==> Sticky: 2012 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

alphanumeric · Post by **alphanumeric** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 12:44 am

Undergrad Institution: So Cal UC
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):N/A, but several upper div math courses and research
GPA in Major: 3.9ish
Overall GPA:3.92
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Quite near top if not top
Type of Student: returning, transfer student. White male.

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 165 (93%)
V: 163 (93%)
W: 5.0 (87%)
P: 780 (70%)

didn't eat before hand, went too fast on first pass and I believe I made plenty of stupid mistakes.

Research Experience: 3 research fellowships, 1 summer fellowship. Three on Quantum magnetism, one on quantum game theory. About a year on CM Theory prior to applications. One 1st author paper in progress, oral presentation at APS March Meeting coming up(see some of you there?). A poster on math stuff at MAA conference. Lots coming up...

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Bellittini award for outstanding undergraduate researcher, lots of departmental/university scholarships, dean's list every quarter. Honors Track

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Math tutor for a couple years. Lead a program for 60+ HS students on math modeling at one of the US's top public schools.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: MCM "Meritorious" distinction. MCM is a math modeling competition. Only 3 schools in the US scored higher on our problem.

Special Bonus Points: Returning student with a fair amount of odd interests in complex hobbies. Propagate corals, keep bonsai, orchids. Prior to return to school was a full time musician, used to run a recording studio, have performed in Carnegie Hall, done regional tours, etc.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I really think all my letter writers really liked me. I'm a happy guy, after all.

Cons: Long academic history(but not particularly bad grades or anything)

Applying to Where:

UCI - Condensed Matter Theory (CMT) - Accepted 1/18 9 mo $18k TA + 10k Chancellor's fellowship for 2 years
UCLA - CMT- Withdrawn
UCSD - CMT- Unofficially accepted 2/2 by email 9 mo $17k ta + $14k Physics excellence fellowship + Ticho Award (12k? confused a bit about how all this funding works)
UCB - CMT- Rejected
UCSB - CMT- Rejected "Excellent candidate and a good fit with faculty" but rejected nonetheless *sigh*
Caltech - CMT- Rejected
Stanford - CMT- Rejected
JHU - CMT- Accepted 2/3 by email. 9 mo 22k TA + 2k unnamed fellowship
Yale - CMT- Rejected
UT Austin - CMT- Withdrawn
U Washington - CMT- Withdrawn
Rice - CMT- Withdrawn
____________________________________________
Places that accepted me really seemed to really like me. Acceptances came very early, rejections came quite late. I think my older age and history(and not perfect GRE) kept me out of top top schools. Still, very happy about my options.

Avocado_number · Post by **Avocado_number** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 2:04 am

Undergrad Institution: UC
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.9ish
Overall GPA: 3.8ish
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: International, but graduate in US college

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 94%
V: 31%
W: 29%
P: 830, 77%

Research Experience: 2 years research in observational cosmology

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: lots of scholarship, dean's list etc etc.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor for 4 years

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: I tutor minority students.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I have 11 A+'s in my physics classes, the rest are all A's except freshman mechanics.

Applying to Where: All astro, unless the school doesnt have one, then physics.
for cosmology.

Harvard -
Princeton -
Chicago - Accepted!
MIT
Caltech
Berkeley
UCSB
UCLA
Arizona
Arizona State
Michigan

______________________________________________

ale87 · Post by **ale87** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 5:30 pm

Undergrad Institution: Mid size Italian University
GPA: 29.9/30 (for the BS) 30/30 (for the MS)
Length of Degree: 3+2
Position in Class: top of 20
Type of Student: International, male. Italian so no minority

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q:163
V:153
W:3.5
P:840(Oct) 990(Nov)

TOEFL Total: 108

Research Experience:
-6 months at my school for my BS thesis on complex systems and statistical mechanics. Published on Phys rev E. Other fourth month in my university again on Stat Mech.
-4 month in the US working with the LIGO group. A work soon in Arxiv.
-3 month at Padova on cosmological perturbation theory
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Ligo Scholarship, and full Scholarship at my institution

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Private teacher and TA

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: A lot of Grad classes (8 more or less)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:
All in Theoretical cosmology

UCSC - Physics -Rejected (03/14)
USC - Physics - Accepted merit college award (02/17)
UCI - Physics - -Rejected (03/27)
Berkeley - Physics Rejected (03/05)
Caltech - Physics -Rejected (02/27)
Upenn - Physics -Rejected (03/27)
NYU - Physics - Accepted (02/09)
Boston - Physics - Rejected (03/05)
Texas Austin - Astro - Accepted (02/01) Declined
Columbia U. - Physics - Accepted (03/03)
Chicago - Astro - Accepted mccormick fellowship (26/01)
Chicago -Physics -Rejected (02/17)

horace1300 · Post by **horace1300** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 3:11 am

Undergrad Institution: UC Berkeley
Major(s): Engineering Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: ~3.75 (~3.95 upper division)
Overall GPA: ~3.75
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: somewhere between average and top
Type of Student: domestic white male (born in France but living in US for 15+ years)

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 800
V: 560
W: 4.5
P: 860

Research Experience: One summer at Stanford (SLAC), one semester at Berkeley (LBNL) in reputable AMO groups. No publications. Continuing at Berkeley this semester and expecting some publications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: none significant

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: officer of SPS equivalent (although much smaller) to my major

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: probably not

Special Bonus Points: all three recommendations from professors reputable in their fields, all of which can be related to the type of work I would like to do

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: don't really have an idea of what exactly I want to do, just that I enjoy experimental AMO research

Applying to Where:
all interests are experimental AMO physics, with more focus into areas that interesting groups were looking at (ultrafast optics, fiber optics, chemical dynamics, etc.)

UC Berkeley - Applied Science and Technology Unofficially accepted in person 2/10, Officially by email 2/15
Stanford - Applied Physics Accepted by email 2/15
Cornell - Applied Engineering and Physics Accepted by mail 2/28
University of Chicago - Physics Accepted by email 2/16
UCLA - Physics Accepted by email 2/10
UC Davis - Chemistry (interested in one AMO Professor) Accepted by email 1/19
UCSB - Applied Physics Accepted by email 2/28
CU Boulder - Physics Accepted by email 2/21
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor - Applied Physics Accepted by email 2/02

From the information I've gathered, recommendations were very strong and it helped a lot.

mholcomb1988 · Post by **mholcomb1988** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:08 pm

Undergrad Institution: Austin College (Small Liberal Arts)
Major(s): Physics and Mathematics
Minor(s): N/A
GPA: 3.3 Overall, 3.48 Physics, 3.01 Mathematics
Position in Class: Unknown
Type of Student: Domestic, Asian, Male

GRE Scores:
Q: 161 (86%)
V: 160 (86%)
W: 4.5 (72%)
Physics Subject: 510 (12%)

Program Applying: Physics PhD, Focus in Biophysics

Research Experience: Research in Organogels through AC Chemistry Department. One semester of research using YBaCuO Superconductors through the AC Physics Department. One semester of research calibrating a soil moisture sensor for the AC Weather Station through the AC Physics Department.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Austin College Posey Leadership Institute Scholarship, Austin College Music Scholarship, Eagle Scout

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Employed full time as a night dispatcher for an EMS (ambulance) company throughout undergraduate experience. Reserve Clarinet player for Austrian International Orchestra. Active member of AC Concert Band, AC Woodwind Ensemble, and AC Chamber Orchestra throughout undergraduate experience.

Miscellaneous Points: I was originally a Biochemistry and Music double major; however, decided to change to Physics and Mathematics my sophomore year. As a result I had not taken Electromagnetism or Quantum Mechanics and was 1/3 of the way through Classical Mechanics when I took the Physics GRE. I attribute the low Physics GRE score to this.

Applying to Where:
Rice University - Physics - Biophysics - Rejected 03/29/2012 via Email
University of Texas at Austin - Physics - Biophysics
University of Texas at San Antonio - Physics - Biophysics
University of Houston (Main Campus) - Physics - Biophysics - Accepted 03/26/2012 - Offered TA Position ($1,800 per Month), Health Insurance ($150 per Month), and Teaching Fellowship to Help Cover Tuition
Texas Tech University - Physics - Biophysics - Accepted 01/18/2012 - Offered TA Position ($1,500 per Month) and Partial Tuition Waiver ($1,000 per Semester)

YoMama · Post by **YoMama** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 1:12 am

Undergrad Institution: University of Washington
Major(s): Physics, Math
Minor(s): Chemistry
GPA in Major: 3.9
Overall GPA: 3.8
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Not sure.
Type of Student: Domestic white male.

GRE Scores (revised version):
Q: 170 (99%)
V: 168 (98%)
W: 4.5 (72%)
P: 900 (86%)

Research Experience:
Spent my 3rd year doing simulations in neutrino physics with a prof at my university, no papers.
Summer SULI Internship at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in neutrino physics, presented poster at APS DNP conference.
Spending my 4th year doing hardware work in neutrino physics, 5-10 hrs/week.

Expecting solid (but not biblical) recommendations. One from prof I researched with, one from boss at LBNL, one from academic prof.

Applying to Where: Applied primarily as HEP-EX.

MIT - Physics - Rejected 2/29
Stanford - Physics - Rejected 2/29
UC Berkeley - Physics -Rejected 3/7
Cornell - Physics - Admitted 2/9
Columbia - Physics -Rejected 4/10
Yale - Physics -Admitted 2/17 -- Will Attend
UCLA - Physics -Admitted 2/10
Michigan State - Physics - Admitted 1/20
______________________________________________

scasplte2 · Post by **scasplte2** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:27 pm

Sleeker · Post by **Sleeker** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 2:02 am

Applying to Astronomy/Astrophysics graduate schools

Undergrad Institution: Big 10
Major(s): Astronomy and physics
Minor(s): Latin
GPA in Major: 4.00+/4.00
Overall GPA: 4.00+/4.00
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: White, domestic, male

GRE Scores (revised/old version): Old (took it the last day it was available)
Q: 800 (94%)
V: 710 (98%)
W: 4.5 (72%)
P: 860 (82%)

Research Experience: 2 years at the time of application with the same professor at my school. I had one published paper (2nd author out of 3) and am working on a new project. I never did an REU or worked with another professor.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: All from my school except for the Robert C. Byrd scholarship: President's/Dean's List, generic good grades scholarships, nothing from astronomy/physics department.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Just the research.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Went to the 2012 AAS meeting and presented my poster.

Special Bonus Points: Took one graduate level astronomy course before my application and taking another this spring semester. I'm told my research supervisor is well-known (only in his field?) by others, but he's not famous-famous. I'm not sure how strong his letter was. (He's so aloof and intelligent that it's hard to gauge his expectations and opinions.) He had his PhD from Princeton. I had another recommender who received her PhD from UCLA, two schools to which I applied.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Went to the 2012 AAS meeting in August.

Applying to Where: All Astronomy/Astrophysics graduate schools. I expressed my top interests to all of them as being cosmology, planetary formation, and galaxy formation and evolution.

Schools: Berkeley (2/15: Rejected via email)
Schools: Caltech (2/22: Rejected via email)
Schools: Santa Cruz (2/2: Shortlisted by email, invited for Skype interview) (2/10: Rejected via email)
Schools: UCLA (2/7: Offered admission by email, waiting for details) (4/02: Declined offer.)
Schools: Arizona (2/7: Offered admission by phone, waiting for details) (4/06: Declined offer.)
Schools: Texas (2/1: Offered admission by email, tuition + $27,000) (2/10: Declined offer.)
Schools: Chicago (2/6: Waitlisted.)
Schools: Michigan (1/31: Offered admission by email, no details yet) (2/10: Declined offer.)
Schools: Penn State (1/28: Offered admission by phone with a minimum offer of $24,000 plus tuition + $6,000 fellowship for the first year (2/29)) (4/02: Declined offer.)
Schools: UPenn (3/26: Rejected via email)
Schools: Harvard (2/13: Rejected via email inquiry)
Schools: Princeton (2/1: Rejected via email)
Schools: Yale (1/31: Offered admission by phone, $30,450 + tuition) (4/06: Will be going)

Note: Visited Arizona, UCLA, Yale, and Penn State, and I had great times at all four. Really tough decision.

10k · Post by **10k** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 3:45 am

Undergrad Institution: Top public university
Major(s): Physics, Astrophysics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.60?
Overall GPA: 3.69
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: above average but not too close to top
Type of Student: White domestic female

GRE Scores (revised/old version): Old
Q: 770 (86%)
V: 600 (86%)
W: 4.5 (72%)
P: 770 (68%)

Research Experience: Research for 3 years, all at my home institution. Observational and some theoretical/computational (just running simulations) astrophysics. Published one first-author paper, currently writing one more, and have been a coauthor on a few others. Participated in a SURF program at my institution.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Department award for scholarship and financial need, won twice.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Only research.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Presented posters at two AAS meetings and at a meeting in Stockholm.

Special Bonus Points: Took one grad class and did well. At least 2/3 recommenders are well known in astronomy and the other is well known in his field. Sounds like the letters are strong. Have met with profs at all programs I applied to except one and have visited most of the campuses.

Applying to Where:

Berkeley - Astronomy Accepted 2/01. $29,870/yr Offer declined 4/06.
Caltech - Astronomy Accepted 1/19. $29k/yr. Will attend!
Harvard - Astronomy Accepted 2/07. ~$31k/yr + $18k Pierce fellowship. Offer declined 4/06.
UCSC - Astronomy Invited for Skype interview 2/01. Accepted 2/08. ~$28,000/yr. Osterbrock fellowship. Offer declined 4/05.
U. Arizona - Astronomy Accepted 2/03. ~$30k/yr. Offer declined 4/05.
Yale - Astronomy Shortlisted 1/25. Application withdrawn 1/25.
U. Washington - Astronomy Application withdrawn 2/03.
Columbia - Astronomy Application withdrawn 2/03.
MIT - Physics Application withdrawn 2/03.
UCLA - Astronomy Application withdrawn 2/03.

NickMKII · Post by **NickMKII** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 1:41 am

Undergrad Institution: Local college, fair reputation in Physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): -
GPA in Major: 3.99
Overall GPA: 3.97
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: Asian

GRE Scores: OLD
Q: 800
V: 400 <--- yucks
W: 3
P: 910

Did Master's in Physics in USA

TOEFL Total: 103

Research Experience: 2 years of computational physics in condensed matter, 1 more year as an RA during master's degree

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Yearly prize of excellence, 3-4 award winning presentations inside and outside countries

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 4 years of experience as TA

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Award winning TA and presentations

Special Bonus Points: NOPE~

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I got a Master's in USA

Applying to Where:

Case Western - Physics - Condensed Matter -PENDING
FSU - Physics - Condensed Matter -PENDING
Texas A&M - Physics - Condensed Matter -PENDING
UVA - Physics - Condensed Matter -PENDING
Rutgers - Physics - Condensed Matter -PENDING
UPenn - Physics - Condensed Matter -PENDING

cjaphys · Post by **cjaphys** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 6:19 pm

Undergrad Institution: top 10 for phys
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 3.96
Overall GPA: 3.90
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: domestic white male

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 167
V: 164
W: 5.5
P: 810

Research Experience: 3 years in soft condensed matter lab, very independent, unrelated to what I'm applying for. 1 summer REU. several conferences, no publications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: a few honors classes, nothing special

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: tutor, science outreach, involvement in related clubs

Special Bonus Points: unique program, so small class size and good recs

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: touted involvement in minority activities

Applying to Where:

All are Applied Physics - Condensed Matter Experiment unless specified.
Yale - recommended for acceptance 2/12 by email, full stipend, tuition waiver; officially accepted by email to check website on 2/22; $ details in letter postmarked 2/22
Cornell - accepted by mail, 2-day UPS arrived 2/28
Caltech - invited to attend APh Graduate Visiting Days by email, 2/1
Stanford - rejected by email inquiry and mail on 2/29
Berkeley (Physics) - recommended for acceptance 2/24 by email, semi-official email 2/27
U Illinois (Physics) - accepted 2/8 by email, TAship first year, fellowship info to follow
Harvard -
UCSB (Physics) - accepted 2/21 by email to check website, email letter 2/23, $7k Broida fellowship, mail postmarked 2/22
CU Boulder (Physics) - accepted 2/10 by email, TAship/RAship first year, $10k signing bonus
Columbia - accepted 1/24 by email, full support first year

golchehr · Post by **golchehr** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 8:23 pm

Undergrad Institution: Best School in my country( In Asia)
Major(s): Physics
Overall GPA: 3.10
Length of Degree : 4

grad Institution: Good State University ( In California)
Overall GPA: 3.85
Length of Degree: 2
Type of Student: Domestic white female

GRE Scores:Q:158(79%) 2011 690(67%) 2009
V:137(6%) 2011 310(10%) 2009
W: 3 (11%) 2011 2.5 (4%) 2009
Physics: 780(70%) 2011 610(34%) 2009

Research Experience: Some researches in the undergrad courses, one project course, on graduate research , no publication
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA
Special Bonus Points: Computer programming, Speaking two languages fluently and one basic
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Well-known recommenders

Applying to where:

UC Berkeley : AMO physicsRejecte 3-13-2012 via E-mail
Stanford: Applied PhysicsRejected 2-16-2012 via Email Inquiry. They will send Email the following week
Yale: AMO physicsRejcted 2-22-2012 via Email to check website
Arizona : AMO physicsAccepted via Email 2-17-2012 with TA shipwill attend
Arizona : Optical sciencesRejected via Email 3-16-2012
Rockefeller University : biophysicsRejected (2-1-2012) via EMail
University of Rochester : Optical ScienceRejected 2-24-2012 via Email
Uc Davis : biophysicsRejected 2-15-2012 website check
Kansas State University : AMO physics Accepted (2-7-2012) with TA ship (Declined Offer 2-24-2012)
Kansas University :biophysicsI got admission verbally, but I was asked to send them TOEFL score with speaking of 24. Due to admission to Kansas State University, I cancled my TOEFL
UC Irvine: EE
Boston University :EERejected via Email 3-7-2012
UC Santa Cruz :EERejected via Email 2-17-2012
UWM: AMO physicsI sent my undergraduate transcript officially to them, they signed DHL, but I have college transcript in my to do list and no boy responded me
Note: You are going to be RA at the second year of graduate study, so having good research is more important than good GRE and GPA.

monkeybones · Post by **monkeybones** » Sun Jan 29, 2012 5:54 pm

Undergrad Institution: private LAC, good reputation in Physics
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.8
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: International white male

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 165
V: 165
W: 5.0
P: 870

Research Experience: 2 years research in nonlinear optics at home university with professor. Publication in PRE (2nd author) and APS conference posters. Thesis project in progress on related topic

Small research projects as part of junior laboratory class (expecting one publication in AJP).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list all years.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Physics TA 2 years. Grader 1 year.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: all As and A+s in upper division Physics classes

Special Bonus Points: first gen student

Applying to Where:

All Experimental Physics

Caltech - AMO - Rejected - via email 2/23
Columbia - AMO - Waitlisted - via email 3/2 - declined 3/8
Harvard - AMO - Accepted - 26k Fellowship (9 mo.) - via email 2/14 ATTENDING
MIT - AMO - Interview on 2/14, 2/16 - Rejected - via email 2/26
NYU - Nonlinear dynamics - Accepted - 35k Fellowship 1st year (12 mo.) - via email 1/30 - declined 4/9
Princeton - Atomic Physics - Accepted - Fellowship - via email 2/17 - declined 4/11
Stanford - Atomic/Laser Physics - Rejected - via email 2/29
UC Berkeley - Nonlinear dynamics - Rejected - via email 3/7
UCLA - AMO - Accepted - Fellowship - via email 2/24 - declined 4/9
UCSD - Nonlinear dynamics - Interview on 3/8 - Accepted - via email 3/23 - declined 4/9
U Oregon - Optics - Accepted - TA position - via email 1/29 - declined 2/22
Univ Southern California - Laser Physics - Interview on 1/20 - Accepted - Fellowship 29k - via email 2/16 - declined 2/26

luftbahnfahrer · Post by **luftbahnfahrer** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 7:18 am

Undergrad Institution: small private liberal arts in southwestern US
Major(s): Physics, Math
Minor(s): German
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.92
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: very top, graduate summa cum laude
Type of Student: Domestic white male

Master's Institution: public university in Germany
Major: Physics
Length of Degree: 2 years
Overall GPA: ~1.5 on 5.0 scale (1.0 is highest)

GRE Scores:
Q: 790 (91%)
V: 570 (79%)
W: 5 (87%)
P: 850 (80%)
Math: 660 (53%)

Research Experience:
Summer research stipend at home university, working on experimentally improving LIGO
Two summer internships at NIST, one in programming, another in quantum information and quantum optics
Bachelor thesis in quantum information
Master's thesis in quantum information

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Sigma Pi Sigma, summa cum laude, outstanding graduating senior in physics. Scholarship holder from German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for masters degree in Germany.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA in introductory physics.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
Given talks at 3 March Meetings. Two publications as second author, and a paper based on my Master's thesis is in the works.

Special Bonus Points: One recommender is very well known in Quantum Information theory

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:
Quantum Information Theory:
-University of Waterloo - Physics (PhD program in Quantum Information) - Email from admissions comittee: I met admission requirements, but will only be admitted once an adviser is identified (due to financial reasons) - Jan 30th, Adviser match! Email from my potential adviser on Feb 28th: no funds at the moment, but will offer admission depending on outcome of a grant application. Yippee! April 28th: Funding didn't go through

-University of Calgary - Physics - Accepted, Mar 13th, after email inquiry! More details to come later. Update:Apr 17: Finally received official acceptance by email. Includes $21k TA and $10k "top-up" scholarship! Will attend!

-University of British. Columbia - Physics - As of Apr 16: I never heard anything, and got no response to multiple emails. After calling, I was told that there is no decision on my app. So I just withdrew. May 11th: As if withdrawing my app wasn't enough! They never responded to any of my emails, and sent me a rejection nearly a month later instead.

-University of New Mexico - Physics - Accepted, Feb 1st, by email. (Declined offer)

-Boston Univ. - Physics - Mar 13th, after email inquiry: "no decision on my app has been made yet". Apr 13th: Rejected after another inquiry.

AMO theory:
-University of Colorado - Physics - Accepted! Feb 14th, by email. TA/RA-ship plus $2k signing bonus. (Declined offer)

----
Notes:
I'm still waiting to hear if I will have funding at Waterloo. Otherwise I will attend Calgary.
[Edit: After discovering that Calgary is offering me $35k+, I have decided to go to Calgary! I'm now very excited that this process is now over, and excited to go to Canada! ]

amsmith · Post by **amsmith** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 11:54 am

Undergrad Institution: small lib arts not known for physics
Major(s): Physics, Mathematics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top of class
Type of Student: Caucasian male

Q: 170 (99%)
V: 158 (78%)
W: 4.5 (72%)
P: 900 (86%)

Research Experience: Research experience in a number of fields (biophysics, nonlinear systems, geophysics, nuclear physics). One summer program at my home university, one summer REU program, and presentations at two conferences. No publications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A number of outstanding physics and math student awards all of which were awarded by my home university.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: group study leader for introductory physics, private tutor in both physics and math, grading for upper level physics courses, SPS president, member of Phi Beta Kappa honors society

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: not much beyond my research and academics

Special Bonus Points: Undergrad courses in Algebra, Analysis, Function Analysis, Differential Geometry, General Relativity. Grad courses in Quantum Mechanics, Statistical Mechanics, Lie Algebra, and Electromagnetism.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where: All applications had a primary interest of Field Theory (applied to HET, CMT, and Gravitation), secondary interests were in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics (or other areas of statistical mechanics and CMT depending on the department's specialties.

UC Berkeley - Physics - rejected 3/13
U Chicago - Physics - rejected 2/18
Cornell - Physics - Accepted 2/3
UC SB - Physics - rejected 3/14
U Michigan - Physics -
U Maryland - Physics - Accepted 2/15, university fellowship - will attend
UC LA - Physics - Accepted 2/10
U Washington - Physics - Accepted 1/24, departmental scholarship
U Penn - Physics - Rejected 3/27
Rutgers - Physics - Rejected 4/13
Carnegie Mellon - Physics - Accepted 2/4

theschlossian · Post by **theschlossian** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 4:36 pm

Undergrad Institution: Selective liberal arts school
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 3.99
Overall GPA: 3.99
Length of Degree: 4.5 years (unusual at my school--result of switching my major; 4 years is typical)
Position in Class: Top or very close to top
Type of Student: Domestic white female

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 166 (94%)
V: 166 (97%)
W: 4.5 (72%)
P: 900 (86%)

Research Experience:
Two years of physics research at my home institution, two papers coauthored, completed senior honors research project and 70-page thesis; two physics REUs: one at Bucknell University and one at Caltech working for LIGO; have given multiple talks, including one at a small conference for which I won an award.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Member of Sigma Xi Research Society and Phi Beta Kappa; high honors in physics (college-awarded); a physics departmental award; largest merit scholarship offered by my institution

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Lab TA; student department representative; writing tutor

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
Started a student organization promoting leadership development and preparing students for success after graduation

Special Bonus Points:
Having a recommendation from a LIGO professor at Caltech may help my chances at schools that are part of the LIGO collaboration. Perhaps being female may help.

Applying to Where:
Physics departments at:
Caltech - Accepted 2/16 by email. Notified unofficially 2/13 in email from professor, Awarded GRA - Declined offer
Columbia - Accepted 2/3 by email, 5-year Dean's Fellowship, later awarded IGERT Optics Fellowship - Declined offer
Harvard - Rejected, 3/12, by postal mail
MIT - Accepted 2/19 by email, 3-year fellowship - Will attend!
Stanford - Accepted 2/28 by email - Declined offer
UC Berkeley - Accepted 2/3 by email directing me to website, nominated for university fellowship. Later, awarded ARCS (Achievement for Rewards for College Scientists) 5-year Fellowship - Declined offer
CU Boulder - Accepted 2/15 by email - Declined offer
University of Washington at Seattle - Accepted 1/27 by email, - Declined offer
University of Wisconsin Madison - Accepted 1/17 by email, - Declined offer

Fellowships:
NDSEG - Pending
DOE SCGF - Pending

xanmas · Post by **xanmas** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 5:27 pm

______________________________________________
Undergrad Institution: Large state school with no real reputation for physics
Major(s): Physics and Mathematics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.98
Overall GPA: 3.94
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: White male

GRE Scores (old version):
Q: 800
V: 800
W: 5.5
P: 930

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)
4 years in fundamental quantum mechanics with 6 papers in print (most as 2nd author), 2 more in press (first author, based on undergraduate thesis), and a few more in review. Oh, and a textbook chapter based on my undergraduate thesis
2 years in a seismic physics group. No publications but multiple internal reports for the group that I worked in.
2 years in an anthropology group performing signal processing

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Goldwater Scholar
Marshall Scholarship Finalist
Rhodes Finalist
Hertz Fellowship Finalist
(If you want to see my CV, PM me. Those are the big national ones)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Editor of a international student journal
College ambassador
SPS President

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
Started an anual undergraduate symposium.

Special Bonus Points:
A's in 1 semester of Graduate Stat Phys out of Huang, 1 Semester of Graduate Classical Mechanics out of Arnold, and 1 Semester of graduate EM out of Jackson

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:

Top 10
MIT - Physics - Quantum Information
Caltech - Physics - Quantum Information
Harvard - Physics - Quantum Information and Chemical Physics - Accepted via phone with fellowship (1/19)
Yale - Physics - Quantum Information

Top 30
U Waterloo - Physics - Quantum Information - Accepted via email (1/26)
CU Boulder - Physics - AMO Theory
U Maryland College Park - Physics - Quantum Information
UC Santa Barbara - Physics - Quantum Information

Top 100
Dartmouth - Physics - Quantum Information - Accepted via email with fellowship(2/16)
USC - Physics - Quantum Information

Fellowships
NSF
NDSEG
Hertz - In second round of interviews!

harshadbudhe · Post by **harshadbudhe** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 2:59 am

Grad+Undergrad Institution: Highly reputed private engineering college in India. Not known for physics. Dual degree course.
Major(s): - Physics (Masters), Electrical and Electronics (Bachelors)
Minors: -
GPA in Major: 9.05/10.00 (Masters)
Overall GPA: 7.87/10.00 (Bachelors + Masters)
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: maybe top 15-20% in physics courses
Type of Student: International, Indian

GRE Scores: 2009
Q: 790 (91%)
V: 410 (36%)
W: 3.5 (29%)
P: 770 (68%)

GRE Scores: 2011
Q: 161 (86%)
V: 151 (51%)
W: 3.0 (11%)

P: 960 (92%)

TOEFL Total: 107 (2009), 106 (2011)

Research Experience: Several projects in computational physics during graduation. Thesis on band structure in graphene nanoribbons. 1 summer + 8 months at a research institute. Good research in soft matter, could get a PRL publication (but i guess its too late for affecting admission decisions).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 1 year job experience as a software developer.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: None.

Special Bonus Points: All recommendations are good. 1 referee is highly connected.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:

Cornell U- Physics - Condensed Matter Theory - Rejected via email 2/15.
U of California Santa Barbara - Physics - Condensed Matter Theory - Rejected via website 3/15. Email to check website.
Carnegie Mellon U - Physics - Condensed Matter Theory - Rejected via email 4/18.
U of Colorado Boulder - Physics - Condensed Matter Theory - Rejected via email 3/2.
U of Southern California - Physics - Condensed Matter Theory - Rejected via website 3/27. Email to check website.
U of Pennsylvania - Physics - Condensed Matter Theory - Rejected via website 3/27. Email to check website.
Yale U - Physics - Condensed Matter Theory - Rejected via website 2/23. Email to check website.
North Carolina State U - Physics - Condensed Matter Theory - Accepted via email 4/12 TAShip 22.4k stipend over nine months per year + 2.2k over the summers.
Purdue U - Physics - Condensed Matter Theory - Accepted via email 2/20 TAShip for 4 years with 17.8k stipend over nine months per year. No mention of funding during summers. WILL ATTEND!
U Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Physics - Condensed Matter Theory - Rejected via email 3/10.
U Maryland College Park - Physics - Condensed Matter Theory - Rejected via email 3/22 upon inquiry.

r2d2 · Post by **r2d2** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 4:51 am

Undergrad Institution: UCLA
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.88
Overall GPA: 3.87
Length of Degree: 3.5 years
Position in Class: dunno
Type of Student: International female but pursued bachelors in US

GRE Scores (revised/old version): revised
Q: 165 (93%)
V: 157 (77%)
W: 4.5 (72%)
P: 1st attempt (April 2011): 750, 2nd attempt (October 2011): 860

TOEFL Total: Not required

Research Experience: 2 internships in India, one @ Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi on Pattern formation in Reaction-Diffusion Systems involved computational solving of equations like the Heat equation etc. 2nd at National Physical Laboratories, Delhi, on Dielectric properties of Ceramics.
Computational research work at UCLA on Free-Electron lasers, resulted in a 1st author publication at an international conference.
Currently working on designing a spintronics device in a condensed matter theory group at UCLA. involves collaboration with an EE group. will result in a senior thesis and possibly a publication.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list. departmental honors (involves writing a senior thesis).

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: SPS president for a year.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: 2nd position at Caltech Space Challenge (was selected (amongst 32 others) from a pool of 270 grad and undergrad students). Designed a manned space mission to a near-earth asteroid.

Special Bonus Points: Indian female, research advisor (might be) well-known in his field.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: --

Applying to Where:

UCSB - Physics-CMT- 2/27 rejected by phone (I called up to check my application's status)
Stanford - Physics-CMT- rejected 2/28
Cornell - Physics-CMT- 1/27 Accepted by email with a fellowship
UMich, Ann Arbor - Physics-CMT- pending
UCBerkeley - Physics-CMT- Rejected by phone
MIT - Physics-CMT- rejected by email
Caltech - Physics-CMT/QI- 2/23 rejected by email
Harvard - Physics-CMT- (rejection) pending
UMD - Physics-CMT- 2/17accepted by email with Dean's fellowship
Yale - Physics-CMT- rejected
UIUC - Physics-CMT- pending
Princeton - Physics-CMT- rejected by email

newbinator · Post by **newbinator** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 11:29 am

Undergrad Institution: Small Liberal Arts U
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 3.9
Overall GPA: 3.7
Length of Degree: 3.5 Years
Position in Class: Near top? (no ranking system)
Type of Student: Domestic male
GRE Scores (old version):
Q: 770 (86%)
V: 510 (64%)
W: 4.5 (72%)
P: 700 (55%)

Research Experience: 3 years in CM Lab at my university, REU at PPPL, Summer as an XPS analyst at a surface analytics company. 1 first author paper, 1 conference proceeding, bunch of poster presentations including two APS meetings

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Boring scholarships and such, nothing interesting

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked for two years teaching SAT classes for a major test prep company, so I have significant teaching experience

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: nope

Special Bonus Points: All my recs have done research with me closely, so I expect decent letters.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:

(All in CME)

Yale - Rejected 2/22 Email to check website
Maryland -
UPENN -
Rutgers - ACCEPTED via email 2/18 - 25K stipend for first year
NYU - Rejected 3/9 via email
Stony Brook - ACCEPTED via email 1/30 - 23K stipend for first two years

warner.la.bros · Post by **warner.la.bros** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 12:11 pm

Undergrad Institution: State University, top in my country
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 9.61/10.00
Overall GPA: 9.61/10.00
Length of Degree: 4 yrs
Position in Class: top of class
Type of Student: international, male, no minority

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 169 (98%)
V: 157 (77%)
W: 4.0 (48%)
P: 990 (95%)

TOEFL Total: 104/120

Research Experience:
1 undergraduate research thesis on HET (no pub), 3 undergraduate projects (HET, Nuclear ph. and Condensed matter)-mostly reading projects-, currently doing (preliminary) research on AdS/CFT (no pub expected in the near future)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
3 State Scholarships for excellent performance
3 prizes for highest grade in the Department

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: none

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
I can't think of any

Special Bonus Points:
Currently attending graduate classes at my undergraduate School, strong recommendations (I hope), my recommenders have studied and/or worked in known US Universities (I'm not sure whether this means something or not)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Good mathematical background, classes beyond the standard curriculum

Applying to Where:

Princeton - Physics (PhD) - HET, String Theory - Rejected (20 Feb)
Harvard - Physics (PhD) - HET, String Theory - Rejected via e-mail inquiry (9 March)
Stanford - Physics (PhD) - HET, String Theory -Accepted! (28 Feb) TA+RA stipend ~$35,000/year + tuition fees - Will Attend!!
Caltech - Physics (PhD) - HET, String Theory - Rejected (23 Feb)
Columbia - Physics (PhD) - HET, String Theory - Accepted! (17 Feb) Dean's Fellow (stipend ~$31,600/year + tuition fees + housing) - Declined
UC Santa Barbara - Physics (PhD) - HET, String Theory - Rejected (14 March)
UPenn - Physics (PhD) - HET, String Theory - Rejected (26 March)
PennState - Physics (PhD) - HET, String Theory - Rejected (Early April)
Rutgers - Physics (PhD) - HET, String Theory - Rejected (Early April)
Brown - Physics (PhD) - HET, String Theory - Accepted! (18 Feb) stipend 21,500$/year + tuition fees + 2,500$ for summer Declined
USC - Physics (PhD) - HET, String Theory - Contacted me (through Skype) to tell me they're interested in my app (15 Jan) Accepted! (15 Feb) no funding information yet Declined
Stony Brook - Physics (PhD) - HET, String Theory - Accepted! (14 Feb) TA: stipend ~$22,000/year + tuition fees Declined

esopterodactyl · Post by **esopterodactyl** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 4:07 pm

Undergrad Institution: Midsized LibArts
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.8
Overall GPA: 3.7
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: ~15% overall, top in physics though
Type of Student: Domestic, white male

GRE Scores (old version):
Q: 790 (91%)
V: 610 (88%)
W: 5.0 (84%)
P: 700 (55%)

Research Experience: 2 years research at my uni

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: couple of awards for academic excellence (top 5% of class)

Special Bonus Points: 2 grad classes

Applying to Where:
HET unless noted
Brown - Rejected 2/20
Colorado - applied
UCLA - applied
Chicago - Rejected 2/18
UMD - applied
Lancaster (UK) - applied
Imperial (UK) - QFFF (MSc) - Accepted! via website check 2/2, will attend!
Northeastern - applied

phyalan · Post by **phyalan** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 12:28 pm

Undergrad Institution: A University in Hong Kong, no reputation I guess...
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): -
GPA in Major: My university doesn't distinguish that... probably 4/4.3
Overall GPA: 3.77/4.3
Length of Degree: 3
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores (revised/old version): reviesed
Q: 167/97%

V: 151/51%
W: 4/48%
P: 2011: 990/95%

TOEFL Total: 108/120, iBT

Research Experience: 1 year research on biophysics, no publication , attended a national conference for undergraduate students

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: some scholarships, dean's list

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: was a TA for a course held by my university, teaching high school students

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: nothing special...

Special Bonus Points: none

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: none

Applying to Where:

UCB - Physics - Biophysics -pending
UCSD - Physics - Biophysics -pending
UIUC -Physics - Biophysics-pending
Michigan State U- Physics - Biophysics-accepted
Penn State U- Physics - Biophysics-pending
U of Maryland- Physics - Biophysics -pending
______________________________________________

annaboolio · Post by **annaboolio** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 10:16 pm

______________________________________________
Undergrad Institution: Top 4 liberal arts, but literally no physics recognition, SUCK IT.
Major(s): Astrophysics
Minor(s): Nearly Women's studies. Nearly Geo.
GPA in Major: 3.3
Overall GPA: 3.4
Length of Degree: 4 yr
Position in Class: slightly above average? average physics?
Type of Student: female

GRE Scores (revised)
Q: 158, 79%tile
V: 166, 97%tile
W: 5.0, 87%tile
P: NEVER TOOK IT BAHAHAHHAHA. Studied for it though. I would guess I would get 40%tile.

Research Experience:
1 yr part time cassini radio research @ school
1 REU @ cornell working on Mars surface geo
1 REU @ jpl working on Venus interior structure geo

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor (astro), Tutor (physics), Grader (physics)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: I would not count "being female" as a "bonus point." I think a dude wrote that suggestion.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

My writing sample, diversity essay, my correspondence with dept profs I want to work with.

Applying to Where:

Boston University - Earth and Planetary Sci (EPS) - Geodynamics -ACCEPTED 2/13 w/ $31k funding for 4 years
Harvard - EPS - Geophysics - **note for others: Submitted transcript after due date, womp womp. 2/25- Rejected
Brown - Geophys - Planetary Sci, Geophys - Rejected 2/22, and again 2/24! via website and email
Columbia - Earth and Environmental Sci - Theoretical Solid Earth Geophys - 3/08- ACCEPTED. full finding, $32k fellowship/yr
UChicago - Geophys - Planetary evolution - 2/7 Put on shortlist and invited to interview, -2/28 rejected via personal email from POI: Research choices not a good fit.
Northwestern - EPS - Planetary Science - Interested in application, all expenses paid trip to department open house/tour/interview 3/1-3/3. can't wait man, they booked me a window seat! WINDOW SEAT!! Invitation received 2/1.
UCLA - Earth and Space Science - Geophys of rifting
UCSC - Planetary Science - Planetary science!- 3/09- Rejected via email

PiTime · Post by **PiTime** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 3:32 pm

Undergrad Institution: Medium Sized State School, known for engineering and okay physics reputation
Major(s): Physics and Chemistry
GPA in Major: 3.3
Overall GPA: 3.2
Length of Degree: 4 years
Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Scores (old version):
Q: 740 79%
V: 540 72%
W: 4.0 48%
P: 820 76% (took this a few times...)

Research Experience: 4 years of research experience, 2 as an undergrad and 2 years after school at a research institute. All in the same field, all with well known members of the field.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A couple of school scholarships for research.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I currently work as a research scientist at a research institute loosely affiliated with my undergrad school

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: One paper, I have been to several conferences

Special Bonus Points: I have met several of the professors I want to work for at conferences and through my old adviser.

Applying to Where:

University of Wisconsin - Madison - Physics - AMO/Quantum Information - Accepted (1/17)
University of Washington - Physics - AMO/Quantum Information - Accepted (2/03)
Yale - Physics - AMO/Quantum Information - Rejected (2/22) Email to check website
UMD - Physics - AMO/Quantum Information - Accepted (3/13)
Colorado - Boulder - Physics - AMO/Quantum Information - Rejected (3/13) Email
UC - Berkeley - Physics - AMO/Quantum Information
Harvard - Physics - AMO/Quantum Information - Rejected (3/12) Postal service
MIT - Physics - AMO/Quantum Information - Rejected (2/29) Email
Georgia Tech - Physics - AMO/Quantum Information - Accepted (3/09)

scr · Post by **scr** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 8:32 pm

Undergrad Institution: Foreign Technical University (Mexico, not reputation in Physics)
Major(s): BSEE
Overall GPA: 98/100
Length of Degree: 4,5 years
Position in Class: top

Undergrad Institution: Foreign State University (Mexico, reputation in HEP)
Major(s): Master in Physics
Overall GPA: 98/100
Length of Degree: 2 years
Position in Class: top

Type of Student: International, male, latin

GRE Scores (old version):
Q: 530
V: 330
W: 2
P: 430
TOEFL iBT Total: 91

Research Experience:
Undergraduate Research in Telecommunications, led to a conference
Undergraduate Research in Image Processing, led to a national conference
Private Industry Research in Image Processing, led to a field implementation
Graduate Research in Robotics, led to a international conference
Graduate Summer Research in experimental HEP (instrumentation) at JLAB, led to a hall poster talk
Graduate Research in experimental HEP (detectors), currently writing my master thesis.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Top of my class every year. Won a national contest in HEP to receive a summer research at JLAB.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA in undergrad labs, Private Industry experience

Special Bonus Points: 1 recommendation from a JLAB scientist, 2 recommendations from highly reputation HEP people in Mexico. I guess all recommendations are superb.

Applying to Where:

UBC - Physics - experimental HEP - (Skype interview 12/6/11) Accepted, 2/3, by email, $22K
UCLA - Physics - Accelerators - pending
UCRiverside - Physics - experimental HEP - Accepted, 2/28, by email, $25K fellowship

PS: This represents hope for international/low GRE applications. Good letters of recommendation makes the difference.

hatake · Post by **hatake** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 6:18 pm

Undergrad Institution: Small State School. No reputation in Physics
Major(s): Physics (honors), mathematics.
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.82
Overall GPA: 3.76
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: International male (India), did bachelors in US.

GRE Scores (revised version):
Q:159 (82%)
V:147 (36%)

W:4.0 (48%)
P: 900 (86%)

TOEFL Total: NA [ibt 105, 2008]

Research Experience:
1) Small summer experience in the department doing data analysis and model searching.
2) Long 2 year research project in the department doing computational fluid mechanics and polymer dynamics. Results presented at the annual APS march meeting. Manuscript under preparation

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
1) Honors scholarship - full tuition, all academic fees and books paid for 4 years.
2) Won freshman sophomore intra university math competitions
3) Best undergraduate physics research project for 2 years (prizes given by the department)
4) Dean's list (every sem), President's list (1 sem)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
1) Department Physics TA for 3 years
2) SPS officer
3) Science Senator at the University Student government

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points:
1) Took classes like General Relativity, Differential Geometry, Physics of Materials, non linear dynamics, Topology,etc.
2) One of the recommenders is the department chair and is quite known in Stat Mech.

Applying to Where:

Princeton - Physics - CMT, Computational Cosmology (2nd pref) rejected by email 2/20
U Chicago - Physics - CMT, Computational Cosmology rejected by email 2/18
Yale - Physics - CMT, Computational Cosmology Shaddy behavior! First invited me to the open house. Then sent the rejection decision. Then emailed me that the invitation was send in error!!!! wtf! 2/22
U Penn - Physics & Astro- CMT, Computational Cosmology rejected by email & website 3/23
U Maryland, CP - Physics - Nonlinear dynamics, CMT. rejected by email 3/9
U Illinois, UC - Physics - CMT, Computational Cosmology rejected by email 3/8
Johns Hopkins - Physics & Astro- CMT, Computational Cosmology. Accepted 02/03 through e-mail. Invited to open house. $22000/nine months TA+ summer extra +$2000 fellowship + free health insurance - will be attending
Carnegie Mellon - Physics - Computational Cosmology, CMT. Accepted 2/17 through email. Invited to open house and $2150/month Junior Scientist fellowship for 12 months. Declined
Northwestern - Physics & Astro- Nonlinear dynamics, CMT
Ohio State - Physics - CMT, Computational Cosmology. Accepted. 2/13 through email. atleast $1985/month teaching stipend for 2 years. Declined
Case Western - Physics - CMT, Cosmology. Accepted. 2/13 through email. $22620 teaching stipend for 11 months. Declined
Georgia Tech - Physics - Nonlinear dynamics, Computational Cosmology. Accepted. 3/12 through email. $24060 stipend per year excluding health insurance($500/sem) and student activity fees ($600/sem). Declined

Square47 · Post by **Square47** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 7:44 pm

Undergrad Institution: St. John's College, Santa Fe. Very small idiosyncratic liberal arts school, zero physics rep.
Major(s): Liberal Arts (Double major in Philosophy/History of Mathematics and Science)
Minor(s): (Double minor in Classics and Comparative Lit)
GPA in Major: 4.0 in Math/Science
Overall GPA: 3.98
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: NA (no class ranks at St. John's)
Type of Student: Domestic whit male
GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 161 (86%)
V: 160 (86%)
W: 4.5
P: 750 (64%)

Research Experience: Approximately five months with the VERITAS experiment, with scientists at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. Not much material to show for it apart from a recommendation.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Faculty Award for Sustained Academic Excellence (one of the few academic awards that St. John's grants).

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Head Laboratory Assistant: Supervising experiments for St. John's Labs. Leadership/management position, some ability to design new experiments and improve old experiments, and make write-ups for the St. John's laboratory curriculum.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: None

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I have a really weird application: My major is in Liberal Arts, and my undergrad was a "great books" program. This was more like a History of Math and Science program, but only using original sources. Most schools that I applied to said that they didn't mind, as long as the PGRE score is good.

Applying to Where:--all for Astronomy/Astrophysics
University of Chicago- Waitlisted 2/6 by email
Columbia
UC Santa Cruz- Rejected 2/10 by email
UT at Austin- Rejected 2/15 by email
Ohio State- Waitlisted 2/6 by email
University of Hawaii-Accepted 2/5 by email, assistantship.
UC Riverside- Accepted 2/16 by email, fellowship
Drexel University

Failnaught · Post by **Failnaught** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 12:57 am

Undergrad Institution: Major Canadian research university.
Major(s): Physics & Mathematics
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 3.96
Overall GPA: 3.96
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: We don't do rankings, and I can only speculate... So I won't comment.
Type of Student: Canadian male

GRE Scores: Revised Exam
Q: 165 - 96%
V: 166 - 97%
W: 5.5 - 96%
P: 770 - 68% : (
I should have studied more for the P-GRE. It was right during midterm season, and right after the application for the NSERC PostGraduate Scholarship was due. I was working in the summer, too, and so I didn't prepare very well. It's not an excuse, of course, but if you're applying next year, learn from my mistake and start preparing as early as possible, as much as possible. It turns out, the P-GRE is nontrivial, and thinking otherwise was a major mistake in judgement.

Research Experience: Worked in research for 4 summers in biophysics and CMP-E;
2 first-author publications (a real paper and a conference proceeding),
one 4th author paper,
one 3rd author in review at the time of applications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: I won some departmental/faculty and university scholarships - enough to cover tuition. Held the NSERC USRA (equivalent to the NSF REU) twice.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Involved in student government in physics department.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: None that I'm aware of...

Special Bonus Points: I worked fairly closely with all my referees, two of them being research supervisors, and I published in both labs.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I'm fairly good with computers & programming. Not as good as a computer scientist, of course, but I've noticed that other people in the lab tend to ask me when they are stuck with computer issues. I'm also fairly good at setting up new pieces of equipment, and I'm pretty good at LabVIEW. Should come in handy in experimental physics.

Applying to Where: All applications are to Physics Department for Condensed Matter Physics - Experimental.

Columbia University - Admitted, Feb. 3; Dean's Fellow - 32k/year fellowship for 5 years; + $5k account for supplies and conferences over 2 years <<< Will Attend
Princeton University - Rejected, Feb. 20.
Cornell University - Admitted, Feb. 9; TAship - $25k for 9 months (~20 hrs/week), then possible summer funding, for $5 - 9k. Declined
MIT - Rejected, Feb. 29.
Stanford University - Rejected, Feb. 29.
CalTech - Rejected, Feb. 23.
University of Toronto (Masters) - Admitted (to PhD), Feb. 24 by mail; Entrance scholarship + ~5 hrs/week TAship; $24k/year (CDN) after tuition. Declined
Cambridge University (Direct-Entry PhD.) - Admitted, Feb. 15; 11kPounds per year in funding, for 3 years (~4 year program) Declined

External Awards:
NSERC PostGraduate Scholarships (Masters) - Value: ~17k Cdn. for 1 year - Approved (for CGS), April 10, 2012

Very happy at this point - Columbia was a top choice (and so was Cornell), although I'm slightly disappointed I've been rejected from some of the other ones, especially Princeton. But that just makes the choice easier. : )

Note to future generations: don't screw up on that Physics GRE! Now I'll go ahead and make Princeton regret their decision.

quantumwell · Post by **quantumwell** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 4:50 pm

Undergrad Institution: Ivy
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 3.77
Overall GPA: 3.75
Length of Degree: 4 years
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores (revised version):
Q: 170 (99%)
V: 167 (98%)
W: 5.5 (96%)
P: 900 (86%)

Research Experience: 2.5 years in various projects at my school and at another Ivy including 3 summers, one at CERN. Research in AMO, particle physics and astrophysics. One publication as one author of several.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for computer science, officer in various campus groups, worked in tech support office

Special Bonus Points: Have connections at some schools through research collaborations and meetings at conferences. Recommenders are quite well-known in their field. Very comfortable with computers and programming, with training in lab electronics and machining.

Applying to Where: (all for experimental physics)
Harvard - Physics - Rejected by inquiry (3/5)
MIT - Physics - Rejected by email (2/29)
Princeton - Physics - Accepted by email (2/17), invited to open house on 3/25
Penn - Physics - Accepted by email (2/6), invited to open house on 3/30
Cornell - Physics - Rejected by email (2/17)
Chicago - Physics - Rejected by email (2/18)
Yale - Physics - Accepted by email to check online status (2/17), invited to open house on 3/30-31 - Will Attend
Columbia - Physics - Rejected by email (4/11)
Maryland, College Park - Physics - Accepted by email (2/16), invited to open house on 3/30-31
NYU - Physics - Accepted by email (1/30), invited to open house on 3/23
BU - Physics - Accepted by email (1/25), invited to open house on 3/23-24

Fellowships:
NSF - Honorable mention
DOE - Finalist

xnd996 · Post by **xnd996** » Tue Feb 07, 2012 5:38 pm

Undergrad Institution: Private school best known for engineering. The physics department is considered "up and coming"
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics, Astrophysics
GPA in Major: 3.68
Overall GPA: 3.67
Length of Degree: Finished 5 year degree in 4 years.
Position in Class: Near top
Type of Student: domestic female

GRE Scores (old version):
Q: 770
V: 550
W: 3.5
P: 590

Research Experience: I worked with the Astrophysics Group at my school since my freshman year, participated in two astronomy REUs as an undergraduate, and took a planetary research position at a prominent institution immediately following graduation.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater Scholarship, Sigma Pi Sigma Inductee, multiple small scholarships specific to my school

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: SPS president (2 years) and treasurer (also 2 years), Student mentor for incoming freshmen, observatory crew member for on campus observatory, full time position as a research assistant following graduation.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: One of my recommenders is very well known in his field, another was my REU advisor at a school I have applied to, people from where I work now often sit on the admissions board of somewhere I have applied.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I applied to most of these schools last year and was not admitted.

Applying to Where:

Columbia - Astro - Extragalactic/Cosmology
UC LA - Astro - Extragalactic/Cosmology
UC Santa Cruz - Astro - Extragalactic/Cosmology/Instrumentation - Rejected 2/10
University of Hawaii - Astro - Extragalactic/Cosmology/Instrumentation - Accepted! 2/5
University of Pennsylvania - Physics - Extragalactic/Cosmology
University of Washington - Astro - Extragalactic/Cosmology

varses · Post by **varses** » Tue Feb 07, 2012 6:25 pm

______________________________________________
Undergrad Institution: Large public state school, top ~10 physics
Major(s): Physics and Chemistry
Minor(s): Philosophy of Science
GPA in Major: 3.95
Overall GPA: 3.9
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: Domestic white male
GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 163
V: 166
W: 5
P: 750

Research Experience: 2 years Molecular Biology, publication. 3 years Physical Chemistry, publication in progress. Summer RISE internship Max-Plank Institute Heidelberg in attosecond physics. Publication in APL. Contributed to posters and presentations at conferences. Research for credit (A+’s)
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Had no B’s-Angell scholar every term. University Honors every term. Phi Kappa Phi. Sigma Pi Sigma.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: tutoring, TA for intro EM. SPS. PenPal for underprivileged kids. Grader.
Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments/bonus points A+ in Quantum, advanced EM, Modern Physics. Graduate materials science class. 2 recommenders went to/connections to Berkeley.

Applying to Where:

UC Berkeley - Physics – AMO/Condensed matter - Rejected by phone inquiry
UCSD - Physics - AMO/Condensed matter - Accepted by phone 2/7
UCSB - Physics AMO/Condensed matter - Accepted by email 2/28
______________________________________________

B-80 · Post by **B-80** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 8:12 pm

Undergrad Institution: Penn State
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.14 (3.91 jr/sr)
Overall GPA: 3.01 (3.7 jr/sr)
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: N/A
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q:91%
V:79%
W:29%
P:66%

Research Experience: Two years of work. One in particle astro and the other in multimessenger astronomy. The particle work was pretty standard stuff, don't think it sets me apart; however, the MMA work was pretty serious. It is a new project and I was the only student on it for a good while. It's picked up some steam now, but I assume it looks pretty good that I managed to get it off the ground for about a year by myself. No publications. I gave a talk, but never thought to mention it unless my recommender did.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None (unless you count Dean's list... which you shouldn't)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Mainly what I put under research experience. I also worked as a freelance web developer in high school; it was listed on my resume, but never mentioned it.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I wasn't planning on posting my profile here, but I haven't seen anyone else quite in my situation. I had about a 2.0 GPA at the end of my sophomore year, but turned it around and have had almost all As (two A-) in upper level physics. I had a lot of trouble figuring out what schools to apply to because some schools will see me as a "good turn around story," while others will see me as a risk. So I hope this helps some people who are in my position. The only other thing worth mentioning is that I believe I had pretty strong recommendations. Two of them were from research advisors who I believe think very highly of me, and the other was from a former professor that I kept a strong relationship with and have worked for in my time doing multimessenger stuff.

Applying to Where:

These were all for a mix of High Energy Theory/Experiment, Phenomenology, and Cosmology Theory/Experiment depending on how many faculty worked in each field.

Maryland - Physics - Rejected 4/09 by US post
Michigan - Physics - Rejected 2/23 by email
Michigan State - Physics - Rejected 2/29 by email
Northwestern - Physics
Ohio State - Physics - Accepted 2/6 by email
Penn - Physics - Rejected 3/23 by email
SUNY: Stony Brook - Physics - Rejected 3/7 by email
Texas A&M - Physics - Accepted 2/16 by email
UC: Davis - Physics - Rejected 2/27 by website after receiving email to check
UC: Irvine - Physics
UC: Los Angeles - Physics - Rejected 3/17 by email
UC: Riverside - Physics - Rejected 4/03 by email
UC: Santa Barbara - Physics - Rejected 3/14 by website after receiving email to check
UC: San Diego - Physics - Accepted 3/06 by email
UC: Santa Cruz - Physics - Rejected 3/13 by email
Wisconsin - Physics - Rejected 2/2 by email

scintillahx · Post by **scintillahx** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:46 pm

Undergrad Institution: Small liberal arts college in MA, nice reputation in physics.
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.87
Overall GPA: 3.76
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: N/A
Type of Student: International female studying in U.S.

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 170

V: 160

W: 5.5

P: 730

Research Experience: 4 years of research at home institution on optoelectronics, one summer at home institution, one summer abroad at Germany on AMO, one summer at Fermilab on accelerator physics.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list, a couple of research fellowships

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for three years

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...) I have strong recommenders, one that I worked with for four years. One I took advanced physics courses with. One from Fermilab that absolutely loved my work there.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My PGRE score is pretty bad and I had one bad semester when I was sick and asked for medical leave. My recommenders addressed in that point in the letters.

Applying to Where: Accelerator physics (very few schools are doing accelerator physics)

Cornell - Accelerator Physics -accepted 02/09/2012
University of Maryland, College Park -Accelerator Physics -accepted 02/20/2012 with dean's fellowship
UChicago - Beam Physics --accepted by email 02/20/12
University of Rochester - Accelerator physics, AMO -accepted 02/08/2012 by email
UCLA - Beam physics
College of William and Mary - Accelerator physics -accepted 02/07/2012 by phone, with fellowship
University of Colorado, Boulder - Physics - AMO, Plasma Physics accepted 03/02/2012 by email
Yale - Beam physics -accepted 02/17/2012
Boston University - Physics - CME -accepted 01/27/2012 by email

yg9 · Post by **yg9** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:58 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top 3
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.3
Overall GPA: 3.1
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: overall gpa --> 5th quintile i think
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 170 (99%)
V: 165 (96%)
W: 4.5 (72%)
P: 990 (95%)

Research Experience: 1 summer at home university doing experimental work (biophysics)
2 junior year research projects; 1 summer at home university on simulation/modelling (biophysics) - continued for thesis
no publications

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: departmental award for research

Special Bonus Points: good SOP; great recommendations

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: some high school physics competitions; placed out of first year physics classes; low gpa (but could be offset by the rest of my application)

Applying to Where:

Caltech - Applied Physics - Biophysics - rejected (unofficial)
Chicago - Biophysics program - Biophysics - interview Feb. 2-4 - rejected (unofficial)
Cornell - Physics - Biophysics - accepted Feb. 9th by email
Harvard - Systems Biology - Biophysics - interview Feb. 13 - - rejected
Harvard - Physics - Biophysics - accepted Feb. 14th by email
Illinois - Physics - Biophysics - accepted by email
MIT - Physics - Biophysics - rejected
Stanford - Applied Physics - Biophysics - - rejected
UCSD - Physics - Biophysics - accepted by email
UCSF - iPQCB - Biophysics - rejected
UPenn - Physics - Biophysics

bb · Post by bb » Fri Feb 10, 2012 12:39 pm

Undergrad Institution: One of the top schools in Turkey
Major(s): Physics, EE
GPA in Major: 4
Overall GPA: 3.7
Length of Degree: 4.5
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: International white male

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 164 (91%)
V: 153 (62%)
W: 3.5 (29%)
P: 900 (86%)

TOEFL Total: 110

Research Experience: At home university, 1 year research on STM instrumentation (one conference poster) and 1 year research on statistical physics of surfaces (one oral presentation)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Working as a T/A in a private university for longer than 1 year

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Working at CERN for MSc thesis.

Special Bonus Points: Currently enrolled to Physics Msc. program in the same university. Taken grad classes on QM, Statistical Physics, EM, Mathematical Methods, QFT and Many Body Physics

Applying to Where (All Physics - CMT):

Caltech - rejected - 2/23 - email
UCSB - rejected - 3/14 - email
UCB - rejected - 3/08 - email
UIUC - rejected - 3/09 - email
Cornell - rejected - 2/17 - email
Columbia - rejected - 3/13 - email
Yale - rejected - 2/22 - email
Gatech - accepted - 3/12 - email

epsilon_lolcat · Post by **epsilon_lolcat** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 5:00 pm

Undergrad Institution: Cornell
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Astronomy
GPA in Major: ~3.9
Overall GPA: ~4
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Dunno.
Type of Student: Domestic (White) Nerd

GRE Scores (old version):
Q: 780
V: 580
W: 4.5
P: 850

Research Experience: Solar physics at Naval Research Lab for a few summers/winters. Coauthor on several papers in ApJ.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: NRL Research Award

Applying to Where: (All physics--mostly experimental particle/astrophysics. Mentioned solar physics as well when pertinent to the school)

CalTech Accepted 2/16
Harvard Rejected via mail
Johns Hopkins Accepted 1/27 via email
MIT Accepted 2/14 via email WILL ATTEND!
Princeton Rejected 2/20 via email
Stanford Rejected 2/29 via email
UC San Diego Accepted 2/5 via phone/email
UCLA Accepted 2/10 via email
UC Santa BarbaraAccepted 2/22 via email
UC Berkeley Rejected 3/7 via email
University of Maryland Accepted 2/16 via email

addubhai · Post by **addubhai** » Sat Feb 11, 2012 6:15 am

Undergrad Institution: TOP most institute in India
Overall Reputation in Physics?) good
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 8.38 out of 10
Overall GPA:
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Near top
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores: old version
Q:800
V: 610
W:3.5
P:860

TOEFL Total: 105/120

Research Experience: 1 bachelor thesis in optoelectronics communication at school, two internships but in Nanotechnology (materials synthesis and characterization) and Solid state physcs at leading reasearch institutes in the country

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: two simultaneous years of Summer research fellowship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: NO. but part of department community

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Not much

Special Bonus Points: No. One good recommender

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: no positives . only negative that not much determination visible from my research experiences. they are all in different field. Not even 1 related to AMO.

Applying to Where:

Colorado Boulder Physics AMO
ETH Zurich Physics AMO Rejected
Wisconsin Madison Physics AMO Rejected
Maryland physics AMO
Georgia Tech Physics AMO
Waterloo Physics AMO
Calgary Physics AMO
______________________________________________

Physwimic · Post by **Physwimic** » Sat Feb 11, 2012 12:22 pm

Undergrad Institution: Ivy, top 20 physics
Major(s): Physics, Biophysics, and Biochemistry
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 3.6 (Phys) 3.5 (Biophys) and 3.4 (Biochem)
Overall GPA: 3.7
Length of Degree: 4 yrs
Position in Class: Near top
Type of Student: Domestic, white male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 168 (96%)
V: 160 (86%)
W: 5.0 (87%)
P: 700 (55%) This is low, and I was a bit ashamed with myself. I could make excuses, but I won't. What I will say is I was freaking about about my chances of getting into straight physics schools. I hope this helps someone else shoot for the stars, because it turns out some schools (even top ones) don't care about the PGRE that much.

TOEFL Total: NA

Research Experience: 3 yrs in an immunology lab. I am currently writing a 1st author paper that we are submitting to an Immunology journal. Nothing in physics.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Intensive and prestigious research program at my school, school honors society, and Eagle Scout.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: None

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: None that I can think of.

Special Bonus Points: I am sure one of my rec letters focused on how I really just like to learn, and am not focused only on grades and the like. Also, one of my rec letters is from a pretty big name in the biophysics field.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Sciences Class of 2007 (Although it probably doesn't matter)

Applying to Where:

Harvard - Biophysics - Rejected 2/6/12 Via post
Stanford - Biophysics - Interview 2/29/12
Caltech - Biochemistry and Biophysics - Rejected 2/22/12 via email
UChicago - Biophysics - Accepted 2/6/12 Via phone
Harvard - Physics -
Cornell - Physics - Accepted 2/9/12 Via Email
Berkeley - Physics -

Fellowships:
NSF
NDSEG

lhirsch · Post by **lhirsch** » Sat Feb 11, 2012 3:41 pm

Undergrad Institution: Cornell
Major(s): Physics, Science and Technology Studies
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.96
Overall GPA: 3.96
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top(ish) but statistics not really available
Type of Student: domestic female

GRE Scores (revised version):
Q: 166 (94%)
V: 165 (96%)
W: 5.5 (94%)
P: 820 (76%)

Research Experience: 1.5 years with SOFIA (airborne astronomical observatory) team at my school, including a summer of full-time work

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: NASA group achievement award for SOFIA work, Dean's list

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: none

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Actually got to fly on SOFIA, not sure if that counts but it seemed to impress some of the schools? Detected an exoplanet.

Special Bonus Points: Definitely at least 2 really solid recommendations

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:
Research interests: exoplanets

Chicago - Astronomy - accepted 1/17 by email
Ohio State - Astronomy - accepted 1/18 by phone
Berkeley - Astronomy - accepted 2/1 by phone
U Michigan - Astronomy - accepted 2/7 by email and phone
UC Santa Cruz - Astronomy - accepted 2/9 by email
U Maryland - Astronomy - accepted 2/14 by email
U Mass Amherst - Astronomy - accepted 2/16 by email
U Washington - Astronomy - accepted 2/17 by email
Harvard - Astronomy - denied 2/20 by mail
Caltech - Astronomy - denied 2/22 by email

Lerxt · Post by **Lerxt** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 1:29 am

Undergrad Institution: Top 10
Major(s): Physics, Math
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.5
Overall GPA: 3.4
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: no idea
Type of Student: domestic white male

GRE Scores:
Q: 169 (98%)
V: 159 (84%)
W: 4.5 (72%)
P: 940 (90%)

Research Experience: worked on 3 different HEP experiments (4 semesters and 3 summers). 3 Technical notes and ~ a dozen talks on experiments' internal document databases (but none in a real journal).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Big impact on one of the experiments I worked on - convinced everyone to spend a million dollars. Gave a plenary talk.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA'd for two semesters and tutored beginning to upper level physics and math.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Probably?

Special Bonus Points: All recommendations should be really positive.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Took a year of grad classes (GR, EM, QM, QFT) + ~20 undergrad classes in my major.

Applying to Where:
Physics with interest in specific HEP-EX experiments

Caltech - Accepted 2/16 via email
Duke - Accepted 1/27 via email
Harvard -
MIT -
U Indiana - Accepted 2/16 via email
U Minnesota - Accepted 1/6 via email

blondie · Post by **blondie** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 7:18 pm

Undergrad Institution: Foreign, one of the best universities in my country
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 10/10
Overall GPA: 10/10
Length of Degree: 3 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: International (Romania)

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 168 (96%)
V: 167 (98%)
W: 4.5 (72%)
P: 850 (80%)

TOEFL Total: 114/120

Research Experience: One small project at my university in biophysics. Another project at started abroad with a possible publication when finished.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list - First prize for best grades in my first two years at univ

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: None.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: 3 month Erasmus Scholarship; internship at local institute

Special Bonus Points: One recommender is somewhat well known in the field
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:
All physics CMT

Princeton - Rejected 02/20 via email
Cornell - Rejected 02/17 via email
UIUC
Ohio State - Accepted 02/13 via email, $1,634 guaranteed TA
U of Maryland - Rejected 03/06 after email enquiry
UCSD
Rice University
U of Rochester - Recommended for admission 02/17 via email
Boston U - Recommended for admission 02/28 via email, $19,300 TA

willeslewis · Post by **willeslewis** » Wed Feb 15, 2012 12:49 am

Undergrad Institution: Fairly large state school not well known for physics (just outside the top 100 on USNews).
Major(s): Physics (honors) and Mathematics
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 4.0/4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0/4.0
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: domestic male

GRE Scores revised:
Q: 165 (93%)
V: 162 (90%)
W: 4.5 (72%)
P: 720 (59%)

Research Experience: No REU experience. Have worked on the same project in theoretical laser physics for almost 2 years. Should be 1st author on article by end of the semester. Have had a small amount of laboratory experience with related experimental project, but nothing that I focused on in my application material. I have presented at 4 conferences: two local and two at the Undergraduate Symposium at the OSA's FiO meeting in 2010 and 2011.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Lots of scholarships big and small at university, state, and national level including a Barry M. Goldwater scholarship. Inducted into Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Beta Kappa, and Sigma Pi Sigma.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutored at the university learning center for 3 years. Local chapter of SPS outreach officer for about 2 years.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Can't think of anything not already listed.

Special Bonus Points: I have some connections to several schools through FiO participation as well as recommenders. I have been told I got awesome letters! (One was late to Wisconsin and he called them personally to make sure I would still be considered.)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I discussed my NSFGRFP application briefly not sure if that will help or not.

Applying to Where:

University of Colorado at Boulder - Physics - AMO/CM (Pending)
University of Michigan Ann Arbor - Physics - AMO/CM (Accepted 1/19)
Duke - Physics - AMO (Accepted 1/30)
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign - Physics - AMO/CM (Accepted 2/16)
University of Maryland College Park - Physics - AMO/CM (Pending)
University of Wisconsin Madison - Physics - AMO (Accepted 1/17)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Physics - AMO/CM (Pending)
Ohio State University - Physics - AMO/CM (Accepted 2/2)
University of Rochester - Institute of Optics - Optics (Accepted 2/15)
University of Arizona - College of Optical Sciences - Optics (Accepted 2/14) (Declined Offer 2/17)

baconface · Post by **baconface** » Thu Feb 16, 2012 12:43 pm

Will fill in as I have time/feel like it/more responses come in:

Undergrad Institution: Big state. Top 20 USNews grad program
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.5 (don't remember to hundreths/thousandths)
Overall GPA: 3.167
Length of Degree: 5 total, 3 in physics

Position in Class: Near top in core phys, btw near top & avg in elective phys, avg in math & overall
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 161 (86%)
V: 161 (89%)
W: 3.5 (29%)
P: 750 (64%) <-- A relief, but still not quite there for my profile

Research Experience:
Worked with one plasma group ~1.5 years. Senior thesis being written with same group. Thesis focus is on designing spectrometer for a plasma diagnostic (CHERS in case anyone's interested). Haven't accomplished much with the group besides thesis.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None?

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: None?

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
Chosen to co-author paper with my QM prof on a numerical technique for general 1-D eigensystems. Will submit to AJP.

Special Bonus Points:
* Ok grades in core physics:
Classical & Quant. Mech: 4.0 [Fall '11, Fall '12]
E&M [Spring '11], Optics [Spring '11], and intro classes [Fall' 11 and earlier]: 3.5
Stat. Mech. & Electronics: 3.0 [both Fall '12]

Intermed. Lab: 4.0 [Fall '11]

* LOR from plasma PI, the QM prof, and my optics prof. Will be positive, but better than average? Unsure.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
* Pretty much straight B's in math. Our school doesn't inflate math grades much so that's just above "average," tho that isn't an excuse or anything. Also transferred from Biology/Psychology major my junior year. This was a difficult transition, as I had to take some difficult semesters and remember how to do math... and actually employ basic logic and problem solving skills

* Now that I think of it, I have a few "drops" on my transcript. Most are of no consequence, but I do have about 4, one of them an intermediate physics lab. Realized I overloaded myself w/ coursework after the deadline. Does anyone know the effect this could have?

Applying to Where:

University of California - Davis - Physics - CM(E) - rejected 2/16 by website after receiving email a few days before (stating that a decision would soon be made).
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor - Applied Physics - CM(E)/Optics(E) - rejected 2/20 by email not but two hours after writing this: Seem to have their normal pool of admits, but not sure if they have a waitlist. Shoot me a PM if you know something!
University of Washington - Seattle - Physics - CM(E)/AMO(E) - rejected 3/22 via email
University of Colorado - Boulder - Physics - AMO/Plasma - rejected 3/2 via email
Michigan State University - Physics - CM(E)/Nuclear(E) - rejected 2/29 via email.
Ohio State University - Physics - CM(E)/AMO(E) - rejected 2/21 via website after inquiring about status., rejected a few days after by post, and rejected 3/22 by email The email stressed international student applicants. Wondering if I got the wrong email? Anyway, 3 rejects from one institution! Don't I feel special

University of California - Irvine - Physics - CM(E)/Plasma(E) - rejected 4/10 via email... FINALLY Good thing I wasn't waiting around for this reply! How shameful. Especially when they knew plasma experiment didn't want anyone...
University of Oregon - Eugene - Physics - Optics(E)/AMO(E) - rejected 3/13 by email Though I would not be able to attend for personal reasons, this one hurts
Wendy's - Custodial Sciences - Mop techniques/Stain removal theory - application withdrawn
*EDIT:*
Ok, so maybe it didn't quite work out this year... Let this serve as a sobering reminder that things can go completely and utterly wrong.
*EDIT#2:*
I will be moving to Ann Arbor this summer/fall and will probably try to apply to a number of their programs either next year or in two. In the meantime, I will be volunteering/working somewhere to pad my resume and get more experience.

Some advice to future generations:
*Don't spend your time agonizing over this site once apps are in. Check it every now and again, but don't let it take over your life. Head outside or go get some ice cream or something. Checking this site won't get you responses any quicker and will drive you crazy!
*For any younger readers (maybe freshman/sophomores) GET GOOD GRADES! We all know grades aren't necessarily indicative of ability or level of intelligence and blah blah blah, but for pete's sake just get the grade! I know sometimes the classes are astonishingly boring and almost vacuous in content, but schools need objective evidence of your scholarship. Betting on outstanding research is risky and IMO the PGRE is a secondary to the previous two. Do not depend on the PGRE to save your app! In summation, DON'T GIVE THE ADMISSIONS COMMITTEE AN INCH TO DOUBT WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR STATS!
*Get involved in a group, and do it early. I managed to do this, though my situation is a little weird and ended up doing paperwork for the first half year or so. Don't think that you're too inexperienced; they need people to do mechanical things like soldering... so do it and do it well! This will most likely be your best recommender, someone that can help the committee distinguish you from the pack.
* 3 years is not enough! At least, an imperfect but decent 3 years wasn't enough... For anyone else in a similar situation, I recommend sucking it up and going for 4. Even if grades, research, and PGRE are pretty damn good I think the extra year will probably bump you up into an even higher tier of schools.
* Good luck!

hyc34 · Post by **hyc34** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 6:26 pm

Undergrad Institution:Huge Public School
Major(s):Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:3.95
Overall GPA:3.87
Length of Degree:3.5
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: International male (US degree)

GRE Scores (revised/old version): Old, but I converted to revised
Q:168 (98%)
V:166 (94%)
W:3.0
P:940 (90%)

Research Experience: One year computational astrophysics, one summer at Caltech working on astrophysical numerical simulations for LIGO, and one theoretical project on topological insulator, result got published on PRB (first author).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List each year. Graduated with highest distinction.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Participated in several quantum information programs for undergrad

Special Bonus Points: 13 graduate classes in mathematics, physics and computer science combined. Really doubt about my Recommendation letters now.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:All physics department, first choice CMT, second choice Astrophysics, third choice QIS

University of California Santa Barbara - Rejected 3/14
Princeton University - Rejected 2/20
Stanford Physics - Rejected 2/29
Harvard University - Rejected 3/1 by email inquiry
University of California at Berkeley - Rejected 2/28 by phone inqury
M.I.T - Rejected 2/29
California Institute of Technology - Rejected 2/23
University of Chicago - Rejected 2/18
Columbia University - Rejected 3/8
University of Pennsylvania - Rejected 3/23
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - accepted 2/9

Notes: FML

gazillion · Post by **gazillion** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 7:30 pm

Undergrad Institution: California State system schools
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
Undergrad GPA in Major: 3.34
Undergrad Overall GPA: 3.27
Grad GPA: 4.0
Type of Student: Domestic, male, minority

GRE Scores (old version):
Q: 730
V: 650
W: 4.0
P: 750

Research Experience: summer undergrad research, senior project, grad research fellowship, no publications

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Senior of the Year, Sigma Pi Sigma

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Math/Science tutor for 6 years

Special Bonus Points: Greatly improved academics in final undergrad year and the master's. Extra pure and applied math courses with high math GPA.

Applying to Where:

All Schools are Theoretical Physics in Particle/High Energy and possibly Condensed Matter if there is a second preference.

Rice - Accepted 2/2 by e-mail with 27k stipend
UC Irvine - Accepted 2/2 by e-mail with 25k stipend + 5k preceding summer
Florida - Accepted 2/8 by e-mail with 22k stipend
UC Davis - Rejected 2/17 by website after being notified by e-mail of pending decision
UC Santa Cruz - Application withdrawn
UCLA - Rejected 2/23 by website
UC San Diego - Accepted 3/13 by e-mail with 31k stipend
UC Berkeley - Rejected by e-mail
UC Santa Barbara - Rejected by e-mail
Cal Tech - Rejected 2/23 by e-mail

Withdrew application from some other schools, especially outside california

Silvarus · Post by **Silvarus** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 5:27 am

Undergrad Institution: Smallish Midwest Liberal Arts University (in the top 10), not sure about the physics rep
Major(s): Physics, Math
Minor(s): Mech Eng
GPA in Major: 3.604
Overall GPA: 2.985
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Top of physics (but we have 4 of those), mid-top in general
Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Scores (revised/old version): Revised 170/170/6
Q: 167 (95%)
V: 163 (92%)
W: 6 (99%)
P: 820 (76%)

Research Experience: Summer 2009: Worked at home institution with a STAR Collaboration team, Summer 2010: NIST SURF project, Summer 2011: Home institution, more STAR work, 2011-2012: More STAR work, senior research in measuring cross-sections of some decay products from 6Li proton capture; All summer work followed up with posters at the relevant fall APS:DNP meetings

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 2010 NIST Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow; 2009, 2010, 2011 APS DNP Conference Experience for Undergrad participant

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Lab aide spring 2010-present, grader fall 2009-fall 2011, SPS secretary fall 2009-spring 2011

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Founded the fastest growing on-campus organization my sophomore year

Special Bonus Points: Letters of Rec: One from a NIST Group Leader, one from a professor who taught me and/or supervised me for 3.5 years (my freshman year through his retirement this fall), one from a professor who was my research adviser post depressed semester

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Diagnosed with and medicated for clinical depression spring 2011, also my worst semester (Semester Major GPA: 3.000, Semester General GPA: 1.000, a good couple points below every other semester)

Applying to Where:

U of Chicago - Physics - Beam Physics Accepted 2/16 Email 24k TA
Michigan State University - Physics - Accelerator Physics Rejected 2/29 Email
U of British Columbia - Physics - Accelerator Physics
U of Maryland - Physics - Accelerator Physics Rejected 4/4 Email
SUNY Stony Brook - Physics - Accelerator Physics Rejected 3/7 Email
U of Illinois Urbana Champaign - Physics - High Energy Physics Rejected 3/9 Email
Northern Illinois University - Physics - Accelerator Physics Accepted 3/28 Email 20k TA

pamel · Post by **pamel** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 8:14 am

Undergrad Institution: Undergrad Electronics Engg
MS Physics - Well reputed for research.
GPA: 3.2(for B.E) 3.2 (for the MS-till 2nd sem)
Length of Degree: 4 yrs B.E, 2 yrs M.S
Position in Class: Avg
Type of Student: International, male. Indian
GRE Scores (old version):2009
Q:760
V:600
W:3.5
P:880(Oct-2011)

TOEFL Total: 103

Research Experience:
-Summer School at reputed research instiition
-Winter School for a short duration-Did experiments and attended talks

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: -NA-

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Good with programming and computers.Wrote about a couple of core Physics concepts in a colloquial way.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Mentioned about original ideas that I am working on in. May be published after the current course in completed. Wrote about many other miscellaneous original ideas and my approach in modeling them . Read ton of books and papers and mentioned about them.

Special Bonus Points: -NA-

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Good Recos and SOP. Research experience in doing Projs at home university on Physics M.S

Applying to Where:
Exp HEP, Phenomenology, Computational, RHIC

Vanderbilt Accepted 3/5 with $20,200/9month for the next 5 years - Attending !!
SUNY Stony Brook 3/5 Rejected
Texas A&M
UCincinnati - via email, if I am still interested
U Tennesse-Knoxville Accepted 3/10 with $18000/9 month for 2yrs and mentioned that it gets renewed
Syracuse - 03/10 Prof emailed me if I am interested
Carnegie Mellon U - Rejected 3/18
Rochester 4/25 Rejected
South Carolina 3/20 Rejected
North Western - 3/2 Rejected

ieatfish · Post by **ieatfish** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 12:13 am

Top 10 School:
Major(s): Physics and Astronomy
GPA in Major: 3.4
Overall GPA: 3.4
Length of Degree: 4.5 years
Position in Class: below average?
Type of Student: Domestic male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q:800
V:540
W:2.5

P:770

Research Experience: 3 years summer research, coauthoring 1 paper
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for a introductory physics class
Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: None
Special Bonus Points: Took 1 graduate astro and 1 graduate physics class and did ok...

Applying to Where: All Astro programs
Illinois Urbana - rejected 2/9
Boston - rejected 2/10
UCSC - rejected 2/10
U Arizona - rejected 2/14
Colorado Boulder - rejected 2/14
Hawaii - rejected 2/17
Michigan Ann Arbor - rejected 2/20
U Washington - rejected 2/21
Penn State - wait-listed 2/23
Maryland - wait-listed 2/24
Wisconsin Madison - rejected 2/25
Indiana -rejected 2/29
Ohio State - rejected 3/5
U Florida - pending

What is the chance of getting acceptance on the wait-list?

emphysics · Post by **emphysics** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 5:56 am

Undergrad Institution: Top 20 university in the south, not known for physics.
Major(s): Physics, Mathematics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.95
Overall GPA: 3.77
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Ill defined, but near top
Type of Student: Domestic, South-Asian heritage

GRE Scores (revised version):
Q: 165 (95%)
V: 162 (93%)
W: 4.5 (72%)
P: 820 (76%)

Did not study enough.

Research Experience: Three years research experience at my school. First year was in an experiment biophysics lab, which also turned into a summer REU. This was with a new professor, not well known or established, with a small lab. Next two years were in computational biophysics with a person known well in his field. The topic is really a mix between stochastic processes and information processing. No paper yet- hopefully we will have one by the end of the semester. However, this information will not show up on my apps. I also did a summer REU at Ga Tech in EE on organic electronics.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Merit based scholarship given to incoming students, sophomore physics and mathematics awards, one research distinction.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor for physics and mathematics, TA for intro physics course.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I'm in three graduate physics courses right now, but this might not mean much as the university's physics department is not well known.

Special Bonus Points: I had at least two very good recommendation letters, as well as another which might have been really good (I didn't get a good read on the professor). For schools that allowed it, I had a fourth recommendation letter from my PI at Tech, which was probably just so-so as I never worked alongside with him. Also, the two biophysics projects that I have worked on have been completely independent, with just me on the project. I probably had a good personal statement too.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:

Non-physics, biophysics programs:

Harvard - Systems Biology: Interviewed 2/3 , Accepted by email 2/28 , Offer accepted 4/16
Cornell - Computational Biology and Medicine: Interviewed 3/4 , Accepted by email 3/21
Caltech - Computational Neuroscience: Never heard back (had my application forwarded to them, but I'm not sure if they ever got it)
U Washington (Seattle) - Physiology and Biophysics: Interviewed 2/17 , Unofficially accepted by email 2/24
UCSB - Biomolecular science and engineering: Rejected by website 3/20.

Physics programs, concentration biophysics:

Caltech - Applied Physics: Rejected by email 4/4
Stanford - Applied Physics: Rejected by snail mail 3/7. This was one of my top two

.
UCSD - Physics: Unofficially accepted by email 2/9
U Penn - Physics: Rejected by website 4/1
U Wisconsin - Madison - Physics: Rejected by email 2/2 (Applied to CME, not biophysics here. Thought I'd take a shot in CM like everyone else

)
U Minnesota - Physics: Accepted by email 1/25
Ga Tech - Physics: Accepted by email 3/9

Other:

Harvard - SEAS - Applied Math: Rejected by snail email 4/6
Ga Tech - EE - Bioengineering: Accepted by snail mail 2/10

Notes: I really wish I had applied to more physics graduate programs. My PI warned me that with my PGRE score I might not be able to get into "top" programs, which really discouraged me. However, after browsing through the results on this site, I really think I stood a good chance at U Chicago, UIUC, etc. (between top 10 and top 20), especially since my PI knew people there. Goes to show- try anyways, even if you don't think you'll get in. Also, during the application process I didn't think I was going to get into anywhere (thus the wide distribution of application) and completely misjudged myself. I think the key thing here is that I applied to programs that I could make a case for in my personal statement. *U Wisconsin, for which I had absolutely no background except a whim, is a perfect example of NOT doing this. But to any applicants that read this in the future, try where ever you can and don't be discouraged!