Physics GRE Discussion Forums

Hello all,

It's my first time posting but i've been reading awhile. I'm graduating from Berkeley with degrees in Physics and Economics and have decided to apply to medical physics programs, particularly Columbia since my fiancé is planning to attend NYU law at the same time. My question is this, when grad schools are looking for a major gpa (the only one, I've been told, that really matters), are they including lower division or just upper division? I have a 4.0 through lower division but came on some hard times outside of school my junior year and my gpa suffered for it. I'll be graduating with a total major gpa of 3.72 but an upper of 3.53. I haven't officially taken the PGRE or GRE but I have taken the practice classes and consistently score in the 90% (PGRE) and higher on the GRE. I got lucky and got hired at LBL as the only non-PhD working on the new particle accelerator doing actual design work in MCNPX. I haven't published anything but I have given a couple presentations and have strong letters of recommendation and a lot of community service (tutoring, inner-city volunteer work, etc.). I also have a couple medical devices I'm hoping to file patents for after trials come back. That's pretty much all I got. Do you think that GPA is too low? I have a C+ that's pulling it down from that rough patch last year. Is it worth explaining? Oh, and I've worked full-time my whole college career so I obviously don't have the same advantages of those who can afford not to but I'm not sure admission boards care about my sob stories haha. What do you guys think? Anyone with similar specs actually get accepted to top 10 schools? Thanks for your time guys!

bears78 wrote:Hello all,

It's my first time posting but i've been reading awhile. I'm graduating from Berkeley with degrees in Physics and Economics and have decided to apply to medical physics programs, particularly Columbia since my fiancé is planning to attend NYU law at the same time. My question is this, when grad schools are looking for a major gpa (the only one, I've been told, that really matters), are they including lower division or just upper division? I have a 4.0 through lower division but came on some hard times outside of school my junior year and my gpa suffered for it. I'll be graduating with a total major gpa of 3.72 but an upper of 3.53. I haven't officially taken the PGRE or GRE but I have taken the practice classes and consistently score in the 90% (PGRE) and higher on the GRE. I got lucky and got hired at LBL as the only non-PhD working on the new particle accelerator doing actual design work in MCNPX. I haven't published anything but I have given a couple presentations and have strong letters of recommendation and a lot of community service (tutoring, inner-city volunteer work, etc.). I also have a couple medical devices I'm hoping to file patents for after trials come back. That's pretty much all I got. Do you think that GPA is too low? I have a C+ that's pulling it down from that rough patch last year. Is it worth explaining? Oh, and I've worked full-time my whole college career so I obviously don't have the same advantages of those who can afford not to but I'm not sure admission boards care about my sob stories haha. What do you guys think? Anyone with similar specs actually get accepted to top 10 schools? Thanks for your time guys!

Hm, good grades from a school with an excellent reputation in physics, great PGRE score, excellent research experience, all while working full time and you still managed to help the inner-city children... I'd aim for Northern Kansas College because you're purely never going to get into a top 10.

You're fine, stop stressing

For your physics GPA, the norm is for both lower and upper divs. They will specify if they mean anything else. Some schools I applied to asked for the last 60 major credits I took, others asked only for junior and senior year.

Go Bears!

I went to Columbia (Medical Physics) - granted a few years ago (just as things started to get more competitive).
I had a horrible GPA in a non-Physics undergrad, but a great GPA in a non-physics graduate. I did have radiation oncology experience though.
Any ways, I know the committee at Columbia really does "look at the big picture".
you will have no problem getting in.

Really appreciate the feedback guys! The whole process is riddles with uncertainty and any information at all goes a long way. Thanks again!

Bears78
so did you get accepted?

bears78 wrote:Really appreciate the feedback guys! The whole process is riddles with uncertainty and any information at all goes a long way. Thanks again!

You can repay us by adding your profile to the profiles section. This is a huge help for future applicants!

http://www.physicsgre.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2824

Hey Everyone,

Sorry I forgot to update this. I'm still receiving decisions from different schools but so far I've been accepted back to Berkeley and also Cornell. Both schools have offered full tuition, stipend and health care per the usual for a PhD program Cornell also offered me a Sloan Fellowship. I'll keep you updated and add my profile to the profile link below.

Great subject of this post! Thanks a lot! Looking forward to hear more from your application.

Accepted to Johns Hopkins, Cornell, UPenn and back to Berkeley. Haven't heard from UCLA, Columbia or UCL

bears78 wrote:Accepted to Johns Hopkins, Cornell, UPenn and back to Berkeley. Haven't heard from UCLA, Columbia or UCL

Post your profile in the profile thread, please