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Please give any advice on my overall scores...

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 10:09 am
by doublec63
Hi
I am currently senior, preparing to apply this winter for 2014 fall semester.
I have good GPA and some papers published, but unfortunately my PGRE score came out HORRIBLE...
I have taken the September and October exams and waiting for the last one to come..
but I guess my scores won't go up since October exam felt really difficult for me...(sobs)

Since I'm an international student, I've heard that I should have gotten scores higher than 900 (at least),
not to mention the reality that only shows lots of people admitted with almost perfect scores for good schools....
At first I thought of applying to top 10 schools but by Physics GRE I think my chances have gotten totally blurred.

Here's my score and other info about my publications...
Could anyone give me advice on where I can apply with safety?


Asian female/ Nationality U.S.A.; but lived mostly in Asia

home university overall GPA 3.9/4.0, Major GPA 3.86/4.0
UIUC overall GPA 3.8/4.0, Major GPA: 3.85/4.0
PGRE 880 (83%)
TOEFL 118
Publications: Three publications-two of them is 1st author(High SCI level; well-known journal), one is second author
Presentations: two poster sessions in conferences
exchange student to UIUC for a year
worked as an undergraduate tutor for a year by attending the tutoring program in my home university

Re: Please give any advice on my overall scores...

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 10:38 am
by blighter
doublec63 wrote:Hi
I am currently senior, preparing to apply this winter for 2014 fall semester.
I have good GPA and some papers published, but unfortunately my PGRE score came out HORRIBLE...
I have taken the September and October exams and waiting for the last one to come..
but I guess my scores won't go up since October exam felt really difficult for me...(sobs)

Since I'm an international student, I've heard that I should have gotten scores higher than 900 (at least),
not to mention the reality that only shows lots of people admitted with almost perfect scores for good schools....
At first I thought of applying to top 10 schools but by Physics GRE I think my chances have gotten totally blurred.

Here's my score and other info about my publications...
Could anyone give me advice on where I can apply with safety?


Asian female/ Nationality U.S.A.; but lived mostly in Asia

home university overall GPA 3.9/4.0, Major GPA 3.86/4.0
UIUC overall GPA 3.8/4.0, Major GPA: 3.85/4.0
PGRE 880 (83%)
TOEFL 118
Publications: Three publications-two of them is 1st author(High SCI level; well-known journal), one is second author
Presentations: two poster sessions in conferences
exchange student to UIUC for a year
worked as an undergraduate tutor for a year by attending the tutoring program in my home university
What? Since when is 880 a "HORRIBLE" score?

Re: Please give any advice on my overall scores...

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 10:43 am
by doublec63
blighter wrote: What? Since when is 880 a "HORRIBLE" score?
First I thought this was okay, but...
I wasn't able to find people who went abroad (to top 10 schools) with PGRE this low.. that's why I'm asking.
I know that domestic students can even get admitted to top ten schools with scores higher than 750
but not for international students..maybe

Re: Please give any advice on my overall scores...

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 11:17 am
by blighter
doublec63 wrote:
blighter wrote: What? Since when is 880 a "HORRIBLE" score?
First I thought this was okay, but...
I wasn't able to find people who went abroad with PGRE this low.. that's why I'm asking.
I know that domestic students can even get admitted to top ten schools with scores higher than 750
but not for international students..maybe
Since you're a citizen, you are for all purposes a domestic student. Besides, I think the profiles on this site aren't proper samples. They do tend to be biased on the higher end.

Re: Please give any advice on my overall scores...

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 12:28 pm
by TakeruK
Your profile is really good -- definitely worth your time to apply to top 10 schools. As blighter says, being a US citizen will help since you won't have to pay international tuition and that the profiles posted here are not a representative sample! I would say that most of the profiles you see here represent best students admitted in a given program.

Also, one of the top physics programs published the average PGRE score for a successful applicant to be 880: http://www.pma.caltech.edu/GSR/gre&toefl.html This means there are plenty of people who scored below this and still got in!

Re: Please give any advice on my overall scores...

Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 2:21 am
by bfollinprm
...yeah, you aren't an international student. Though if you did your undergrad abroad, then be sure to let the admissions committee know in your SoP or elsewhere that you're an American Citizen. There _are_ different piles (mostly because of different funding constraints) and you don't want to be put on the wrong one.