2025 Applicant Profile and Admission Results

[ChadmannWeyl]

This is the most useful resource PhysicsGRE has to offer. If you have used this information in the past or are currently using it to help decide upon schools, I highly suggest you help out and post your own profile once you have applied to schools. Future members of this forum will find it very useful! Don't be shy!

Copy and paste the template below in your reply to keep the formatting.

Note from moderator: Profile threads are best when they only have profiles. Please avoid making other posts on this thread. If you wish to discuss profiles, it is helpful to have a separate "profile discussion thread", as was done in some past years. Thanks.

______________________________________________
Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?)... Overall Reputation in Physics?)
Major(s):
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:
Overall GPA:
Length of Degree: (Are you graduating after 3, 4, or 5 years?)
Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?)
Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?)

GRE Scores: If you have them


TOEFL: (R: , L: , S: , W: )


Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:

School - Department - Research Interest Feb. 28: (WILL ATTEND for Ph.D. Accepted via website/email + $Xk Fellowship + $XXk/X month TA)
School - Department - Research Interest (Feb. 14: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via website/

[ChadmannWeyl]

Undergrad Institution: Large State School
Major(s): Physics, Math (Honors)
GPA: 3.99/4.00
Physics/Math GPA: 4.0
Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Subject Test in Physics:
Not taking

Program Applying: Mathematical Physics (TQFT, higher category theory, applications to topological phases of matter and higher symmetries in QFT)

Research Experience:
Summer after sophomore year:
- IAS Park City Math Institute: Summer school in quantum information + 3 week research project in dynamical systems
- Polymath Jr. Remote research program: researched combinatorial representation theory & applications to lattice models in physics

Summer after junior year:
- REU at large state school: Researched topological phases of matter, tensor categories, and TQFTs. Achieved a really nice result, but no publication.

Senior year:
- Writing thesis in TQFT and higher representation theory with professor at my school.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
- Presented summer research at Young Mathematicians Conference & JMM in January.
- Multiple large scholarships from physics/math departments and honors societies.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Private math, physics, and SAT tutor for a couple years

Graduate Courses Taken (by graduation):
Math: Algebraic Topology, Differentiable Manifolds, Higher Representation Theory/TQFT I&II, Algebraic Geometry II
Physics: QFT I, GR I, QFT II, Quantum Gravity

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
2 of my letter writers are well known in the field that I am applying for and regard me very highly.

Physics Schools I am applying to (Also applying to math schools)

Harvard -
MIT -
Chicago -
Stony Brook -
UCLA -
NYU -
UCSD - Invited to Interview (12/29)

[5437ly]

Hey all! I’ve been stalking this forum for a while so I figured I’d contribute now that I’m applying. Good luck to everyone!

Undergrad Institution: Top Canadian school
Major(s): Astronomy and Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.81/4.0
Overall GPA: 3.83/4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Above class average
Type of Student: Canadian female

GRE Scores: none

Research Experience:
(All at my institution)
Summer research program in astro observation/some theory, publication is in preparation (4th author)
Summer research program in Astro observation, continued the project to be my undergrad thesis, aiming to pub by April. Presented at Canadian Undergrad Physics Conference.

Pubs: no pubs yet but some expected as mentioned above

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
NSERC Undergrad Research Award
Hon. Mention for summer research award & hon. Mention for conference poster
Deans list, prize in astronomy for having the highest grade in a course

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: tutored a little in math, an executive for my school’s astronomy club (in 4th year)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: outreach talk for the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada

Special Bonus Points: some places I’m applying , my referees have colleagues there

Applying to Where:
I’m applying mainly based on if they have research I like, so there’s a wide variety of schools here. Some are biggg reaches but worth it to try I guess

Canada:
University of Toronto - Astro(PhD)- observational Astro -
McGill - Physics (Masters) - observational Astro - Accepted by email 15/01
York University - Physics(Masters) - observational Astro-

US:
Harvard - Astro(PhD) - observational Astro-
U Wisconsin Milwaukee - Physics(PhD) - observational Astro-
Rochester Institute of Tech- Physics(PhD) - observational Astro-
MIT- Physics(PhD) - observational Astro -
Ohio State University - Astro(PhD) - observational Astro - Rejected 01/06
West Virginia University - Physics(PhD) - observational Astro
Caltech- Astro(PhD) - observational Astro-
UCSD- Astro(PhD) - observational Astro
UCSB- Astro(PhD) -observational Astro


Expecting a lot of rejections but hoping to get in somewhere! Good luck to everyone

Edit Jan 15th:
Omg McGill!! My research is in the same collaboration as the prof I got accepted with. They were a top choice for me, so excited!!

[advaithm261]

______________________________________________
Undergrad Institution: Institute of Eminence in India known for Science Education and Research
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.88
Overall GPA: 3.88
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: 3rd in department
Type of Student: International Male from India

GRE Scores: PGRE score of 930 but with only an 85th percentile score


IELTS : overall 7.5


Research Experience: 4 month project in early universe cosmology in an Internationally acclaimed university. 1 year 3 months research in HEP-TH in general relativity quantum gravity and black holes in top indian university. 3 month summer project in astroparticle physics from a reputed German research institute

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: INSPIRE award for top 1 percentile students pursuing science in India.
DAAD-WISE fellowship for summer research.
First rank award of semester ( which if I was in US would have been called dean's list I guess)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Only worked as Research assistant.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I dont know whether this helps but I was an academic batch Representative. I also worked as content creator in science clubs

Special Bonus Points: I have special bonus cons of being international student and having unnecessary burdens like IELTS.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:

Penn- Physics- HEP-TH
Washington- Physics- HEP-TH
Brown-Physics-HEP-TH
Penn state- Physics- HEP-TH
NYU-Physics-HEP-TH
Stony brook- Physics- HEP-TH
UC-Davis-Physics-HEP-TH

Europe
University of Edinburgh-Physics-HEP-TH

Will update as and when things happen

[bear2ss]

Undergrad Institution: Somewhere in Asia
Major(s): physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:3.91/4.00
Overall GPA:
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: International male

Program Applying: Condensed Matter Theory, Quantum Information, Computational physics with machine learinng

GRE Scores: Nah

TOEFL: (R:28 , L:27 , S:23 , W:24 )


Research Experience:
2 papers as the first author in preprint
1 paper as the first author in preparation

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: No big deal

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points:
My three letter writters are coauthors of my papers (from USA, Japan, and China), if that helps

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
This is my second year of application. Didn't receive any offer last time. Wish me good luck!

Applying to Where:
The following list is recommended by my USA letter writer

Mega reach:
MIT
Yale

Reach:
Duke
Johns Hopkins
U Penn
Northwestern
Umich
Columbia

Target:
CU boulder
UCSB
Rice
UC Davis (CS program)
USC
University of marryland
UT Austin
UIUC
Gtech
Ohio State
Arizona State University
Penn State
Virginia Tech
University of Washington

Safety:
University of Florida
Boston College

Feel free to drop a email if you are also applying: farnorthroad@gmail.com

[Lamxy]

Undergrad Institution: Top state University in Nigeria, dont know about international recognition.
Major(s):
GPA in Major:
Overall GPA:
Length of Degree: 4 Years
Position in Class:
Type of Student: African Male

[rumplespacking]

Undergrad Institution: Top Engineering Institute in India. Good reputation for engineering, probably not so much for physics.
Major(s): Engineering Physics
Minor(s): NA
GPA in Major: 8.4/10 (3.88/4 using the iWES GPA calculator)
Overall GPA:
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: No official stats but top 10 probably
Type of Student: Domestic (Born in the USA baby ), South Asian Male

PGRE Scores: 910


TOEFL: (R: 30 , L: 30 , S: 30, W: 27) (Didn't think I'd need them but UCLA and UCB wouldn't budge )


Research Experience: 1 year of experience in a CME lab at home institution (1 national conference presentation, 3rd author publication, 1st author manuscript is under review), 1 summer at a national lab in the US, did a lot of x-ray optics stuff at a synchrotron and I worked remotely after the summer (1st author manuscript under preparation, hopefully we submit it in Jan), 1 year experience at a spintronics lab at my home institution, worked there for 4 months after graduation, working remotely right now (no pubs, maybe 1-2 down the line if I get the data I need)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: NA

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Was on the university's debate team, I transitioned into a student mentor role after junior year. Also had a student mentorship role at the Astronomy club.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: NA

Special Bonus Points: A couple of grad classes related to Condensed Matter and Applied physics (Magnetism and Superconductivity, Nanoelectronics and Nanophotonics, Optoelectronics). All of my letter writers will be research advisors and pretty strong since I've been productive at these labs. One of my LOR writers has colleagues at some of the places I'm applying to.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Had a rough freshman year in terms of grades (covid) but there's been a strong upward trend since then. I really focused on my interests and background in CME/Applied Physics and emphasized my fit with the faculty in my statements. Additionally, the manuscript that's under preparation is going to be submitted to PRL, I mentioned that to highlight the quality of the work I did.

Applying to Where: (CME for all except UCSB)

MIT - Physics
UC Berkeley - Physics
UCLA - Physics
UC San Diego - Physics
Stanford - Applied Physics
Rice - Applied Physics
Ohio State - Physics
Cornell - Applied Physics
Northwestern - Applied Physics
University of Tennessee Knoxville - Physics - Interview Invite sent on 01/09 via formal email
University of Minnesota - Physics
UC Santa Cruz - Physics
UC Santa Barbara - Materials - Functional and Quantum Materials

Fingers crossed lol

[figuringlifeout212]

Undergrad Institution: T20; Strong reputation for nuclear physics, well-known for STEM in general
Major(s): Physics (Honors Track)
Minor(s): French
GPA in Major: 3.951
Overall GPA: 3.948
Length of Degree: 4 years + 1 gap year
Position in Class: Top 10%
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores: Didn't take; not applying for theory so it wasn't horribly worth it

Research Experience: 3 years of HEP-Ex research at undergraduate institution (3 publications, 10 presentations); SULI at Fermilab for Summer 2022 (Presentation); Spent Spring and Summer 2023 at CERN doing a medical particle physics project; Gap year doing neutrino research at Fermilab

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Phi Beta Kappa; Undergraduate fellowship for research/academics (x2); Magna Cum Laude (only Physics student with that distinction); Research grant for CERN project

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutored Calculus for first three years of undergrad; TA'd sophomore through senior year in several physics courses (labs, computational, etc.)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I took several graduate physics courses my senior year. I had two semesters of QFT, a condensed matter course, and a Group Theory course. I mentioned them in my SoP, and made sure to have one of the profs write a letter of rec where he also quoted the other professors that had me for graduate classes.

Special Bonus Points: This is my SECOND application cycle. I applied last year with poor advice (my undergraduate advisor is in his 80s, so all of what he told me was quite outdated and led me to applying to what I now know are odd programs for HEP), and I got rejected from pretty much everywhere. I did receive an offer + fellowship from a decent program, but I deferred because everyone at my undergrad institution was shocked that I didn't get into a better place and told me I should take a gap year and try again with their help. So if you wonder why I only applied to top programs, it's because I already had an offer somewhere

Info on Letters:

1) Undergrad Advisor - 8/10. He really wanted to write me a letter, and although his graduate school advice was outdated I've seen a lot of what he's written in academia as his student and I trust his style of writing. He said he has a lot of great things to say about me, and knows me very well.

2) Post-Bac Advisor - 10/10. She was the one that told me I should defer and asked me if she could write a letter. I had her as a professor in undergrad twice, TA'd for her, AND now have done research with her. She actually told our Physics department that she wanted me to stay as HER PhD student, but knew that I deserved a shot to be at the best institution(s). She's quite young, but is leading the graduate admissions for the Physics department, so I couldn't have asked for a better writer.

3) Honors Program Dean & DiffEq/Group Theory Prof - 9/10. I got to read this letter, and it was very sweet. It detailed him getting to know me as a sophomore, talked about the rigor of the honors program and what it means to be in it (had to be selected going into undergrad; only take ~80 kids out of 2,200 accepted applicants), detailed my time in Geneva and what it meant to be selected for that program, and then also talked about me as a senior and how well I did in his GT class and QFT I/II.

4) SULI Mentor - ?/10. This one befuddles me. I really like the guy, but I have NO idea what he wrote. I had him write last year, and our lead of graduate admissions saw his letter (I had everyone send in their letters to them after I chose to defer so I could get holistic advice on my application) and he told me that it was really short. Positive, but not very detailed. I'm close with the guy, though, so I spoke with him for a while about all the advice I got on my application (and the apparent bias against lab scientists for graduate admissions committees??? idk, just something I was told; it's apparently due to the style of writing for lab jobs vs academia) and he said he'd add in a bunch more stuff and ask one of his professor friends from grad school for advice on strengthening the rec. I'm just crossing my fingers that he isn't writing that I went behind his back or something lol

Applying to Where (all HEP-EX PhDs, and in no particular order):

MIT
Stanford
CalTech
Harvard
UC Berkeley
Cornell
Columbia
Yale
UPenn
Princeton
UChicago
UCLA
Northwestern
Rochester
UW Madison

[Pipolar]

Undergrad/Master Institution: French School, very strong in physics
Major(s): Applied Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics, Computer Science
GPA in Major: 3.98
Overall GPA: 3.98
Length of Degreen: 4
Position in Class: No idea
Type of Student: International male

Master Institution: Ivy School (Double Degree with my french school)
Major(s): Applied Physics
Overall GPA: 4.04
Length of Degreen: 1.5/2
Position in Class: No idea

GRE Scores: Not Taken

TOEFL: Not Taken this year

Research Experience: 4 months internship on Raman Spectroscopy in a Startup in France, 6 months internship in a solide state group in France on Quantum Dots (1 patent in prep), 1 year at group on Integrated Photonics in US (Maybe 1/2 paper if we get the data), 3 months internship on confined exciton in a lab with lab researcher and a Stanford Prof (nothing yet).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Volunteer Mentor for undergrad during my time in France, TA for a numerical simulations class here in US

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: One of my recommenders is well-known and a friend or former PhD advisor to the PIs of some of the groups I am applying to

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I already have an offer for a PhD in Switzerland through my 3 months internship. That's why i'm only applying for reach universities.

Applying to Where: All for Photonics

Stanford - Applied Physics
Columbia - Applied Physics
Berkeley - Electrical Engineering
Princeton - Electrical Engineering
Louisiana State University - Electrical Engineering
Caltech - Applied Physics
Harvard - Applied Physics

[BrokenVerdict]

Undergrad Institution: Top UK institution, Top 10 UK, Top 70 in the world, good in physics.
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: Very high First-Class degree with honors (4.0 GPA)
Overall GPA: 4.0 GPA
Length of Degree: 4 years Master of Physics degree (Bachelor-Masters combined)
Position in Class: 1/250
Type of Student: International, Male, North African with British dual nationality.

GRE Scores: N/A - didn't take
TOEFL: N/A - British institution and citizenship.


Research Experience:
1. A 15-week summer research project at my university, all of it was independent. Professionally applied for funding. Co-author publication in The Astrophysical Journal. There were no official conferences but I presented it to the research group and international webinars. I also had a poster presentation

2. Master's degree project (1 year)- 2nd Author publication- defended it through poster presentation

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Excellence Award- Ranking 1st in MPhys cohort.
I had a bursary given to those with low income and high grades

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
1. I gave a lecture on plasma physics to students aged 16-18: Explained plasma as a state, its conditions, and current ongoing research.
2. Not relevant I guess, but I compete in Brazilian jiu-jitsu internationally, as well as Wrestling and MMA locally.

Special Bonus Points:
8 graduate classes (my 4th year and some of my third year).
Scored the highest grades in Plasma Physics I and II (both grad courses), GR (grad course), and statistical physics.

The first Recommender - my academic tutor (former Yale BA and PhD, Oxford post-doc) - Very strong LoR.
The second recommender - my plasma physics professor and summer research supervisor -Very strong LoR - Winner of a famous plasma physics award, famous for his contributions.
The third recommender, my master's degree project supervisor- Good LoR. Not super confident since he is very harsh and has very very high expectations. Did well in his project, and the classes he taught though.

One of the academics on the panel for my Master's degree defense was a winner of a famous plasma physics award and a former Boston University fellowship holder, so I used these connections with some of the universities mentioned below.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Both parents hold PhDs in STEM
From the age of 8 to 16, I attended two schools (i.e., school seven days a week), learning all subjects in two different languages.
Submitted both posters and Master's dissertation as extra material.

Applying to Where:
Mostly plasma programs some through Astrophysics-Astronomy.

US:
Princeton - Plasma Physics PhD -
University of Chicago - Astrophysics PhD -
Boston University - Astronomy PhD -

UK:
University of Oxford - Theoretical Physics DPhil -
University of Oxford - Astrophysics DPhil -
University College London - Space and Climate Physics PhD -

[redowl78]

Undergrad Institution: T20 Private School in US (T50 in Physics)
Major(s): Physics & Mathematics
Minor(s): Astronomy
GPA in Major: ~3.82/4.00 (Not exactly sure)
Overall GPA: 3.724/4.00
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Average
Type of Student: International (Asian male)

GRE Scores: Not taken

TOEFL: Not required

Research Experience:
Observational Astrophysics researches in two different labs in my school:
1. Joined as a freshman and produced two first-author papers (one published, one pre-print, submitted), both in the Astronomical Journal. Presented this work at several external conferences. Member of SDSS-V. Achieved High Honors in the thesis with this research. Awarded $30,000 of summer funding for this research throughout last three summers.
2. Began in junior year, with two papers in progress (one first-author, one second-author), both in the Astrophysical Journal. One of these is likely to be published next month, while the other may take an additional 3-4 months to finalize. Will present in the upcoming AAS. Also worked/co-author in a successful Chandra proposal related to a different research under the same advisor.

Also did a small independent project in Quantum Physics with another professor.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Was TA/Grader in several Physics+Mathematics+CS+Astronomy classes. Co-founded a Quantum Computing student org. Also involved with astronomy Olympiad (IOAA).

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Dean's List, High Honors in Astronomy, award/grant that covered all my costs in school, some international Olympiad awards in high school (I'm pretty sure they will not be useful).

Special Bonus Points:
One of my recommender is pretty famous in their field. All three recommenders are my research advisors and have connection to most of the schools I'm applying to. The letters should be strong as I've had a pretty good impression to all of them.
Also took a few graduate classes in Astronomy.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I'm an international student, so that is a potential downside.

Applying to Where:
All Observational Astronomy programs either in Astronomy or Physics+Astronomy departments:

No chance:
1. Cal Tech
2. Yale
3. Princeton
4. Harvard
5. UC Berkeley - Rejected by email to to check portal (01/16)

Reach:
1. U of Arizona
2. CU Boulder
3. Michigan
4. Ohio State - Accepted by email (01/08)
5. Penn State
6. Rice
7. UT Austin - Interview invite (01/16)
8. Columbia U
9. UW Madison - Interview invite (01/06)

Target:
1. U of Florida
2. Boston
3. U of Utah
4. Dartmouth - Interview invite (01/15)
5. New Mexico State

[neon83]

Undergrad Institution: Top Liberal Arts
Major(s): Physics, Math
GPA in Major: 3.94
Overall GPA: 3.92
Type of Student: Domestic White Man

GRE Scores: 810 PGRE, not great but hopefully will be fine

Research Experience: Two REUs, one in hep-th/astro and one in AMO theory. Honors project in hep-th also. No papers or presentations

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Been TA and grader for physics classes

Special Bonus Points: I think my recs are pretty well known

Applying to Where:

All are for hep-th, some nuclear or cosmology related

MIT
Stanford
Harvard
Princeton
UChicago
UIUC
Yale
Johns Hopkins
UMichigan
UPenn
CU Boulder
UCLA
UWashington
Northwestern
Rice
Stony Brook
UNC Chapel Hill
UC Irvine

[Haouwah]

Undergrad Institution: Somewhere in Africa + MS
Major(s): Physics, Education
GPA in Major: 3.62
Overall GPA: 3.62
Type of Student: International female

GRE Scores: didn’t take

Research Experience: 1yr +, a paper in review

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Senate's list

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Been TA and grader for physics classes
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Gap year (5) in unrelated field, but I’m back to physics. Hhhhh… maybe it’s a good thing

Special Bonus Points:

Applying to Where:

All are for CME, some mat

Yale phy
CMU phy
UC Irvine phy
Mines phy
Case phy
WVU phy
UWM phy
Cornell mse
Maryland mse
UCSD mse
Madison mse
UT mse
Iowa mse

I pray it all works out well.

[aldiblueberries]

Undergrad Institution: Big State School, Top 30 in physics
Major(s): Physics (Honors)
Minor(s): CS
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.95
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Probably near top
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores: Didn't take

Research Experience: 3yrs in a radio astrophysics / evolutionary computation group at home institution. 2 papers Nth author, few conference posters / proceedings, one talk

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Finalist at a national conference paper competition, multiple departmental awards

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Had a few outreach and volunteering experiences

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: nope

Special Bonus Points: first gen, low income / pell grant

Applying to Where:
mostly evolutionary dynamics groups

Harvard - Physics
Harvard - Biophysics
MIT - Physics
Berkeley - Biophysics
Emory University - Physics
Boston University - Physics
University of Washington - Physics
University of Florida - Physics
University of Pittsburgh - Physics
Carnegie Mellon - Physics

[lightpink]

Undergrad Institution: Large state school, known for CS
Major(s): Applied Physics, Computer Science
Minor(s): Astronomy
GPA in Major: ~3.2/4.0
Overall GPA: 3.6/4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Average
Type of Student: Domestic, female, latina

GRE Scores: Not attempted
TOEFL: N/A

Research Experience: 2+ years of research experience with 2 professors at my home institution ongoing. 2 primary authored papers in preparation. 1 poster presentation, 1 international presentation. Telescope proposal accepted.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list and semesters honors. Some merit scholarships from physics

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Part-time job for 3 years unrelated to the field, recently a TA in computer science.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Some volunteering

Special Bonus Points: One of my letter writers is pretty well known in the field. Both of my main letter writers have connections at the universities I am applying too and I have connections with 1 university. But my third letter writer is not as strong.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where (All for Ph.D. in Astronomy/Astrophysics unless noted):
Observational/Computational/Extragalactic/Galactic astronomy

Colorado Boulder
Cornell
Northwestern
UNC
University of Maryland
Boston University
Harvard
Johns Hopkins
Princeton
Purdue (Physics)
Yale
UMass Amherst
University of Chicago
Rutgers
Penn State
University of Virginia

[centarsirius]

Undergrad Institution: Top Indian engg school (non-IIT)
Major(s): Engineering Physics
UG GPA : 7.45/10 (3.2/4)
Length of Degree: 4, 1 gap year (job in industry)
Grad Institution: T20 physics US (2023 admit)
Major: Physics PhD (2nd year) + finished on-track MS physics + lateral MS CSE (will finish spring'25)
Grad GPA: 3.5/4

Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores: Not attempted
TOEFL: N/A

Research Experience: A LOT, started amateur radio and obs data analysis in 2nd year UG, did instrumentation during covid and during gap year, 3rd year summer intern at a major US astrophysics research center, remote project during gap year, developing ML models for + developing new modules for fastest GRMHD code, major collaborator in an ML+astro proposal (accepted), multiple other side-projects going on

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: honorable mentions for ML application in fluids and physics, Member of huge grant proposal team.
1 1st author conf paper related to MLxFluids (5 cites), 1 RNAAS, 1 co-1st author MNRAS (7 cites)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: was mentor for several groups and organizations in both data science and astro

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: will have 2 masters in 2 years alongside phd, might help

Special Bonus Points: quite a few grad classes; advisor thinks highly of me, 2 STRONG letters, 1 very good letter

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: applying to transfer mainly cos of stipend, aiming to add a field and combine them but will keep working with my current advisor

Applying to Where: (all for physics: computational astrophysics)
Princeton (reach)
Harvard (reach)
Yale (safe)
Northwestern (target)

Note: No shade to school - very good advisor, faculty, opportunities and support. I just can't support myself with the stipend no matter how much I bend over

[stiw]

Undergrad Institution: Small private university in Germany
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): CS
GPA in Major: good
Overall GPA: good
Length of Degree: 3 years
Position in Class: no idea
Type of Student: international

Masters Institution: Top Canadian University
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): CS
GPA in Major: 3.8-3.9 / 4
Overall GPA: 3.8-3.9 /4
Length of Degree: 2 years
Position in Class: no idea
Type of Student: international

GRE Scores: Nope
TOEFL: Nope


Research Experience:
Research assistant in not so related field for 2 years during undergrad. Learned some skills. No paper.
Summer research internship for 3 months in astro during undergrad. nth author paper in prep
Masters research for ~ 2 years in instrumentation for observational cosmology. no paper (but one 1st author in prep)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
before undergrad (National Olympiad winner), later nothing significant

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
TA every semester during masters

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
President of astro club during undergrad

Special Bonus Points:
5 grad classes in masters
Recommendation from undergrad, internship, and masters supervisor. All of them should be strong.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
No

Applying to Where: (all for astrophysics / observational cosmology)

Cornell
CU Boulder
MIT
Princeton
UChicago
Yale

[happysushi]

Undergrad Institution: Top aerospace university
Major(s): Astronomy & Astrophysics
Minor(s): Computer Science, Computational Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.9
Overall GPA: 3.9
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Near top
Type of Student: Domestic, Female

GRE Scores: Did not take

TOEFL: N/A

Research Experience:
2+ years of observational astronomy research at undergrad university
8+ months as a nuclear research co-op at large U.S. government organization
2 first author publications and 2 second author publications (1 more in progress) in pulsation timing and code optimization
High performance scientific computing with super computer clusters

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Women of excellence awards
Deans list every semester
Physics honors society

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Physics tutor at universities tutoring center
Supplemental instructor for undergrad physics courses
Women's Ambassador for university
VP of universities astronomy club

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
Lead coding workshops for undergrad students and professors

Special Bonus Points:
All letters of recommendation should be strong (alumni, head of U.S. agency branch, research advisor)
Did extensive outreach to PIs prior to applying

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: N/A

Applying to Where: (All physics/astronomy and some nuclear engineering)
Princeton
MIT
Harvard
Yale
University of Maine
Dartmouth College (Physics and Astronomy) - Interview Invite (1/14)
Boston University
Umass Amherst
CU Boulder
Johns Hopkins
UW Madison
University of Chicago
University of Washington
UCLA

[ImagingSciences]

Undergrad Institution: Large State School. Decent rep in EE & Phys
Major(s): Engineering Science
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.3
Overall GPA: 3.2
Length of Degree: 4.5 years, did 2 semester long internship / co-ops where I took lighter class loads
Position in Class: Bottom half of my major if I had to guess
Type of Student: DWM

GRE Scores: Didnt take


TOEFL: n/a


Research Experience: 6ish months of Nonlinear Optics / Photonics Research at UG university - no presentations or papers. Since graduating I have worked for the government doing photonics related work for the past 3 years - 12 conference presentations and a few 1st author papers.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Not really anything

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutored & TA'd 2 math courses. 5 internships/co-ops across a wide variety of industries (automotive, aerospace, and biomedical). Worked the past 2.5 years with the government doing photonics and electro-optics related work.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Connected with prospective PI's >6 months before applying. Had multiple zoom calls and follow up conversations with PI's from all the universities I applied to. I work near Washington DC so I was able to meet a few PI's in person when they traveled in for project reviews / conferences etc.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I have a 5-year fellowship with full funding confirmed before applying.

Applying to Where: All for photonics and metamaterials related research.

UT Austin - ECE (Applied 11/30, Accepted via email & website 12/13)
Stanford - Applied Physics (Applied 11/30)
Johns Hopkins - ECE (Applied 11/30)
Duke - ECE (Applied 11/30)
University of Southern California - ECE (Applied 11/30)

[sslerose]

Undergrad Institution: UKY (R1: Doctoral University - Very high research activity)
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics (a given)
GPA in Major: 4.0/4.0
Overall GPA: 3.96/4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Probably 1 or 2 in department
Type of Student: Domestic male

GRE Scores: NA

Research Experience:
1) Several semesters + a summer (during home uni's REU) of undergrad research implementing digital signal processing algorithms on FPGAs (1st and only author on publication in UKY's research journal, several presentations including at state capitol). Also created some instructional materials for creating an FPGA dev machine using Linux on Windows computers.
2) NSF-sponsored summer research internship in Japan measuring EDM of He3 gas (n-th author paper in review, no presentations).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Physics department undergrad of the year, summer research awards, department scholarships, Dean's list every semester, College of Arts & Science scholars program (not honors college, I was rejected ), full-tuition scholarship (National Merit Finalist).

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Private tutor within physics department and another on-campus job. Separately an SPS president and treasurer.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: First-gen graduate applicant (some applications asked), only one parent graduated college (bachelors).

Special Bonus Points: Received a nice email response from prof. at preferred grad school telling me there were openings in the coming year and encouraging me to apply. One rec letter from Japan and another from my research mentor, an MIT grad with several highly cited research papers (including n-th author publication of the most precise nEDM measurement thus far). Permanent address is within an HRSA rural area (Appalachia).

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Added a small section at the end of my statements for each grad school explaining my interest in and why I would be a good fit for their program.

Applying to Where:
All for experimental nuclear physics.

Donations:
MIT

Reach:
CU Boulder
UIUC
RIT

Reasonable:
UKY

As far as my application goes my GPA and bonus points may help a little, but I am really banking on my statement and rec letters being strong (General consensus is that they are the most important parts). As long as I am accepted somewhere I'll be content.

[Abstractous]

Undergrad Institution: Physics Research Institute in India(M.Sc) + Reputed University in India (B.Sc)
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics + Chemistry ( B.Sc )
Overall GPA: 3.57/4 (M.sc) + 3.61/4 (B.Sc) (Used Scholaro to Convert)
Length of Degree: 2 (M.Sc) + 3 (B.Sc)
Position in Class: Top 3
Type of Student: International Indian Male

GRE Scores: pGRE : 920

TOEFL: (R: 30, L: 30, S: 28 , W: 28 )

Research Experience: 1.5 years of research in CMT

1) 1 first-author paper on CMT/Quantum Information up on the arxiv, currently under review at PRL
2) Master's project on Statistical Mechanics of high energy String Gases.
3) Ongoing research project on more CMT/Quantum Information

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Awarded a Junior Research Fellowship for research in CMT for a period of 1 year.

Special Bonus Points: Well connected recommendeers + connected with a few prospective PI's and got very favourable responses from half of them.

Applying to Where: (All CMT/Quantum Information)

Mega reach

1.) Cornell University
2.) University of Chicago

Reach

1.) University of Colorado-Boulder
2.) Boston University
3.) Penn State University
4.) Stony Brook University
5.) University of Pennsylvania
6.) Carnegie Mellon University
7.) UCSD
8.) University of Maryland

Target

1.) University of Pittsburgh
2.) Michigan State University (couple of unofficial interviews with potential PI - went really well)
3.) UCI
4.) Rutgers
5.) Dartmouth college
7.) NYU

Lets see how this goes, all the best to everyone

[ras31415]

Undergrad Institution: Small state school, no physics reputation
Major(s): Engineering physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major:
Overall GPA: 3.82/4
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class:
Type of Student: Domestic, female

GRE Scores: Never taken

TOEFL: N/A

Research Experience: 2 years full-time post-bacc in cosmology at a larger state school, 1 first-author publication

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list, honor society, department award for modern physics

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Lots of leadership and teaching experience (not physics)

Special Bonus Points: 2 recommenders are pretty well-known in this field

Applying to Where: (All PhD, all astro exp)

Caltech - Interview invite 1/10
MSU
NYU
OSU
TAMU
UArizona
UC Berkeley
UC Santa Barbara
UChicago
UMichigan
UPenn
UPitt
UWashington
UW Madison
Wayne State

[cosmicfil]

Undergrad institution: Large public North American university, well-known for astronomy
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Astronomy, Mathematics
GPA in major: 3.96/4.00
Overall GPA: 3.94/4.00
Length of Degree: 4 yrs
Position in Class: Don't really know
Type of Student: International male

Program Applying: Physics and Astronomy PhD

GRE Scores: Not taken
TOEFL: Not taken

Research Experience: All are at my institution
1. Paid research during sophomore year in astrostiatistics, resulted in a first author publication in The Astrophysical Journal (published this yr)
2. Paid research during summer before junior yr in theoretical cosmology, resulted in a 4th author publication accepted to the Astrophysical Journal (this yr).
3. Physics thesis project on active galactic nuclei during junior year. No publication.
4. Paid astronomy research in fast radio bursts for first semester of junior yr. No publication.
5. Paid research fellowship in observational extragalactic astronomy in summer before senior yr. Continued this as my astronomy thesis. 2 publications in preparation from this work.

Publications: 1 first-author publication in The Astrophysical Journal, 1 4-th author publication in The Astrophysical Journal (accepted), 2 more first-author publications are in progress.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Bunch of departmental awards, scholarships and research fellowships. One large university-wide scholarship.

Pertinent activities: Tutoring math and physics for high school and university students; TA for intro to astronomy, president of student-run outreach organization.

Special Bonus Points: Taken multiple graduate physics and math courses, recommenders are very well-known in this field, first generation student to attend university.

Applying to Where:

University of Florida (Astro) -
University of Waterloo (Physics+Astro) -
UT Austin (Astro) -
Harvard (Astro) -
Stanford (Astro) -
University of Toronto (Astro) -
Princeton (Astro) -
MIT (Physics) - Interview Jan 10
McGill (Physics) -Interview Jan 7

[HEPBSMDM]

Undergrad Institution: University in Iran with a medium reputation
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):-
GPA in Major:
Overall GPA: 14.76/20.00 (2.94/4.00)
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: average

Graduate Institution (Master's degree): University in Iran with a medium reputation same as bachelor
Major(s): Physics-Elementary Particle Physics
Minor(s):-
GPA in Major: 19.00/20.00 (4.00/4.00)
Overall GPA: 18.87/20.00 (4.00/4.00)
Length of Degree: 2 years
Position in Class: Ranked first among graduate students
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores: None


TOEFL: 87 (R: 22, L: 24, S: 18, W: 23)


Research Experience: I have research experiences in hep-ph and hep-th focusing on beyond the Standard Model and dark matter phenomenology, resulting in two papers published in Phys. Rev. D and one national conference paper. I also have one paper in preparation at the time of application.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: I ranked first among the grad students based on my GPA.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA experience in quantum mechanics course. I also was vice president of the college physics association. Attending many summer schools and workshops.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points:

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where: (I applied with an interest in hep-ph and hep-th)

New Mexico
Alabama
Syracuse - Accepted on 19 Dec via email
Notre Dame
Kansas
Yale
Michigan Ann Arbor
Rutgers-New Brunswick
Utah
Pittsburgh
New York
Purdue
UC Davis
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Virginia Tech
Penn State

[mbplanets]

Undergrad Institution: T300 state school, T100 in geology
Major(s): Earth & Climate Sciences (Geology concentration)
Minor(s): Astronomy
GPA in Major: 3.4 geology, 3.6 astronomy
Overall GPA: 3.12/4.0
Length of Degree: 5.5 years (changed majors and took a semester off)
Position in Class: no clue
Type of Student: Domestic female

GRE Scores: didn't take

Research Experience: 6 semesters as an intern at a U.S. government agency across 4 projects. Student consultant for 6 months at same agency, now post-bac there. Also did research in high school and attended a prestigious summer program in astrophysics. Have given a lot of conference presentations including at AAS and AGU.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Honorable Mention for the Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Award, nominee for Undergraduate Student Employee of the Year at my university. Also attended a highly selective Ph.D. preview program last year.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 3 years giving planetarium shows at my university, Intro Astronomy TA for 5 semesters

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Created a highly successful NASA Space App Challenge. Gave an invited talk at Harvard's Department of Astronomy.

Special Bonus Points: Strong letters of recommendation (department chair, capstone advisor, current research mentor who is in a high-level role). Have connections to most PIs I applied to work with.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Second time applying to grad school so I know the ropes a little bit more. Have received a lot more tailored help on my applications this year. Plus having a post-bac role and a paper in prep now will help.

Applying to Where: (all for exoplanets except for MA program)

GWU (MA International Science & Technology Policy) - Applied 11/1/24, Accepted 12/20/24 via email & website
Johns Hopkins (Earth & Planetary Science) - Applied 12/1/24
UC Riverside (Earth & Planetary Science) - Applied 12/1/24
Arizona State (Astrophysics) - Applied 12/1/24
Wisconsin (Astronomy) - Applied 12/4/24
Johns Hopkins (Physics & Astronomy) - Applied 12/15/24
Penn State (Geosciences) - Applied 12/15/24
Purdue (EAPS) - Applied 1/6/25

Note: I was rejected from all 10 programs I applied to last year. Applied to GWU this year to have a back-up and try to get in somewhere. I feel a lot less stressed knowing I'll be going to grad school next year! I really hope I get into a Ph.D. program, though, and I feel confident since I was much more targeted with my apps this year compared to last year.

[ghost_particle]

Undergrad Institution: Tier-1 Engineering Institute, not known for Physics
GPA in Major:
Overall GPA: 3.3 / 4.0
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: average
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores: ---

TOEFL: (R: , L: , S: , W: )

Research Experience: (Astro)
One small project (duration 6 months); one long project (duration around 12 months); a summer project (duration 3 months); ongoing long project (12 months completed).
A publication is up on arXiv and under review in a journal, 1st author. Presented the same at one national and two international conferences.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
None

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
None

Special Bonus Points:
I had the chance to interact and establish contact with numerous professors at various conferences I attended.
My advisor is well-known in the field, and the letter will be strong. Other letters come from a summer project instructor (well-known; the letter might not be strong) and a course instructor (from the same research field).

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
I took a few graduate-level courses in math related to research work. The research topic has been consistently focused from the beginning to the present.

Fewer institutes in the US related to my research interest, and all of them are well-known, so it might be difficult.

Applying to Where:
MPS Göttingen
Stanford (Physics)
CU Boulder (APS)
Princeton (Dept. of Astrophysical Sciences)
NJIT (App. Physics)
UCSC (App. Mathematics)

[Benzobox]

Undergrad Institution: big state school with a middling reputation in physics
Major(s): Physics, computer science
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 4.0/4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0/4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: tied with one or two other people for top position
Type of Student: domestic male

GRE Scores:
PGRE: 900 (I studied for like 3 days, and while I'm not super happy with my score, I am including it with my applications )

Research Experience: a decent bit (as detailed below)
- misc computational: a bit over half a year in doing simple computational multi-body collision work (research advisor is letter writer)
- hep-ex: about a year (a semester and two summers) doing hep data analysis
- quantum computing experiment: 2 years doing superconducting quantum computing work (research advisor is letter writer)
- quantum information: 1.5 years doing on-and-off work on quantum error correcting codes (research advisor is letter writer)

No papers
Will have 8 talks/presentations by the time I graduate, more than half of which are on the formal-ish side

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: got a few awards for merit and community involvement from my university. Got a grant from the university to persure some summer reseach work, and got a grant from the NSF for one summer and a grant from the DOE / INFN for the following summer to do other research work.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for 2 quantum information courses with one of my letter writers. Treasurer for local SPS chapter for 2 years. Co-founded and played a major role in a very large and ambitious STEM club on-campus.
I did 3 summers worth of research work:
- After freshman year: hep-ex work with researchers at national labs
- After sophomore year: hep-ex work with researchers in Italy
- After junior year: research with one of the lab groups I'm involved with at my university

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Peer mentor, tutored some friends, got involved with a lot of other clubs / organizations on campus

Special Bonus Points: reached out to and visited 22 research groups in-person across 8 of the universities I am applying to. I do think my recommenders wrote strong letters, but I didn't read the letters so I'm not fully sure (also imo my recommenders are rlly cool, and have some connectons at some places I'm applying to)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: All my letter writers are at my university (would like to have had an external recommenders, but womp womp

Applying to Where: (appling to all for PhD in quantum computing / quantum information within the specified programs)

Insane mega reach (donations):
MIT - Physics -
MIT - EECS -
Stanford - Applied physics -
Caltech - Applied physics -
Harvard - Physics -
Harvard - Quantum science and engineering -
Princeton - Quantum science and engineering - Interview invite on 1/7 - Interview on 1/9 (didn't go that great tbh) -

Reach:
Yale - Physics -
UChicago - PME - Interview invite on 1/11 - Interview on 1/15 (I think it went well! Honestly hard to tell tho lol) -
UChicago - physics -
UC Berkeley - Physics -

Target:
UToronto - Physics -

Safety:
UIUC - Physics - Accepted 1/15
UMD - Physics -

[randomndude42]

Undergrad Institution: Big mexican uni somewhat known
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major similar to overall GPA: 98.6/100 (like 3.94/4.0 ?)
Length of Degree: 4.5 yrs
Position in Class: Within top 3/60 most likely, idk didn't mention
Type of Student: International mexican male

GRE Scores: lol
TOEFL: 109

Research Experience:
9 months in numerical relativity - 1st author paper under review in good journal
2 months in computational hydrodynamics - 1st author Research Gate preprint
2 summer internships with 2 national congress poster presentations (numerical relativity and theoretical cosmology) (the second at another institution)
5 months in numerical relativity at my group, no pub., focused on breadth
3 months sophomore research project in observational astrophysics, mostly computational

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Got the 3rd highest score in LIGO's workshop final challenge being only a sophomore
I won a regional high school engineering competition, I have no idea if this is relevant

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
1st author of an educational article in GW science submitted to a peer reviewed journal
Produced an outreach video using advanced 3D animations
Presentations in public and in high schools

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points:
Strong GW group, maybe even the best in Latin America.
Personal statement is about the problems of being a scientist in Mexico, and Latin American in the US.
Hopefully strong letters

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
I have 3 electives relevant for my field but not common for physicists that may help.
Honestly, the outreach content is of great quality, and I stated interest in creating more.
I kinda bombed the speaking section of the TOEFL I hope it's not too important for admission.

Applying to Where:
Interest in computational cosmology or GW simulations (numerical relativity). All of them are physics programs:

$220 lottery tickets:
Stanford (Computational cosmo) -
Caltech (Numerical relativity) -

Other applications:
UC Berkeley (Computational cosmo) -
UT Austin (Numerical relativity) -
UArizona (Computational cosmo) -
Penn state (Numerical relativity) -

If you are from mexico feel free to contact me for general advise or a profile review. If I don't respond I'm no longer using this website

[AbstractAlgebruh]

Undergrad Institution: Large State School
Major(s): Physics, Math
GPA: 3.98/4.00
Physics/Math GPA: 4.0
Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Subject Test in Physics:
Not taking

Program Applying: QIS/CMT/CME (yeah...)

Research Experience:
Summer after freshman year:
- Quantum Optics program at my university
Summer after sophomore year:
- Experimental Condensed Matter lab that led to two publications (not first author, but second for one of them)
Junior year:
- Review paper with a professor, postdoc, and a grad student
- Quantum Complexity preprint with a super famous professor
- Topological Insulators preprint
Summer after junior year:
- REU at large state school: Researched some quantum algos, but no publication.

Senior year:
- Writing thesis in experimental condensed matter

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
- Presented research at regional APS conferences


Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
- Physics Org Treasurer
- TA for a year
- Grader???

Graduate Courses Taken (by graduation):
Physics: Condensed Matter Field Theory, Spectroscopy, Topological Condensed Matter, QFT
CS: Quantum Complexity
ECE: Quantum Photonics
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
2 of my letter writers are very very well known in the field that I am applying for and regard me pretty highly.

Physics Schools I am applying to
1. Harvard - QIS
2. MIT - CME
3. Stanford - CMT
4. Caltech - QIS
5. UC Berkeley - CME
6. Princeton - CMT
7. University of Chicago - QIS
8. Cornell - CME
9. Yale - QIS
10. Columbia - CMT
11. UCSB - CME
12. UIUC - CMT
13. UMD - QIS
14. CU Boulder - CME
15. UMich - CMT
16. UCSD - QIS
17. UToronto - CME
18. UW-Madison - CMT
19. UW-Seattle - QIS
20. Rice - CME

(dm me for anything, am anxious)

[sagegreen]

Undergrad Institution: Liberal Arts College, Top 30% for Physics in US
Major(s): Astrophysics and Math
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: Astro 3.57/4.0, Math 3.10/4.0
Overall GPA: 3.44/4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Unknown
Type of Student: Female Domestic

GRE Scores: Didn't take

Research Experience: 2 summers + 3 sem with one prof on campus, 1 sem with professor at study abroad university, 1 summer + senior thesis in collab with science researcher at JPL. No papers but 2 major presentations

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: College outstanding freshman in physics award, NASA State Grant scholarship, College senior award in astrophysics leadership

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:Lead physics and astro tutor (started as tutor sophomore year)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Studied abroad in Australia w/ research, work part time, sorority, involved in multiple campus groups

Applying to: (30 schools I know I'm crazy)

Tufts University - Astrophysics PhD -
Northeastern University - Physics PhD -
University of Texas at Austin - Astronomy PhD -
Vanderbilt University - Astrophysics PhD -
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill - Physics PhD -
University of Maryland - Astronomy PhD -
Boston University - Astronomy PhD -
Harvard University - Physics and Astronomy PhD -
Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Physics PhD -
Johns Hopkins University - Physics and Astronomy PhD -
Princeton University - Astrophysics PhD -
Yale University - Astronomy PhD -
Stony Brook University - Physics with Concentration in Astronomy PhD -
Rice University - Physics and Astronomy PhD -
New York University - Physics PhD -
Rutgers, The State University of NJ - Astronomy PhD -
Clemson University - Physics with Concentration in Astronomy and Astrophysics PhD -
University of Georgia - Physics PhD -
Georgia Institute of Technology - Physics PhD -
Virginia Institute of Technology - Physics PhD -
North Carolina State University Raleigh - Physics PhD -
Penn State - Astronomy and Astrophysics PhD -
CUNY - Physics PhD -
University of Connecticut - Physics PhD -
Brandeis University - Physics PhD -
University of Virginia - Astronomy PhD -
George Washington University - Physics PhD -
University of Delaware - Physics PhD -
University of South Carolina - Physics PhD -
University of Rhode Island - Physics PhD -

[AJB99]

Undergrad Institution: Ivy league
Major(s): Physics (Astrophysics)
Minor(s): Applied Math
GPA in Major: 3.95
Overall GPA: 3.9
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: no clue
Type of Student: Domestic white female

GRE Scores: Took the PGRE but did not submit score

TOEFL: n/a

Research Experience: Two years undergraduate research with well-regarded faculty in high energy theory/string theory. Published results to the Journal of High Energy Physics. Expecting a second publication that cites our work from a graduate student at Harvard.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Award for excellence in physics (top two students), departmental honors

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked data analytics internships during sophomore/junior summers. Currently working as an engineer.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: none, lol

Special Bonus Points: Two grad classes, published a paper in psychology during high school (3rd author)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: none

Applying to Where:

MIT - Physics - HEP-T/interdisciplinary PhD in physics and statistics
Harvard - Physics - HEP-T
Columbia - Physics - HEP-T/Cosmology
Penn - Physics and Astronomy - Cosmology theory
Princeton - Physics - HEP-T/Cosmology
Yale - Physics - Cosmology theory
UNC Chapel Hill - Physics and Astronomy - Cosmology theory ACCEPTED Jan 10 via email
UW - Physics - HEP-T/Cosmology
NYU - Physics - HEP-T/Cosmology
UW Madison - Physics - HEP-T/Cosmology
UCSB - Physics - HEP-T/Cosmology
UCLA - Physics and Astronomy - HEP-T
Stanford - Physics - HEP-T/Cosmology
Johns Hopkins - Physics and Astronomy - HEP-T/Cosmology
Michigan - Physics - HEP-T/Cosmology
Carnegie Mellon - Physics - Cosmology theory
Penn State - Physics - Cosmology theory

[transmon]

Undergrad Institution: One of the top engineering universities in India
Major(s): Engineering Physics (with Honors)
Overall GPA: 9.45/10
Length of Degree: 5 (dual degree - Bachelors + Masters)
Position in Class: Near top (most likely 4)
Type of Student: International Indian Male

GRE Scores: Did not give as it has been made optional in most unis

TOEFL: 107 (R: 28, L: 29, S: 24, W: 26)


Research Experience: 1 preprint (co-author), 2 publication in preparation (1 first author, and 1 second author),
International internship, 1 Poster presentation,


Awards/Honors/Recognitions: First prize in an international workshop/hackathon, Near top in inter collegiate tech meet,
DAAD-WISE scholarship, MITACS-GRI (received but opted out), Secretary-General of MUN conference

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Academic mentor in my sophomore year, Teaching Assistant during my final year, volunteer work of teaching
underprivileged children through a social upliftment club

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Medals (3 Gold and 2 silver ) in SOF's olympiads, Gold in NSTSE, District-ranked badminton and chess player,

Special Bonus Points: (In my perception) All of them were very strong LoRs

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Qualify as first-gen according to few applications' conditions

Applying to Where:

Ambitious
MIT - EECS -
Yale - App. Phy. -
Caltech - App. Phy. -
Stanford - Physics -
UChicago - PME -

Safe
Purdue - Physics -
URochester - Physics -

[GNV32]

Undergrad Institution: Medium Private School (T30 Priv, T55 Overall), well respected in biophysics and high-energy theory, but essentially brand new astro sub-department (<5 years).
Major(s): Applied Physics (Astro Concentration)
Minor(s): Data Science
GPA in Major: 3.943
Overall GPA: 3.879
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Near Top
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE Scores: Did not take

Research Experience:
Full-time Jan-Aug 2023: Weak lensing research with a medium-sized collaboration, was responsible for developing the galaxy analysis pipeline with my professor. I've worked part-time ever since. 5 Collaboration pubs, 1 5th author in AJ, 1 First author submitted to JOSS.

Full-time Jan-June 2024: Scientific machine learning research with a professor on campus. We researched SciML for solid-state battery modeling. One publication in APL Machine Learning, 5th author.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Research Scholarship ($28,000), Department Research Scholarship ($6,500), Semester Research Award ($3,000), Top 100 most influential senior award.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: E-board member of my sport, otherwise no TA experience.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Over one year of full-time research (due to nature of University's education), first astro collaboration has strong connections in Princeton and Toronto. My second recommender went to MIT (PhD & Postdoc), my third recommender is currently an MIT Postdoc (I want to get into MIT so so bad).

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Was nominated by my University for the Rhodes (1/3), Churchill (1/2), Marshall (1/4), and Knight-Hennessey (1/8)

Applying to Where:

Stanford University (Physics PhD)
University of California, Berkeley (Astronomy PhD)
University of Cambridge (Data Intensive Science MPhil) - Interview Request 01/10 via email
Northwestern University (Astronomy PhD)
University of Washington (Astronomy PhD)
University of Toronto (Astronomy PhD)
The Ohio State University (Astronomy PhD) - Rejected 01/06 via email
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Physics PhD)
Harvard University (Astronomy PhD)
Princeton University (Astrophysical Sciences PhD)
Carnegie Mellon University (Physics PhD)
University of Pennsylvania (Physics and Astronomy PhD)
Yale University (Astronomy PhD)
California Institute of Technology (Astronomy PhD)
University of Chicago (Astronomy and Astrophysics PhD)

[ian1616]

Undergrad Institution: Top 50 university in Asia, small astro department
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:
Overall GPA: 3.6
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: don't know, maybe average
Type of Student: International Asian Male

GRE Scores: N/A


TOEFL: 103(S:22)


Research Experience: One year in observation, two years in computational and theoretical astrophysics (including an ongoing summer research project), 1 paper in prep.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: 3 strong letters (two of the letter writers are well-known in the sub-field), some connections

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:

University of Minnesota - Astrophysics
University of Virginia - Astronomy
University of Nevada, Las Vegas - Astronomy
University of Illinois, Urbana Champagne - Astronomy
Stony Brook University - Physics and Astronomy
University of Wisconsin, Madison - Astronomy
Northern Arizona University - Astronomy and Planetary Science - interviewed on 1/9
University of Rochester - Physics and Astronomy -
Michigan State University - Astronomy - rejected on 1/14 via email
University of Colorado, Boulder - Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences -
Northwestern University - Astronomy -
University of California, Santa Cruz - Astronomy and Astrophysics -
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor - Astronomy
Columbia University - Astronomy
Arizona State University - Astrophysics
University of Texas, Austin - Astronomy
Dartmouth College - Physics and Astronomy
Princeton University - Astrophysical Sciences
University of Maryland - Astronomy
Purdue University - Physics
Cornell University - Astronomy
University of Arizona - Astronomy and Astrophysics
University of Utah - Physics

University of Amsterdam - Astronomy and Astrophysics(master) - accepted on 12/9 via email
Chinese University of Hong Kong - Physics - interview request on 1/6 via email


I know astro is really competitive these days Hopefully I can get into a PhD program.
Wish you guys all the best with your application!

[casual_eddie]

Undergrad Institution: Low-ranked Southern U.S. state university
Major(s): Physics, Computer Science
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: Unknown would reckon 3.7
Overall GPA: 3.57
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: No idea, would guess top quarter
Type of Student: Domestic Black male

GRE Scores: Not submitting

TOEFL: N/A

Research Experience: 1 year physics research in hep-ex. Worked at national lab for 4 weeks over summer. Presented research poster at American Physical Society Division of Nuclear Physics. 1 year math research in real and hypercomplex analysis, presented result at university department symposium.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 5x Dean's list, on track to graduate with distinction and cum laude in both physics and computer science. Did not mention this in essays (probably should have)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Was after-school STEM instructor for children aged 7-17 for two semesters 8-15 hours a week.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Did something for research group that whole collaboration uses.

Special Bonus Points: My letter writers are well known in collaboration and personally know/went to school with some of the advisors at some schools I am applying to.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Transferred universities and majors after second year. Had rocky first 2.5 years of undergrad. Locked in remaining 2.5 years. Effectively completed two majors in three years.

Applying to Where:

Lottery Tickets:
Yale - Physics PhD hep-ex

Donations:
UIUC - Physics PhD hep-ex
Boston University - Physics PhD hep-ex
Stony Brook - Physics PhD hep-ex
Northeastern - Physics PhD hep-ex
NYU - Physics PhD hep ex

Reach:
Georgetown - Physics PhD cmt

Every day I wake up in a cold sweat and lingering dread that I will be rejected everywhere. I wonder what spirit possessed me to spend $700, when I could have destroyed my mental health for free by browsing X/twitter. Rejection will be a kind of reprieve, at least I'll know that I'll be the only homeless lumberjack with a B.S in physics and CS