problem with first degree gpa.

[prem]

Hi....i am an international student doing bachelor's in physics in US.I have two bachelor degrees..
Bachelor's in engineering in india
Bs physics (graduating in 2011)

physics gpa-3.9
pgre-990
quant-800
verb-730
very good research in HEP..good number of publications in related field.
I am going to apply for phd in HEP(theory) in top univs.but the prob is i have a very low engineering gpa (2.7) .but it has no physics courses except 3 math courses in which i got A A & C.

Will the univ ppl consider a degree which has no physics courses??
Will this first degree gpa affect my admission??.without which i think i have pretty good chances.But am really tensed about my first degree.

please help me out

[geshi]

Will the univ ppl consider a degree which has no physics courses??
Will this first degree gpa affect my admission??.without which i think i have pretty good chances.But am really tensed about my first degree.

They will place ALL emphasis on your first degree which is almost completely irrelevant to physics.

The take home message: no.

Second take home message if you didn't like the first: Mention it in your SOP if you're THAT worried about it. "Oh I was just so immature when I got my first degree, I never learned to study and I skipped a lot of class. I've gotten much better as you can tell!"

[WhoaNonstop]

Is the Physics degree based on the Engineering degree, or is it completely outside of that? If these degrees were at different schools, I would suggest not reporting the Engineering degree. It has no relevance to Physics graduate school anyways.

-Riley

[prem]

First degree was in india....second degree is in a US state univ....first degree has nothing to do with my new physics degree no common courses and completely unconnected to physics.

I emailed MIT,HARVARD and PRINCETON...grad admissions head of all the 3 univs told tat it would be to my advantage to include both transcripts but the admissions office mailed me saying that both transcripts should be included. am confused

[prem]

no more replies!! please help me out

[kroner]

First degree was in india....second degree is in a US state univ....first degree has nothing to do with my new physics degree no common courses and completely unconnected to physics.

I emailed MIT,HARVARD and PRINCETON...grad admissions head of all the 3 univs told tat it would be to my advantage to include both transcripts but the admissions office mailed me saying that both transcripts should be included. am confused

If they both told you to include both transcripts then you should probably include both transcripts. Schools want to see your entire academic record, and then they can judge themselves which parts are relevant and which are not. They probably won't care much about your grades from your first non-physics degree, but it sounds like you need to send the transcript anyway.

[HappyQuark]

First degree was in india....second degree is in a US state univ....first degree has nothing to do with my new physics degree no common courses and completely unconnected to physics.

I emailed MIT,HARVARD and PRINCETON...grad admissions head of all the 3 univs told tat it would be to my advantage to include both transcripts but the admissions office mailed me saying that both transcripts should be included. am confused

Just for clarification are you saying that both the grad admissions head and the admissions committee told you to include both transcripts? In your sentence you said, "but the admissions..." which seems to say that there was some disagreement between the two groups.

[WhoaNonstop]

...the 3 univs told tat it would be to my advantage to include both transcripts

If you think these universities have a way of figuring out that you did two undergraduates when they are completely unrelated, then send both of the undergraduate transcripts. If you think these universities have no way of figuring out that you have two undergraduate degrees, then decide what is best in your opinion to tell them. If you feel the engineering degree will weigh heavily against you, don't mention it, because truthfully that degree doesn't "really matter" in progression towards your physics PhD.

Most of all, just do what you think feels right and stop worrying about top schools. I would concentrate on a few lower schools if you're this panicked about it.

-Riley

[prem]

I emailed MIT,HARVARD and PRINCETON...grad admissions head of all the 3 univs told tat it would be to my advantage to include both transcripts but the admissions office mailed me saying that both transcripts should be included. am confused

Just for clarification are you saying that both the grad admissions head and the admissions committee told you to include both transcripts? In your sentence you said, "but the admissions..." which seems to say that there was some disagreement between the two groups.

yea there was a kind of disagreement.because the heads told that it was not compulsory,but the admissions office told that it is necessary to include both.

[prem]

If you think these universities have a way of figuring out that you did two undergraduates when they are completely unrelated, then send both of the undergraduate transcripts. If you think these universities have no way of figuring out that you have two undergraduate degrees, then decide what is best in your opinion to tell them. If you feel the engineering degree will weigh heavily against you, don't mention it, because truthfully that degree doesn't "really matter" in progression towards your physics PhD.

-Riley

I think they might know because in the second bachelor's degree it is not necessary to take environmental,social etc.. kinda stuff.....you just need to take all the physics and math courses needed.so i just completed it in 2 years 1 sem instead of 4 years.

so its better ill include two transcripts.and ill just explain in SOP that i was not interested in engineering so the grades.

[HappyQuark]

If you think these universities have a way of figuring out that you did two undergraduates when they are completely unrelated, then send both of the undergraduate transcripts. If you think these universities have no way of figuring out that you have two undergraduate degrees, then decide what is best in your opinion to tell them. If you feel the engineering degree will weigh heavily against you, don't mention it, because truthfully that degree doesn't "really matter" in progression towards your physics PhD.

-Riley

I think they might know because in the second bachelor's degree it is not necessary to take environmental,social etc.. kinda stuff.....you just need to take all the physics and math courses needed.so i just completed it in 2 years 1 sem instead of 4 years.

so its better ill include two transcripts.and ill just explain in SOP that i was not interested in engineering so the grades.

I would recommend including both. In all likelihood they won't care if you did poorly in an unrelated major, especially if you did particularly well in your physics gpa, which it seems you did. It would be worth spending a very small amount of time addressing the differences between the 2 grade point averages and, on the plus side, you could easily swing it in your favor (e.g. you could suggest that you enjoy physics and that the drastic improvements you made demonstrate your potential to work in the field).