (via email, 11 February) Fellowship @ $2,943/mo for 1st year, TA/RA thereafter
Last edited by cwr on Wed Apr 20, 2016 11:02 pm, edited 15 times in total.

Dishsoap
Posts: 50
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2015 12:31 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Dishsoap » Sat Sep 19, 2015 7:25 pm

Undergrad Institution: small Midwest state school, unknown in physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: white domestic female

GRE Scores :
Q: 170 (98%)
V: 161 (87%)
W: 5.0 (93%)
P: 750 (61%) (I know some of you would cry at this, but I was thrilled :roll: )



Research Experience: 4 years (AMO, coauthored 5 publications), 1 SULI internship (nuclear physics), 1 REU (biophysics).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater scholar (2-year), the 2 most prestigious awards given to undergrads at my university, a bunch of department stuff (best TA, best tutor, research awards, etc. etc.)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA'd about 13-15 sections so far (mostly major courses). Co-founded an astronomy club at my school, and VP of physics club.

Special Bonus Points: Female, first-gen college student, and letters of rec from three different institutions.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I've applied for external funding, and I've volunteered with a program that teaches science concepts to the community (mostly middle-schoolers). This might be spoken about in a letter of rec, not sure.

Applying to Where:

NSF GRFP - received!

U of Colorado - Boulder (AMO) - ADMITTED! 1/22, ~$21k/9mo RA + $10k signing bonus + up to 4 years of Blodgett fellowship (5k/yr)
U of Illinois - Urbana/Champaign (AMO) - ADMITTED! 1/29, $22,264/11mo TA/RA
U of Michigan - Ann Arbor (AMO) - ADMITTED! 1/12, $2,418/mo (TA + fellowship)
U of Wisconsin - Madison (AMO) - ADMITTED! 1/25, roughly $20k/9mo + $15k in fellowships for first year
U of Nebraska - Lincoln (AMO) - 12/17 invited to "on-site interview" ADMITTED! 1/14, $28,880/12mo
Cornell (CME) - ADMITTED! 2/1, $26,889/9mo TA + 3 years of ~29k/9mo (various fellowships) will attend!
Rochester (AMO) - ADMITTED! 1/22, $26,112/12mo
Yale (AMO) - ADMITTED! 2/19, $33k/12mo
U of Massachusetts - Amherst (Nuclear) - ADMITTED! 2/1, $30k/yr
U of Washington (AMO) - ADMITTED! 1/15, $2,060/mo TA + $1500 fellowship
UC Berkeley (AMO) - ADMITTED! 2/10, $30k/12mo
U of Maryland (AMO) - ADMITTED! 2/9, $36k/12mo (JQI fellowship)

I hope that my profile inspires people with "meh" pGRE scores from "meh" universities. Just do research out the wazoo, and you'll be okay. Looking back, I wish I would've applied to better schools (or saved my money, and applied to fewer) but I really had no data to determine what my chances were. Nonetheless, I am so excited to go to Cornell!!
Last edited by Dishsoap on Tue Mar 29, 2016 8:06 pm, edited 32 times in total.

nousernameavailable
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Sep 29, 2015 6:10 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by nousernameavailable » Tue Sep 29, 2015 6:11 pm

Reserving this space for now:

Undergrad Institution: Large state school, top 10 public top ~30 physics
Major(s): Physics, Applied Mathematics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.85
Overall GPA: 3.80
Length of Degree: 4 years (technically 3.5)
Position in Class: Near top
Type of Student: Low-income domestic white male

GRE Scores : (revised)
Q: 170 (98%)
V: 162 (90%)
W: 6.0 (99%)
P: 960 (91%)

Research Experience: 1 year research experience in Planetary Science. Will have a paper out soon which will be peer-reviewed by December

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Hitohiro Fukuyo Memorial Scholarship, Dean's list all semesters, faculty honors some semesters

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for a year, also Astronomy club president 2 years, independent telescope builder

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I feel like I've covered all the bases

Special Bonus Points: Have some faculty connections at the schools I am applying to, through research advisor etc

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

Applying to Where:

University of Arizona - Lunar and Planetary Lab - Planetary Science Accepted 8 Feb (e-mail from advisor)
University of Colorado Boulder - Astrophysics and Planetary Science Rejected 9 Feb (e-mail from department)
Caltech - Geological and Planetary Science - Accepted 17 Jan (e-mail from advisor) - WILL ATTEND
University of Hawaii - Planetary Science - Did not apply - Rejected by postal mail ~13 March (implying I applied to this school)
UCLA - Planetary Science - awaiting decision (likely rejection)
University of Washington - Earth, Planetary and Space Science - Accepted 29 Jan (e-mail from department)

My research is incredibly relevant to the faculty members and graduate programs I have applied to.
Last edited by nousernameavailable on Sat Mar 26, 2016 4:00 pm, edited 8 times in total.

thehairupthere
Posts: 49
Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2015 1:44 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by thehairupthere » Fri Oct 02, 2015 1:55 pm

Undergrad Institution: ~60th worldwide. UK university. decent reputation in physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Astrophysics
GPA in Major: ~3.8 (~4 in upper division)
Overall GPA: ~3.7-3.8 (~4 in upper division)
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: 1st in upper division Astronomy (out of ~50), 2nd in upper division Physics (out of ~110)
Type of Student: IWM

GRE Scores :
Q: 169 (97th Percentile)
V: 161 (87th Percentile)
W: 4.0 (56th Percentile)
P: 770 (65th Percentile) - probably my weakest point.

Research Experience: 2 very successful projects:
  • summer fellowship in astronomy at another institution
  • 1 yr gravitational waves project in my institution
  • few smaller astrophysics projects
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Royal Astronomical Society Award. There's no dean's list at my University and a severe scarcity for awards or recognitions.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
  • TA for 1st and 2nd year Physics.
  • Some science communication (writing in magazines, reporting for science festivals, etc)
Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
  • 1 poster
  • 1 international conference talk
  • 2 local seminar talks
  • 2 grad summer schools
  • various outreach activities (SEDS, STEM Ambassador, etc)
  • Currently writing journal paper on GW project
  • My uni doesn't allow undergrads to take grad courses per se, but I have taken courses that are usually given at grad-level such as quantum theory and high energy astrophysics, I'm also taking half a semester's-worth of courses for extra credit (i.e. for no reason) this year.
Special Bonus Points:
  • 1 very famous ['Reuters Highly Cited Researcher'] recommender.
  • My research experience is in the same field that I want to do a PhD in.
  • Huge upward trend (from average to absolute top of class) not sure if this helps in particular.
Applications All astronomy

Applied!:

IMPRS-Astro (Munich) - Selected for Interview/Workshop in February (17-19) - Accepted on 25 Feb. Funding for 3.5 years at €22k —> €24.4k a year before tax. — declined
CMU - Accepted 25 Feb. by email. Funding at least $28.5k a year. — will attend.

Harvard - Rejected 02/11
OSU - Rejected 01/20
Hawaii - Rejected 25 Feb. by snail mail.
UCB Rejected March
UCLA Rejected March
Cornell Rejected March

No reply / Lost interest
USC

Applied everywhere by 13 December.

Final Thoughts:
Whew, finally! This has been an extremely stressful time! Here are some thoughts throughout my experience:
  • In the end I was accepted at the places most relevant to my interests (even though all of them were still very relevant)
  • As an international applicant, I ignored everyone who said getting into a public university is extremely hard, but I can confirm and stress that it is.
  • I got rejected in universities much lower ranked than the ones that I got accepted at. Whatever your scores and whatnot are, do apply to universities in every ranking bands (as long as they are very relevant to your interests), don't focus on one single range of rankings.
  • Remember, your PhD is as good as you make of it.
    Anyways, good luck everyone! and goodbye Physicsgre. You've been a helpful stress reliever at times and a massive stress inducer at others.
Last edited by thehairupthere on Mon May 30, 2016 9:10 am, edited 70 times in total.

starformationrate
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2015 10:39 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by starformationrate » Sat Oct 10, 2015 6:00 pm

I was lucky enough to have a lot of things going for me, so my profile probably isn't very useful for most people. But if you have questions about applying for UK scholarships, feel free to contact me!

Undergrad Institution: big state school, better known for engineering
Major(s): Physics, Math
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 4.0 in both
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: domestic female, Asian (but minority Asian?)

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 170 (98%)
V: 167 (97%)
W: 5.0 (93%)
P: 960 (91%) - holy crap, was not at all expecting this--was averaging 700-800 on practice tests! "Conquering the Physics GRE" was definitely worth the money.

Research Experience:
  • REU at my university that led to 1 year - computational astrophysics (supernovas) - poster at various regional/international conferences
  • 1 semester at local museum - astronomy image processing - poster at national conference
  • REU at Space Telescope that led to 1.5 years - galaxy evolution - follow-up observing at Keck, national conference talk, 1st-author pub, Nth-author paper in prep
  • 1 year at my university - soft matter - poster at various state/regional conferences
  • 2 summers at CERN - HEP-ex - 2 technical notes, regional conference talk
  • 1 semester at my university - computational astrophysics (neutrinos) - will probably submit 1st- or 2nd-author pub next semester
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater, Astronaut Scholarship, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Pi Sigma

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
  • active in Women in Physics group at my university (organizer for conference trips)
  • started club at a local high school to teach mini-workshops on STEM topics not usually covered in curriculum
  • volunteer for Science Olympiad every year
Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: due to minority status and being top of the class, have become "poster child" of the department/college/university (featured in multiple articles and videos, including on university homepage)

Special Bonus Points: grad classes (Math Modeling, LinAlg, Nuclear Phys, Computational Phys), have had meaningful interactions with at least one admissions prof

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

Applying to Where: galaxy formation/evolution for all

US programs (for PhD):
Caltech - Astronomy - Accepted Feb. 1 by phone
Johns Hopkins - Physics & Astronomy - Accepted Jan. 21 by email
Harvard - Astronomy - Accepted Feb. 4 by phone
Princeton - Astrophysics - Accepted Jan. 28 by email
Yale - Astronomy - Accepted Feb. 5 by email
Ohio State - Astronomy - Accepted Dec. 17 by phone
UCLA - Astronomy - Accepted Feb. 3 by phone/email (returned the phone call without checking voicemail first, which made the conversation super awkward...)

International (for MPhil):
Cambridge - Institute of Astronomy - Accepted Dec. 7 by email
Last edited by starformationrate on Fri Feb 05, 2016 1:05 pm, edited 14 times in total.

whitedwarf
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2015 1:49 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by whitedwarf » Sun Oct 11, 2015 2:10 pm

Happy to see a lot more posts by women this year! I'm posting to give more information to other female applicants in coming years. Good luck, everyone :D

Undergrad Institution: top public school with an average physics department
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.89
Overall GPA: 3.84
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: very close to top
Type of Student: domestic white female

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 168 (95%)
V: 159 (81%)
W: 4.0 (56%)
P: 760 (64%)


Research Experience:
* Three years of research at home institution in neutrino physics
* REU in computational astrophysics at a well-respected institution, resulted in AAS poster
* REU abroad in gravitational wave astronomy, resulted in conference paper
* Caltech SURF in gravitational wave astronomy

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: in some pseudo-honors program at my home institution, I wish I had received more awards :(

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: founded astronomy club, officer in three other STEM-clubs, active in the Women in Physics programs run at my own university and through APS, tutor in math and physics for 6 years (sometimes tutor for 15 hours a week)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: I have some strong connections to LIGO and Virgo, many of my recommendation writers are well-respected in their fields, I am also applying to two schools that I did REUs at

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

Applying to Where:

Applying for computational astrophysics and gravitational wave astronomy (when available)

Caltech - Physics - Rejected 2/12 by email
Columbia - Physics - Rejected 3/22 by email
Harvard - Astronomy - Rejected 2/11 by email
MIT - Physics - Rejected 2/12 by website (never got an email about this)
North Carolina State University - Physics - preliminary application feedback 12/2 by email, unofficial acceptance 1/8, Admitted 1/15 by email- $22,500/year + fancy fellowship for first year
Northwestern - Physics & Astronomy - Admitted 1/24 by phone - $29,880/year
Stanford - Physics - Rejected 2/22 by email
UC Berkeley - Astrophysics - Rejected 2/9 by email
UC Santa Barbara - Physics - Rejected 3/1 by email
UC Santa Cruz - Astronomy - interview 1/25 by Skype, Admitted 2/2 by phone - $31,807/year

Final notes: PGRE matters a lot. I'm happy I took a chance at a lot of big name schools and am really looking forward to attending the school that I've picked :D
Last edited by whitedwarf on Tue Mar 22, 2016 7:35 pm, edited 20 times in total.

rgunderson
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2015 9:09 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by rgunderson » Sun Oct 18, 2015 6:56 pm

Well, since I've benefited from this forum so much, I figure I will post.

Undergrad Institution: Very small school with no reputation in Physics.
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.0?
Overall GPA: 3.34
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: 1 of 1, small school
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores :
Q: 166 (92%)
V: 155 (67%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
P: 750 (61%)


Research Experience: Two summers of research at Penn, one in chemical engineering and the other in Physics.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Sigma Pi Sigma in undergrad. As a teacher I won an engineering award.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked for 3 years as a high school Physics teacher. Taught APs.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Masters in education from Penn.

Special Bonus Points: One summer I worked for a very well known professor of Physics at Penn, and he is writing one of my letters.


Applying to Where:

UPenn - Physics - Biophysics Rejected- 4/7
U Maryland - Physics - Biophysics Rejected- 2/22
Duke - Physics - Biophysics Waitlisted- 3/23 Rejected- 4/14
U Minnesota - Physics - Biophysics Waitlisted- 3/17 Rejected- 4/14
Brown - Physics - Biophysics Rejected- 3/18 Sent an email about an unpaid Masters program.
Yale - Physics - Biophysics Rejected- 2/26
Lehigh - Physics - Biophysics Accepted! - 3/1 28K TA, guaranteed 5 years
Bryn Mawr - Physics - Biophysics Waitlisted- 3/30 Rejected- ???
Georgetown - Physics - Biophysics (Industrial Leadership in Physics program) Waitlisted- 4/9 Rejected- 4/13

Wow. I really didn't expect to do this poorly. I thought with 9 schools, I would have my pick from 3 or 4 schools. Maybe it was a competitive year, but I'm kind of discouraged. If I could go back and do this again, I would have applied to different schools. I probably would have scratched Yale, Maryland and Brown from the list. I've spent a good amount of time with some people from Penn, so I thought my chances were higher than they actually were. Either way, this was a humbling experience.

I did go on a visit at Lehigh. From what I could tell, they have a good program and it will get strong in the next few years. They guarantee you funding for the five years and make every attempt to make it only a five year degree, unlike other schools who sometimes have students for 7 or 8 years. It 's a good fit for me, since they are getting more professors in Biophysics. If anyone has a question on Lehigh, feel free to email me.
Last edited by rgunderson on Sat Apr 16, 2016 8:34 pm, edited 9 times in total.

ipmsra
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2015 1:08 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by ipmsra » Mon Oct 19, 2015 1:45 am

Slightly terrified that I'm doing this.

Undergrad Institution: State university, not bad in physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.5-ish
Overall GPA: 3.3 (>3.8 Jr/Sr)
Length of Degree: Oh god too long
Position in Class: Above average, could be worse.
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores : (revised or old version?)
Q: 163 (86%)
V: 164 (94%)
W: 3.5 (38%, ouch. Hopefully they don't check this)
P: 740 (59%) EDIT: Got 830 (76%) on the October PGRE. And I'd thought I had bombed it.


Research Experience: One summer doing mathematics work on differentiable manifolds. 2 years working on photometry of distant lensing galaxies with frustratingly little progress.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list a few times, but that's not worth much I'd assume.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutoring both as part of physics club and as a job, physics outreach. Assisting professor in writing a wiki for class.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Eagle scout, but that's from a while ago.

Special Bonus Points: Nothin'.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Halfway through my college career my GPA was below a 3, so bringing it up this far shows improvement (I hope).

Applying to Where:

UCSC - Astronomy & Astrophysics -- Rejected 2/16. They were one of the schools I was really gunning for, too...
UCR - Physics -- Accepted 1/28!!! First acceptance! 27k stipend and other stuff.
UC Davis - Physics
UCLA - Astronomy -- Rejected 3/5
CU Boulder - Astrophysical & Planetary Science -- Rejected 2/09. Not a big surprise, but still a bit of a bummer.
UH Manoa - A&A -- Rejected 2/19. I thought I had a pretty good chance of getting in here, but I guess not.
Columbia - Astronomy -- Rejected 2/29. Leap day is not my day. I kind of had a feeling this was coming, since I really screwed up the personal statement and POI bit, but I didn't notice until way too late.
UMD - Astronomy -- Rejected 2/12
UWashington - Astronomy -- Rejected 3/17
UW Madison - Astronomy -- Rejected 3/15
Cornell - Astronomy -- Rejected 3/10
PennState - A&A -- Rejected 1/27 :(

Edit 2/27: I don't want to say I'm losing hope, but I'm trying to let myself down gently for the next rejections that will be coming my way. UCR has great faculty and I'm thrilled I got into the physics program, but there's something that tears away a little bit of your soul when you get rejection letters, like you're just not good enough. Still hoping for some good news.

2/29: Rejected from half. At least I got in somewhere. Emailed Cornell, the UWs, then gonna email the UCs. Heard nothing from them.

3/17: I'm not gonna lie, getting rejected from every single astronomy program isn't very fun.
Last edited by ipmsra on Thu Mar 17, 2016 8:00 pm, edited 15 times in total.

Vitex
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2015 3:24 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Vitex » Wed Oct 21, 2015 1:04 pm

I figure I'll just post this so that others can find this useful

Undergrad Institution: Liberal arts. Little to no reputation in physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 3.9
Overall GPA: 3.9
Length of Degree: 4 years (with a two year gap in between)
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 163 (86%)
V: 160 (85%)
W: 4.0 (56%)
P: 900 (85%) really surprised at this


Research Experience: 2 REUs and some local research. Locally helping with breast cancer research. 1st REU in physics atomic physics. 2nd in with experimental material science. No publications or conference talks.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Academic Merit scholarship. NSF scholarship. 8/8 semester deans list. Outstanding Student.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor 1 semester.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Eagle Scout?

Special Bonus Points:

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

Applying to Where: All in CMP


University of Southern California - Physics - Accepted 18 Jan, by email, 27k/9 month fellowship
Stanford - Applied Physics - Rejected 02 Feb, by email
University of Colorado Boulder - Physics - Rejected 01 Mar, by email
Colorado School of Mines - Physics - Rejected 06 May, by email to check site
University of Minnesota - Physics - Accepted 03 Feb, by email, 25k TA Will attend
University of California Irvine - Physics - Rejected 30 Mar, by email
Rice University - Applied Physics - Rejected 02 May, by email
Brigham Young University - Physics - Accepted 07 Mar, by email, 30k/year fellowship

Arizona State University - Physics - Not Applying
University of Utah - Physics - Not Applying

Applications are weird. My grades and tests scores were up there but lack of research and other activities were the weak points of my application. I am also unsure whether the obscurity of my University contributed to anything.
Last edited by Vitex on Sat May 07, 2016 4:46 pm, edited 9 times in total.

mikeh
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Sep 19, 2015 1:57 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by mikeh » Fri Oct 23, 2015 6:20 pm

Undergrad Institution: Small liberal arts - virtually no reputation in physics
Major(s):Physics
GPA in Major: 3.47
Overall GPA: 3.46
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top in major (that doesn't say much though, there are five
of us)
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores : revised
Q:158 (71%)
V:162 (90%)
W: 4.0 (56%)
P: 650 (39%)



Research Experience: One publication, one REU at a national lab, one poster presentation at CEU, currently heavily involved in research at my school that we are submitting to AJP

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Internal scholarship for physics, graduating with departmental honors, will be inducted into Sigma Pi Sigma in Feb.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: General Physics/Math tutor for students with learning differences, currently TA-ing for Gen. Phys. labs, current SPS president

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Some good connections at one of the schools to which I'm applying, I also have 4 recommenders with whom I have worked closely and have personal relationship. I was in the first semester of, and distinguished myself in, a unique physics education class developed by one of my recommenders.

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

Applying to Where:

Old Dominion University - Accelerator
Clemson - Atmospheric / nuclear - Admitted March 7, 2016 with $20k/yr
IST - Austria - Solid State and Nano Physics - Admitted March 25, 2016 WILL ATTEND
Virginia Tech - Condensed Matter - Admitted Feb 15, 2016 with $1,673 / 9 mo. plus summer support
UMass Lowell - Experimental Nuclear, condensed matter - Admitted March 11, 2016 with $20k/yr and first summer support
Northeastern - Photonics/condensed matter - Rejected Feb 19, 2016 via email to check website
William and Mary - nuclear / Condensed Matter - Rejected Feb 24, 2016 via email, after being waitlisted
University of Virginia - Experimental Nuclear/condensed matter - Rejected March 4, 2016 via email
Last edited by mikeh on Tue Mar 29, 2016 6:23 pm, edited 13 times in total.

Gavin0531
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2015 8:11 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Gavin0531 » Sat Oct 24, 2015 8:25 pm

Undergrad Institution: State university, virtually no physics reputation.
Majors: Physics
GPA in Major: 3.0
Overall GPA: 3.30
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: average
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores :
Q: 156 (64%)
V:153 (59%)
W:3.0 (15%)
P: 630 (35%)



Research Experience: 2.5 years working in experimental condensed matter. 1 REU at a modest university. 1 internship at DOE National Lab.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Presentation award at a regional conference.
Abstract accepted to international magnetics conference.
Chosen to work on Dean's Student Advisory Board

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: - Vice President of Society of Physics Students. 1 semester of tutoring.


Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Lots of presentation experience. All recommendation letters strong and can vouch for my independence in doing research. For Iowa State, have met with professor there and they may help push my application through.

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

Applying to Where (All in Condensed Matter Physics):

UC-Boulder-Physics- Rejected
Iowa State University-Physics-Waitlisted
Colorado State University-Physics-ACCEPTED! Via email Jan 21. TA stipend $1900 per month.
Carnegie Melon University-Physics-Rejected
Indiana University at Bloomington-Physics-Waitlisted via email, February 19. Will reject.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute-Physics-Did Not Finish Application
Syracuse University-Physics-Waitlisted
Lehigh University-Physics-Rejected
Last edited by Gavin0531 on Thu Apr 14, 2016 12:23 pm, edited 9 times in total.

Boxes
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2015 1:46 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Boxes » Mon Oct 26, 2015 4:32 pm

Undergrad Institution: Little reputation, Ranked ~100 in physics
Major(s): Physics, Math
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: above average, top 3 in a pretty small department
Type of Student: Domestic Asian male

GRE Scores :
Q: 167 (94%)
V: 158 (79%)
W: 4.0 (56%)
P: Apr 640 (37%), Oct 850 (78%)

Research Experience:
-1 year CME, 1 co-author publication not published before applications were submitted
-1 summer REU in materials chemistry
-1 summer research experience in bioengineering (magnetic nanoparticles)
-1 summer REU in CME (spintronics)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
-Scholarship program promoting minorities in STEM
-Phi Beta Kappa
-Phi Kappa Phi
-some departmental award

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
-Introductory physics learning assistant for 2 semesters

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points:
-1 of my recommenders probably mentioned my pending publication
-1 of my recommenders is pretty big in spintronics

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

Applying to Where: All PhD

Cornell (Applied) - CME/AMO -Accepted 2/11! $25k TA for 9 months Will Attend
UIUC - CME/AMO - Accepted 2/12! 9 month TA + TA/RA summer = $22k Declined
Michigan - CME/AMO - Unofficial acceptance 3/04 Accepted 3/08! $2.42k/month TA/fellowship including summer Declined
Colorado Boulder - CME/AMO - Rejected 3/01
Penn State - CME/AMO - Accepted 2/09! $20k TA + $4k fellowship + $4k summer = $28k Declined
Minnesota - CME - Accepted 2/03! $18k TA + summer = $25k Declined
Rutgers - CME - Accepted 2/10! $26k TA + $1700-$4000 summer Declined
Texas A&M - CME/AMO - Accepted 2/12! $1.85k/month TA + RA/TA summer + $2k fellowship Declined
UPitt - CME - Unofficial acceptance/interview request 1/28 Accepted 2/19! 2-term TA guaranteed + summer possible = 26k Declined

Reflections: With 8/9 acceptances, I really have nothing to complain about and am extremely excited about my options. Though I applied to most schools as CME/AMO, I believe my application was much stronger in CME than in AMO (I also preferred CME over AMO). I attribute part of this to one of my recommenders, who is pretty big in spintronics, seeing that many of my faculty of interest mentioned that they knew him. I also emailed faculty, many who happened to be part of the admissions committee, at my top schools early in February to show my interest (NOT inquiring about my application status), and most replied positively (although many did not reply until after I was accepted). The last schools I heard from were Michigan and Boulder, which also happened to be the highest ranked in AMO of the schools on my list. I was very surprised to have been rejected from Boulder but accepted to Michigan since Boulder accepts the highest number of grad students according to gradschoolershopper, while Michigan was planning to have an incoming class of about 25 students. However, upon revisiting the faculty research, I realized Michigan was a much better fit with my research interests than Boulder.

Possibly Very Important Note: I contacted faculty in all of the top 25 schools I applied to EXCEPT for CU Boulder, and they were the only one to reject me.
Last edited by Boxes on Thu Apr 14, 2016 12:00 pm, edited 15 times in total.

areyouhavingcats
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Sep 20, 2015 12:57 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by areyouhavingcats » Wed Oct 28, 2015 8:50 pm

Undergrad Institution: liberal arts
Major(s): physics and math
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.95 physics, 3.89 math
Overall GPA: 3.78
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: domestic white female

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 163 (86%)
V:163 (92%)
W:4.5 (80%)
P:700 (51%) (honestly stoked for this after my previous 640 lol)

Research Experience:
-1 semester at my university doing a project on harnessing energy from water waves
-1 year at my university doing theoretical project modeling conductivity of metal sheets
-REU in experimental nuclear physics

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
-Scholarship from my university to do research
-interdisciplinary honors program (nothing to do with physics but it helps with writing skills)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
-TA for intro physics lab (aka holding premed's hands while they push carts down ramps)
-women in science & math club

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
-presented research at AAPT conference

Special Bonus Points:
girl power \m/

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

Applying to Where:
nuclear experiment
Michigan State - Accepted 1/15 - TA $1000/2 weeks
Notre Dame -Accepted 2/18 $21k/9month + summer $2300
OSU - Accepted 1/23- offered fellowship at least $26k/12months for first year 2/2 - offered new fellowship $27500 per year for first 4 years/no teaching during first and dissertation year 2/19
UNC - ended up not finishing the app because one of my recs didn't get sent in and I'd rather go to places I've already been accepted to so its not really worth the hassle
U Washington - Rejected 3/1
UCLA -Rejected 3/9
UIUC -Accepted 2/5- 9mo TA+2mo summer $22,264 - WILL ATTEND

Takeaway from this:
Don't worry if your pgre is worse than what you think you need based on what people on here are posting. The people who post are generally the ones that do really well, but it doesn't reflect graduate admissions as a whole. I was convinced I wouldn't get in anywhere and now I'll be attending a top 10 school!
Last edited by areyouhavingcats on Thu Apr 14, 2016 10:13 pm, edited 11 times in total.

adamyos
Posts: 21
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2015 5:43 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by adamyos » Wed Oct 28, 2015 10:51 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top 5 in India;
Major(s): Physics, Chemical Engg. (dual degree)
Minor(s): -
GPA in Major: 3.44
Overall GPA: 3.14
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: Above average
Type of Student: International, male

GRE Scores: Revised
Q: 168
V: 162
W: 4.0
P: 990 (94%) [Up from last year's 780 (67%)]


TOEFL Total: 117

Research Experience:

A review paper presentation on Laser Plasma Accelerators.

1 Semester long computer simulation project on charged particle dynamics in the presence of EM waves.

1/2 year. Thesis in Classical Field Theory - Worked through the existing theory from the book "Classical Field Theory" by Davison E. Soper.

1/2 year. Gravitational Waves - Half an year at CTP, JMI, India. Worked through the existing stuff from Schutz, Maggiore, Ni-Zimmerman paper and attended a 2 week Summer School on GW Astronomy at a highly reputed institute in India.

Past 4 months. Working on singularity formation via stellar collapse. Doing literature study. Solved Oppenheimer's 1939 paper. Done a lecture compilation of J. Hartle on gravitational collapse. Done study of null hypersurfaces and possible conditions for formation of naked singularities. Now checking for possible escape of energy from naked singularity from a collapsing star. Might lead to a publication within a month.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None as such
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for remedial physics classes for freshmen in my college.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Took a grad level course on Introductory QFT in my college. Have an Engineering degree too. Worked in a steel plant for 2 months as an internship. Learnt how the steel quality testing works and how to report results etc.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Interested in teaching.

Applying to Where:

Perimeter Institute, Canada - PSI Program - Numerical relativity/Gravitational Waves
U Illinois, Urbana Champaign - Physics and Astronomy - stellar theory/numerical relativity/gravitational physics - Rejected 9 April 2016
U Alberta, Canada - Physics and Astronomy - Astrophysics/Strong gravity - Rejected 23 Feb 2016
U British Columbia, Canada - Physics and Astronomy - Astrophysics of compact objects/gravitational physics - Rejected 27 Feb 2016
Georgia Inst of Tech - Physics and Astronomy - Numerical relativity/numerical cosmology - Waitlisted
U Florida - Physics - Numerical relativity/gravitational physics - Accepted 15 March 2016 ~$23k - ATTENDING!
U Florida - Astronomy - Numerical relativity/gravitational physics - Waitlisted
U Arizona - Physics - QCD calculations/near black hole emissions - Accepted 5 Feb 2016 ~$16k
U Arizona - Astronomy - Numerical relativity/gravitational physics - Rejected 26 Jan 2016
Purdue U - Physics and Astronomy - Dark matter/astrophysical jets - Accepted 11 Feb 2016 ~$17k
Syracuse U - Gravitational Waves/Numerical relativity - Accepted 2 Mar 2016 ~$23.5k
Louisiana State University - Physics and Astronomy - Gravitational waves/numerical relativity - Rejected
CCRG Rochester Institute of Technology - Physics - Gravitational waves/numerical relativity - Waitlisted
SUNY, U at Buffalo - Physics - QCD calculations/stellar collapse - Accepted 9 Feb 2016 ~$16.5k
U Wisconsin, Milwaukee - Physics and Astronomy - Gravitational waves/binary coalescence - Accepted 1 Mar 2016 ~21.5k
Last edited by adamyos on Wed Apr 13, 2016 2:38 am, edited 12 times in total.

googy
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2015 3:32 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by googy » Thu Oct 29, 2015 5:26 pm

Undergrad Institution: An Israeli university well renowned for Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, less for Physics
Major(s): Physics and Electrical Engineering, going to be an engineer as well as B.Sc in Physics
GPA in Major: 90/100
Overall GPA: 90/100
Length of Degree: 4.5 years
Position in Class: Top 10 or 15%
Type of Student: International

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 170 (98%)
V: 166 (96%) Kind of surprised, didn't feel like that during the exam. My English is good but I'm not a native speaker
W: 4.0 (56%)
P: 920(87%) Can only thank Conquering the Physics GRE book for this. Get it.


TOEFL Total: 116

Research Experience: Research project in non-equilibrium stat-mech for a couple of months, ongoing. Research project in nano antennas and plasmonics for 3 months, ongoing and getting nice results. 6 months project in image processing and computer vision, done and gathered nice attention from both faculty and the industry but sadly no publication yet (beaurocracy! :( )

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A couple of times on the dean's list. Would have been there more often but I rarely took enough credits to be there due to work. Still finishing my degree on time though. Won second place in an excellent project award competition in the EE faculty. The pool for the competition is about 200 projects from the EE department undergraduate students.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Served for 3 years in the military doing operations research with Matlab, SQL etc. Been working for over 2 years during my undergrad in the field of communication algorithm engineering which mainly involves designing communication systems, writing simulations in Matlab, understanding and implementing IEEE papers in practical functioning systems, digital signal processing and more.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Famous recommenders from the EE faculty. Recommenders from physics are less known. Two advanced courses in stochastic processes which fit one of my research interests. Great grades in the more important and advanced Physics courses. A specialization in electro-optics (Optics, Electro-Optics, Electro-Optical systems, Distributed Systems courses) which may also fit a research interest.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I have relatively a lot of experience in the EE fields of communications and DSP and less in physics, even though physics interests me much more. This is due to both financial considerations (work to fund my studies) and the fact that I was required to do two projects in EE and none in physics during my degree. As a result I have great recommendations from EE/work and not as many or from people as famous as in EE from the Physics faculty. This may be a weak point in the application. I am 27 years old which I guess is not the norm in the US but that is due to mandatory military service for 3 years.

Applying to Where: My safeties are at home, so not applying to less known schools

MIT - Physics- CMT/AMO - Rejected 2/12 by website
Harvard - Physics- AMO - Rejected 2/24 by email.
Columbia - Physics- CMT - Rejected 2/27 by email
Cornell - Applied Physics- CM/AMO - Admitted 2/11 by email, 25k TA for 9 months :D
Princeton - Physics- CMT/AMO - Rejected 2/22 by email. What a nice rejection letter though
Stanford - Physics- CMT/AMO - Rejected 2/22 by email
Berkeley - Physics- CMT/AMO - Rejected 3/6 by email
UCSB - Physics- CMT/AMO - Rejected 3/1 by email
Caltech - Physics- CMT/AMO - Rejected 2/12 by email

This has been (and will continue to be) one heck of a step out of the comfort zone. In physics, Israelis almost never go abroad before their postdoc. Our academic culture does not encourage publication and research during undergrad. Since Israeli universities rarely get grad students from abroad, having a promising future grad student seeking to leave the country is a blow to the local academia, and as such, it is not encouraged by the system, whether intentionally or not. Future students with similar background should seek research experience as early as possible, which means actively hunting for projects, going to talk with professors and so on from about second year onwards. I now have 3 publications in review, 2 for conferences and 1 for a journal, but they arrived about 2-3 months too late for the applications. If I had started research earlier it would have been different I guess.
I got accepted to just one program, but it looks like a great program and I have no doubt I'll have great opportunities there :D
Last edited by googy on Sun Mar 06, 2016 4:34 pm, edited 12 times in total.

mikhailgaerlan
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Oct 31, 2015 7:21 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by mikhailgaerlan » Sat Oct 31, 2015 7:33 am

Undergrad Institution: Large State University (virtually unknown and unranked)
Majors: B.S. Physics, B.S. Mathematics
GPA: 3.97/4.00
Math GPA: 4.00/4.00
Physics GPA: 4.00/4.00
Type of Student: Domestic Asian Male

GRE Revised General Test: 2 October 2015
Q: 166 (92%)
V: 158 (79%)
W: 3.5 (38%) :(
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: 630 (44%) (April 2015) :(
M: 630 (44%) (October 2015) :(
GRE Subject Test in Physics:
P: 700 (51%) (September 2015) :?

Program Applying: Applied and/or computational mathematics and/or physics

Research Experience: Physics research at home university including computational fluid dynamics and experimental and computational nuclear and particle physics. Summer internship at Jefferson Lab. Physics REU program at Cornell University focusing on optimization in accelerator physics.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Society of Scholars (top 2% of university), various departmental scholarships
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Physics tutor, math teaching assistant (grading and proctoring)
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Letter of recommendation from a Cornell professor, graduate courses in integral equations and analysis
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:
California Institute of Technology - Ph.D. Computing and Mathematical Sciences / Applied
New York University - Ph.D. Mathematics / Applied
Columbia University - Ph.D. Applied Mathematics / Applied
University of California San Diego - Ph.D. Mathematics / Applied
Cornell University - Ph.D. Applied Mathematics / Applied
Georgia Institute of Technology - Ph.D. Computational Science and Engineering (Mathematics) / Applied
University of California Davis - Ph.D. Applied Mathematics / Accepted (2/4) / Awaiting Funding
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign - Ph.D. Computer Science (Scientific Computing) / Pending
Brandeis University - Ph.D. Physics / Applied
Illinois Institute of Technology - Ph.D. Applied Mathematics / Applied
Florida State University - Ph.D. Applied and Computational Mathematics / Pending
University of Florida - Ph.D. Computer Science and Engineering / Applied
Last edited by mikhailgaerlan on Fri Feb 05, 2016 4:38 pm, edited 8 times in total.

LeafyGreen
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2015 3:43 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by LeafyGreen » Sun Nov 01, 2015 3:50 pm

I do enjoy the thrill of the hunt! I post this in the hopes that the info will be useful to someone in the future.


Undergrad Institution: Medium-sized state school, no name in physics.
Major(s): Physics, Mathematics
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: Physics-3.80 overall, 4.0 in last 60 hours, Math- 3.90 overall 3.91 in last 60 hours
Overall GPA: 3.88
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Near top
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores : (revised)
Q: 164 (88%)
V: 160 (85%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
P: 9/19-590 (26%) , 10/24-670 (44%)



Research Experience: One year of analysis of radio telescope data on Linux searching for millisecond pulsars in the Small Magellanic Clouds, paper in preparation. One summer REU in interface and surface science determining theoretical substrate properties and design constraints for a Martian oxygen production system, including stress calculations and material concerns. The research is ongoing with a grad student. I will present my poster to at least 3 conferences. :D Two semesters applying a higher order perturbation to a paper on timing pulsars in pulsar astronomy in an attempt to improve accuracy.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean’s List every semester, Sigma Pi Sigma, enrolled in Honors College program, and academic merit scholarship.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Current SPS President for two semesters, SPS vice president for two semesters, chemistry stockroom worker for four semesters, intro chemistry lab TA for two semesters, astronomy lab TA for one semester, intro algebra-based physics tutor for four semesters, started program offering calculus-based physics 1 and 2 tutoring, started program offering online algebra-based physics nighttime tutoring. Student ambassador for the department for 2 years.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: N/A

Special Bonus Points: Numerous advanced math courses including Linear Algebra, Advanced Calculus, a continuation of ODEs, and Complex Analysis. Came back from C in first physics course to all A’s in every other physics course.

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

Applying to Where:

University of Kentucky - Physics Accepted 1/27 via email- $17k TA + $3k support for first summer Declined
IU Bloomington - Physics Accepted 2/2 via email- $21k TA and health care+ $3k signing bonusWILL ATTEND :mrgreen:
University of Florida - Physics Accepted 3/7 via email- $23k TA for 12 months Declined

Georgia Tech - Physics Wait Listed 3/3 via website Declined Wait List
Michigan State – Physics Wait Listed 2/22 via email Rejected 3/21 via email to check website
The Ohio State - Physics Wait Listed 3/7 via email Declined Wait List 3/27
The College of William & Mary - Physics Wait Listed 2/10 via emailAccepted 3/22 via phone Declined

UC Boulder - Physics Rejected 3/1 via email
Penn State - Physics Rejected 3/3 via email
Notre Dame - Physics Rejected 3/8 via email
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Physics Rejected 3/6 via email


The College of William & Mary - Applied Science Withdrew application after receiving other offers
University of Cincinnati - Physics Withdrew application after receiving other offers

My final 4 were Georgia Tech, W&M, UF, and IU. I declined GA Tech after deciding I didn't want to join a program (even if I had been accepted) that encouraged people on the wait list to accept a pre-april 15 offer and then switch if they were accepted after the 15th to Tech's program if admitted, as well as not even attempting to help me arrange a visit to their dept. I declined W&M because their program size was too small for me, although it was an excellent program that I would suggest anyone look into. In the end, I accepted IU over UF due to the wider match in my research interests at IU, although UF had a FANTASTIC program. Thanks for being there Physicsgre; it's been real.
Last edited by LeafyGreen on Fri Apr 15, 2016 7:38 pm, edited 15 times in total.

tpatt
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2012 3:44 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by tpatt » Wed Nov 04, 2015 3:23 pm

Undergrad Institution: Undergrad, strong physics rep. Grad (master's degree), no rep.
Major(s): UG, Engineering. Grad, physics
Minor(s): Astrophysics
GPA in Major: 3.53
Overall GPA: 3.53
Length of Degree: 3y
Position in Class: Unknown
Type of Student: domestic male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 158 (71%ile)
V: 157 (74%ile)
W: 4.5 (80%ile)
P: 600 (29%ile)

Research Experience: Master's thesis, several publications

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: recognized by NASA/JSC & GSFC for mission support

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 10 years professional experience, 7+ in space industry

Applying to Where:

CU Boulder - APS - observational & high energy astro, instrumentation - Rejected, 2/9 via really impersonal email from an institution I have worked at for 4 years (really disappointed in their lack of professional courtesy)
U Washington - Astronomy - observational & high energy astro, instrumentation - Rejected via email
UT Austin - Astronomy - observational & high energy astro, instrumentation - Invited to UT-Astro booth at AAS (probably generic, irrelevant) - Rejected, 2/4 via email to check website (~11pm MST)
Arizona State - SESE - observational & high energy astro, instrumentation - Rejected via email
U Wyoming - Physics - observational & high energy astro - Wait-listed, via email 2/18, rejected via email
Last edited by tpatt on Tue Apr 19, 2016 2:20 pm, edited 6 times in total.

Conga11
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2015 7:15 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Conga11 » Tue Nov 17, 2015 7:26 am

Undergrad Institution: International school within top 20.
Major(s): Physics & Mathematics
GPA in Major: ~3.88
Overall GPA: ~3.88
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: top(-ish)
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 168
V: 155 (This is the dent in my profile)
W: 4.0
P: 990


TOEFL Total: 107 (Some schools didn't ask for this though)

Research Experience: 3+ years in Quantum Information, 1 PRL (2nd author), 1 PRA (first author), 1 JPA (first author)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's lists, a medal for top GPA

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for one semester

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Medal in Physics Olympiad

Special Bonus Points: A partial fellowship

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

Applying to Where (All physics - Quantum Information):

Stanford Rejected
MIT Rejected
Caltech Rejected
Yale Rejected
Harvard Rejected
Glasgow, UK Rejected
UMD Accepted, RA + Fellowship ~29k/y
... and few others (will update later, probably by end of March)

Reflection:
First of all don't get discouraged, there was a story behind almost every rejection of mine. I'll try to elaborate below.

My profile was "stellar" according to some fellows here. And I felt that too. I was pretty confident at the start of the application period, which turned out to be not quite successful. I thought that the low Verbal would not hurt, and I still think it did not. I have seen quite a number of people got into top schools with that Verbal. Anyways for some schools I don't know what happened, but here are few details that might help future applicants:

1. MIT: I got interviewed by POI. It was pretty obvious after the interview that we did not match, both research interest (some overlaps though) and personality. I could have pretended to be someone else to get in, but my ego didn't allow me to.

2. Yale + Harvard: I got waived from application fee so I applied to these two despite having no interest. Just playing the odd here.

3. Glasgow: interviewed with POI, did not find common interest afterwards. I would have withdrawn anyways.

4. Caltech + Stanford: My top two. I feel that I have done what I could so no regret here. Just a little sad that I didn't get in. Basically I have done researched into POI's profile, read their papers and tailored my SOP accordingly. I also emailed them well in advance asking about their research and available positions. Not even a reply though, not nice at all! I know they are probably too busy but a simple acknowledgement would be fine (Not all POIs were like this though, I will share my stories with nicer POIs from other schools once everything is over).

5. UMD: Research interest matches mine. Got JQI and QUICS over there. Probably go UMD if nothing changes.
Last edited by Conga11 on Sun Feb 28, 2016 2:58 am, edited 4 times in total.

User avatar
Izaac
Posts: 63
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2012 2:24 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Izaac » Tue Nov 17, 2015 10:50 am

Undergrad Institution: French uni, country's top 5 in Physics
Major: Physics
Minor: Maths
GPA: 75%-ish
Length of Degree: 3 years

Grad Institution: Japanese uni, country's top 5 in Physics
Major: Physics
GPA: 85%-ish
Length of Degree: 2 years

Grad Institution: UK uni, world's top 5 in Physics
Major: Applied Maths
GPA: N/A
Length of Degree: 1 year

Type of Student: White international male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 168 (95%)
V: 162 (89%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
P: 870 (83%)


TOEFL Total: 115

Research Experience: one summer working on a programming project (Monte-Carlo simulation of particle physics process), one summer working on building a microscope, four months at a low temperature lab studying silica aerogel and superconductive materials. A few talks and posters presented at international conferences in Japan. No publication.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: a few scholarships from the Japanese government.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: one year TA.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: nah

Special Bonus Points: nah

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

Applying to Where:

Biophysics:
UC Berkeley boo! Rejected 01/11
Cornell boo! Rejected 12/26
Harvard boo! Rejected 01/27
Stanford Rejected 01/19

Fluid Mechanics, with application to biophysics (emphasis on theory) - Mechanical engineering dept:
Caltech Rejected 03/04
Cambridge Withdrawn
Georgia Tech Interview 04/01 Rejected 04/05
Imperial College Withdrawn
MIT Rejected 03/03
Michigan Ann Arbor Rejected 03/23
Princeton Rejected 01/29
UC San Diego Rejected 12/04
Washington Accepted! 03/09 I guess I don't have much choice then. Happy to go anywhere at all, though.
Last edited by Izaac on Tue Apr 26, 2016 5:20 pm, edited 16 times in total.

schoice
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2015 1:50 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by schoice » Mon Nov 23, 2015 1:59 am

Undergrad Institution: Canadian, top in Canada for physics (depending on which website you check)
Major(s):Engineering Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:
Overall GPA:
Length of Degree: 5 years (that is the program length)
Position in Class: Not the top. High.
Type of Student: International female

GRE Scores : revised
Q:165 (90%)
V:161 (87%)
W:4.5 (80%)
P: 880 (83%)


Research Experience: 4 years on and off in CME. One middle author publication, in fairly high impact journal. Several other middle author pubs in the pipeline, but no 1st author yet.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Various 'good-grades' scholarships, two science communications scholarships

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:Worked 3 nights per week through my entire undergrad (except the last year) - 30+ hours/week. With the creditload in my program (it's practically a dual degree) this is it's own weird accomplishment. Science communications scholarships. Staff writer for one university organization. Contributor to local radio show. Volunteer with various student orgs. Teaching experience. LOR's from recommenders who know me well (have worked closely with all of them).

Special Bonus Points: none

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

Applying to Where:

UCSB - Physics - AMO/CME - Accepted
UC Boulder - Physics - AMO - Accepted
UC Berkeley - Physics - CME
Last edited by schoice on Thu Feb 11, 2016 3:27 am, edited 5 times in total.

ashishdastro
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2015 8:05 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by ashishdastro » Mon Nov 23, 2015 7:04 am

Undergrad Institution: Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology
Major(s): Astronomy
Minor(s): NA
GPA in Major: NA
Overall GPA: 6.9/10
Length of Degree: 4 Years
Position in Class: Average
Type of Student: International

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 169/170 (97%)
V: 151/170 (50%)
W: 3/6 (15%) :(
P: 920/990 (87%)


TOEFL Total: 97/120 Reading-27, Listening - 24, Speaking- 23, Writing - 23

Research Experience:
REU: AGN Spectrum Analysis using SDSS data and IDL
Paper Presentation: Tidal disruption of stars by Supermassive Black Holes (SBHs)
Astronomical Polarimetry 1 month in PRL, India
Stellar Polarimetry 3 Months in PRL, India
Mini Projects: Numerical solutions of Stellar structure Problems using C++ & R; Numerical solution to the Accretion Problem using R; Paper presentation on Intermediate Mass Black Holes (IMBHs)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Sanskrit scholarship for securing 98/100 in CBSE class X Board Exam
Full Scholarship for education in class XI and class XII
BISSS IIC School topper in All India Senior School Certificate Examination AISSCE (Class XII)
Full IIST Scholarship for undergraduate study

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Scientist in ISRO

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Co-autor of Paper: “EMCCD based Imaging Polarimeter for 1.2m Mt Abu telescope” - about to be published

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...) All recommendations from Astronomy faculties

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Experience of Observatories and Programming in IRAF, IDL, Astropython, R/Gnuplot, Python, C/C++ &Linux

Applying to Where: Astronomy: Any area is fine with me but preferably
Instrumentation, Exoplanets, Active galactic Nuclei & Supernovae, Observational Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics

Caltech
University of Chicago Rejected
University of California, Los Angeles Rejected
University of Michigan Rejected
University of Texas at Austin Rejected
University of California, San Diego Rejected
Boston University
Pennsylvania State University Rejected
University of Arizona Rejected
Texas A&M Rejected
University of Sussex Accepted
University of New South Wales
University of Florida Rejected
New Mexico State Unviersity Rejected
University of Toledo Accepted
University of Denver
AstroMundus Accepted
Last edited by ashishdastro on Fri Apr 15, 2016 4:08 am, edited 6 times in total.

literaltrashperson
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2015 11:38 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by literaltrashperson » Mon Nov 23, 2015 12:02 pm

Undergrad Institution: Smaller Public School, average physics reputation. Better undergrad program than grad program
Major(s):Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:3.85
Overall GPA:3.83
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: Domestic White Female

GRE Scores : (revised)
Q:160 (78%)
V: 160 (85%)
W:4.5 (80%)
P: 740 (59%) :?

Standardized testing and I are mortal enemies. It's whatever


Research Experience: On my third year in a quantum optics group working on my honors thesis. Mostly do stuff with quantum information. Two REUs, one at a not super well regarded physics program, one at a top 15 physics program. At both REUs I did research on organic semiconductors.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Phi Beta Kappa, Space Grant award to fund my thesis, department's research award for research before senior year.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Co-founder of a women in STEM mentoring program, occasional tutoring, and I run a sports club at my school but idk if that's going to be on my CV or anything

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:I'm at college on a full merit based scholarship and have a music scholarship.

Special Bonus Points: I'm applying to one of the schools at which I completed an REU. Anywhere that asks for a diversity statement, I explain socio-economic disparity.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I have a neurological problem that messed up some of my grades so I mention that.

Applying to Where:

Applying to a variety of programs. Lots of quantum optics and quantum information research, but sometimes more condensed matter style stuff

Applied Physics

Northwestern - ACCEPTED!!! 2/18 via email to check website ~30k (Declined Offer)
Harvard SEAS - Rejected via email 3/2 to check website
Yale - Rejected via email 2/16 to check website
Columbia SEAS -
Caltech - ACCEPTED!!! 2/17 via email 33k/yr (Will Attend!!)
Stanford - Rejected via email 2/2

Physics

UT Austin - Invited to Open House event via email 2/1 ACCEPTED!!! 2/24 via email 23k/yr (18k TA for semester, 5k over summer) (Declined Offer)
UCLA - ACCEPTED!!! 2/11 via email. 31.4k first 9 months via Eugene V. Cota-Robles fellowship. 23-26k per 9 months after that. up to 3.5k per month over summer(Declined Offer)
UCSB - Rejected via website/email 3/1
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor - ACCEPTED!!! via email 1/27, funded 2,418/month by 1/4 TA-ship and Fellowship(Very emotionally difficult, but Declined Offer)
U Chicago - Rejected via website 2/19

NSF GRFP - Honorable Mention: G/E, E/VG, VG/E

Final notes: Physics GRE is v important but not everything as I had some great options. Best advice is to follow the research. Go to whichever school has the research you're most excited about!
Last edited by literaltrashperson on Fri Apr 08, 2016 11:08 am, edited 30 times in total.

mcg93
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2015 1:32 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by mcg93 » Mon Nov 23, 2015 8:39 pm

Undergrad Institution: Tufts University (School of Arts and Sciences, not very good reputation in physics)
Major(s): Math & Physics
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 4.00 (8 A+s and 10 As, but A+s aren't counted higher)
Overall GPA: 3.89
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: No idea. Probably very high up for my major. Not top throughout majors though.
Type of Student: International male from Nepal

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 170 (98%)
V: 166 (96%)
W: 6.0 (99%)
P: 950 (91%)


Research Experience:

Independent research advised by a professor over the summer of 2015. Tested the effectiveness of two data classifiers (SVMs and BDTs) in classifying data of different numbers of features and different types of spreads. Also tested on Higgs data. Will be published as an ATLAS note, but not before applications are due.

Working on a thesis that studies the quantization of interaction fields in the formalism of principle fibre bundles. Involves differential geometry and gauge theory. This is what I really want to do in grad school, and it will span throughout this year. My thesis will be put in Tufts archives and might be published if we can find anything significant. Advised by one physics professor and two mathematics professors.

Working with a professor to look for experimental methods that will allow us to make data analysis as sensitive to new physics data as possible. Involves simulating data for new physics and finding ways to make cuts and take ratios in a way that new physics is significantly distinguishable from standard model results.


Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

Howard Sample Prize Scholarship for performing well in intro level physics courses.

Summer Scholars Grant for conducting the aforementioned project that compared two different event classifiers.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

Have been a RA for three years, which hopefully shows some good traits. I will definitely but it in my resume. Also got an "academic role model"
award from my employer, so that was nice.

Special Bonus Points:

Have taken one grad level course, taking one right now, and will have taken two before graduating. Also minority status?

Applying to Where:

Harvard - Physics - Mathematical Physics/HEP-Th
MIT - Physics - Mathematical Physics/HEP-Th
Princeton - Physics - Mathematical Physics/HEP-Th
Stanford - Physics - Mathematical Physics/HEP-Th
CalTech - Physics - Mathematical Physics/HEP-Th
NYU - Physics - Mathematical Physics/HEP-Th Accepted (2/2 via email) - informal email stating acceptance with four years of full funding
U Chicago - Physics - Mathematical Physics/HEP-Th
Last edited by mcg93 on Sun Feb 07, 2016 2:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

furiousmushroom
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2015 10:49 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by furiousmushroom » Tue Dec 01, 2015 11:05 am

Undergrad Institution: Top 10 in UK
Major(s): Theoretical Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 1st Class
Overall GPA: 1st Class
Length of Degree: 5 years (MSci)
Position in Class: We aren't given this information
Type of Student: Female international

GRE Scores :
Q: 167 (94%)
V: 167 (97%)
W: 4.0 (56%)
P: 850 (78%)


Research Experience:
2 research projects at my school (data analysis for gravitational wave detectors + theoretical quantum project)
Two months in Germany (simulating particle collisions)
Two and a half months at national lab (in USA) working on dark matter detection

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Participated in British Mathematical Olympiad, Won award for Outstanding Math/Science at my high school

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Experience as a tutor/minor science journalism

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: A lot of experience in (sadly) irrelevant fields like event management etc :roll:

Special Bonus Points: Taken a lot of advanced courses in e.g. Quantum Field Theory, General Relativity

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I have a high GPA, but have a couple of anomalously bad grades (C and D) in relevant courses that may hold me back.

Applying to Where:

(Mostly tentative list for my own records atm)

United States
UIUC - Astrophysics - applied 28/11Accepted! $22,000/yr TA stipend 02/02 Will attend!
UW-Madison - HEP/cosmology - applied 28/11 Accepted! $22,000/yr TA stipend 26/01
Princeton - Cosmology - applied 14/12 Rejected via e-mail 22/02 :(
MIT - Cosmology - applied 14/12 Rejected via website
Caltech - Cosmology - applied 14/12 Finally rejected 16/04 lolololol
Yale - Astronomy - applied 07/12 Rejected via e-mail 11/03 :(
UChicago - Astrophysics - applied 14/12 Rejected via website 10/02 :(
Northwestern - Astrophysics - applied 07/12/15 Rejected, I presume

I suffered a family bereavement during my exams last year which affected my performance. I read a load of conflicting advice over whether to include this factor in my statement of interest. Ultimately I decided against it in all but two applications - incidentally these were the only two schools that accepted me. Obviously there were probably many other factors that influenced the decisions, but do what you will with the information.

Also, for what it's worth, I got rejections from top schools quite a bit later than I expected from an international with my PGRE and grades. Obviously I didn't make it through to most of them in the end, but I got the impression I was pretty close to a few. My advice would be to be ambitious and don't pigeonhole yourself into one tier based just on your scores. I firmly believe enthusiastic Letters of Recommendation and a focused, directed Statement of Interest can make a real difference to an overwise average application.
Last edited by furiousmushroom on Mon Apr 18, 2016 9:35 am, edited 23 times in total.

bittermania
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2015 3:18 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by bittermania » Fri Dec 04, 2015 11:24 pm

Undergrad Institution: Big 10 School (Reputation in condensed matter physics)
Major(s): Physics; Math
GPA in Major: 3.899
Overall GPA: 3.798 (Freshman year I walked into two finals for introductory math classes halfway through, both on the same day...lolz)
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Probably Topish
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE Scores: (revised)
Q: 165 (90%)
V: 163 (92%)
W: 5.0 (93%)
P: 990 (94%)

Research Experience: 2 years working with a professor involved with LIGO, 1 summer doing accelerator physics at Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland with final report posted on arxiv, currently working in Condensed Matter Lab at home university. Presentations at monthly section meetings at PSI if that means anything. No Publications, though my LIGO and PSI advisers assured me that my name will appear on publications when they finally come out.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Math scholarship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Not really.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Nah

Special Bonus Points: Experience with machine shop equipment, soon to be cleared to use clean-room equipment, lots of programming and computational physics experience. Intro "grad courses" (my university has a strange math grad department...) in analysis, abstract algebra, differential geometry, ordinary/partial diffEq, currently in intro grad Quantum. Very strong rec letter from well-known lab director at PSI, letter from well-known condensed matter physicist.

Applying to Where:

Expressed a primary interest in condensed matter physics; no significant preference for theory or experiment.

UCSB
UCLA - Accepted
UCB
Stanford - Rejected
Caltech - Rejected
UChicago - Rejected
Cornell - Rejected
Columbia - Accepted; Dean's Fellow
MIT - Rejected
Harvard - Rejected
Princeton - Rejected
University of Maryland, College Park - Accepted; JQI fellowship

A little surprised, my letter-writers all thought I would receive more acceptances than this, but so it goes, I guess it was a competitive year....In retrospect maybe I should have been more specific about my research interests in my statement of purpose, or maybe having more than half a semester of condensed matter research would have made a significant difference, who knows.
Last edited by bittermania on Mon Feb 29, 2016 1:13 am, edited 2 times in total.

amohobbyist
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Dec 07, 2015 9:23 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by amohobbyist » Mon Dec 07, 2015 9:48 pm

Waiting for my exp so decide to post now.


Undergrad Institution: An Institute of Technology
Major(s): Physics, Math
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.9(Converted to 4.0 Scale)
Overall GPA: 3.9
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Near-top
Type of Student: International Asian Male
GRE Scores : revised
Q: 170(98%)
V: 155(67%)
W: 4.0(56%)
P: 990(94%)




Research Experience: 3 at homeschool. 1 on astronomy, some exoplanet detecting algorithm stuff. 2 on AMO, 1 on trapped ion decoherence theory, resulting a first-author paper (currently under preparation, can't finish before application is due, hopefully will finish writing in January. My advisor thinks it's a PRA level paper.); one on experiment, making a reference cavity.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Honorable mention on putnam; IMO, IPhO.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutored many high school-ers on preparing for Olympiads and stuff.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I am 20. Not sure if that helps.

Special Bonus Points: Recommenders all pretty famous in their fields. Have taken several grad classes (QFT,AMO,Statmech,QC) and advanced undergrad math classes (Topology, Real analysis, Complex analysis, PDEs).

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:Hopefully my LoRs are strong. I have no idea whether or not my advisors like me or something.

Applying to Where: All AMO (exp/th unspecified, I like both...) and Quantum Computation

Harvard - Physics Admitted via email on 2/11 (Unofficial) Funding info to come.
Stanford - Physics Admitted via email on 2/22
Princeton - Physics Rejected via email on 2/22.
Caltech - Physics Rejected via email on 2/12. I guess research interest not matching should be the issue.
UC Berkeley - Physics Admitted via email on 3/1
U of Maryland - Physics Admitted via email on 2/10 (Unofficial) Funding info to come.
UChicago - Physics Admitted via email on 2/22
UC Boulder - Physics Admitted via email on 1/22


I basically didn't apply to any safeties, we'll see how it goes.

I was worried about not being able to finish my paper on time, but it turns out to be fine. I think having good rec letters is pretty sufficient.
Last edited by amohobbyist on Wed Mar 23, 2016 7:36 pm, edited 6 times in total.

enahmat11
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2015 1:41 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by enahmat11 » Thu Dec 10, 2015 2:07 pm

Undergrad Institution: Institute in India good for physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 7.5/10
Overall GPA: 7.5/10
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: average
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores : (revised )
Q: 165 (90%)
V: 152 (54%)
W: 4.0 (56%)
P: 830 (76%)


TOEFL Total: 103 (Speaking 23)
Research Experience: 1.5 years research experience in extragalactic astronomy at an institute in India of international reputation for astronomy

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: 1 first author publication in reputed international astronomy journal which got wide publicity

Special Bonus Points: Nothing

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

Applying to Where:

I am applying for observational astronomy and extragalactic astronomy. I have an interest in planetary sciences too, but I don't have research experience in that field. So I don't know whether I should indicate it in the application.

I am not exactly sure where I have good chances of getting an admission for PhD. I have a big list. Some of them are too ambitious. I need to shortlist universities. I need some help in selecting safety universities.

Applied:
OSU - Astronomy - Waitlisted by email (6 January, 2016)
University of Colorado, Boulder - Astronomy & Planetary Sciences
University of Arizona - Astronomy - Rejected (27 January, 2016)
Johns Hopkins University - Astronomy
Cornell University - Astronomy
IMPRS Munich, Germany - Astronomy - Waitlisted by email (13 January, 2016)
Leiden University, Netherlands - Astronomy
University of Maryland - Astronomy
University of Washington, Seattle - Astronomy
Caltech - Astronomy
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign - Astronomy
Rutgers - Physics and Astronomy - Did Not Apply
University of Virginia - Astronomy
University of New Mexico - Astronomy
New Mexico State University - Astronomy - Did Not Apply
Penn State - Astronomy - Did Not Apply
Last edited by enahmat11 on Thu Feb 04, 2016 10:59 am, edited 2 times in total.

kennicutt
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2015 3:50 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by kennicutt » Sun Dec 13, 2015 3:59 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top 10 private
Major(s): Astrophysics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 4
Overall GPA: 3.95
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: No rankings known, but high.
Type of Student: Low-income domestic female. Mixed white/minority.

GRE Scores :
Q: 168 / 95%
V: 169 / 99%
W: 5 / 93%
P: 810 / 72%

Research Experience: Two years, two summers. One at my home university and one at another major astro school. Resulted in one first-author publication, with 6-7 well-known professors as co-authors. At time of application, paper was submitted, but not yet accepted, to a major astronomy journal. Posted on ArXiv.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Phi Beta Kappa, some scholarships.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Some tutoring, paid research.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: 6 astronomy grad classes when applying. Wrote a successful observing proposal for a major telescope. Reasonably well-known letter writers. I think at least two of my letters are very strong, but it's hard to judge. After my paper was posted to ArXiv, I received several (unsolicited) emails from professors, including a few at places I'm applying to.

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

Applying to Where: All astronomy, unless otherwise noted. Main interest is galaxy formation/evolution and cosmology.

Caltech: Admitted by phone Feb 1. $34000/yr fellowship
Harvard: Admitted by phone Feb 4. $35000/yr stipend + $18000 one-time Pierce Prize. Will Attend!
Berkeley: Skype Interview Jan 12, Admitted by Phone Jan 26. $32632/yr (TA + RA) + $2000 one-time technology-fund
Princeton: Admitted by Phone Jan 28. $31300/yr Centennial Fellowship + $8000/yr summer support + $3000 /yr Deans Grant + $5000 one-time award
U Chicago: Admitted by Phone Jan 28. $31500 fellowship + $8000/yr Eckhardt Scholarship + $5000 one-time research fund
Stanford - Physics: Withdrawn Feb 5.
U Michigan: Admitted by e-mail Jan 30. $29020 TA/RA + $600 relocation
UC Irvine - Physics: Admitted by e-mail Jan 29. $5500/quarter TA + ($10000/yr fellowship for first two years)
U Washington: Withdrawn Feb 4.

Parting thoughts: I think I was unusually lucky because a) I had three strong letters from three well-known faculty at three different institutions, and b) I wrote a reasonably technical research statement which showed I know how to write about astronomy. For what it's worth, I didn't contact any professors at places I was applying during the application process, so I surmise this is not critical.
Last edited by kennicutt on Mon Apr 04, 2016 7:56 pm, edited 19 times in total.

philosophe
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 12:54 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by philosophe » Mon Dec 14, 2015 1:18 am

Undergrad Institution: Top 5 in Physics
Major(s): Physics, Mathematics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 4.9 (Physics), 5.0 (Math)
Overall GPA: 4.9
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Unknown, probably near top
Type of Student: International female

GRE Scores :
Q: 170/98%
V: 168/98%
W: 6.0/99%
P: 940/90%

Research Experience: 1 3rd-author publication from freshman summer
1 summer on a rather prestigious and competitive German program, experiments have not caught up with theory so no paper until next year
1 1st-author paper in progress (no time to submit before apps are due, unfortunately) from this summer
Some experimental work at school that resulted in no publications
Writing a senior thesis right now that should result in a publication by the end of the year
7 poster presentations and talks at APS conferences, summer schools, the like

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: My school makes it a point not to award awards, so nothing in particular except possibly a nomination for a freshman scholarship for being top 10 out of 800 in Biology (not Physics because I tested out). Uhh, was top student in a competitive high school in my country.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Was a TA for a junior-level Physics class while a junior, and on the executive committee of some groups of campus

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I have taken 6 grad classes in Math and Physics, and am probably publishing a paper in Linguistics soon. I also know 5 languages, not all of them well.

Special Bonus Points: Female. Also, 2 out of 3 of my recommenders are really famous (pioneers of the field).

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I got 2 B's in the first two years, but after that I got my *** together.

Applying to Where: All for Quantum Information

Caltech - Physics
Stanford - Applied Physics - Admitted via email 2/1
MIT - Physics
Berkeley - Physics
MIT - EECS

I am also not applying to any safeties, unfortunately. No time!
Last edited by philosophe on Wed Feb 03, 2016 11:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.

damdum
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2015 8:48 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by damdum » Mon Dec 14, 2015 8:39 am

Undergrad Institution: Big 10. Top in condensed matter.
Major(s): Physics, Astronomy
Minor(s): Math, CS
GPA in Major: 3.80
Overall GPA: 3.71
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: idk? Top-ish.
Type of Student: Domestic Brown Male

GRE Scores : (revised or old version?)
Q: 161 (80%)
V: 162 (90%)
W: 5.5 (98%)
P: 820 (74%) sorry mom :(

Research Experience: 2.5 years in a computational astronomy group. Several projects (from cosmology to imaging to galaxy formation/evolution). 2 first author publications in MNRAS. 1 first author publication submitted to MNRAS (available on ArXiv) and stuck in referee hell. Several talks and posters. Presenting at AAS 227. 1 summer on CMB experiment. 1 semester in complex systems group.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Fancy computational science fellowship, university scholarship, a couple of research awards, best poster at undergrad research symposium, dean's list.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor for a few years.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Nah.

Special Bonus Points: 5 grad classes (A's and A-'s) in both astronomy and physics. I should have one incredibly strong letter, one very strong letter, and one strong-ish letter. A few connections but I don't know how much that will help. I also met with a bunch of folks serving on admission committees from various schools I was applying to at the AAS meeting.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I like starz.

Applying to Where: Mostly Astronomy programs. Primary interest in computational astrophysics (focusing on simulations, galaxy formation/evolution, cosmology).

Harvard - Astronomy - Accepted (02/04) via phone
MIT - Physics - Rejected (02/12) via email
Caltech - Astronomy - Accepted (02/01) via phone
Berkeley - Astronomy - Interview (01/13) - Accepted (01/26) via phone
Stanford - Physics - Withdrawn (02/15)
University of Washington - Astronomy - Interview (02/12) - Accepted (02/20) via phone
Columbia - Astronomy - Accepted (02/09) via email
UC Santa Cruz - Astronomy - Interview (01/25) - Accepted (02/02) via phone
UC Irvine - Physics - Accepted (02/09) via email
Vanderbilt - Astronomy - Accepted (02/08) via email
Illinois - Physics - Accepted (01/21) via email
Michigan - Astronomy - Accepted (01/30) via email

I can't believe it's time for me to post this already. Good luck everyone!
Last edited by damdum on Sun Feb 21, 2016 3:24 am, edited 29 times in total.

Moon Moon
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2015 4:02 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Moon Moon » Mon Dec 14, 2015 3:38 pm

____________________________________________
Undergrad Institution: I'm an international student, and my undergrad institution isn't well known in the US
Major(s): Physics and Mathematics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.9
Overall GPA: 3.8
Length of Degree: 4 years undergrad + 2 year master's
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: International female

GRE Scores :
Q: 170 (98%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 5 (93%)
P: 990 (94%)

Research Experience: I am finishing up a two year master's by research in cosmology. Six month research project in undergrad. I have presented my research at some local conferences.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Some awards for academic achievement in undergrad

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutored undergraduate physics for four years

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: I have some experience in the field I am applying for, both in coursework and research. Hopefully my reference letters will be good!

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

Applying to Where: all for cosmology

Princeton - Astrophysics - Admitted 29 Jan by email
Chicago - Astronomy and Astrophysics - Admitted 28 Jan by phone
Berkeley - Astronomy - Interview 12 Jan Admitted 27 Jan by Skype
Ohio State- Astronomy - Admitted 5 Jan by email
MIT - Physics - Admitted 11 Feb by email
Harvard - Astronomy - - Rejected 11 Feb by email to check website
Harvard - Physics - Admitted 11 Feb by email
Johns Hopkins - Physics and Astronomy - Admitted 3 Feb by email
University of Pennsylvania - Physics and Astronomy - - Rejected 7 April by email to check website
Cornell - Astronomy - Admitted 12 Feb by email
Carnegie Mellon - Physics - Admitted 19 Feb by email
University of Michigan - Physics - Admitted 21 Jan by email
University of Washington - Physics - did not apply because I heard back from OSU
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign - Astronomy - did not apply because I heard back from OSU

Good luck all!
Last edited by Moon Moon on Thu Jun 09, 2016 8:52 am, edited 11 times in total.

silentknight
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jun 11, 2015 3:04 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by silentknight » Tue Dec 15, 2015 3:32 am

Undergrad Institution: Branch of top engineering institution from India
Majors: Electronic and Electrical Engineering
GPA in Major: 3.25
Overall GPA: 3.00 (approx)
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: More or less average I guess
Type of Student: Asian Male (that is one BIG demographic)

GRE Scores : ( had to take TOEFL again after two years, smh )
TOEFL: 114
Q: 162 (83%)
V: 153 (59%)
W: 4.0 (56%)
P: 930 (91%) *thanks Conquering the PGRE, you guys rock !!!*

Research Experience:
0.5 years Senior year Thesis on developing a unique biometric system (hardware and software)- published paper (1st author) and won accolades for the same
Almost 1 year at astronomy research institution in India, two projects- one with a sr. professor from John Hopkins on spectroscopy, other with a Russian ISRO scientist on comet morphology (in collaboration with PSI, Arizona). Both successful, received LOR from the russian one (win !)- abstract accepted for comet project, paper on way
Another 6 month internship at research institute starting in Jan 2016

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Gold medal for Paper presentation (General science) at National Level tech fest
Best Material Design award at the national ornithopter challenge for the longest official flight time

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Founding member and President of college astronomy group. Received grant from government for 12-inch Maksutov Cassegrain
2 summer internships at Indian observatories (6 weeks each)- no paper, simply for experience

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: (not sure to what extent they individually matter though)
TEDx talk- Head of event management.
Model United Nations (MUN)- moderator

Special Bonus Points:
College did not offer many physics courses apart from the basic ones, so took one special project on Quantum entanglement and did well on that.
Learnt programming on IDL, Python, IRAF, MATLAB. any observation astronomy work pretty much requires these, so....

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Great letters from all 3 recommenders, the college profs don't have particularly impressive titles, but got to know them personally
Spent like 4 months on the freakin' SOP. You tell me it doesn't matter and I'll punch you. In your face.

*** This is something that I should mention- I suffered from a spinal injury and sudden osteoprosis in my 4th semester which got me bed ridden for 6 months. That coupled with medications and the psychological pain damn near ruined everything. BUT I had my friends and family. Got it up (no pun intended). Became healthy. This did affect my grades so I mentioned it in the SOP (just a line or two), but doubtful about the importance. Nevertheless, it was a crucial part of my life and needed to be said ***

Applying to Where: All for observational astronomy (interests in extragalactic,protostars and image processing), all PhD (Physics with astro), bar one. Looked into speciality of each university and resp profs, then decided which profile suited me best

Closed my eyes. Pressed the apply button - PhD astronomy
Caltech
U Florida

Reach - PhD Physics with specialization in astro
Washington University St. Louis
U Wyoming Rejected by email 19/02
U Arkansas
North Carolina State U Rejected by email 09/02

Louisiana State U
U Toledo
Clemson University
Brandeis University Rejected by email 16/02
San Francisco State (masters, maybe paid)
Last edited by silentknight on Thu Feb 18, 2016 5:29 pm, edited 3 times in total.

ilee14
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2015 8:27 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by ilee14 » Tue Dec 15, 2015 8:36 pm

Undergrad Institution: US small liberal arts college - no physics reputation
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math, Music
GPA in Major: 3.934
Overall GPA: 3.728
Length of Degree: 4 years (excluding 2 years of absence due to military service)
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: International(Korean) male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 168(95%)
V: 162(90%)
W: 4.0(56%)
P: 840(77%)


TOEFL Total: N/A but got 111

Research Experience: 2 summers of research experience at my institution. One nuclear physics research and one theoretical QM.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: tutor 1 yr

Applying to Where:
AMO, HEP, or Nuclear (undecided)
Stanford University - rejected 2/22 (via email)
UC Berkeley - rejected 3/5 (via website)
UCLA - rejected 3/9 (via website)
MSU
UMD-College Park - rejected 2/24 (via website)
U of Chicago - rejected 2/19 (via website)
IU-Bloomington - Nuc Accepted 1/20 (via Email and phone)- TA $23,333/10 mo. + $5,000 Award
Notre Dame - waitlisted 3/7 (via email)
U of Washington - rejected 3/1 (via email)
Northwestern University
Last edited by ilee14 on Wed Mar 09, 2016 10:14 am, edited 8 times in total.

thatsbeentaken
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2015 8:49 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by thatsbeentaken » Wed Dec 16, 2015 9:56 pm

Undergrad Institution: Good sized school, 23,000 students, 100% acceptance rate. Decent physics department, shines in some areas.
Major(s):Physics
Minor(s):None
Undergrad:
GPA in Major:3.36
Overall GPA:3.08
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Average
Masters:
GPA in Major:3.6
Overall GPA:3.6
Length of Degree: 2 years
Position in Class: Near top
Type of Student: Domestic hispanic male

GRE Scores : revised
Q:162, 83%
V:150, 45%
W:3.5, 38%
P:740, 59%




Research Experience: 2.5 years doing astrophysics research at home university, presented at 2 AAS meetings, and have about a months worth of observing time on a 2.1 m telescope. REU at UChicago.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List one semester
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Intro CM and EM labs for 2 semesters. One semester as electronics lab TA.

Special Bonus Points: Two recommendation letters coming from very reputable professors.

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

Applying to Where:

Astronomy - Observation, instrumentation.
Harvard Rejected (2/11)
Ohio Wait-listed (1/06)
Washington
Cal Tech
Northwestern
BU Accepted (1/29)
John Hopkins
Last edited by thatsbeentaken on Fri Feb 12, 2016 1:29 am, edited 4 times in total.

pgrethrowaway
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Dec 17, 2015 3:02 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by pgrethrowaway » Thu Dec 17, 2015 3:20 am

Undergrad Institution: Large top 10 state school.
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.86
Overall GPA:3.79
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Top 3 or 4?
Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Scores :
Q:170 (98%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 5.0 (93%)
P: 990 (94%)

Research Experience: 1 Year of programming in an experimental cosmology lab. Another summer in a theoretical cosmology group. Was doing GR/space stuff until I changed focus.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Got a summer fellowship for some of my research.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Club sports. Not much else

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Have taken a good number of graduate classes, although they weren't in CMT

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Had some personal issues that tanked my GPA and halted research for a year. If colleges don't think I'm making that up I look a lot better.

Applying to Where:

All CMT

MIT -
Harvard -
Princeton -
UCBerkeley -
UChicago -
Stanford -
CalTech -
Columbia -
UTAustin - Invited to Open House 2/1
Duke - Accepted 1/27 by email. Full tuition + 30k TA Fellowship + 5k for Summer
Rutgers -
Stony Brook -
Brown -
Carnegie Mellon - Accepted 2/5 by email. Stipend ~$2375/Mo
Last edited by pgrethrowaway on Fri Feb 05, 2016 6:38 pm, edited 5 times in total.

muke
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2015 1:26 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by muke » Thu Dec 17, 2015 7:28 am

Undergrad Institution: unknown
Major(s):physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:92/100
Overall GPA:91.5/100
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: top 1
Type of Student: International Asian Female

GRE Scores : revised
Q:170(98%)
V:156(71%)
W:3(15%)
P:980(93%)


TOEFL Total: 104(speaking 24)

Research Experience:
1.5 years in electronic properties of bilayer graphene. theory. No publication
0.5 year in quantum computing. theory. 1 first author publication about to submit
senior thesis: black hole thermodynamics in Lifshitz spacetime

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
some high GPA awards.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Summer school 1: topological quantum states. 98/100
Summer school 2: QCD/heavy ion collision. A
Went on an exchange program to an Australian Uni.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)
Grad level classes: QM, EM, Standard model, Lie group and Lie algebra, relativistic astrophysics

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

Applying to Where: All for astrophysics, cosmology and gravitation

PhD:
Princeton
Caltech
Cornell
UMich
Maryland
Penn
NYU
Stony Brook
Penn State
Brown admitted 1/14 ($24,400 + $2700 summer)
UIUC

Master:
PSI
McGill
Last edited by muke on Tue Feb 02, 2016 12:00 am, edited 2 times in total.

sjewalkers
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2015 1:29 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by sjewalkers » Fri Dec 18, 2015 1:21 pm

______________________________________________
Undergrad Institution: Small Private Engineering School. Tiny Physics Department - No reputation except for a few students who place in grad schools (StonyBrook, Baylor, Florida State)
Major(s): Engineering Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics & Chemistry
GPA in Major: 3.75 of 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.82 of 4.0
Length of Degree: 4 Years
Position in Class: Top/Near Top
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE Scores : Revised
Q: 158 - 71%
V: 164 - 94%
W: 6.0 - 99%
P: 660 - 42%


Research Experience: Three diverse Research Experiences.
1 & 1/2 years research in Radio Astronomy at my university.
1/2 year research in Electrical Engineering Design team at my university - Optical Biosensor funded by NSF.
Summer Internship at NASA Langley Research Center via LARSS - Plasma / Space Physics

(No peer reviewed Publications, but lots of press via NASA and several opportunities for talks and poster sessions both at NASA and at my university.)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: President's List and Dean's List most semesters (Within my School).

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Served as Supplemental Instructor for University Physics 1 & 2 at my University for 1 year. Lab Assistant in same classes and Astronomy for 1.5 years. Taught Science/Mathematics in Elementary and Secondary Level overseas in Malaysia for 1 year.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I have ALOT of volunteer work and international experiences - I have a big focus on Diversity in STEM fields.

Special Bonus Points: I believe I had pretty great letters of recommendation!

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I have lots of teaching experience and enjoy STEM outreach.

Applying to Where:

University Wisconsin - Madison - Nuclear Engineering - Gen IV Reactors/Fusion --- Accepted! 1/29 Via Email - No funding
Oregon State - Nuclear Engineering - Gen IV Reactors/Fusion --- Accepted! 1/26 Via Email - TA 2k/month
RPI - Nuclear Engineering - Gen IV Reactors/Fusion ---Accepted! 1/13 Via Email - TA/RA 18.5k/9 month - UPDATED - TA/RA 21.5k/9 month ---Will Attend! :D

Purdue - Physics - Nuclear Physics --- Waitlisted upon emailing/calling them 3/16 --- Rejected - 4/19 Via Email
Texas A&M - Physics - Nuclear Physics --- Interview - 2/10 Via Email ---Accepted! 2/12 Via Email - TA/RA 1,850/mon With 2K Fellowship first year
Florida State - Physics - Nuclear Physics --- Rejected Via Email 3/16

UC - Santa Cruz - Physics - HEP/Neutrinos --- Rejected - 2/22 Via Email - Expected
Baylor - Physics - HEP/Neutrinos --- Interview on 2/22 --- Waitlisted Upon Inquiry Via Phone 3/24
William & Mary - Physics - HEP/Neutrinos --- Waitlisted - 2/10 Via Email --- Accepted! 2/15 By Phone - TA/RA 25k/Year
University Wisconsin - Madison - Physics - HEP/Neutrinos --- Rejected - 2/5 Via Email - Expected

Montana State - Physics - Applied/Condensed Matter --- Waitlisted Upon Inquiry Via Phone 3/24 --- Rejected - 4/15 Via Email
University of Wyoming - Physics - Applied/Condensed Matter ---Accepted! 2/5 Via Email - TA/RA 22.5k/Year
Colorado School of Mines - Physics - Applied/Condensed Matter --- Waitlisted Upon Inquiry Via Phone 3/24 ---Rejected - 4/12 Via Email

Fellowships

DOE CSGF --- Rejected via email 3/22
NSDEG Fellowship --- Rejected Via Email 4/1
NSF GRFP --- Rejected Via Email 3/28 - Fair/Excellent - Good/Good - Very Good/Very Good (But not Good enough :roll: )
NPSC Fellowship --- Waiting...
NEUP Fellowship ---Waiting...

Internships for Summer

NASA OSSI
Last edited by sjewalkers on Wed Apr 20, 2016 4:40 pm, edited 25 times in total.

MYOMAO
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2015 12:53 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by MYOMAO » Fri Dec 18, 2015 3:52 pm

Undergrad Institution: Best Public School in USA
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 4.00
Overall GPA: 4.00
Length of Degree: 4 (Transfer from community college)
Position in Class: Very top
Type of Student: Asian Male

GRE Scores :
Q: 170 98%
V: 157 74%
W: 3 15% (This sucks)
P: 990 94%


TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this)

Research Experience: 1 REU in nuclear theory, one publication in Physical Recview C. 1.5 year in experimental high energy nuclear physics. Exptect to submit another publication..

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Lots of scholarship and hopefully one fellowship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor and lab aide at my community college

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Score 12 points in Putnam Competition

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

Applying to Where:

UC Berkeley - Physics - Hep-ex Rejected 3/3
UCLA - Physics - Hep-ex Admitted 2/11 Funding Info to come
MIT - Physics - Hep-ex Invited for skype interview 1/27 Admitted 2/11 RAship $2943/month
Caltech - Physics - Hep-ex Rejected 2/12
Princeton - Physics - Hep-ex Rejected 2/22
Yale - Physics - Hep-ex Rejected 2/25
Stanford - Physics - Hep-ex Rejected 2/22
UC Davis - Physics - Hep-ex Accepted 2/19 TAship $22000
Rice - Physics - Hep-ex Accepted 1/15 Stipend $29000/year
Rutgers - Physics - Hep-ex Admitted 2/11 TAship $25969/year
Last edited by MYOMAO on Tue Mar 08, 2016 1:16 am, edited 17 times in total.

paulharrylemon
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2015 4:28 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by paulharrylemon » Fri Dec 18, 2015 7:56 pm

Undergrad Institution: Big State Ranked ~75 in Physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: 1
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores : Revised
Q: 166 (92%)
V: 165 (95%)
W: 4.0 (56%)
P: 970 (92%)

Research Experience: 2.5 years research experience in experimental AMO with a poster presentation and a contributed talk at conferences. 3 years in particle theory with a contributed talk and first author publication. All at home university.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater Scholarship and a lot of other ones.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Had an internship at a government research lab the summer after freshmen year.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Nope.

Special Bonus Points: Earning a Master's in physics with my Bachelor's. My main advisor is rather well known and connected in AMO.

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

Applying to Where: All For Experimental AMO:

MIT - Physics - Accepted! - Will Attend!
Harvard - Chemical Physics - Accepted!
Princeton - Physics - Accepted!
Stanford - Physics - Accepted!
UChicago - Physics - Accepted!
Yale - Physics - Accepted!
Brown - Physics - Accepted!
Columbia - Physics - Accepted!
UC Berkeley - Physics - Accepted!
MIT - Electrical Engineering - Accepted!
Caltech - Applied Physics - Accepted!
Cornell - Applied Physics - Accepted!
UChicago - Molecular Engineering - Accepted!
Harvard - Physics - Wait-listed, asked to be removed after accepting MIT

NSF GRFP - Awarded!
NDSEG - Rejected



Not quite sure how I pulled this off. But I do know I applied to way too many programs :mrgreen:
Last edited by paulharrylemon on Thu Apr 14, 2016 4:45 pm, edited 18 times in total.

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

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by janghun » Thu Dec 24, 2015 10:07 am

Undergrad Institution: A private university in South Korea
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.95/4.0 (undergrad)
Overall GPA: 3.61/4.0 (undergrad), 4.0/4.0 (master's degree)
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
Type of Student: International asian male

GRE Scores :
Q: 163 (86%)
V: 161 (87%)
W: 2.0 (2%) :cry:
P: 990 (94%, PHYSICS)

TOEFL Total: 77 (Reading 26, Listening 15, Speaking 15, Writing 21) (very low) :cry:

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 (including particle physics)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: To fulfill military duty in my country, I have worked for Air Force as an Officer for about 3.5 years (Final Rank : First Lieutenant)

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 Department, High Energy Physics theory (QFT, String)

Accepted
NONE

Waitlisted
NYU - Waitlisted for admission (2/22) via E-mail (Official notification)
Please decline your offer or waitlisted status from NYU as soon as possible if you have already accepted another offer.

Rejected
Virginia Tech - Rejected (2/4) via E-mail
The College of William & Mary - Rejected (2/11) via E-mail
Caltech - Rejected (2/13) via E-mail
UMass Amherst - Rejected (2/16) via E-mail
UNC at Chapel Hill - Rejected (2/17) via E-mail
Princeton - Rejected (2/23) via E-mail
UC Santa Cruz - Rejected (2/23) via E-mail
Rochester - Rejected (2/24) via E-mail
Yale - Rejected (2/27) via E-mail
Columbia - Rejected (2/27) via E-mail
U of Washington at Seattle - Rejected (3/2) via E-mail
Purdue - Rejected (3/2) upon inquiry
Penn State - Rejected (3/3) via E-mail
U of Notre Dame - Rejected (3/7) via Website
Brown - Rejected (3/18) via E-mail
UT Austin - Rejected (4/5) via E-mail
UPenn - Rejected (4/7) via E-mail
U of Minnesota at Twin Cities - Alternate List for admission (3/18) via E-mail (Official notification) => Rejected (4/15) via E-mail
TAMU - Rejected (4/19) via E-mail They forgot to inform me of the rejection...
USC - Waitlisted (2/26) via E-mail (Inquiry) => Rejected (4/20) via E-mail
Last edited by janghun on Tue Apr 19, 2016 5:08 pm, edited 55 times in total.

Mrcoolguy
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2015 10:28 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Mrcoolguy » Mon Dec 28, 2015 3:19 pm

I am applying to normal jobs at the same time as grad school. Low GPA and extremely low test scores will be my downfall. But since this GPA is average, the GRE revised is average, and the PGRE is around 50%... I figured I'd post and update when acceptances or rejections come so people in the future can glean whether it's a crapshoot or fools errand with stats like this.

Undergrad Institution: A Top 5 USNWR school for undergrads. Good grad reputation in physics but I don't know about undergrad.
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 3.13 lol
Overall GPA: 3.15 lol
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: No idea, but probably above average considering a 3.0 is honors in the major... that grade deflation...
Type of Student: Domestic male, technically a minority even though I look white. The US Census has some pretty bad definitions.

GRE Scores : Revised
Q: 159
V: 160
W: 4.5
P: 660 lol

Research Experience: I have been doing research all four years. 3 years of observational astronomy. 1 year of dark matter experimental astrophysics. 1.5 years of AMO but it will be 2 years by the time I graduate since I currently work in this lab. I am not an author on any papers. However, I am writing a senior thesis on my AMO research.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Deans list during my junior year. My GPA is high enough for honors, all I need to do is finish the thesis. I also received a summer research fellowship from my school.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I was an SPS officer and an officer in another physics based club at my school.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: No, just an average student to be honest.

Special Bonus Points: The professor I work for now seems to personally know at least one AMO professor at every school I am applying to. Not sure how much of a boost that is though. I expect to have good rec letters as well, one from each of the three professors I have worked for in my time during undergrad.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I went from having a 2.4 GPA at one point to where I am now. Worst grades were during my freshman year. Then I brought them up to B/B+/A- range after I finally got into the swing of college. My high school definitely did not prepare me.

Applying to Where: All are AMO/Quantum Information and physics departments except for Arizona which is the optical sciences department.

UC Santa Barbara - REJECTED 3/1
UC Los Angeles - REJECTED 3/9
University of Washington - REJECTED 3/1
University of Arizona - REJECTED 3/4 by admission to M.Sc
University of Wisconsin - REJECTED 2/5
University of Michigan
Northwestern University - Application feedback 1/20, Interview 1/21
Rice University - Application feedback 1/4
University of Toronto - ACCEPTED 2/29 - $15,000
University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign - REJECTED 3/6
Duke University - ACCEPTED 1/27 - $29,960
Pennsylvania State University
Stony Brook University - ACCEPTED 1/22 - $26,500 - Declined
University of Texas - Austin - ACCEPTED 3/14 - $18,000
Last edited by Mrcoolguy on Mon Mar 14, 2016 4:49 pm, edited 9 times in total.

count
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2015 9:44 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by count » Wed Dec 30, 2015 9:54 pm

My academics are low, but I don't really care. I've worked really hard for it, and I'm proud of what I have done, including getting to be a part of awesome research projects.

Undergrad Institution: Top school in physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 4.0/5.0
Overall GPA: 4.1/5.0
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Probably average to below average
Type of Student: Domestic, minority, male

GRE Scores :
Q:156
V:157
W: 4.0
P: 700 (51%) I've never been any good at tests, but hey it's technically average.


Research Experience: 2.5 years at home institution working in nonlinear dynamics and a little bit of plasma physics. I have been with the project from the start and have had a say on the direction that it is going. I presented at APS Division of Plasma Physics meeting in Nov. 2015. This will be my thesis, and will most likely result in a first author publication.
One REU working in numerical relativity, it's where I learned about high performance computing. Made a poster and presented at their summer event.
One REU working in cosmological simulations. Will present poster at the AAS meeting in January 2016.

(At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 5 semesters as a TA for introductory mechanics and E&M.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: All my research experiences, while in different fields, have very common skill sets, and have built off each other quite nicely.

Special Bonus Points: The extended group I was a part of for my research in cosmological simulations includes the professors I want to work with at Harvard and Caltech.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I've designed and launched a high powered rocket.

Applying to Where: All of them (PhD programs) are for astrophysics

Harvard - Astronomy-Rejected 2/11/16
MIT - Physics-Rejected 2/12/16
Stanford - Physics-Rejected 2/22/16
UC Santa Barbara - Physics-Rejected 3/1/16
Caltech - Astronomy-Rejected 2/24/16
Cornell - Astronomy-Rejected 3/10/16
CU-Boulder - Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences-Rejected 2/9/16
Ohio State - Astronomy-Accepted 1/6/16-Declined This was a tough choice. The dynamic of the department was great!
U Washington - Astronomy-Interview 2/16/16-Rejected 3/17/16
UT Austin - Astronomy-Rejected 2/5/16
Michigan State - Astronomy-Accepted 1/19/16-DeclinedAlso a tough choice. They have some really cool research there.
U Michigan-Ann Arbor - Astronomy- Interview 1/29/16-Accepted 1/30/15-Will attend!
Perimeter Scholars (Waterloo)-Masters-Rejected 4/13/16

My advice would be to reach as high as you want, regardless of PGRE or other circumstances. Of course, get a good range of selectivity. While I had a tough choice to make, I appreciate having the opportunity to have three awesome choices.
Last edited by count on Thu Apr 14, 2016 9:38 pm, edited 18 times in total.

ThePropogator
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 10:05 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by ThePropogator » Fri Jan 01, 2016 7:23 pm

Here goes nothin'

Undergrad Institution: Large public university maybe ~50-60 in physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major:3.92
Overall GPA:3.94
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: School doesn't do rankings but probably top 3 in major.
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores : revised
Q:162 (83%)
V:159 (81%)
W: 3.5 (35%)
P: 870 (81%)


Research Experience: One summer of research on a neutron detection system with a paper that I was second author on. Then 3 semesters of research on experimental neutrino physics where I am leading an advanced analysis on my own.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A couple internal scholarships, nothing else.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: SPS treasurer for a year and a half.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I worked at Fermilab for 13 weeks!

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Really good letters from all 3 of my letter writers as well as grades I guess. Nothing else

Applying to Where:

UChicago - HEP-ex, neutrino physics REJECTED Feb 19th
Stanford - HEP-ex, neutrino physics REJECTED
Berkeley - HEP-ex, neutrino physics REJECTED
CalTech - HEP-ex, neutrino physics REJECTED Feb 15th
MIT - HEP-ex, neutrino physics REJECTED Feb 14th
Colombia - HEP-ex, neutrino physics
U of Michigan - HEP-ex, neutrino physics - ACCEPTED JAN 28, $2418 a month fellowship with reduced teaching load + health insurance
University of Rochester - HEP-ex, neutrino physics - ACCEPTED JAN 22, $26000 + health insurance offered with either RA or TA
Last edited by ThePropogator on Sun Mar 06, 2016 8:12 pm, edited 8 times in total.

glx
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2015 11:05 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by glx » Mon Jan 04, 2016 7:19 pm

Undergrad Institution: Big state school, top 50 in physics
Major(s): Mechanical Engineering, Physics
GPA in Major: 3.98 (physics)
Overall GPA: 3.89
Length of Degree: 5.5 years
Position in Class: Unknown
Type of Student: Domestic white/hispanic male
GRE Scores:
Q: 170 (98%)
V: 161 (87%)
W: 4.0 (56%)
P: 990 (94%)


Research Experience:
Summer internship at government lab
Summer REU in condensed matter/AMO stuff
Spring SULI at national lab
~1.5 years experimental research in thermal/fluid science (under an engineering professor)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Graduated summa cum laude in Fall 2015
Wrote an honors thesis in thermal/fluid science
Presented a talk at APS
Scholarships: National Merit, a state scholarship, some university-specific scholarships

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Peer advisor in my engineering department
Member of an R&D team for Society of Automotive Engineers for a year
TA for a macroeconomics class during sophomore year...

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Best poster at my REU?

Special Bonus Points:
2 publications from REU, 2 more in writing from the thermal/fluids lab, 1st author on one of those
3 rec letters from people I did research under in 3 different labs. I expect all are strong. A 4th, to schools who would allow it, from a physics professor at my university who knows me well and likes me.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I downplayed the engineering major in applications to physics programs, and to a lesser extent to the applications to AP programs. I definitely don't want to be an engineer.


Applying to Where:

All interests are experimental.

MIT - Physics - AMO, CM - Rejected 2/12 via website check
UC Berkeley - Physics - AMO, CM - Accepted 3/1 via email - WILL ATTEND!
Stanford - Applied Physics - AMO, CM - Rejected 2/2 via email
Cornell - Applied Physics - AMO, CM - Accepted unofficially 1/11 via email; officially 2/4 via email with 3-year fellowship
Princeton - Electrical Engineering - Photonics, CM - Skype interview 1/26; Accepted 2/10 via email with 1st year fellowship
U of Maryland - Physics - AMO, CM - Accepted 2/17 via email with supplemental fellowship
CU Boulder - Physics - AMO - Accepted 1/26 via email with 1st year "signing bonus"
Caltech - Applied Physics - Fluid dynamics, optics, CM Accepted 2/24 via email
UIUC - Physics - AMO, CM - Accepted 1/26 via email


A note: I submitted every application on the last day, and also didn't contact members of any department before or after application (except Princeton, which I had physically visited before application). I didn't apply for any external fellowships, and I answered honestly to any schools asking for a list of schools to which I was applying.
Feel free to contact me for anything about anything!!
Last edited by glx on Mon May 09, 2016 8:03 pm, edited 19 times in total.

User avatar
Raio
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:09 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Raio » Wed Jan 06, 2016 11:41 am

Undergrad Institution: state school (2nd biggest campus in my state university system)
Major(s): physics
Minor(s): you could say mathematics
GPA in Major: 2.3/4
Overall GPA: 2.4/4
Length of Degree: 9 years (2007-2011, then 2014-2016)
Position in Class: struggling for a big part of it
Type of Student: male, minority

GRE Scores : I have decided to take it but for future applications not this round.

Research Experience:
1 summer internship in nuclear engineering at a cyclotron facility of my school.
1 summer internship working in the physics department of my school in medical physics.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Does Deans list count? if so: Deans list fall 2014, spring 2015, fall 2015.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: none

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: surviving the struggle? lol

Special Bonus Points:
male minority: but I don't think it matters for schools outside the US so...
graduates courses: Nonlinear dynamics differential equations (birfurcation etc...); boundary value problem in differential equations; Numerical Analysis for ODE/PDE; Vector Calculus ; Microeconomics Theory I; Macroeconomics Theory I; Statistical Mechanics

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: my gpa is subpar and this will probably earn me rejections I think. I tried to select a good mix of highly selective schools (because why not) and schools I think I can get in. I had a rough patch a couple of years ago which lasted for 2-3 years, partly due to some illness and me being immature post illness (bad study habits, and I dropped out). I tried explaining that inside my personal statement, not sure it's going to cut it but it's still worth a try. I came back to school after a 3 years break during which I worked for a while. my gpa since coming back have been 3.5 (3 semester + 1 summer) which I think is very different from my cgpa which is only 2.4.

Applying to Where:

All my stuff is theoretical physics or applied mathematics.

University of Montreal - math - Computational Finance msc Admitted
University of Montreal - economics - economics Msc Admitted
City University London - economics - Financial Economics msc Admitted
Kingston University - economics - Financial Economics msc Admitted
University of Queen Mary London - Mathematics - Network Science Msc Admitted

McGill - math - applied math msc
McMaster - math - math msc
University of Strathclyde - Finance - Mres mathematical Sciences withdrawn was probably going to get a rejection.
Manchester - physics - theoretical physics mres (statistical mechanics, econophysics)
University of Sydney - IT & Engineering - Engineering mphil (statistical mechanics, econophysics)
University of Technology Sydney - Business - Economics PhD (Complexity economics, econophysics) - rejected
University of Paris-Saclay - Physics - M2 Physics of Complex Systems
University of Paris 1 - University of Sorbonne - Economics - Dual Msc quantitative economics Most Likely Rejected

Edinburgh - physics - mathematical physics msc (statistical mechanics, econophysics) rejected
King College London - math - complex systems msc (statistical mechanics, econophysics) - rejected
Imperial College London - math - stochastic analysis mres (financial mathematics) rejected
London School of Economics - math - applicable math msc (lse is well known for finance and economics) rejected
University of Adelaide - physics - (statistical mechanics, econophysics) - withdrawn (asked for final transcript, it's stupid who does that?)
University of Essex - Economics - Computational Economics Msc (Complexity economics) rejected
University of York - Statistics - Computational Finance Msc rejected
University of York - Economics - Financial Economics Msc rejected
University of Liverpool - Mathematics - Financial Mathematics Msc rejected
University of Glasgow - Finance - Quantitative Finance Msc rejected
University of Nottingham - Finance - Financial and Computational Mathematics Msc rejected



edit: I didnt apply to US schools because most require the GRE and I just didnt want to take the exam under such a short amount of time to meet the deadlines. Also I would prefer going abroad and discovering new places. I got into a couple schools. Quite happy about montreal because London (or any UK universities, so sorry Manchester :( ) would have been too tight financially.
Still waiting for McMaster cause I'm very interested by their Msc in Math.
McGill is very prestigious so I'm not hopeful, I neglected to consider it's one of the best Canadian Uni.

Anyway, next year i'm going to Canada, hope the weather won't be much worse than the midwest :D
Last edited by Raio on Thu Mar 31, 2016 10:48 am, edited 11 times in total.

goedel_universe
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2016 4:37 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by goedel_universe » Wed Jan 06, 2016 4:53 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top 3 lib arts.
Major(s): Math, Physics
GPA in Major: 3.9ish
Overall GPA: 3.85
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: male domestic

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 168 (95%)
V: 167 (97%)
W: 4.0 (52%)
P: 800 (71%)


Research Experience: 3 years of full time summer research, math thesis, physics thesis, poster at APS general meeting, paper in pretty decent journal (3rd author).

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor, TA, Grader for math


Special Bonus Points: My recommender is well known in my field

Applying to Where:
Cambridge - Math- Tripos III accepted to churchill college, awaiting cambridge trust for funding

Yale - Phys - AMO rejected
Harvard - Phys - Cosmology rejected
MIT - Phys - Plasma rejected 2/12
UCB - Phys - Plasma rejected
Princeton - Astro - Cosmologyrejected 1/29 :(
Cornell - Phys - Cosmology rejected 2/15
Chicago - Phys - Cosmology rejected
Dartmouth - Phys - Plasma accepted!.
Wisconsin - Phys - Plasma accepted! 1/25 ~21k 1/2 time TA and one time 10k fellowship.
Maryland - Phys - Plasma a accepted!

Really not much of an idea what I am doing, but I made this list in consultation with a few profs in my department so I hope it's not completely idiotic.

EDIT: wow this was a complete crapshoot. I think my low GRE completely sunk me. I'm pretty decently satisfied with where I got in. Now to decide...
Last edited by goedel_universe on Tue Mar 15, 2016 11:37 pm, edited 10 times in total.

spectral_flow
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Nov 22, 2015 8:15 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by spectral_flow » Fri Jan 08, 2016 10:42 am

______________________________________________
Undergrad Institution: International school(started 10 years ago but increasing reputation)
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:9.58/10
Overall GPA:9.27/10
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: International Male

GRE Scores : Revised
Q: 167(94%)
V:157(74%)
W:4.0(56%)
P:900(85%)


TOEFL Total: 105

Research Experience: Two summer internships outside India, one at University of Goettingen and other at University of Alberta(Computational Condensed Matter). No publications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: DAAD fellowship, MITACS Globalink fellowship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for Basic Condensed Matter

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Member of the Student Governing Body in College

Special Bonus Points: Recommenders know me well and hopefull my MS thesis guide has given me a strong recommendation.

Applying to Where:

Indiana - Physics - CMT Rejected
Colorado Boulder - Physics - CMT Rejected 1/3
Cornell - Physics - CMT Rejected 12/2
Princeton - Physics - CMT Rejected 22/2
UBC - Physics - CMT
UCLA - Physics - CMT Rejected
Purdue - Physics - CMT Accepted 10/2. Ross fellowship 26K $
Penn State - Physics - CMT Rejected
UIUC - Physics - CMT Rejected after a long 2 month wait.
Georgia Tech - Physics - CMT Accepted 4/3. TA 24K $

GRE physics scores are important. Atleast for Theoretical physics.
Last edited by spectral_flow on Tue Apr 12, 2016 12:58 pm, edited 8 times in total.



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