Physics GRE Discussion Forums

I'm not US university student.
GPA is not 4.0 scale.
GPA 4.0x/4.5
Physics GRE 990/990
General GRE verbal 155 quan 165 writing 3.0
No research experience except a senior thesis.
TOEFL 100

What schools should I apply to?
Currently I'm thinking about applying to UC berkeley, Santa babara, San Diego, LA, Davis.
My professor wants to write only 5 letter of recommendation.
Is this OK?
How probable is it for me to get into top 5 school such as stanford, havard, mit, etc.

Seeing as all the schools you mentioned except for Davis have applications due in the next two to three days...I would make a decision pretty fast. I can't say anything about your prospects but will mention that many international students on this site have found it difficult to gain admission from the UC's because they are public and would rather fund domestic students. So unless you're bringing funding from your home country I would possibly recommend applying to fewer UC's.

1) The UC schools are notorious for having fewer spots available for international students.

2) It's important to have research experience when applying to US grad schools.

3) A 990 PGRE does not help much for international students applying to good graduate programs.

So overall I think your odds of being admitted to the UC's are low. You should still apply to some of them, but consider adding some schools that are much lower in ranking. I don't think there's any chance of being admitted to a top 5.

Changed applying school list : UCB,U michigan AA,Pensylvania State U, UC Davis, Michigan state university.
Is this seem alright?
Is there any chance that I am admitted one of these?
I want to do theoretical things.

Again, your list is all state universities. I think the situation is much better outside of California but I certainly wouldn't be restricting myself to solely public universities if I was an international. Perhaps add one (if not more) private one if your heart is not totally set on those? Also, why does your recommender only want you to apply to 5 schools? Surely he/she just writes one letter and then just uploads it to all the schools you apply to? It's not exactly difficult - my recommenders submitted all of mine quite quickly.

I'm thinking about getting admitted in low rank school in US and getting some research experience then reapplying to top schools.
Is it good idea?
How can I improve my profile?

There is no way to guarantee admission to a top 10 school as an international student. If you're serious about doing that, which is a really bad idea imo, the only thing you can improve is your research history.

rar0308 wrote:I'm not US university student.
GPA is not 4.0 scale.
GPA 4.0x/4.5
Physics GRE 990/990
General GRE verbal 155 quan 165 writing 3.0
No research experience except a senior thesis.
TOEFL 100

What schools should I apply to?
Currently I'm thinking about applying to UC berkeley, Santa babara, San Diego, LA, Davis.
My professor wants to write only 5 letter of recommendation.
Is this OK?
How probable is it for me to get into top 5 school such as stanford, havard, mit, etc.

Which college did you finally get into?