astrofan wrote:I am sorry, but WTF. I went to a good school (not top 10, but still good) and researched at a top 10 school. None of the professors I talked to said to mention my activities outside of physics. Mentioning your hobbies, or that you are good at music/sports/other activity might help you get in at Cornell, but not at the two Universities that I have been associated with. By the way, the people I talked to were on the admission committee at both schools.
Woah, hobbies are very different than a degree in music. I think everyone would discourage against talking about your hobbies, or "extra curriculars." Those are not important anymore. I needed to mention wtf I was doing with myself while I was dropped out of school for two years, so that's why I had to mention it in my SOP. It was literally one sentence. The rest was academics, goals, and research. However, if you are extremely accomplished in a certain area, beyond a "hobby," I think it is quite relevant to grad school.
astrofan wrote:Perhaps admissionsprof could weigh in on this, as I am very interested in hearing if this is a common factor among admission committees and how big a role it plays. Does being a talented musician/athlete mean more than having a publication, make up for a lower PGRE score or GPA, or make it acceptable to have not taken essential physics classes. I can see with two completely equal students, then you are flipping a coin anyway to decide, so it doesn't matter how they do it. However, I would be both shocked and annoyed if it was a bigger factor than that.
Of course it doesn't mean *more* than having a publication. In the end, it's about your ability as a physicist and a researcher--that's what you try to get across in an application. But if you don't have a publication and it happens to be because you are an accomplished musician, that's worth mentioning. It does not make poor grades, GRE scores, or a weak classload look OK.
astrofan wrote:Where does it end? If you are attractive, should you send a picture of yourself to the committee? In addition to making the deparment more "diverse" and "well rounded", more undergrads might take physics courses if they have hot TAs (at least at my school, that was definetly a motivating factor for many liberal arts students). Why should a genetic gift of beauty be less important than a genetic gift of athleticism when considering an aplicant for a physics PHD.
Being attractive does not tell the admissions committee anything (or at least anything relevant) about you as a person, but being an accomplished musician does.
Remember you are trying to paint a picture of yourself as a motivated person who will add to the intellectual community at the school you attend, and who will be a successful researcher and scientist. You are also trying to make yourself stand out to the committee. In a sea full of great grades, great GRE scores, and publications, a researchless application might otherwise go into the trash pile if not for the fact that this person was actually busy doing something remarkable in its own right. It's not a ticket into any school, but again, it's worth mentioning.