please give some comment on this poor guy's situation:shock:

  • This has become our largest and most active forum because the physics GRE is just one aspect of getting accepted into a graduate physics program.
  • There are applications, personal statements, letters of recommendation, visiting schools, anxiety of waiting for acceptances, deciding between schools, finding out where others are going, etc.

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ocean_sea
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 11:06 am

please give some comment on this poor guy's situation:shock:

Post by ocean_sea » Thu Oct 09, 2008 3:16 pm

International Student

BS in Physics in university of rank 1 in the country with gpa 2.6/4(nightmare) :(
Mphil in physics university of rank 1 in another country 74/100 (different system here, there is no relative marking,and 80 is accepted as A)
Toefl 95/120
GRE Q 780
GRE V 350
GRE PHYSICS 920 and 91 %ile
research field CM Theory( i know theory will work opposite)

three good recommendations from good teachers (i hope)
research experince but no publication..

i am planing to apply to the following

university of california, berkeley
University of California Santa Barbara
caltech
University of Texas–Austin
University of Maryland–College Park
Yale University (CT)
Rutgers University New Brunswick
The Ohio State University,Columbus
Penn State University Park
Indiana University–Bloomington
University of California–Davis
University of Florida
University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill
Case Western Reserve University (OH)
North Carolina State University
University of Pittsburgh
University of Delaware
Washington State University

what do u think these are good choices or i should choose some safety backing .......
please if u know something share with this poor guy who is already quite confused due to low gpa and high gre p.....

FortranMan
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2008 12:42 am

Re: please give some comment on this poor guy's situation:shock:

Post by FortranMan » Sat Oct 11, 2008 2:45 pm

we should merge ourselves together and become the ultimate applicant.

But seriously, I think getting such a high score on the Phyisics GRE might tale you farther than you think, especially if you're a domestic applicant. But if you're asking if you should as some safeties, that's your decision.

On the one hand you have the prestige, you have a 99% probability in getting the university position of your choice, you have very intelligent teachers who will push you to the limit, and you may be part of some ground breaking research.

On the other hand, every one there may have a stick up their ass, looking at each other with a condescending attitude, and that might be just the students as the teachers could be far worse. Unless you're a genius or found the cure for cancer, most of the student body won't give you a second look, and working with your advisor may be harder than you think.

But of course, these are just estimation, and it could be that any school may be characterized negatively as such. This is just what I remember from reading about the MIT quality of life and from hanging around with prestigious professors and students.

If you love physics in of itself, or if you have no other life plans, then get some safeties. But if you have an all or nothing attitude and don't see a point if you don't get into the top institutions, then just play the odds by applying to as many as you can.

shouravv
Posts: 84
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:20 pm

Re: please give some comment on this poor guy's situation:shock:

Post by shouravv » Tue Oct 21, 2008 6:42 pm

While a 910 in pGRE is very good domestic students, it is hardly above average for international students. It may sound unfair, but many (if not most or all) school evaluate the application in two pools of "domestic" and "international", with very large programs even having separate sub-committees for "China/East-Asia", "India/South-Asia" and "Russia/East-Europe".

Moreover, since grad students need to work as TA, the English proficiency is also important. In some places, there are state-laws (not federal laws) requiring schools to make sure that their TA's can communicate well. Thus, a 95 in iBT and 350 in vGRE is also quite a drag.

I would say that if at all possible, you study hard and retake the tests, aiming to raise your iBT score to 105+, vGRE score to 500+, and pGRE to whatever you can.



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