That’s great advice! Mind if I provide additional commentary? If this comes off rude/incorrect/unhelpful please let me know and I can edit out my reply.
If you studied in a US school although you are international then your chances are same as with a domestic student.
Better chances than other internationals, mainly because such students usually have excellent language skills and are more likely to have better known/connected advisors with American circles. But they do face similar barriers like funding, so still worse chances than domestic applicants.
Otherwise, as an international student your chances are not that great. Statistics show that a domestic student who has about the same qualifications with you has %50 more chances. (Unless you are female).
50% sounds spot on. I’d be curious to see such statistics - I swore UW had a table on this but I can’t find it in their posted reports.
If your major was not physics and if you are directly applying to PhD (especially to a theoretical position) then don't bother applying

. (One exception is if you have an engineering background and you are applying for an applied physics/experimental position)
Yep. Also true for domestic students at top schools, but the less competitive options are still in reach (low ranked programs as well as chemistry and applied physics programs where you might do the same work). Everyone should consider applied physics if the research interests you.
If you have master's degree in physics in US, then your chances are mehh. If you have master's degree in physics outside US, then your chances are less then mehh.
“Mehh” is right but the comparison gets complicated/case dependent. Many international, 2 yr MSc programs give enough time for great research strides with little cost. Moreover, you are on the “natural” path, i.e. you didn’t fail to get in to a PhD as in the case of US terminal physics MS degrees. One the other hand, 1 yr British programs have similar international fees as the US degrees with less experience gained, only worth it if you want a British PhD.
If you are from India or China then PGRE score less than 900 means rejection. (Unless you are female).
Yep. EDIT: Well at least for competitive programs.
If you dont have a published paper or a research experience then dont bother applying even if your scores are great. One thing people do is to join a research group and have their names on a random paper, just do a similar thing.
Yep. EDIT: Well at least for competitive programs.
Admission committee do not know and care how good your school is in your country. To them, it is just a low-quality non-US random school.
Well, they aren’t impressed with general reputation, but they do know which schools are good in their field. They don’t care if the name Tsinghua is respected but if they have a successful colleague there they will care, even if he is at a low tier school. That is the same within the US - students working with nobel laureates at UT will fair better than average students at Columbia.