Physics Graduate School Admissions?

spinor_1_2 · Post by **spinor_1_2** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 1:08 am

Hi Waitingting:

Thanks. My cell phone had a bad reception at the time so I didn't make out most of what he said, to be honest with you... and I told him that.

I was also watching an episode of "24" (counter terrorism show) with friends at the time...

He said he was a professor working in biophysics but couldn't make out the name. I'm not interested in biophysics so he must be part of the admissions committee and probably not a first year advisor assigned to me. As for funding, I won't know until I get the official e-mail/letter but I think they guarantee full funding for all their students.

Hope this helps. I think they just started sending out offers.

samk · Post by **samk** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 3:00 am

Seems like everybody who didn't hear from Stanford Applied Physics earlier got the rejection letter through snail mail today, myself included. I'm quite curious about the difference between those who got rejected by email earlier and us who got it in the mail today though. It was very disappointing to me. My department head actually told me that I would be very likely to get in, but we've seen here that people who got into Caltech, MIT, Chicago, some with fellowships got rejected by them. The department definitely has a higher profile than I have expected, but well, it's Stanford. It's true that almost everyone on this forum is a fabulous student. I really wish I had seen these profiles earlier so that I would take those standard tests and applications more seriously, or at least save some money off application fees by not dreaming about the top shots, hehe.

Hi jupiter_dubois/Alan and HCarias, I probably met both of you at Duke. Congratulations on the admission offers! Just in case anyone reading this is worrying about not hearing from Duke yet, I spoke to Ms. Ruger today and she told me that the final decisions were just made last Friday and were sent to the grad school for final approval, and that people from the open house shouldn't have anything to worry about.

As for the topic we're on right now, I'd highly appreciate the etiquette that those of you who've already heard from multiple top choices withdraw your applications to the other ones.

BTW, anyone heard anything from Penn?

student · Post by **student** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 3:59 am

I haven't heard a peep out of Penn. No one on http://www.thegradcafe.com has posted anything either way about Penn physics. Maybe Tuesday??

Does anyone have any thoughts about second-wave acceptances? I'm waiting on several schools from which people have heard and am beginning to lose hope.

plancklength · Post by **plancklength** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 6:02 am

Student:

I'm in the same boat, I'm wondering if a waiting list is the best thing I can hope for at this point...Do people think it be out of line to e-mail the departments that have not contacted me and ask for status reports on my applications?

spinor_1_2 · Post by **spinor_1_2** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 7:53 am

plancklength:

No, I don't think it's out of the line to contact the dept. secretaries (grad. admissions secretary, etc.) to inquire about status of your applications. That's what I did to a couple of places and both of them answered promptly and frankly. For instance, I said "I'm in the process of budgeting for visits to various open houses and was wondering if you could tell me about status of my application at your dept.", which described my situation. So say something like that...explaining your situation...I think they'll work better than just a simple "what's my status?"

Good luck.

yosofun · Post by **yosofun** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 8:59 am

/me sighs

so i'm succumbing to the inevitable. i'm going to join this mostly pointless thread on admissions decisions. (pointless because whatever happens... happens. calm down and learn to play the waiting game...)

after skimming through the messages, i gather that i should introduce myself to you like this:

i applied only to the top 3. no more, no less. just 3.

no word yet from any.

a note of solace (if you'd take it as such) --- whatever happens to you, at least you didn't let arroganitis take over. you have grad school backup's... i don't.

jupiter_dubois · Post by **jupiter_dubois** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 9:35 am

Samk:

I was surprised when I heard from Penn on Friday, January 20th. The chair of the department called me and told me I was accepted, and I received the letter from the graduate school at the beginning of February. I get the feeling that Penn is very selective because they want to maintain a small department (much like Princeton but not quite as high of a reputation). I am visiting on March 24th and based upon the blind emails of the department secretary I think that they've sent out admits to 15-30 people so far. For me personally, Penn and Harvard AP are my top choices right now and luckily I get to visit both within 4 days of each other for a quality comparison of programs and cities. But I really do wish that Cornell AP would get back to me.

-Alan

spinor_1_2 · Post by **spinor_1_2** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 10:07 am

Congrats on admission to Penn, jupiter_dubois!

Penn probably has one of the top programs in soft condensed matter physics in US among others, and I think almost every condensed matter physicist will have to learn from "Principles of condensed matter physics" written by Chaikin and Lubensky (Lubensky is the chairman at Penn I think...). Once again, congrats.

By the way, "yosofun", my best friend, whom I'm very close to, is going through a similar situation as you, and we had a very long chat about the situation the other day. So I think I understand, at least partially, your frustration and what it's like. To do my part, I'll withdraw/decline from all but three of my top choices. Also, I want to apologize if I got carried away on this forum when posting news about admissions to the point of being seen arrogant. It's just that the outcome turned out to be way beyond my original expectations and thus I became too excited. I really did not mean to bask in arrogance by posting here. Really best of luck to all of you.

student · Post by **student** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 12:11 pm

jupiter_dubois: could you please post your Penn acceptance on http://www.thegradcafe.com ? It would let everyone know that Penn has notified some people already.

rocketscroller · Post by **rocketscroller** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 12:57 pm

So has anyone heard from Berkeley and MIT lately? Berkeley said that they are again meeting this friday to decide on second round of students. MIT said that they are still evaluating applications and won't tell you decisions by email or phone.

jupiter_dubois · Post by **jupiter_dubois** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 1:04 pm

I posted the Penn acceptance on theGradCafe.

Bendelvio · Post by **Bendelvio** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 5:45 pm

Hi, congrats to those who have been accepted and good luck to those still waiting to hear. This is my second time through the application process. I'm currently in my 3rd year of grad school, but my fiancee is an undergrad who is now applying to grad school (in biology), so I've applied to a few schools in the hopes that we can be together. Unfortunately, things aren't going very well so far, though neither of us have received any rejections yet. So I understand what you are going through, isjer21. The situation is rather frustrating and has filled me with a lot of apprehension, and I'm sure it will only get worse if we both continue on in academia. Interestingly, I'm still waiting to hear from Boulder, especially since my fiancee has already been accepted there. Congrats on the acceptance, though I must admit I'm getting a bit worried about my chances there.

Plancklength: I completely agree with spinor_1_2. It is fine to contact the department about the status of your application, especially if you phrase it like he did. In my case, I mentioned that I'm trying to work out funding at my current institution and want my advisor to be able to accept a replacement grad student for me. You may not get much of an answer (I was basically told that my application was still under review), but I suppose it is better than being completely in the dark.

spinor_1_2 · Post by **spinor_1_2** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 5:55 pm

Just a quick note: Why does everyone assume that I'm a "he"? ...

Bendelvio · Post by **Bendelvio** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 6:02 pm

Whoops, sorry. I usually try to do the s/he thing, but I guess I forgot this time.

waitingting · Post by **waitingting** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 6:04 pm

hahaha... Heisenberg called me "Mr." too.

yosofun · Post by **yosofun** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 7:01 pm

fyi. princeton rejections in today at 6:18 am pst ...

yosofun · Post by **yosofun** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 7:05 pm

lmfao.. this seems to be the princeton physics rejection day. so many other lost souls achieved the same fate:

http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?IN=P

spinor_1_2 · Post by **spinor_1_2** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 7:19 pm

No worries, Bendelvio. I'm actually male.

I just wanted to point out that assumptions about one's gender may turn out to be incorrect as waitingting points out.

And we know physics has bad reputation for this sort of thing...

By the way, why did you assume that I must be female since I pointed that out?

(J/K)

Bendelvio · Post by **Bendelvio** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 8:37 pm

Heh, glad you are kidding, my fragile psyche can't handle these mind games.

You make a good point, however, especially since many here will have significant teaching responsibilities next year. I found that I had a propensity to coddle my female students a little bit, so I had to be aware of that and make sure that I was giving equal treatment to both male and female students. Anyway, this is probably off topic, so I'll go back to bemoaning the fact that another day has gone without receiving any word on my applications.

yosofun · Post by **yosofun** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 9:33 pm

this checking thegradcafe.com thing is becoming an obssession...

(just checked now) someone posted the first princeton acceptance -- finance MA
http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?IN=P

nutraello · Post by **nutraello** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 10:21 pm

There have been several previous Princeton acceptances... you need to click on "this week" or "last week" to get a more complete record. This includes at least one in physics.

Why anyone would want to go to Princeton is beyond me, though. *yawn*

yosofun · Post by **yosofun** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:08 am

ah. i'd become a thegradcafe.com guru, yet. i've found new buttons to click on!!

it's interesting the high # of princeton rejects today, relative to previous days. wonder whether it has to do with how more people have recently found out about thegradcafe or whether it's a princeton-internal trend.

why princeton? i dunno. like i said, i had arroganitis and bad planning when i applied. i applied only to the top 3, and princeton was amongst them.

isjer21 · Post by **isjer21** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 2:14 pm

Anyone heard from UCSB or Berkeley yet? Seems like they're behind the rest...

Also, I don't know if anyone here appied to UC Santa Cruz, but I haven't heard back from them yet either. Any word?

jupiter_dubois · Post by **jupiter_dubois** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 7:06 pm

isjer21:

I know for a fact that UCSB has sent out admissions decisions and that UC Santa Cruz has as well (a friend of mine was offered big $ in fellowships). Someone posted that they had received an acceptance from UC Berkeley last week, but I haven't heard of anyone else getting word. I wouldn't worry because all three are still notifiying many of their applicants.

-Alan

student · Post by **student** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 8:15 pm

Do you think there is still a chance of getting accepted to MIT physics? I anonymously called yesterday, and the graduate secretary seemed very annoyed and said that she cannot reveal anything over the phone. She said more decisions would be sent "this week."

isjer21 · Post by **isjer21** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 8:25 pm

Just got into UCSC today. Still no word from UCSB or Berkeley though. Thanks for the info, jupiter.

plancklength · Post by **plancklength** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 12:27 am

Alright, this may seem like a stupid question, but seeing as how I didn't get any of my top choice schools I was wondering if any of you have any opinions on re-applying to grad school for next year. Right now I'm toying with idea of enrolling in grad school for next year, doing research over the summer, retaking the physics gre and re-applying as a transfer grad student to my top picks again next year. Thoughts? Suggestions?

KMac · Post by **KMac** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 1:08 am

I'm wondering if anyone has heard from University of Michigan recently. It's my top choice and I still haven't heard either way...

Bufalay · Post by **Bufalay** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 2:13 am

plancklength,

I talked to a professor at my school about this very topic last semester. He suggested that if I didn't get accepted to one of my top choices that it would be a good idea to stay at my current school and get a masters, and then reapply.

His advice was based on his experience. He was also an undergraduate at a large public school, with a fairly average undergraduate career. However, he stayed at that school, got his masters, improved gpa, published papers etc. He then applied to Berkley and UIUC and was accepted to both.

I would recommend talking to some of your professors about it.

Good luck

abc123 · Post by **abc123** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 10:17 am

I had the same question as you planklength. If anyone has an opinion on this please don't spare our feelings. Let us know. Thanks

waitingting · Post by **waitingting** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 1:30 pm

hey if anyone hears from caltech or cornell applied phys, can you post it? even though spinor has already said that he got a call from caltech, i'm wondering if they have called many other people. thanks.

pretty much same goes for other schools though. even if someone else has posted it, there may still be people who are waiting to hear and are wondering whether they should start worrying.

spinor_1_2 · Post by **spinor_1_2** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 2:35 pm

Plancklength:

I strongly agree with Bufalay regarding re-applying to grad schools. I know of similar situations and I think if you put in the time doing your Masters, your application packet can only get stronger. But at the same time, I think you should keep in mind the risks and should truly believe that spending 1-2 extra years would be worthwhile. Just my two cents.

WaitingTing:

I talked to a grad secretary at Caltech applied physics about visiting their open house and it turns out that they haven't even decided when it will be yet. In fact, she told me that they are still in the process of reviewing applications and sending out offers. She will e-mail me as soon as the list of admitted students is finalized. I'll post info. here as soon as that happens.

Best of luck to you and I hope I may be able to see you at the open house.

ir · Post by ir » Thu Mar 02, 2006 4:48 pm

I will finish a masters in a big state school and am trying to transfer. I don't want to upset anyone so I won't post my profile, but all I can say is that despite having a good one I didn't got any replys yet. Berkeley and UIUC are on my list...

student · Post by **student** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 6:43 pm

About two hours ago I recieved an email from Penn referring to my acceptance. The email alludes to the deadline of "this Friday, February 17" for reserving a hotel room for the open house (March 24), so I'm guessing the secretary simply copied the email she sent to the first round of acceptances two weeks ago. The email also mentions a "letter from the department," which I have not received yet. A little strange, but I'm happy to have been accepted. To continue the list of open houses:

Penn: March 24, with informal dinner on March 23

Could anyone offer advice in my situation? I already bought my plane tickets to visit Yale, whose open house conflicts with that of Penn. Yale has a dinner on March 23, a full day on March 24, and a half day on March 25. Penn has dinner on March 23, a full day on March 24, and nothing on March 25. Should I change my plane tickets and fly into Philadelphia Wednesday night, March 22, then visit the campus and department all day on Thursday (alone, as there are no formal activities), go to some of the informal dinner on Thursday night, then fly directly from Philadelphia to New Haven Thursday night (departing 9:15 p.m.) to make it in time for Yale's Friday-morning program? Or should I simply visit Penn the following week, which would be a lot less stressful? I'm coming from the Midwest, but I don't mind the extra travel time, and I wouldn't miss much class either way. Has anyone visited a school during a non-open-house time? Thanks for your input.

he_man · Post by **he_man** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 7:12 pm

Firstly, congrats to everyone. You all have astounding records and some excellent acceptences.

Secondly, I'd like some advice from all of you knowledgeable people. Here are the schools I've been accepted to (I have applied to some other ones, but haven't heard either way from them yet):

UC San Diego
Ohio State
Yale
Columbia
UC Santa Cruz

I have done most of my past research in experimental particle physics, but lately I have been considering doing solid state in grad school instead. I'd like to go to a school well known for both particle physics and condensed matter. I know all of these schools have pretty decent particle programs. Does anyone know about their condensed matter programs? This information will help me start turning down schools I know I won't go to.

Any help is greatly appreciated, and good luck to you all!

Heisenberg · Post by **Heisenberg** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 7:22 pm

Dear he_man,

All's I can tell you is that I know Columbia has some good condensed matter folks and that UCSD is pretty lacking in that field even though they are strong in Biophysics- if that sort of thing tickles your fancy. I don't know much about UCSC, Yale or Ohio State (??).

spinor_1_2 · Post by **spinor_1_2** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 8:23 pm

he_man

First of all, congratulations on your acceptances thus far; those schools must be tough choices indeed.

I take it you'd like to try out experimental condensed matter physics? Ohio state has some very good theorists in condensed matter and Columbia too is building up a program in condensed matter. I think Columbia is especially strong in mesoscopic physics (transport phenomena in carbon nanotubes, spintronics etc.). In fact, Boris Altshuler from Princeton moved to Columbia recently and he is a very highly regarded theorist in condensed matter (especially quantum chaos).

Unfortunately, that's all I know but I bet you will know more once you visit these schools.

Student:

Why not visit Penn a week after Yale then? You'll probably get a more complete picture by staying for the entire open house. It also seems like too much hassle to try to fit two schools in 3-4 days. You can try to stay longer for the school that you know less about. Just my two cents. Anyway, congrats!

waitingting · Post by **waitingting** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 9:48 pm

So... I guess I'm answering my own question.

Got Cornell Applied Phys package today by UPS.
Visit is Mar 31.

I'm international though, so maybe they sent mine out earlier.

isjer21 · Post by **isjer21** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 10:11 pm

I saw 2 acceptances on thegradcafe.com for UC berkeley today. I didn't hear anything yet

Did anyone here get notified?

KMac · Post by **KMac** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 1:52 pm

I got an e-mail rejecting me from Caltech yesterday. Didn't really expect to get in...

abc123 · Post by **abc123** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:47 pm

For high-energy theory, does anyone know what is a better school. UC San Diego or University of Rochester.
Thanks

RozminK314 · Post by **RozminK314** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 4:00 am

Stats: Q:760 V: 580 AW: 5.5 Subj: 570

All I can say is that I am living under a freakin' ROCK and did not at ALL realize what this test was like. You have to answer so quickly! That, and the fact that I almost parted with my breakfast I was so nervous.

Indiana: rejected
Wisconsin: waitlisted (aaargh! All I can say is that if anyone here's been accepted and doesn't intend to go, let them know please! Even though I have no way of knowing whether or not that helps me...it will definitely help SOMEone

)
Berkeley: "we are still reviewing your application" They say I'll know by the 15th. (same thing here as above parenthesised mini-rant)
SMU (bachelor's inst.): accepted

Will probably not get into either berkeley or wisc....but I'm going to try again next year, and I will definitley apply to more than just three and I will start MONTHS earlier. I'm SURE I can improve my score (how can I NOT, starting with that?) and by then I'll probably have a paper published too. So...I'm dissapointed but still hopeful for the future.

nutraello · Post by **nutraello** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 4:37 am

That sucks, Roz. Yeah, as silly as it is, schools want to see that you've done ok on it. It really almost feels like a high-school level exam, but it still gives some of us (it was my worst stat) trouble.

By the way, if you haven't already and you're still going to retake, I would use this chance to get to know the basic units of all the values you know--it really helps you guess if you can rule things out dimensionally. There was another success story... here or on the Yahoo group, where two people turned the task into an opportunity. Guess it's all how you look at it, eh?

Good luck!

jupiter_dubois · Post by **jupiter_dubois** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 2:14 pm

He_man:

Hey there, I'm set on doing experimental condensed matter (nanoscience actually) and I've done pretty extensive research on OSU, UCSD, Yale, and Columbia (I didn't apply to any of them but there are many external factors for that). Here are my personal, biased opinions on the experimental condensed matter for each:

OSU: Pretty standard CM expt. program (ranked in the top 15 according to the 2002 US News). Lots of research in atomic monolayer deposition and spintronic devices. The materials science department is excellent so if you're willing to work for an adjunct faculty member there are quite a few people in these two areas.

UCSD: Excellent CM theory program but a little weak on the expt. The experiment that is going on right now seems to be centered on superconductivity of exotic new oxides. The "shortage" of CM expt. faculty will certainly change. UCSD has a lot of older experimental faculty and they will likely make lots of new faculty hires in the next 5 years. As someone else mentioned their biophysics experiment and theory are excellent.

Yale: Tons of top-notch experimentalists. They focus primarily on quantum computation and molecular beam epitaxy. Also, their CM faculty are quite good. Very few people in biophysics if that's what you're considering. You might find that the presence of the Applied Physics department to be helpful for trying to find a CM expt advisor.

Columbia: Obviously Columbia's emphasis is on Particle/String Theory. Therefore they have fewer CM experimentalists than schools with comparable reputations. However, the people Columbia does have are all excellent. Horst Meyer is a rock star. There is also the presence of the Applied Physics and Mathematics department which contributes tons of researchers in the field of nanoscale systems and nanoscience simulations.

UCSC: I know nothing at all, someone else will have to fill in their thoughts.

So with these four in mind I would personally choose Yale (STRICTLY based upon the condensed matter faculty). There's probably a dumptruck full of biases inherent in my recommendation of Yale. I would highly recommend attending the visiting dates for each of these schools, reading the papers of interesting faculty, or emailing the faculty that catch your eye to see what fits your personal interests. Sorry for overspending two cents.

-Alan

Also, in response to another post, I know of several people (3 or 4) that I met during my visit this weekend to UW-Seattle who were accepted into Berkeley last week or earlier.

student · Post by **student** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 1:48 am

I will attend my first open house at the end of this week. Does anyone have advice for specific things to look for and to ask about? I will have a few appointments with specific faculty members with whom I might consider working. How much effort should I put into preparing for these meetings (e.g. reading papers, preparing questions about the research)?

Thanks!

Antimatter · Post by **Antimatter** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 2:54 am

I am new to this site and I wish I had known this earlier. Since you are very much familiar to the US Universities.So please write that how reputed is AUBURN University's physics department?
Sincerely...

Bufalay · Post by **Bufalay** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 3:25 am

Student,

If you have time to prepare for these meetings it would definately benefit you to have a general understading of the professor's research.

I think its a good idea to ask whether or not the professor plans to take on any new students. Its also good to find out what the students think about working for that particular prof, and also what thier roles are in the lab.

A question that I am particularly interested in is what types of jobs the students get after getting their Ph.D. It seems that in many cases a universities reputation determines what types of jobs are available to its graduates, and I think its therefore important to have a general idea of the jobs available to students from that school.

Post by **Grant** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 3:16 pm

I have closed this thread and split it into two threads:

Physics Graduate School Admissions (Continued)

Physics Open House Weekends?

Physics Graduate School Admissions?

Re: Caltech applied physics

Penn

Penn

Penn acceptance posted

Princeton

UCSB, Berkeley?

UCSB and UC Santa Cruz

MIT

Re-applying and applied physics

I can only hope that it is so

University of Pennsylvania and open-house conflict

Question about grad programs

UC Berkeley up on gradcafe

need some advice

Answers to Questions

Open house advice

Hey Everybody!