Advice on my grad school list?
Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 3:15 pm
Advice on my grad school list
I’m trying to finalize my grad school list soon and was hoping for advice on my current list. Is it realistic, or should I aim lower or higher? Also please feel free to suggest any schools not on this list that you think might be a good match for my stats + research interests (if you know of any).
Last year I applied to 10 schools, all PhD programs in physics and/or astronomy. 8 of them were UC schools (the other two were UT Austin and U Washington), and I said in all my applications that I wanted to focus on theoretical and computational cosmology. I got rejected everywhere (in retrospect, not surprised). I applied during the fall of my 5th year (took an extra quarter so this was my last quarter). Last year, here were my stats:
GPA: 3.63 (last two years cumulative GPA from a top school); 3.92 (first two years at a lesser-known public school before transferring to the top school)
Major: Physics
GRE: 163Q, 156V, 4.0AW
PGRE: 21st percentile (5 out of 10 schools I applied to required this; didn’t send it to the others)
Letters of rec: 2 from former PIs + 1 from a prof of a class I did well in (but he didn’t know me very well)
Research: Did research in theoretical astrophysics (creating models of interstellar dust extinction) throughout my 4th year, which resulted in a poster presentation at my school’s undergrad research day as well as at an astronomy conference. I also did two summers of research (summer before 4th year and summer before 5th year) in the Planetary & Space Sciences department, and this professor told me his letter of rec was strong.
Other: I was very involved with the Physics department (leadership positions in almost every astronomy/physics/women in physics club), and was also the manager of a student-run research project where I mentored younger undergrads.
Updated stats of this year:
GRE: Going to retake next month
PGRE: Going to retake this month. I don’t expect to do significantly better, but less of the schools require the score this time around.
Research: Since I graduated (Dec 2018), I’ve been doing a lot more research. From Jan-June I worked with a professor at my school in observational astrophysics and we are currently prepping a publication. In July I started working full-time doing science and data analysis of data from a NASA-funded satellite which is run out of my school, and this is what I’m doing currently.
Additional coursework: I took a grad course at my school in cosmology/extragalactic astrophysics (the second one in the grad series, without taking the first one), and got an A. I’m also currently taking a machine learning in R class online (offered through my school), which I expect to get an A in.
Letters of rec: I will now have 4 letters available, all from previous or current PIs and I believe they will be stronger.
My current grad school list:
1. UCLA — PhD in Astronomy/Astrophysics
My undergrad school, and also applied last year. Requires the PGRE.
2. UC Irvine — PhD in Physics
Also applied last year. Does not consider PGRE.
3. UC Santa Cruz — PhD in Astronomy/Astrophysics
Also applied last year. PGRE is optional but recommended.
4. University of British Columbia — Masters in Astronomy
PGRE is optional, but they say to report if you’ve taken it…
5. Georgia Tech — PhD in Physics
PGRE is optional (will not submit).
6. University of Oregon — PhD in Physics
PGRE is required.
7. Cal State Northridge — Masters in Physics
PGRE not required (I think).
8. University of Southern California — PhD in Physics w/ Masters in Computer Science (joint program)
PGRE is required.
9. UMass Amherst — PhD in Astronomy
PGRE is optional (will not submit).
10. San Fransisco State — Masters in Physics w/ concentration in Astronomy
PGRE optional or not considered (will not submit).
11. Wesleyan University — PhD in Physics
PGRE recommended but not required (will not submit).
I’m also going to saying in my apps that I’m interested in observational astronomy (primarily extragalactic); I have a strong interest for the CMB and large-scale structure (such as large galaxy surveys and SN1a observations). All advice is welcome! I don’t really want to apply to any more than this number of schools, but I am open to replacing some on here with better options if available. Thanks!
I’m trying to finalize my grad school list soon and was hoping for advice on my current list. Is it realistic, or should I aim lower or higher? Also please feel free to suggest any schools not on this list that you think might be a good match for my stats + research interests (if you know of any).
Last year I applied to 10 schools, all PhD programs in physics and/or astronomy. 8 of them were UC schools (the other two were UT Austin and U Washington), and I said in all my applications that I wanted to focus on theoretical and computational cosmology. I got rejected everywhere (in retrospect, not surprised). I applied during the fall of my 5th year (took an extra quarter so this was my last quarter). Last year, here were my stats:
GPA: 3.63 (last two years cumulative GPA from a top school); 3.92 (first two years at a lesser-known public school before transferring to the top school)
Major: Physics
GRE: 163Q, 156V, 4.0AW
PGRE: 21st percentile (5 out of 10 schools I applied to required this; didn’t send it to the others)
Letters of rec: 2 from former PIs + 1 from a prof of a class I did well in (but he didn’t know me very well)
Research: Did research in theoretical astrophysics (creating models of interstellar dust extinction) throughout my 4th year, which resulted in a poster presentation at my school’s undergrad research day as well as at an astronomy conference. I also did two summers of research (summer before 4th year and summer before 5th year) in the Planetary & Space Sciences department, and this professor told me his letter of rec was strong.
Other: I was very involved with the Physics department (leadership positions in almost every astronomy/physics/women in physics club), and was also the manager of a student-run research project where I mentored younger undergrads.
Updated stats of this year:
GRE: Going to retake next month
PGRE: Going to retake this month. I don’t expect to do significantly better, but less of the schools require the score this time around.
Research: Since I graduated (Dec 2018), I’ve been doing a lot more research. From Jan-June I worked with a professor at my school in observational astrophysics and we are currently prepping a publication. In July I started working full-time doing science and data analysis of data from a NASA-funded satellite which is run out of my school, and this is what I’m doing currently.
Additional coursework: I took a grad course at my school in cosmology/extragalactic astrophysics (the second one in the grad series, without taking the first one), and got an A. I’m also currently taking a machine learning in R class online (offered through my school), which I expect to get an A in.
Letters of rec: I will now have 4 letters available, all from previous or current PIs and I believe they will be stronger.
My current grad school list:
1. UCLA — PhD in Astronomy/Astrophysics
My undergrad school, and also applied last year. Requires the PGRE.
2. UC Irvine — PhD in Physics
Also applied last year. Does not consider PGRE.
3. UC Santa Cruz — PhD in Astronomy/Astrophysics
Also applied last year. PGRE is optional but recommended.
4. University of British Columbia — Masters in Astronomy
PGRE is optional, but they say to report if you’ve taken it…
5. Georgia Tech — PhD in Physics
PGRE is optional (will not submit).
6. University of Oregon — PhD in Physics
PGRE is required.
7. Cal State Northridge — Masters in Physics
PGRE not required (I think).
8. University of Southern California — PhD in Physics w/ Masters in Computer Science (joint program)
PGRE is required.
9. UMass Amherst — PhD in Astronomy
PGRE is optional (will not submit).
10. San Fransisco State — Masters in Physics w/ concentration in Astronomy
PGRE optional or not considered (will not submit).
11. Wesleyan University — PhD in Physics
PGRE recommended but not required (will not submit).
I’m also going to saying in my apps that I’m interested in observational astronomy (primarily extragalactic); I have a strong interest for the CMB and large-scale structure (such as large galaxy surveys and SN1a observations). All advice is welcome! I don’t really want to apply to any more than this number of schools, but I am open to replacing some on here with better options if available. Thanks!