Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

  • 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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grae313
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by grae313 » Sat Feb 06, 2010 11:05 am

mirage wrote:A few schools use an open house as an interview for applicants. They will observe for a couple of days those applicants that have been short-listed and then make their final offers. So unless you're sure that you don't want to attend said school, make sure that you understand the purpose of the open house. But like grae said, if you have better offers then please go ahead and reject the school. :)
I like that I get credit for all good advice, but noojens made that post ;)

So if they made you an offer, your offer is good until April 15th. If they did not make an offer but gave you the opportunity to visit, they are using it as an interview. However, noojens is absolutely right and if you know for sure that you are not going to attend a certain school, withdraw your application if a decision is still pending or send them an email politely declining their offer of admission.

username1
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by username1 » Sun Feb 07, 2010 10:44 pm

anyone get info on U Washington's visit weekend?

MacCutcheon60
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by MacCutcheon60 » Sun Feb 07, 2010 11:45 pm

Didn't get the impression there'd be one. References to learning more by visiting their website.

username1
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by username1 » Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:09 am

MacCutcheon60 wrote:Didn't get the impression there'd be one. References to learning more by visiting their website.
Sounds like we got the same letter from them...

I emailed Jen and she confirmed its coming up in early march. She said emails with details about it were going out Friday so I'm checking if anyone else got word of it.

irockhard
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by irockhard » Tue Feb 09, 2010 12:47 pm

Got in Ohio State without financial aid :? . Oh well, they probably figured out that I will turn them down at the end, can't really blame them. Is this kind of practice normal?

Never mind :) , it's really hard to be patient these days :wink:
Last edited by irockhard on Wed Feb 10, 2010 12:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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philosophysicist
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by philosophysicist » Tue Feb 09, 2010 11:19 pm

I haven't heard back from any schools yet (accepted or rejected). Not sure how I should be taking this but I figured with my GPA and GRE scores I definitely wouldn't be considered for first rounds. However I'm hoping that my minority status really gets me into at least a couple of the places I applied to. I really want to end up at Univ. of Washington. I would appreciate you guys letting me know what you think my chances are considering everything.

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YellowXDart
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by YellowXDart » Tue Feb 09, 2010 11:55 pm

philosophysicist wrote:I haven't heard back from any schools yet (accepted or rejected). Not sure how I should be taking this but I figured with my GPA and GRE scores I definitely wouldn't be considered for first rounds. However I'm hoping that my minority status really gets me into at least a couple of the places I applied to. I really want to end up at Univ. of Washington. I would appreciate you guys letting me know what you think my chances are considering everything.
It's always hard to say because acceptances seems to be very arbitrary sometimes, but if I were to answer honestly, I'd say you might have shot a bit too high. Not to say that you shouldn't have applied to top tier programs, but you definitely should have applied to a few safety schools as well. I was in the same boat as you last year (although I'm not a minority, I am a female) and I got rejected from every program I applied to. On the bright side, UW has already started sending out rejections, so if you haven't gotten one you may have been waitlisted at the very least.

meggo
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by meggo » Wed Feb 10, 2010 12:11 am

philosophysicist wrote:I haven't heard back from any schools yet (accepted or rejected). Not sure how I should be taking this but I figured with my GPA and GRE scores I definitely wouldn't be considered for first rounds. However I'm hoping that my minority status really gets me into at least a couple of the places I applied to. I really want to end up at Univ. of Washington. I would appreciate you guys letting me know what you think my chances are considering everything.
So, I'm currently a 2nd year Penn State grad student (astro). When I initially applied to grad schools in the 07/08 season, I was accepted to UWashington for nuclear theory on the last day of February 08, weeks after initial offers were sent and even after their visit weekend I believe. So I had been waitlisted and admitted later, even though I didn't hear a word from them prior to that email. At the time, I was above average, but certainly not at the top of my class, and I was rejected from Maryland and Wisconsin-Madison that year.

Bottom line: if I were in your shoes, I would consider myself waitlisted until I hear otherwise. (This is assuming, of course, that admissions haven't changed so drastically in the last 2 years that my experience is no longer applicable.)

BUT...if you're waitlisted and don't hear back until that late, don't expect to get much reimbursement for a visit. In fact, I turned them down without visiting because I couldn't afford to go.

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noojens
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by noojens » Wed Feb 10, 2010 1:14 am

Two years ago I heard nothing from UWash until April 10, when the secretary finally returned my call and said "If you haven't heard by now, you're almost definitely in."

Not really sure how she drew that conclusion, because two days later I got a rejection email.

So uh, I guess I'd say be proactive and persistent about contacting the UWash department. It's only early Feb, so it's still way too early to freak out, but if you don't hear by the end of the month I'd start calling on a ~weekly basis.

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grae313
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by grae313 » Wed Feb 10, 2010 2:40 pm

noojens wrote:Two years ago I heard nothing from UWash until April 10, when the secretary finally returned my call and said "If you haven't heard by now, you're almost definitely in."

Not really sure how she drew that conclusion, because two days later I got a rejection email.

So uh, I guess I'd say be proactive and persistent about contacting the UWash department. It's only early Feb, so it's still way too early to freak out, but if you don't hear by the end of the month I'd start calling on a ~weekly basis.
She may have misspoke or you may have misheard. In general, if you haven't heard back from a school by April, assume you're rejected or waitlisted and there isn't much hope for the waitlisted by April.

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noojens
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by noojens » Wed Feb 10, 2010 2:46 pm

I agree that that's true in general :)

nemo
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I've put my profile on your list

Post by nemo » Thu Feb 11, 2010 1:26 pm

can anyone tell me how it looks like? Are my choices catastrophic? PLS some feedback! I'm dying here until April 15th...

newt11
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Re: I've put my profile on your list

Post by newt11 » Thu Feb 11, 2010 6:38 pm

I think you will get acceptance maybe from two or three universities in your list though Im not sure for NYU :( Now you be relax.

nemo
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Re: I've put my profile on your list

Post by nemo » Fri Feb 12, 2010 2:35 am

which ones? Any bets? I am worried because I saw here lots of profiles with lower PGRE scores getting accepted... and I have NO ANSWER YET!!!

mobytish
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by mobytish » Fri Feb 12, 2010 8:29 pm

Hey, I just wanted to remind everybody to update their profiles via the User Control Panel so that acceptances and rejections were viewable via the Results search at the top of the page. I know this was a very helpful resource for me when I was considering my chances, aside from the fact that not a lot of people have been putting their info on it.

meggo
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by meggo » Fri Feb 12, 2010 8:49 pm

mobytish wrote:Hey, I just wanted to remind everybody to update their profiles via the User Control Panel so that acceptances and rejections were viewable via the Results search at the top of the page. I know this was a very helpful resource for me when I was considering my chances, aside from the fact that not a lot of people have been putting their info on it.
I tried to, but it didn't save any of the information. I filled out the form and clicked "Submit", and then the form reappeared blank and nothing on my profile had changed. :P

fc_pga
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by fc_pga » Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:01 pm

Did any international students receive admission offers? I glanced through the profiles thread and didn't seem to see any. Things seem to be very bad this year...

Mataka
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Mataka » Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:02 pm

Look closer, there are a few.

Maxos
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Maxos » Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:06 pm

fc_pga wrote:Did any international students receive admission offers? I glanced through the profiles thread and didn't seem to see any. Things seem to be very bad this year...
Here's one, (Stony Brook) and one of my friends has been admitted to Duke

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quizivex
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by quizivex » Wed Feb 17, 2010 12:35 pm

The profile thread is really looking awesome this year... very diverse. Let's see if we can beat last year's total... who's next??? :D

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quizivex
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by quizivex » Sat Mar 06, 2010 9:19 pm

Let's get some more profiles on the profile thread... Anyone who uses this forum and applied this year should consider posting :D If you can beat last year's total of 139 profiles... well you'll have bragging rights and that's about it... but the 2011 applicants will be very appreciative.

kroner
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by kroner » Sun Mar 07, 2010 1:17 am

quizivex wrote:but the 2011 applicants will be very appreciative.
But it will make it harder for them to break the record, which might make them sad.

pqortic
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by pqortic » Mon Mar 08, 2010 7:55 pm

we are in need of 25 more applicant profiles to break the last year's record. spread the word...

theoretical_phys
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by theoretical_phys » Tue Mar 09, 2010 2:22 am

Just got accepted for an interview to Oxford. Anyone had to do one of their interviews before? They look a little grueling. I have to read and discuss two journal articles. Eh.

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YellowXDart
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by YellowXDart » Tue Mar 09, 2010 11:16 am

theoretical_phys wrote:Just got accepted for an interview to Oxford. Anyone had to do one of their interviews before? They look a little grueling. I have to read and discuss two journal articles. Eh.
Christ! That does not sound like a good time. Good luck with that.

pqortic
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by pqortic » Fri Mar 19, 2010 2:35 pm

I dunno whats wrong with this year's profiles thread. some people post their profile and then delete that a while after!

dct64xx
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by dct64xx » Mon Mar 29, 2010 9:56 pm

Updated my profile, finally. I didn't get into any American schools (well, I'm waitlisted at Princeton and I haven't heard from MIT, but I'm not hopeful), so I've been kind of bummed lately. Avoided this site as a result. I really thought I had a good chance of getting in to at least a couple, given my GPA and GRE score. Now that I've had some time to reflect though, I'm fine with the way things turned out. Now I get to stay in Canada, I'll live in Toronto which I liked when I visited it, and I met an interesting prof who seems like he would be good to work with. Plus, I just found out today that I won a special NSERC Scholarship, so U of T will be paying me a grand total of $37k in my first year - not too shabby. So things are looking more up lately.

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YellowXDart
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by YellowXDart » Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:27 am

dct64xx wrote:Updated my profile, finally. I didn't get into any American schools (well, I'm waitlisted at Princeton and I haven't heard from MIT, but I'm not hopeful), so I've been kind of bummed lately. Avoided this site as a result. I really thought I had a good chance of getting in to at least a couple, given my GPA and GRE score. Now that I've had some time to reflect though, I'm fine with the way things turned out. Now I get to stay in Canada, I'll live in Toronto which I liked when I visited it, and I met an interesting prof who seems like he would be good to work with. Plus, I just found out today that I won a special NSERC Scholarship, so U of T will be paying me a grand total of $37k in my first year - not too shabby. So things are looking more up lately.
Toronto is still an awesome place to be! Plus I would kill for that stipend.

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quizivex
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by quizivex » Thu May 06, 2010 1:20 am

Before those of you in the 2010 graduating class begin drifting away from the forum, please consider adding your profile to the profile thread. If you already have, just make sure it is updated with all admission decisions. As we've always said, these threads are tremendously helpful to applicants in many ways (and by "helpful", we don't mean it helps everyone equally and has a null overall effect... it helps individual applicants find their own way and that doesn't hurt anyone else). The admission process is long over and there's no reason not to post, and it only takes 5 minutes.
:D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :D :D :D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D
:D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :D :D
:D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :D :D :mrgreen: :D :D
:D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :D :D :D :mrgreen: :D
:D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D

nathan12343
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by nathan12343 » Thu May 06, 2010 3:36 am

quizivex wrote:Before those of you in the 2010 graduating class begin drifting away from the forum, please consider adding your profile to the profile thread. If you already have, just make sure it is updated with all admission decisions. As we've always said, these threads are tremendously helpful to applicants in many ways (and by "helpful", we don't mean it helps everyone equally and has a null overall effect... it helps individual applicants find their own way and that doesn't hurt anyone else). The admission process is long over and there's no reason not to post, and it only takes 5 minutes.
:D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :D :D :D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D
:D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :D :D
:D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :D :D :mrgreen: :D :D
:D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :D :D :D :mrgreen: :D
:D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D
That is *** impossible to read.

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grae313
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by grae313 » Thu May 06, 2010 5:29 pm

nathan12343 wrote:
quizivex wrote:Before those of you in the 2010 graduating class begin drifting away from the forum, please consider adding your profile to the profile thread. If you already have, just make sure it is updated with all admission decisions. As we've always said, these threads are tremendously helpful to applicants in many ways (and by "helpful", we don't mean it helps everyone equally and has a null overall effect... it helps individual applicants find their own way and that doesn't hurt anyone else). The admission process is long over and there's no reason not to post, and it only takes 5 minutes.
:D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :D :D :D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D
:D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :D :D
:D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :D :D :mrgreen: :D :D
:D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :D :D :D :mrgreen: :D
:D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D
That is *** impossible to read.
and yet, you read it anyways! amazing!

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quizivex
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Re: Discussion: 2010 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by quizivex » Thu May 06, 2010 8:00 pm

nathan12343 wrote:That is *** impossible to read.
I guess this is unreadable too :wink:

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
:D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D
:D :mrgreen: :D :D :D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D
:D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D
:D :D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :D :mrgreen: :D :mrgreen: :D
:D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :mrgreen: :D :D :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
grae313 wrote:and yet, you read it anyways! amazing!
Lol a contradiction... Reminds me of a classic feud between physicsdouche and twistor...
physicsdude wrote:
twistor wrote:
physicsdude wrote:didn't you read my post that you have just so cleverly preserved?
I don't actually read your garbage.
Dear Twator,

even a numbskull like you should realize the contradiction inherent in making such a post.



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