
I would like to know some general opinion (I mean educated/fact-or-more-or-less-fact-supported opinions) pertaining to chances for certain special cases.
1. Is theoretical physics generally harder to get into than experimental? By how much (a rough ratio of percentage of acceptance would be nice to know)?
2. For someone going into theoretical physics, which is better for grad school admission: independent study of subjects that are basically prereq. for any serious/more advanced research in HEP, or research in lab fairly unrelated (to my interests anyway), say, condensed matter?
3. How much does NOT having much research experience hurt when applying for theoretical physics?
4. Does a master in math (in a combined bs/ms program) help, hurt, or do nothing when applying for theoretical physics? (At the expense that I might end up with more advanced math classes than advanced physics classes?)
5. Does being a girl help a lots for getting in the top physics grad schools?

