Clueless int. student profile eval

[JohanV]

So I come here asking for advice as an almost clueless mexican physics junior daunted by the task of finding a gradschool in the US.

Uni: Top 3-4 mexican university, but university of nowhere according to QS rankings
Major: Physics
GPA in Major = Overall GPA = 98/100 (= 3.9/4)
Length of Degree = 4.5 yrs
Position in Class: top 1-3/60 don't know exactly
Type of Student: Mexican male

GRE Scores : I was not planning to take this test

TOEFL Total = 107 (C1)

Research Experience:
At the time of my application, in 1.3 years I expect to have:
Summer internship in cosmology, 1 coauthor paper. (this year)
10 months Research experience in the gravitational physics group at my uni, possibly another coauthor. (this group is top grav groups in latin america)
Second summer internship, no idea if can publish paper.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
I have to spend 480 hours of my senior year doing social service as a requirement to graduate, this is time I will not spend doing research and I hope I can explain this in my SOP or somewhere else

Advanced classes:
Last semester: topics in QM , Electrodynamics, Stat phys.
Second last semester: Topics in GR, QM, solid state, Computational physics III.

Applying to Where: This is where I'm clueless and need help, I'm interested in cosmology/numerical relativity/computational astro. I have no idea what should be my safe schools, reach schools etc. Comments on UT Austin would be specially helpful

[geekusprimus]

I won't be much help in cosmology or more general topics in computational astrophysics, but I'm currently doing a PhD on numerical relativity and can give you a broad overview of several different groups. I'll make a point to highlight some of the tools they use, as that gives you an idea of who their collaborators are. In no particular order, here are some schools:

• The University of Texas: UT has three faculty who do some numerical relativity: Deirdre Shoemaker, Pablo Laguna, and Aaron Zimmerman. Shoemaker and Laguna use Maya (based on the Einstein Toolkit), while Zimmerman has historically been involved with the SXS collaboration and likely uses more of their tools. All of them seem to be primarily interested in binary black holes. UT is probably a lower reach. I would definitely put them on your list, as they're a very good school for physics independent of field.
• Princeton University: Frans Pretorius is widely respected throughout the NR community; he was the first to model a successful binary black hole merger. From what I can tell, his tools tend to be closed source and purpose-built for his projects. Much of his research focuses on hard problems that no one else has solved, such as viscous relativistic hydrodynamics, using NR to model cosmological problems, and simulations with alternative gravity or non-baryonic matter. Admissions at Princeton are a combination of luck and merit; they intentionally keep a small graduate program, so getting in and working with a particular researcher is as much a matter of timing as it is your qualifications. I would put them in the super reach category. Apply if you think you can get some strong letters of recommendation, but don't get your hopes up, either.
• Penn State University: David Radice leads the NR group at Penn State. His interests are primarily in binary neutron star mergers and multimessenger astrophysics. He currently uses WhiskyTHC for most of his work, but he's involved in the efforts to extend the Athena++ astrophysics code to support NR problems. Penn State is a leading institution for gravitational physics and multimessenger astrophysics, but they're probably easier to get into than UT. I'd put them on your list.
• Rochester Institute of Technology: RIT has a lot of faculty in computational astrophysics, particularly numerical relativity. Some of the ones I'm aware of off the top of my head are Manuela Campanelli, Carlos Lousto, Joshua Faber, and Yosef Zlochower. Most of them use codes based on the Einstein Toolkit (such as LazEv or GRHydro), but Zlochower is also part of the newer Dendro collaboration. Topics vary between faculty, and odds are that you can find something of interest to you here. RIT is more of a mid-tier school for astrophysics, but many of their faculty are highly respected, so I'd put them on your list as a good safety school. Something to be aware of as well is that the PhD program here is an astronomy and astrophysics program (titled "Astrophysical Sciences and Technology"), not a physics program. Your coursework will differ somewhat as a result.
• Brigham Young University: BYU has David Neilsen and Eric Hirschmann, who are part of the Dendro collaboration. Their primary interests currently are in binary black holes, but they've done considerable work on neutron stars in the past. BYU is a safety school in terms of physics reputation, but much of their funding is tied up in undergraduate research. Consequently, graduate physics admissions are more closely tied to having specific faculty agreeing to work with you than other institutions.
• Cornell and Caltech: I'm listing these two institutions together because Saul Teukolsky, who has a joint appointment at both schools, is a central figure in their NR groups. Most, though not all, of the other faculty are on so-called "soft" money (i.e., research faculty). They're key institutions in the SXS collaboration, and while I'm sure there are a wide variety of things you can work on, much of the NR research is focused on code development for SpECTRE. While these are amazing schools for physics (with equally daunting admissions), be aware that SpECTRE has been in development for more than a decade at this point with relatively little to show for it.
• University of New Hampshire: I would classify UNH as another safety, but Francois Foucart is well respected as a researcher. His work is similar to David Radice's in many respects, but he works as part of the SXS collaboration. I think this would be a good safety school to have on your list.

Some other schools I'm aware of that also have faculty working or dabbling in NR which you might be interested in looking at:

• University of Arizona (Vasileios Paschalidis, IllinoisGRMHD)
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (it's a great school, but I wouldn't recommend applying here for NR; message me if you want more details)
• Long Island University (Steven Liebling, SimFlowny)
• University of Idaho (Zach Etienne, IllinoisGRMHD/BlackHoles@Home)
• Washington State University (Matthew Duez, SXS)

This is by no means an exhaustive list, particularly if you're also willing to look outside the US.

[JohanV]

Ok this is an extremely useful answer, thank you very much.
It is a great start because I want to figure most things out by this summer that I have some time. I didn't know about many of those programs, so i'll check them. btw where do you currently study?

[firearmguy]

I won't be much help in cosmology or more general topics in computational astrophysics, but I'm currently doing a PhD on numerical relativity and can give you a broad overview of several different groups. I'll make a point to highlight some of the tools they use, as that gives you an idea of who their collaborators are. In no particular order, here are some schools:

• The University of Texas: UT has three faculty who do some numerical relativity: Deirdre Shoemaker, Pablo Laguna, and Aaron Zimmerman. Shoemaker and Laguna use Maya (based on the Einstein Toolkit), while Zimmerman has historically been involved with the SXS collaboration and likely uses more of their tools. All of them seem to be primarily interested in binary black holes. UT is probably a lower reach. I would definitely put them on your list, as they're a very good school for physics independent of field.
• Princeton University: Frans Pretorius is widely respected throughout the NR community; he was the first to model a successful binary black hole merger. From what I can tell, his tools tend to be closed source and purpose-built for his projects. Much of his research focuses on hard problems that no one else has solved, such as viscous relativistic hydrodynamics, using NR to model cosmological problems, and simulations with alternative gravity or non-baryonic matter. Admissions at Princeton are a combination of luck and merit; they intentionally keep a small graduate program, so getting in and working with a particular researcher is as much a matter of timing as it is your qualifications. I would put them in the super reach category. Apply if you think you can get some strong letters of recommendation, but don't get your hopes up, either.
• Penn State University: David Radice leads the NR group at Penn State. His interests are primarily in binary neutron star mergers and multimessenger astrophysics. He currently uses WhiskyTHC for most of his work, but he's involved in the efforts to extend the Athena++ astrophysics code to support NR problems. Penn State is a leading institution for gravitational physics and multimessenger astrophysics, but they're probably easier to get into than UT. I'd put them on your list.
• Rochester Institute of Technology: RIT has a lot of faculty in computational astrophysics, particularly numerical relativity. Some of the ones I'm aware of off the top of my head are Manuela Campanelli, Carlos Lousto, Joshua Faber, and Yosef Zlochower. Most of them use codes based on the Einstein Toolkit (such as LazEv or GRHydro), but Zlochower is also part of the newer Dendro collaboration. Topics vary between faculty, and odds are that you can find something of interest to you here. RIT is more of a mid-tier school for astrophysics, but many of their faculty are highly respected, so I'd put them on your list as a good safety school. Something to be aware of as well is that the PhD program here is an astronomy and astrophysics program (titled "Astrophysical Sciences and Technology"), not a physics program. Your coursework will differ somewhat as a result.
• Brigham Young University: BYU has David Neilsen and Eric Hirschmann, who are part of the Dendro collaboration. Their primary interests currently are in binary black holes, but they've done considerable work on neutron stars in the past. BYU is a safety school in terms of physics reputation, but much of their funding is tied up in undergraduate research. Consequently, graduate physics admissions are more closely tied to having specific faculty agreeing to work with you than other institutions.
• Cornell and Caltech: I'm listing these two institutions together because Saul Teukolsky, who has a joint appointment at both schools, is a central figure in their NR groups. Most, though not all, of the other faculty are on so-called "soft" money (i.e., research faculty). They're key institutions in the SXS collaboration, and while I'm sure there are a wide variety of things you can work on, much of the NR research is focused on code development for SpECTRE. While these are amazing schools for physics (with equally daunting admissions), be aware that SpECTRE has been in development for more than a decade at this point with relatively little to show for it.
• University of New Hampshire: I would classify UNH as another safety, but Francois Foucart is well respected as a researcher. His work is similar to David Radice's in many respects, but he works as part of the SXS collaboration. I think this would be a good safety school to have on your list.

Some other schools I'm aware of that also have faculty working or dabbling in NR which you might be interested in looking at:

• University of Arizona (Vasileios Paschalidis, IllinoisGRMHD)
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (it's a great school, but I wouldn't recommend applying here for NR; message me if you want more details)
• Long Island University (Steven Liebling, SimFlowny)
• University of Idaho (Zach Etienne, IllinoisGRMHD/BlackHoles@Home)
• Washington State University (Matthew Duez, SXS)

This is by no means an exhaustive list, particularly if you're also willing to look outside the US.

pmed about more details on Illinois NR

[lasereyeremoval]

What about Tufts? They have a good theoretical cosmology group; not sure if that's exactly what you're looking for.