Do i have a shot at stanford???

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piyushag
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 8:18 am

Do i have a shot at stanford???

Post by piyushag » Sun Dec 08, 2013 12:20 am

My profile:
International Student

Undergrad Institution : one of the IIT's (well known in india)
Major : Applied Physics
Major GPA : 8.3/10 (absolute)
Overall GPA: 7.74/10
PGRE : 930
GRE : 148 (V), 164 (Q)
AWA: 3
Toefl: given, waiting for results

Research : a couple of projects (all in solar physics)
1. REU internship at Colorado, Boulder (with a very renowned scientist, still working with him), went back to him after a year to continue the project - 4 months
2. Trinity College Dublin, Ireland - 3 months
3. Udaipur Solar Observatory, India - 2 months
4. Esrange Space Center, Sweden: Coding for the pointing system for Sunrise Observatory (a balloon borne Satellite)
4. Workshop: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Tokyo

Papers : None

Recommendations : Awesome

I'm interested in Solar Physics:

Colorado: already applied (top choice)

Still to send:
Stanford
NJIT
Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa

Do i have a shot at Stanford, and how much is the GPA gonna hurt me..??

User avatar
WhoaNonstop
Posts: 853
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:31 am

Re: Do i have a shot at stanford???

Post by WhoaNonstop » Sun Dec 08, 2013 2:19 pm

piyushag wrote:My profile:
International Student

Undergrad Institution : one of the IIT's (well known in india)
Major : Applied Physics
Major GPA : 8.3/10 (absolute)
Overall GPA: 7.74/10
PGRE : 930
GRE : 148 (V), 164 (Q)
AWA: 3
Toefl: given, waiting for results

Research : a couple of projects (all in solar physics)
1. REU internship at Colorado, Boulder (with a very renowned scientist, still working with him), went back to him after a year to continue the project - 4 months
2. Trinity College Dublin, Ireland - 3 months
3. Udaipur Solar Observatory, India - 2 months
4. Esrange Space Center, Sweden: Coding for the pointing system for Sunrise Observatory (a balloon borne Satellite)
4. Workshop: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Tokyo

Papers : None

Recommendations : Awesome

I'm interested in Solar Physics:

Colorado: already applied (top choice)

Still to send:
Stanford
NJIT
Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa

Do i have a shot at Stanford, and how much is the GPA gonna hurt me..??

I don't know enough about international students applying to Stanford. You can probably look through the profiles searching for Stanford and matching internationals. Are you applying for applied physics or general physics? Did the work at Colorado go well? I would suggest your best offer will come from Colorado if it did. Probably a slight chance to get into Stanford, but who knows.

-Riley

YAHA
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 11:22 pm

Re: Do i have a shot at stanford???

Post by YAHA » Sun Dec 08, 2013 10:43 pm

WhoaNonstop wrote:
piyushag wrote:My profile:
International Student

Undergrad Institution : one of the IIT's (well known in india)
Major : Applied Physics
Major GPA : 8.3/10 (absolute)
Overall GPA: 7.74/10
PGRE : 930
GRE : 148 (V), 164 (Q)
AWA: 3
Toefl: given, waiting for results

Research : a couple of projects (all in solar physics)
1. REU internship at Colorado, Boulder (with a very renowned scientist, still working with him), went back to him after a year to continue the project - 4 months
2. Trinity College Dublin, Ireland - 3 months
3. Udaipur Solar Observatory, India - 2 months
4. Esrange Space Center, Sweden: Coding for the pointing system for Sunrise Observatory (a balloon borne Satellite)
4. Workshop: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Tokyo

Papers : None

Recommendations : Awesome

I'm interested in Solar Physics:

Colorado: already applied (top choice)

Still to send:
Stanford
NJIT
Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa

Do i have a shot at Stanford, and how much is the GPA gonna hurt me..??

I don't know enough about international students applying to Stanford. You can probably look through the profiles searching for Stanford and matching internationals. Are you applying for applied physics or general physics? Did the work at Colorado go well? I would suggest your best offer will come from Colorado if it did. Probably a slight chance to get into Stanford, but who knows.

-Riley

How are applied physics department different in terms of admission? Is it true that they are slightly less competitive? The work I want to do (condensed matter and electronics) is very close to being applied physics, but so far I have been applying to pure physics programs which have an extensive number of faculty in those areas. That said, I am thinking of trying my luck at a couple places like Stanford and Caltech. Is it fair to say that it is relatively easier to be admitted to the applied side than the general physics? I imagine that on the physics side I also have to compete with people who are shooting for HEPT, HEPX, string theory stuff, etc

piyushag
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 8:18 am

Re: Do i have a shot at stanford???

Post by piyushag » Mon Dec 09, 2013 2:10 am

@Riley
Thanks boss......i know there is no hard and fast way to give a YES or NO as the answer, which was actually what i was looking for (my bad).......

So, the only one way to find out, i'll be sending my applications there.....i did contact one professor there, who said they MAINLY look for PGRE and LORs.......so, with 930 in PGRE and my great research recommenders.....i think it would be worth giving it a shot......

@yaha
as per RELIABLE sources, the department (PHYSICS) receives around 600 applicants out of which they take about 60......for a target course of 30....so it is quite competitive........

User avatar
WhoaNonstop
Posts: 853
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:31 am

Re: Do i have a shot at stanford???

Post by WhoaNonstop » Mon Dec 09, 2013 11:20 am

I mean, you are international so your score might be slightly too low but I don't think it's worth not applying unless you're short on money. I think you have a chance.

-Riley



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