Physics GRE Discussion Forums

Posted: **Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:54 pm**

Undergrad Institution: State Uni
Major(s): Physics, Math, Music (double major, dual degree)
Minor(s): -graduation with Honors
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: likely top
Type of Student: white female age 18

GRE: Haven't taken yet, don't know if its necessary

Research Experience: been working with the same professor in biophysics for 4 years, multiple conferences and presentations, and 1-2 publications. Research exerpeince in math department as well. I am not going into details for privacy sake.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater Scholar, NASA scholar, INBRE fellow, Dean's list highest honor all semesters, HERC fellow, NAAEE 30 under 30, numerous other undergrad scholarships in math and music

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Reseacher in Biophysics lab, TA for Math course

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Numerous music awards and performances

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: young graduate (18) with dual degree and double major. Maybe the youth part hurts. I hope not.

Applying to Where: Standford, CalTech, UCSB, UCSD, Berkeley, UW, MIT, Princeton, Cornell

References should be excellent

Some Questions:
1. How likely is it that I get into any of the schools above? Are they reach or do they match my profile?
2. When should I start contacting professors etc. Is right now too early?
3. Should I consider taking the GRE and subject test.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Posted: **Fri Jun 24, 2022 9:58 am**

GordonCole wrote: ↑
Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:54 pm
Undergrad Institution: State Uni
Major(s): Physics, Math, Music (double major, dual degree)
Minor(s): -graduation with Honors
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: likely top
Type of Student: white female age 18

GRE: Haven't taken yet, don't know if its necessary

Research Experience: been working with the same professor in biophysics for 4 years, multiple conferences and presentations, and 1-2 publications. Research exerpeince in math department as well. I am not going into details for privacy sake.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater Scholar, NASA scholar, INBRE fellow, Dean's list highest honor all semesters, HERC fellow, NAAEE 30 under 30, numerous other undergrad scholarships in math and music

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Reseacher in Biophysics lab, TA for Math course

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Numerous music awards and performances

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: young graduate (18) with dual degree and double major. Maybe the youth part hurts. I hope not.

Applying to Where: Standford, CalTech, UCSB, UCSD, Berkeley, UW, MIT, Princeton, Cornell

References should be excellent

Some Questions:
1. How likely is it that I get into any of the schools above? Are they reach or do they match my profile?
2. When should I start contacting professors etc. Is right now too early?
3. Should I consider taking the GRE and subject test.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Almost every applicants in the US got 4.0 GPA. So taking the P-GRE will help ad-com gauge your ability/preparation in physics. You can always choose not to send those scores if you find that you perform badly. Nonetheless, for Physics/Biophysics, there are also some other top schools, like Chicago, UIUC. Maybe you should take a look at these schools too~

Posted: **Thu Jun 30, 2022 3:38 pm**

Your application looks very good. To answer your questions more directly:

1. The best answer to that question comes from looking at previous years, but, like the stock market, past performance is not necessarily an indicator of future gains. Pending PGRE scores, I'd say that your odds are probably among the best for getting into at least a handful of those schools. That being said, it doesn't hurt to pick a couple safeties just in case it's a bad year for admissions. There are a lot of excellent state schools that would fall over themselves to get you in their program, so I'd toss in a few (which ones depend on your research interests).

2. I'd probably wait until September or October at the earliest if all you're wondering about is admissions and projected research availability.

3. I'm not sure how schools are treating the GRE and PGRE now with COVID restrictions mostly gone, but they were mandatory when I applied in 2019-2020. I suspect schools like Harvard and Caltech are anxious to bring them back in order to reduce the truly ridiculous number of applications they received in the last year, but I also know that schools like Stanford were experimenting with eliminating them even before COVID.

Physics GRE Discussion Forums

Profile Evaluation

Profile Evaluation

Re: Profile Evaluation

Re: Profile Evaluation