2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

  • This has become our largest and most active forum because the physics GRE is just one aspect of getting accepted into a graduate physics program.
  • There are applications, personal statements, letters of recommendation, visiting schools, anxiety of waiting for acceptances, deciding between schools, finding out where others are going, etc.

Proheat2019
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2019 1:37 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Proheat2019 » Fri Feb 08, 2019 2:56 am

Undergrad Institution: State university with good engineering reputation
Major(s): Aerospace engineering and Physics
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 3.82
Overall GPA: 3.82
Length of Degree: 4 years (pretty happy about pulling this off)
Position in Class: No official ranking - near top I think?
Type of Student: Domestic (California)

GRE Scores :
Q: 170
V: 163
W: 5.5
P: 940



Research Experience: 3+ years being very involved in developing Cubesat missions with an on-campus lab (pretty much all of my time in between classes has been spent in this lab for the last few years), 1 year of composite thermoelectric material research with a physics professor (1 summer spent working on each).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Nope

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutoring for our physics department for the last year

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Co-authored paper published in SPIE

Special Bonus Points: Rec letters are all from professors I have done research with

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Worked on Cubesat projects with NASA JPL, which probably helped with Caltech.

Applying to Where:

University of Washington - Physics PhD - ACCEPTED Jan. 17 + $21K TA
Caltech - Physics PhD - ACCEPTED Feb. 1, official letter received Feb. 5 + $35K - WILL ATTEND
MIT - Physics PhD - REJECTED Feb. 12 via email
UC Berkeley - Physics PhD - REJECTED Feb. 15 via email to check portal
UC Santa Barbara - Physics PhD - REJECTED Feb. 26 via email to check portal
Stanford - Physics PhD - REJECTED Feb. 20 via email

MIT - Aerospace Eng. MS/PhD- WAITLISTED March 1. via email
Georgia Tech - Aerospace Eng. PhD
Last edited by Proheat2019 on Wed Mar 27, 2019 12:10 am, edited 13 times in total.

fraiserfan69
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2019 5:54 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by fraiserfan69 » Fri Feb 08, 2019 6:15 pm

Undergrad Institution: Highly ranked state school
Major(s): Physics and Math
Overall GPA: 3.7
Length of Degree: 5 years
Type of Student: Domestic white female

GRE Scores :
Q: 154 (65%)
V:158 (68%)
W: 4.5 (82%)
P: 650 (39%)


Research Experience: Three years with one advisor at home institution, including two summers working abroad on the collaboration. One semester spent at CERN working with ATLAS. All work in experimental particle physics.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list some semesters, won poster competitions

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: SPS VP and SPS Social Chair for a year each

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: One publication with a large collaboration, undergraduate thesis in progress, Nuclear Instrumentations Paper in progress (first author). Many grad level courses in physics and math, including a seminar on high energy particle physics.

Special Bonus Points: All LOR writers well known in field from work with big collaborations (ATLAS and CDF)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Five years to graduate due to semester abroad, semester working at CERN and a semester with limited credits due to being very sick

Applying to where:
Applying for HEP Ex

Reach:
University of Chicago - Physics - Accepted 2.7
Harvard - Physics
Yale - Physics - Rejected 2.13
Cornell - Physics
Caltech - Physics
University of Pennsylvania - Physics

Match/Safe:
Columbia - Physics
University of Michigan - Physics - Accepted 2.1
University of Virginia - Physics - Accepted 1.25
University of Wisconsin - Physics - Accepted 1.25
UC Irvine - Physics - Accepted 1.30
UC Davis - Physics
University of Washington - Physics
University of Oregon - Physics
Last edited by fraiserfan69 on Wed Feb 13, 2019 12:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

bmarx
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2019 11:31 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by bmarx » Sat Feb 09, 2019 12:01 am

Undergrad Institution: top Brazilian university
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): -
GPA in Major: 9.0/10 (3.57)
Overall GPA: -
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: international male

GRE Scores : revised
Q:170 (96%)
V:152 (56%)
W: 4.0 (59%)
P: 940 (89%)

TOEFL: 107 (R: 29, L: 30 , S: 20 , W: 28 )

Research Experience: one year in a math project about qualitative theory of ODE's (one presentation in a national event), one year in an experimental physics project about NMR spectroscopy (one presentation in national event also, but I almost didn't write about it in my application), and one year in a theoretical physics/statistics project involving modelling of collective intelligence (two presentations in national events plus a talk about my results).

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: one semester as lab TA for freshmen. One year as student representative in the physics undergrad course coordination and in the undergrad committee of my institute.

Applying to Where: All PhD programs

Princeton - Physics - Biophysics (Feb 12: REJECTED via email)
Northwestern - Physics - Biophysics
Georgia Tech - Physics - Biophysics
Rice - Physics - Biophysics (Feb 8: ACCEPTED via email)
Penn State - Physics - Biophysics (Feb 8: ACCEPTED via email)
Emory - Physics - Biophysics (Feb 5th: interview w/ two professors)
UC Davis - Physics - Biophysics
Duke - Statistical Science
Last edited by bmarx on Mon Feb 18, 2019 6:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

diptanilroy
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2019 1:59 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by diptanilroy » Sat Feb 09, 2019 2:18 am

Undergrad Institution: Fairly new, national institute from India
Major: Physics
Minor: Mathematics
GPA in major: ~ 9.17/10.0
Overall GPA: ~ 9.17/10.0
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: Top 3
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores :
Q: 165
V: 157
W: 4.0
P: 910

TOEFL: 116 (R: 28, L: 30, S: 28, W: 30)


Research Experience:

- Participated in a summer school on Astrophysics and related Data Analysis
- Have a conference proceeding in Non-Linear Dynamics where I worked on the dissipation dynamics of a system of quartic oscillators.
- Worked on cluster algorithms for Potts Model, which is akin to the QCD phase transition
- Worked on the reconstruction of hypernuclei in the CBM experiment at GSI, Germany (Summer)
- Master's thesis on the study of cumulants in the CBM setup. To be published in CBM Progress report for 2019

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Secured a couple of competitive fundings from Govt. of India and a prominent Private corporation

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Students' Council President. Students' Representative to the Undergraduate Committees of School of Physical Sciences, and Institute, Student' Representative for Outreach Committee of Institute

Special Bonus Points: One of my recommenders is one of the top-most high energy experimentalists in India, another is a spokesperson for the CBM experiment.

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

Applying to Where:

UC, Los Angeles - Physics - Experimental HEP
UC, Davis - Physics - Experimental HEP (Feb 23: Accepted for PhD by email + $27k per annum)
CalTech - Physics - Experimental HEP (Feb 27: Rejected)
Purdue University - Physics - Experimental HEP (Feb 6: Accepted for PhD by email + $20.2k per annum)
Rutgers University - Physics - Experimental HEP (Feb 11: Accepted for PhD by email + > $26k for 10 months)
Columbia University - Physics - Experimental HEP

Max Planck IMPRS EPP - Physics - Experimental HEP
Last edited by diptanilroy on Tue Feb 26, 2019 12:33 pm, edited 6 times in total.

Xpolonia
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2019 3:10 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Xpolonia » Sun Feb 10, 2019 3:27 pm

Undergrad Institution: University in Hong Kong, not well-known for Physics I guess
Major(s): Physics
Overall GPA: 3.56 / 4.30 :?
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: N/A
Type of Student: International Male

GRE Scores :
Q: 155
V: 169
W: 3.0 :(
P: 760 :(


TOEFL: 110 (R: 29, L: 29, S: 23 :? , W: 29)


Research Experience: 2 Years of experimental AMO, 1 semester in Chaos theory, 1 semester in CMT and half a year in astro. 1 conference paper in astro in preparation, 4 conference posters in AMO.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Just some minor scholarships

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Was a mentor for some high school science competitions, I guess that doesn't really matters...

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: N/A

Special Bonus Points: Two very strong reference letters (But the third is a bit weak I believe), worked with past students of Nobel Laureates and Nobel Laureate. Research intern at UC Berkeley before, exchange semester at ETH Zurich.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I didn't expect much due to my poor PGRE and GPA. Though I excel in a graduate AMO course as well as all experimental courses.

Applying to Where:

MIT - Physics - Exp AMO
UC Berkeley - Physics - Exp AMO
CU Boulder - Physics - Exp AMO (Feb. 5: ACCEPTED via email)
UChicago - Physics - Exp AMO (Feb. 7: Rejected; email to check website)
Columbia - Physics - Exp AMO
UIUC - Physics - Exp AMO
Rice - Physics - Exp AMO
ETH Zurich - Physics (MSc)

noethername
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2019 9:43 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by noethername » Sun Feb 10, 2019 10:27 pm

Undergrad Institution: State school, ranked in lower third of U.S. physics top 100.
Major(s): Astrophysics; Pure Math double-major.
Minor(s): None.
GPA in Major: Physics 3.78; Math 4.05
Overall GPA: 3.91
Length of Degree: Uhhhh, 5? But see below for extra info.
Position in Class: Near top - small class so hard to say, those of us doing well had strengths in different areas.
Type of Student: Domestic white female, graduating this semester.

GRE Scores :
Q: 164 (86%)
V: 166 (97%)
W: 5.5 (98%)
P: 740 (57%)

Research Experience:
- One year of proofy math research (but topic does relate to physics) culminating in successful formal defense of honors thesis in that department;
- Eight months as "undergraduate physicist" for university-associated company that works with space industry;
- One physics REU at a significantly higher-ranked institution;
- Two semesters of research methods credit in QM (emphasis on topics crucial to QFT), cosmology. Mostly supervised learning, no publications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
- Phi Beta Kappa;
- Summa Cum Laude Mathematics Departmental Honors and Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award;
- Sigma Pi Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi, and a couple departmental and university merit-based scholarships awarded in middle of degree.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
- Three semesters of employment as math, physics, astronomy tutor by university;
- Three semesters (ongoing) as TA in physics and chemistry (covered 4 different courses, two of them junior-level, 7 lecture sections total);
- All research listed above was paid/funded except the last;
- Worked a second non-physics-related job to support self throughout undergrad. Bonus: skilled labor (many people go to school for this work, but I trained myself to high quality), self-employment/own business built from scratch.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
- Active classical violinist and studied multiple foreign languages for any places that care about well-roundedness?

Special Bonus Points:
- Female, vaguely nontraditional student (in late 20’s).
- Disabilities/medical conditions have chronically impacted performance and were a source of serious physical and financial barriers, shows I’m able to overcome bad circumstances/demonstrates that grit and determination committees like to see.
- Took courses in cosmology and GR, currently taking particle physics, all of which are highly relevant to my research interests for grad school.
- Once upon a time, before I fell mysteriously ill and had a gap in education, I graduated high school with about 95 credits earned (including 30 in math) from a different state university.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
-I have a strong interest and track record in teaching (including both paid and volunteer work) and emphasized this in addition to primary research interests, particularly at those schools where Physics Education Research is a thing;
-Worst couple grades on current transcript explained fairly well by outside circumstances.



Applying to Where:
All for whichever areas of HEP, Gravity and/or Cosmology each school is strong in (strong emphasis on theory, with a slight possible willingness to bend towards experimental/observational depending on the exact topic and mentor). Applied for physics (not astro). I know that HEP-TH is highly competitive and there will be plenty of applicants from more well-known schools and with higher personal stats, so hopefully this long list with some spread will work out for me! Listed in order of overall department rankings, not necessarily in order of preference.

Harvard - Gee, sure is taking them a long time to reject me! :P
Cornell - Feb. 19: REJECTED
U Michigan - Feb. 14 contact confirmed I will be rejected and unusually small number of HEP-TH offers made this year Feb. 15: REJECTED
U Maryland - Feb. 14: Rejected.
U Penn -
U Wash -
UT Austin -
Penn State - Feb. 21 ACCEPTED - $22k Fall/Spring TA + $4000 Academic Year Fellowship + $4000 Summer Fellowship Support = $30,000 for first year. Pretty excited about this one! I had started to give up hope with how late in the month it is and here they come WITH fellowship money! :D
U Minnesota - Jan. 14: ACCEPTED - approximately $26.5K total TA and summer support, told that number may increase slightly. :D
UC Davis -
Brown University -
North Carolina Chapel Hill - applied a couple days past "priority" deadline
U Pittsburgh -
U Mass Amherst - Jan. 30: ACCEPTED - financial details came later: "at least" $23,050.50 TA + "up to" $8,565.00 summer RA support to be "negotiated" = $31,813.60. Departmental fellowship winners have not yet been decided and there "may be" more money. .
Last edited by noethername on Thu Feb 21, 2019 2:57 pm, edited 16 times in total.

mp2019
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2019 10:10 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by mp2019 » Mon Feb 11, 2019 10:35 am

Undergrad Institution: Medium size public college
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math and Engineering
GPA in Major: 3.5/4.0
Overall GPA: 3.45/4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: N/A
Type of Student: Domestic Hispanic Male
GRE Scores: revised
Q: 154 (54%)
V: 150 (47%)
W: 3.5 (41%)

I suck at standardized tests...

Research Experience: Small project as an undergrad (OLEDs)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Several scholarships as an undergrad.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Volunteer work, held physics/math TA positions as an undergrad.

Special Bonus Points: 3 year of experience in the field at a well known institution. Have taken several courses in medical physics

Applying to Where:

Ph.D. Positions:

University of Wisconsin-Madison: Medical Physics - (Received rejection email on 1/18)
University of Chicago: Medical Physics - (Received rejection email on 1/18)
Duke University: Medical Physics -
UTHealth MD Anderson GSBS : Medical Physics -

Master's Position:
Duke: Medical Physics -

Duke had an open house/interview weekend (2/1-2/3), but I have not heard anything from them. Does anyone know if they are still reviewing applications?

rob3rt
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2019 11:16 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by rob3rt » Mon Feb 11, 2019 11:47 pm

Undergrad Institution: mid/large state school, mid-low rep in physics
Major(s): Physics and Math
Minor(s): Comp Sci
GPA in Major: ~3.8
Overall GPA: ~3.9
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Probably around top 10%
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores :
Q: 157 (76%)
V: 158 (68%)
W: 4.0 (59%)
P: 750 (59%)



Research Experience: 1.5 years of computational biophysics, 1 summer astro REU (data analysis related), 1 year astro research. No papers.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Only state/school related stuff. Dean's list, school scholarship, small department scholarships, small state research grant

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: none

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points:

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

Applying to Where:
All computational astrophysics
ACCEPTED REJECTED WAITLIST
School - UIUC (Feb 21 Rejected via email)
School - Vanderbilt
School - Georgia tech (Feb 12: WAITLIST <- will probably leave waitlist soon)
School - Notre Dame (Apr 5 Rejected via email to check website)
School - Iowa (Feb 11: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email)
School - Oklahoma
School - Tennessee, Knoxville (Mar 5: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email)
School - Alabama

No response from the rest of the schools as of Apr 11. I am assuming rejection.

I just wanted to show what a more 'normal' application might look like. The schools I chose were influence heavily by location. From what my professors have told me, the applicants here are incredible on average (seriously the people here rock!) In my opinion, the biggest deciding factor is letters of rec, which I knew that at least one of my letters was fantastic. My advice to everyone who is panically reading these like I did for 3.5 years is to work on getting good solid research with a professor who you can relate to personally as well. Also, don't procrastinate on your statement of purpose and write it on new years eve like I did.
Last edited by rob3rt on Thu Apr 11, 2019 10:42 am, edited 6 times in total.

anupamraj0701
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2018 4:37 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by anupamraj0701 » Wed Feb 13, 2019 6:29 am

Undergrad Institution: Reputed Indian Institute
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): NA
GPA : 8.978/10
Length of Degree: B.Sc. Physics ( hons) 3 years + M.Sc.Physics (2 years) [5 Years]
Position in Class: Near top
Type of Student:International male

GRE Scores : (only took once)
Q: 156
V: 152
W: 3.0
P: 680



IELTS: 8


Research Experience:
First internship in accelerator Physics ( 1 month )
Master's thesis work in US at UIC in Solar cells ( 4 months) with one submitted paper.
Currently interning in Physics Education Research at HBCSE, India. ( Since Jan 21)


Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Academically : Scholarships in school and silver medalist in college.
Extra: Also a few in cultural activities, sports and leadership roles.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
2 Years of work experience in AIESEC student leadership organization and 5 months of part-time teaching (Physics) experience during my Master's degree.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I care about what I am going to do and see how it will make this world a better place.

Special Bonus Points: Recommendations are from where I did my research work. Quite passionate about Physics Education Research. Took some relevant courses in Psychology, Data analysis and Reasearch methodology during undergrad.



Applying to Where: USA (4) and Canada (1)

PhD In Physics Education Research (PER):

Cornell - Physics - PER : Rejection ( Feb 19) : Not Accepted (Feb 19).
UIUC - Physics - PER Not Accepted (8 March).
Purdue - Physics - PER : Not Expecting *
University of Colorado Boulder - Physics- PER : Not Accepted (Feb 18).

Phd in CMP:

University of British Columbia - Physics - CMP : Not Accepted (Feb 21).

Best thing about my application is that my career goals aligns very well with my intention to work in PER. I wish I had discovered this field of research before but better late than never.

Lastly, I know my application might look slightly ambitious considering my GRE scores. But I know I have it in me and a speed testing standardized test won't stop the committee from seeing it. My PhD work will define my youth, so better to do it from a place I love or do something else.

Post Rejection Thoughts:

I think the world cares less about my intentions and more about how I can do on exams to test speed (ETS). All the extra work, my teaching and leadership experiences seems to play no role. I guess I was in illusion about either my own profile or the American Education. It feels bad today, I really wanted to make a difference. I guess my plan for the PhD is going to come crashing soon and I must look for other ways to serve this world.
Last edited by anupamraj0701 on Thu Mar 14, 2019 9:36 am, edited 9 times in total.

matrix4042
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2019 12:41 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by matrix4042 » Wed Feb 13, 2019 6:39 pm

Undergrad Institution: private university, high rep in quantum optics, mid rep in other subfields of physics/astronomy
Majors: Physics & Astronomy
GPA in Major: 3.98
Overall GPA: 3.95/4.00
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: international male

GRE Scores:
Q: 170 (p:96)
V: 161 (p:88)
W: 4.5 (p:59)

Research Experience:
- 3 years of research in computational cosmology, including algorithm development, simulation, etc.
- 2 years of research in high-energy astroparticle physics
- recent 6 months of research in GW astronomy, including 3 months summer internship at LIGO Caltech as a LIGO SURF Fellow (continuing research after summer).
- 3 years of experience in data science + 1 year of experience in machine learning
- 2 in-preparation publications (one white paper) in GW astronomy with a focus on machine learning
- 1 conference proceeding in high-energy astrophysics
- lead the development of a major cosmology algorithm github repository
- gave presentations at AAS Winter Meeting in Jan 2019 and multiple small, regional conferences

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
- School's merit-based scholarship
- Dean's list all eligible semesters
- Departmental award for having the highest numerical grade in all introductory physics course
- LIGO SURF Fellowship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
- 3 years of teaching experience from TAing intro level physics/astronomy courses to advanced astronomy courses to tutoring physics
- tour guide at university observatory
- member of SPS professional development committee
- former vice president of astronomy club
- president of a theoretical physics society on campus

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
- participate in various hackathons and software development projects

Special Bonus Points
- outstanding letters of rec from 3 research advisors (including one from LIGO SURF)
- one advisor is a superstar post-doc at LIGO + ZTF
- one advisor is a well-known HEP-ex physicist who recently turned to cosmology
- both advisors at university have taught my core courses. Both of which I did really well on and impressed both of them.
- overload every semester since 2nd year: 20-26 credits per sem (university standard is 16 credits)
- took graduate-level data science, theoretical particle physics, and HEP detector courses
- enthusiastic about theoretical physics, though I don’t plan to do any theoretical research - 1 year of independent study in QFT and theoretical gravitation with a faculty member (not a recommender though)
- connection at SLAC ATLAS, LIGO and ZTF

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
- I got interviewed by MIT astrophysics while at AAS meeting. I think it helps getting me in.
- I was lucky that I got interviewed by my faculty of interest for both MIT and UW (as far as I know, they do not personalize interview), and had meaningful discussions with both of them about my current research projects (they asked really technical stuffs).
- though taking courses in HEP and doing independent study, I have almost zero research experience in HEP-ex

Applying to Where: (LSST and/or ZTF, computational astrophysics/cosmology = CA)

Caltech - Physics - LIGO, CA
Stanford - Physics - CA, HEP-ex
MIT - Physics - LIGO, HEP-ex (Interviewed by astrophysics division, Accepted)
Harvard - Astro - CA (Rejected)
UChicago - Physics - CA, HEP-ex (Rejected)
UMichigan - Physics - LIGO, HEP-ex
Johns Hopkins - Physics - CA, HEP-ex (Accepted)
UWashington - Astro - CA (Interviewed, Accepted)
Northwestern - Astro - LIGO, CA
Penn State - Astro - LIGO, CA (Accepted)
Carnegie Mellon - Physics - CA (Accepted)
UC Santa Cruz - Astro - CA
UFlorida - Physics - LIGO, HEP-ex (Accepted)

bgrinkem
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2017 9:44 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by bgrinkem » Thu Feb 14, 2019 3:08 pm

Undergrad Institution: Big state, good reputation in physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 3.95
Overall GPA: 3.9
Length of Degree: 3 years
Position in Class: near top (I think?)
Type of Student: Domestic White Male


GRE Scores : (revised or old version?)
Q: 166 (91%)
V: 156 (73%)
W: 4.0 (60%)
P: 810 (70%)

Research Experience:
One summer doing condensed matter experiment at NIST
Three years working with my home institution on AMO/CME. Gained a lot of useful experience, but no publications
Took a semester off to do full-time research at a school in France. The research was mostly Atomic physics and Optics.
One summer working at an Ivy league school working on atomic physics with an Nth author publication.
Took a gap year to do full time research on AMO/CME physics at another big state school with a decent reputation in physics
One summer working at the Air Force Research Lab on Machine Learning through Neural Networks
Two summers working as an engineering intern at a networking company

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Some university scholarships, dean's list, dean’s scholarship, graduated Cum Laude, Departmental High Honors

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Started a makerspace for my school's physics department, then helped get it started (ran tutorials on useful experimental procedures)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
I have participated in many hackathons and won a few.

Special Bonus Points:
Managed to fit in a graduate course.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
I graduated in three years. I am also taking this semester off, so I only have five semesters of courses on my transcript...

Applying to Where:
All for AMO, but also interested in quantum information

MIT - Physics - AMO ACCEPTED
Harvard - Physics - AMO ACCEPTED 3161/month Fellowship (Will be attending!)
Caltech - Physics - AMO ACCEPTED 35k Named Fellowship
Princeton - EE - AMO ACCEPTED 34.5k Wu Fellowship + 3k
University of Chicago - Physics - AMO ACCEPTED 34k TA
University of Maryland, College Park - Physics - AMO ACCEPTED JQI Graduate Fellowship
University of Colorado, Boulder - Physics - AMO ACCEPTED 38k RA + 10k Fellowship
University of Wisconsin, Madison - Physics - AMO ACCEPTED 25.3k/10 month + 8k Fellowship

Also, applying for

NSF GRFP - AWARDED (Declined for NDSEG)
Hertz - REJECTED
NDSEG - AWARDED (Accepted)
Last edited by bgrinkem on Tue May 21, 2019 1:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

furball1379
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2019 6:37 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by furball1379 » Thu Feb 14, 2019 9:51 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top 5
Major(s): Physics & Math with Computer Science
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 3.9/4.0
Overall GPA: 3.9/4.0
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: Domestic female

GRE Scores :
Q: 170 (96%)
W: 5.0 (93%)
V: 167 (97%)
P: 800 (68%) yikes!

Research Experience: 4 years in astro, 1 first-author publication, 1 third-author publication, and 1 first-author in prep. 1/2 year in CME.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Research grant, a couple of talks/awards.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 4 years as a TA in physics, graded for a grad physics class, did a summer at NASA in software engineering.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: 4 physics grad classes.

Special Bonus Points: My recommenders are famous/well-known, but I don't think that matters as much as people think.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I've taken a lot of courses in physics, math, and computer science. I did some cool computer simulations for class projects.

Applying to Where: (CM = a mixture of condensed matter theory and experiment) In all my personal statements I stressed an interest in computational work.

Stanford - Applied Physics - CMT - Jan. 25: Accepted for Ph.D. via email + $43k/year RA+$21k in fellowships
Harvard - Physics - CME - Jan 16: Interview Feb. 14: Accepted for Ph.D. via email + $31k/year + $18k fellowship
UIUC - Physics - CMT - Jan. 22: Accepted for Ph.D. via email + $25k/year TA + $6k fellowship
Boulder - Physics - CMT - Jan 25: Accepted for Ph.D. via email + $35-38k/year TA + $3k fellowship
Yale - Physics - CM - Feb 13: Accepted for Ph.D. via email + $35/year TA + $1k fellowship
Princeton - Physics - CME - Feb 7: Accepted for Ph.D. via email + RA/TA
University of Chicago - Physics - CMT - Feb 7: Accepted for Ph.D. via email + $34k RA/TA
UT Austin - Physics - CM - Feb 5: Invited to Open House
Berkeley - Physics - CMT - Feb 13: Accepted for Ph.D. via email + $36k RA/TA
Cambridge - MASt in Applied Mathematics - Jan. 25: Accepted to Trinity via email
Last edited by furball1379 on Fri Mar 08, 2019 7:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

egn1996
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2019 10:34 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by egn1996 » Thu Feb 14, 2019 11:05 pm

Undergrad Institution: Small state school in Louisiana, relatively unknown in Physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.4
Overall GPA: 3.1
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Average
Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Scores :
Q: 155 (58%)
V: 155 (69%)
W: 4.0 (59%)
P: 450 (2%)



Research Experience: one full year of computational material science research at my home university, an REU in computational optics and atmospheric physics at a small state school in New York, and an academic year in computational optics at my home institution. Tons of experience with HPC and spent a bit of time with general purpose GPU programming during an REU.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Sigma Pi Sigma Inductee, A mathematics honor scholarship, and a few symposium competition awards.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Very active in SPS, president and treasurer each for a year, spent a year as a TA for an introductory physics lab and spent an extensive amount of time doing outreach both inside and outside of my university.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Extensive programming experience (helpful since almost all programs are computational)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Very positive letters of recommendation and heavy involvement in the physics department of home university

Applying to Where:

University of Ottawa - Physics - Nonlinear Optics (Feb. 13: ACCEPTED for M.S. Unofficially accepted via email from thesis advisor)
University of Toledo - Physics -computational CMP / theory (Feb. 12: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email + $2k Fellowship + $24k/12 month TA)
Montana State University - Physics - Optics and Photonics (Feb. 5: ACCEPTED for M.S. unofficially accepted via email from professor)
University of Maryland at Baltimore County - Atmospheric Physics - Atmospheric Optics (Feb 4: ACCEPTED for Ph.D. via email $26k/12 month TA)
State University of New York Albany - Physics - Computational Optics
State University of New York Binghamton - Physics - Computational CMP
State Univeristy of Kansas - Physics - AMO (Feb. 8: WAITLISTED via email)
University of Victoria - Physics - CMP Theory (Jan 29: REJECTED by email from thesis advisor)
McMaster University - Physics - Compuational CMP (Jan 24: REJECTED by email from thesis advisor)

smooveasian
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2019 1:25 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by smooveasian » Sat Feb 16, 2019 1:54 am

______________________________________________
Undergrad Institution: Ivy League
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 4.00/4.00
Overall GPA: 3.98/4.00
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Near top
Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Scores :
Q: 170 (96%)
V: 165 (96%)
W: 5 (92%)
P: 790 (66%) (Didn't study, not needed for ECE departments)

Research Experience:
- Two years cosmology research at current school doing instrumentation work, presented a poster at an undergraduate research forum
- One year atomic physics research resulting in an APS march meeting presentation and first author publication to be submitted
- One year condensed matter research on the side, resulting in a publication to be submitted

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list, a merit scholarship, Phi Beta Kappa

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for four semesters, did some science outreach stuff

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Great rec letters all from research advisers

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

Applying to Where:

MIT - EECS - Photonics (Feb. 4: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email)
Stanford - EE - Photonics
UC Berkeley - EECS - Photonics (Jan. 31: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email)
UCSD - ECE- Electromagnetics (Jan. 31: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email)
UCLA - ECE- Electromagnetics
Michigan - ECE- Electromagnetics (Jan. 28: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email)
Duke - ECE- Photonics (Feb. 10: Unofficial acceptance via email from POI)
Penn - ESE- Photonics (Feb. 1: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email)
UIUC - ECE- Electromagnetics
Ohio State - ECE- Electromagnetics (Jan. 6: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email)

Thoughts:

This forum is almost entirely filled with applicants to Physics PhD programs, so I wanted to remind everyone physics majors can apply to other departments as well :P Looking back, the recommendation letters really are the most important part of the application and are clearly what led to my success. If anyone is curious about applying to Electrical Engineering departments, feel free to hit me up!

sadman
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2019 9:13 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by sadman » Sun Feb 17, 2019 2:28 pm

Undergrad Institution: An Indian engineering institute, ***-tier in physics
Major(s): Electronics (Field of study is Engineering Physics)
Minor(s): Nuclear Engineering (did not mention in the applications, wasn't sure if I'd be getting a minor at that time)
GPA in Major: N/A
Overall GPA: 8.91/10
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Near top
Type of Student: International (Indian) male

GRE Scores :
Q: 169
V: 162
W: 4.0
P: 900


TOEFL: 117 (R: 30, L: 30, S: 28, W: 29)


Research Experience:
  • Summer research internship on nuclear shell model theory/nucleon interactions (my only research experience that is somewhat related to the field I wish to pursue; was more of a training/learning project though)
  • Project on luminescent materials (at home university, started about 1.5 years ago)
  • Project on metamaterials (simulation and computation based work, at home university, started about a year ago) - 2 conference publications
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Nothing significant - Department rank 2 in a couple of semesters, had received a certificate of appreciation of sorts from the education minister of the country for excellent performance in high school, and some other stuff from earlier times.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I wish ;_;

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Been a regular in the school and university football teams, won a few medals and helped organise tournaments (not sure if this helps, might show I'm a team player eh?)

Special Bonus Points: None whatsoever.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Tried to make up for my lack of physics knowledge (due to applied physics background) by studying on my own (books and publications) and doing a few online courses. Apart from that, nothing positive.

Applying to Where: (For master's unless mentioned, all to physics departments, mentioned research interest in HEP-Th)

Rutgers University(PhD)(Submitted on Dec. 3) - Randomly checked application on Feb. 24, waitlisted - April 13: Rejected via email
CMU(PhD)(Submitted on Dec. 11) - Feb. 21: Rejected via email
Rice University(PhD)(Submitted on Dec. 26) - Feb. 26: Rejected via email to check website
KU Leuven(Submitted on Jan. 1) - Jan. 17: Rejected via email
McMaster University(Submitted on Jan. 26) - April 29: Rejected via email
University of Victoria(Submitted on Jan. 26) - Mar. 7: Rejected via email
University of Stuttgart(Submitted on Jan. 28) - Accepted
Autonomous University of Barcelona(Submitted on Feb. 3) - Accepted
RWTH Aachen University(Submitted on Feb. 19) - Rejected
University of Geneva(Submitted on Feb. 25) - Accepted
University of Goettingen(Submitted on Mar. 7) - Accepted
University of Hamburg - Rejected
Autonomous University of Madrid

PS: I have really low hopes on getting into the schools mentioned above, so I will be completing more applications in the future. Also, I thought application submission dates would be a useful piece of information.
Last edited by sadman on Wed Aug 07, 2019 3:01 am, edited 8 times in total.

sudcosmico
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2018 11:44 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by sudcosmico » Sun Feb 17, 2019 8:46 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top 5 Private US - good reputation in physics

Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): none
GPA in Major: 3.41
Overall GPA: 3.57
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Not officially given, Average???
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores : (revised)
Q:164 (86%)
V:164 (94%)
W:4 (59%)
P:830 (71%)


TOEFL: not required since I did undergrad in the US


Research Experience:
Two summers of HEP experimental neutrino research, from summer after second year to present with the same professor, publication and senior thesis in the works.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Summer research grants from physics department for both summers
Additional summer grant for most recent summer from university

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Not that I can think of

Special Bonus Points: Hispanic/Latino ? from a small Latin American country. (Don't know if that matters as much since I'm international)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Two recommenders that can speak about my research experience (my supervisor and a collaborator who is a professor at another university), additional letter from well-known professor from Cosmology course I got a B+ in (but in which I showed improvement by bringing my grade back up from a C-)

Applying to Where:
Applying to particle physics experiment and astrophysics/cosmology experiment, emphasis on either one depending on school

US (all Ph.D. programs)

Columbia University - Physics - Astrophysics (Feb. 15: ACCEPTED for Ph.D. Accepted via email)
University of California San Diego (UCSD) - Physics - Cosmology Experiment
University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) - Physics - Particle Physics/Neutrino
University of Wisconsin Madison - Physics - Astroparticle/Neutrino (Feb. 01: Rejected via website)
Yale University - Physics - Astrophysics/Cosmology (Feb. 13: Rejected via email)


Canada

McGill University - M.Sc. Physics - Cosmology Experiment
University of Toronto - Astronomy and Astrophysics Ph.D. - Astrophysics/Cosmology experiment

Some thoughts:
Glad to give back to this forum after looking at it and stressing for two years :D
I had been feeling terribly pessimistic about my applications for the past month but got surprised this week with my first acceptance, and it is from one of my top choice schools which I genuinely can't believe. My advice is, don't sell yourself short! Recommendation letters and research experience can go a long way! Most of the people who post in this kind of forum are bound to be outstanding individuals so don't let that discourage you. Apply to a reasonable number of schools, covering from your top tier dream school to a reasonably safe choice, try to get your lab advisor's input on what programs to apply to.
Last edited by sudcosmico on Mon Feb 25, 2019 5:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Gravitino
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2018 9:45 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Gravitino » Sun Feb 17, 2019 11:26 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top public in US
Major(s): Physics and Mathematics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.97
Overall GPA: 3.95
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Near the top
Type of Student: Domestic male

GRE Scores : (revised)
Q: 168 (94%)
V: 160 (86%)
W: 5.0 (92%)
P: 950 (90%)


TOEFL: N/A


Research Experience: I did research since the summer before I came to university. I worked in three groups: soft CM, gravity experimental with LIGO, and theoretical studies of GR. 1 paper in the last project and another being written. The soft CM project also has a paper being written.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Just did research throughout undergrad.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: I took QFT, GR, String, and grad level scientific computing. Having done research with LIGO could help with schools with a large presence of it.

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

Applying to Where: All for relativity and gravitation.

Caltech - Physics - GR-QC (Feb. 1: ACCEPTED)
MIT - Physics - GR-QC (Feb. 12: ACCEPTED)
Princeton - Department - GR-QC (Feb. 12: Rejected via email)
Chicago - Department - GR-QC (Feb. 7: Rejected via email)
Johns Hopkins - Physics - GR-QC (Feb. 1: ACCEPTED)
Cornell - Physics - GR-QC (Feb. 15: ACCEPTED)
UCSB - Physics - GR-QC
Harvard - Physics - GR-QC
Berkeley - Physics - GR-QC (Feb. 15: Rejected via email)
Montana State - Physics - GR-QC (Feb. 15: ACCEPTED)
UT Austin - Physics - GR-QC
Pennsylvania - Physics - GR-QC

______________________________________________
Fellowships:
NSF GRFP -
Hertz - (Rejected via email) (I suppose my research was a little too theoretical...)

bluejay
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 9:14 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by bluejay » Tue Feb 19, 2019 9:59 pm

Undergrad Institution: Small research uni, not known for physics
Major(s): B.S. Physics, B.A. Chinese
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.74/4.00 -Physics, 4.00/4.00-Chinese
Overall GPA: 3.70/4.00
Length of Degree: 3 years
Position in Class: Near top
Type of Student: Domestic female minority

GRE Scores : Taken fall 2018
Q: 163 (83%)
V: 157 (76%)
W: 4.5 (82%)
P: 550 (17%) Lol, no lie, probably shoulda studied. Seriously. Those of y'all on here freaking out about your "low" PGRE score, just take a look at this bullshit right here and know that it'll all be alright :D I got accepted places, so you will be too :D


TOEFL: N/A


Research Experience:
1 year research in STAR collaboration, experience with ROOT and PYTHIA, including summer research (not REU)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Dean's List all semesters except one
Various military awards and academic recognitions

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
U.S. Army National Guard 5.5 years (not ROTC)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points:
Female minority
Military experience
Recommender with connections
Met with some of the professors from the schools I applied to at conferences

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Musculoskeletal issues ;_; + ADHD extreme

Applying to Where: I placed emphasis on heavy-ion physics, but also expressed interest in working with other collaborations at RHIC and the LHC.

UC Davis - Physics - Nuclear Experiment (Feb. 16: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email + $21.2k/9mo TA + $5.7k summer support, health insurance included)
UCLA - Physics - Nuclear/Heavy Ion
UC Riverside - Physics - Heavy Ion/Spin (Feb. 11: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email + $31.6k/12mo Fellowship + $7k TA for spring semester for first year; $28k/12mo TA for all following years, health insurance included)
UT Austin - Physics - Nuclear/Heavy Ion (Feb. 5: invited for interview/open house)
University of Houston - Physics - Nuclear/Heavy Ion (Feb. 27: ACCEPTED for Ph.D + $23.4k/year TA + $5k/year for 5 years Fellowship + $1.8k/year other) The $1.8k/year is for health insurance because UoH does not cover it.
Lehigh University - Physics - Nuclear/Heavy Ion (Feb. 12: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via website/email - waiting on TA/RA info)
Last edited by bluejay on Fri Mar 01, 2019 8:21 pm, edited 3 times in total.

frustratedtir
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2018 9:05 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by frustratedtir » Wed Feb 20, 2019 6:40 pm

Undergrad Institution: Well-known state school
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 4.00/4.00
Overall GPA: 4.00/4.00
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: We don't rank, but probably top
Type of Student: Domestic female

GRE Scores :
Q: 170
V: 164
W: 5.5
P: 940

Research Experience: Two summers at top 10 schools and one summer at home institution, all in astrophysics/cosmology. One in-prep paper that I think my recommender mentioned in the letter. I got really lucky one summer and landed a very well-connected and famous group that definitely helped a lot with apps--one recommender actually mentioned to me during our interview "I was just talking to [my recommender] over the weekend!"

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater scholar (hot take: I think this is heavily overrated; whether you get it depends so much on the school you go to), GPA-related awards from my school, REU award for best poster.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Heavily involved with women in physics organization at my school. TA'd a few intro physics and stats classes

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Nope!

Special Bonus Points: One recommender who I worked for one summer is very famous, but I actually doubt it was my strongest letter (although I'm sure it helped that he's super well-connected). Another recommender I took a class and then did research with for a year; he knew me really well and I'm sure that was my strongest. But all three recommenders were just so, so kind and helpful throughout the entire process. Feeling incredibly grateful.

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

Applying to Where: All physics departments and for astrophysics/cosmology theory

UCSB - Jan. 23: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email
Caltech - Feb. 1: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email
Michigan - Feb. 5: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email
Princeton - Feb. 7: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email
Cornell - Feb. 7: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email
UChicago - Feb. 7: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via website
MIT - Feb. 12: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email
Yale - Feb. 13: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via website
Berkeley - Feb. 13: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email
Harvard - Feb. 14: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email
Stanford - Feb. 20: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email

I'm not sure where I'll be going yet but obviously I feel so lucky to have so many options. I am so grateful to my recommenders! This forum has also been so helpful but also incredibly stress-inducing!! I hope my post can help future applicants!

Why Physics
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2019 11:53 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Why Physics » Thu Feb 21, 2019 12:19 pm

Undergrad Institution: Big state school
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): none
GPA in Major: 3.2/4
Overall GPA: 3.1/4
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Around average
Type of Student: domestic male

GRE Scores : Only took them once
Q: 162
V: 158
W: 3.5
P: 840


Research Experience: Did a year's worth of research in CME, don't have any papers to show from it.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I have been a TA for the last couple of years in every semester.

Special Bonus Points: Believe I had strong letters of rec, and I also visited some professors at half the schools I applied to.

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

Applying to Where: All applications were for CME

Safety:
Georgia tech - Feb 26: Rejected via email
Colorado State -
UT Knoxville - Feb 13: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email + $21.5k yearly stipend + $3.5k Fellowship

match:
UCLA -
UC Irvine - Jan 30: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email + ~$21k/9 mo TA
Ohio State -
Boston University -

Reach:
Cornell - Feb 19: Rejected via email
UIUC -
Last edited by Why Physics on Thu Feb 28, 2019 7:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

me25hage
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2019 12:32 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by me25hage » Sun Feb 24, 2019 12:51 am

b]Undergrad Institution[/b]: Small, private, liberal arts school. Little to no reputation in physics
Major(s): Physics with a Computational Science Concentration
Minor(s): Mathematics, Computational Science
GPA in Major: 3.87
Overall GPA: 3.85
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: No rank but definitely top/near top in physics
Type of Student: Domestic female

GRE Scores : Revised
Q: 164
V: 162
W: 5.0
P: 550 (17th percentile - big yikes)


TOEFL: N/A


Research Experience: 3 years research experience at school, 1 year at Fermilab, 1/2 year at CERN through UMichigan semester abroad, Summer at JHU APL, no publications

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Sigma Pi Sigma, Outstanding Sophomore Award

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor, TA, Resident Assistant, Research Assistant

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I act and have been in at least one show a year. I also do light design and operation in the theatre. Several people were very interested in this fact.

Special Bonus Points: ATLAS Spokesperson as a recommender, I do A LOT of networking and got my face in many doors while at CERN/Fermilab

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: 15+ conferences/workshops attended with almost the same number of presentations/posters

Applying to Where:

All High Energy Experiment Ph.D

MIT - Feb 12: Denied via email
UPenn
Michigan - Feb 13: Denied via email
Cornell - Feb 25: Denied via email
Johns Hopkins - Feb 1: Accepted via email, $25k/9 month TA
Carnegie Mellon - Jan 29: Accepted via email, at least $2500/month for 9 months TA
UCRiverside
UCDavis
Southern Methodist - Jan 25: Accepted via email, nominated for additional fellowship, financial information to come
Brandeis - Jan 24: Interview March 15
Northeastern - Feb 1: Accepted through site, ~$24k/9 month TA
Last edited by me25hage on Mon Mar 18, 2019 12:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

hasan
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2019 11:16 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by hasan » Sun Feb 24, 2019 11:41 pm

Undergrad Institution: University in Turkey
Major(s): Chemical Engineering, BSc. and PhD.
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 3.3 /4
Overall GPA: 3.3 /4
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: ~10 in 90
Type of Student: international male

GRE Scores : Only took them once
Q: 166 (90%)
V: 150 (47%)
W: 3.0 (17%)
P: 980 (93%)

TOEFL: 106 (R: 26 L: 28 S: 27 W: 25)

Research Experience:
- 9 peer reviewed papers
- 1 book chapter
- computational rheology
- molecular simulations

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Took online non-credit physics courses: Quantum Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism. Self-studied the theory of relativity.

Applying to Where:

Rutgers University (PhD) (Submitted on Oct. 15) - Rejected on April 13 via email and website.
Last edited by hasan on Thu Apr 18, 2019 12:18 am, edited 3 times in total.

madeagascar
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2019 2:46 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by madeagascar » Wed Feb 27, 2019 4:50 am

______________________________________________
Undergrad Institution: Reputed Indian School, decent in Physics
Major(s): Physics and Chemical Engineering
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:7.3
Overall GPA:7.03
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: Average
Type of Student: International Male
GRE Scores :
Q: 167
V: 165
W: 4.0
P: 720

TOEFL:111 (R: 29, L: 30, S: 25, W: 27)

Research Experience: Research with experience in diverse fields, Nuclear Physics(4 projects), Material Science (3 projects), Chemical Engineering (1 Project)
In reverse chronological order -
- 10 months full time Research assistant experience working at an accelerator facility in nuclear physics.
- 2 months part-time theoretical study of EOS of Neutron Stars.
- 5 months full-time project on simulation of membrane for solar water distillation.
- 5 months full-time project on charged particle identification using digital signal processing.
- 5 months part-time project on synthesis of nanoparticles for cancer research.
- 5 months part-time project on comparative strength testing of fibres.
- 5 months part-time theoretical project on the nature of the Hoyle State.
- 2 months full-time project on surface chemical studies on graphite solutions.

1 poster presentation in a national conference, no publications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Volunteered for multiple programs in science popularisation, have taught in a school for underprivileged children.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Participated in schools/workshops in Nuclear physics and Astrophysics (1 international school, 2 domestic)

Special Bonus Points: 3 good recommendations, 2 decent. One recommender is a prominent nuclear physicist at a leading research institute with a number of international collaborations. Another made it a point to mention that the lack of publication from my work was due to the industrial nature of the project.
Contacted the professors before applying to the Universities, a few seemed interested in my profile.

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

Applying to Where: All for Nuc-Ex.

University of British Columbia - (Feb. 20: Rejected via email)
University of Notre Dame - (Feb. 20: Rejected via email)
Florida State University (FSU) - (Feb. 11: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via website + $1k Dean's Fellowship + $20.9k TA) - Will Attend :D
Texas A&M University (TAMU) - (Feb. 26: ACCEPTED via mail from department. $2k fellowship + $2k per month TA) - Declined
Michigan State University (MSU) - (Apr. 19 : Rejected via email) This one seriously hurt :(
Indiana University Bloomington - (Apr. 9 : Rejected via email)
University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) - (Apr. 9 : Rejected via email)
Ohio University - (Feb. 26: Waitlisted via mail from the department) - Withdrawn

Takeaways : GPA's matter, unless you have something spectacular that outweighs it. The Physics GRE can offset a lot of it, so make sure to focus on it (unlike yours truly). Publications are a HUGE advantage. If you have one on the way, upload it on arxiv and include it in your SOP.
This site has been both a boon and bane of my life, this has been a trying couple of months. Now I'm going to kick back relax and go through the rest of this process. I'm set to go for my PhD :D
All the best to everyone else ^_^
Cheers!
Madeagascar out
Last edited by madeagascar on Sun Jun 30, 2019 2:39 pm, edited 10 times in total.

fysics
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2018 11:27 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by fysics » Wed Feb 27, 2019 1:01 pm

Undergrad Institution: Big state university, strong 30 physics program
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.06( :oops: bad i know)
Overall GPA: 3.26
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Struggling mid-bottom
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores : Revised
Q: 170
V: 152
W: 4.0
P: 790 (66%)


TOEFL: Waived since I got a U.S. bachelor's degree.


Research Experience:
---- 2 years research assistant at a national accelerator facility. Including 1 year full time research work after graduation (still on going). No paper or poster.
---- 1 year fundamental physics research. Focused on the searching of EDM (still on going). No paper or poster.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: None

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Some volunteer work?

Special Bonus Points: 2 out of 3 recommenders know me well. One is my research advisor who gives me a very strong letter. The other one is my two upper level courses professor, who was impressed by how much I improved during those two classes. Assuming it's also a decent letter. Third one comes from a math professor. I did well on that upper level class and went to a lot of office hours. Wouldn't be as strong as the other two letter though.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I did horrible during my second year. Explained that a little bit in my statement. Last two years I'd say it's average/above. Since I knew there was little hope to get anywhere last year because of my poor GPA, I decided to take a gap year and continue doing full time research and self studying. I'm sure this experience helped a lot in my application this year. Also mentioned about attending one upcoming national conference in my statement.

Applying to Where:

Colorado State U - Physics - Nuc Exp
Indiana University Bloomington - Physics - Nuc Exp
North Carolina State U - Physics - Nuc Exp (Rejected via email check website 01/20ish
Michigan State U - Physics - Nuc Exp
Texas A&M - Physics - Nuc Exp (Accepted via email from professor 02/26. Official letter 02/28)
U of Notre Dame - Physics - Nuc Exp (Accepted via email from department on 03/11. Standard TA funding)
U of Arizona - Physics - AMO
U of Rochester - Physics - AMO (Rejected via email check on website 03/06)
Wayne State U - Physics - Particle Exp (Accepted via email on 02/27) Declined on 03/08
Illinois Institute of Technology - Physics - Nuc Exp (Accepted via email on 03/01 via department) Declined on 03/24

Post Submission Thoughts:
My profile is definitely not as strong as the others on this forum. Poor GPA and pGRE. No awards or extra activities. For those of you who have similar profile, don't let your 'not great' profiles discourage you from applying to grad schools. You never know where you would get to unless you apply. Worst case is one rejection letter but if you don't apply, there is no chance to be accepted at all. Cheers!
Last edited by fysics on Sun Mar 24, 2019 8:50 pm, edited 2 times in total.

TejasP1996
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2018 2:12 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by TejasP1996 » Wed Feb 27, 2019 2:05 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top Indian institute
Major(s):Physics, Additional major in Electrical Engineering

GPA in Major: 9.84
Overall GPA: 9.81
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Department rank 1
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores:
Q:161
V:169
W:4
P:860 :( (Solved all the questions, could not mark the last 25 questions on the OMR)


TOEFL: 115 (R:30 , L:30 , S:26 , W:29 )


Research Experience: One publication in EPJC (topic in astroparticle physics) , two summer internships at top research institutes in India (NCRA and IIA), two conference posters. Currently working on a paper. Primary research interests include compact objects and theoretical astrophysics.

Awards/Honors/Recognition: Pre-selected for Ph.D at NCRA based on internship performance, academic excellence awards, online course certificates

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for quantum mechanics and astrophysics courses


Special Bonus Points: Good recommendations, contacted professors before applying

Applying to Where:

All applications for PhD

MIT physics: Rejected on Feb 13 through email
Harvard astronomy: Rejected on Feb 13 through email to check website
Caltech astronomy: Rejected on Jan 30 through email
Johns Hopkins physics and astronomy:
UT Austin astronomy:
Ohio State university physics: Accepted on Feb 26 through email, stipend $27,264 per year TA
Virginia physics: Accepted on Jan 26 through email, stipend $25,600 per year, no TA duty for first year (fellowship granted for first year)
RICE physics and astronomy: Accepted on Feb 07 through email, stipend $31600 per year TA
SUNY Stony Brook physics and astronomy: Accepted on Feb 04 through email, stipend $23,000 per year TA
Ohio university physics and astronomy: Accepted on Feb 12 through email, stipend $9801 per semester TA, Will not attend

User avatar
jerrychen
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2019 3:36 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by jerrychen » Wed Feb 27, 2019 10:42 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top Chinese Institute, well known in Physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): CS
GPA in Major: 3.7
Overall GPA: 3.59
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores : (revised or old version?)
Q: 170
V: 149
W: 3.5
P:


TOEFL: (R: , L: , S: , W: ) (Though I did take TOEFL, finally I used my IELTS score, 7.0)


Research Experience: Several different short-term experiences at my school and an overseas university in AMO, both experimental and theoretical, and computational/theoretical CMP, without any publications or conference talks

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)

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

Applying to Where:

Perimeter Institute - Physics - Computational/Theoretical CMP (Feb. 27: ACCEPTED for M.Sc., PSI, Accepted via email)
ETH Zurich - Physics - Computational/Theoretical CMP (Feb. 27: ACCEPTED for M.Sc. via email)
Cologne University - Physics - Computational/Theoretical CMP (Feb. 19: Invited to BCGS AdAc interview via email)


Emmm, I currently prefer PSI or ETHZ but not yet decided which one to take. However, I think I will decline Cologne whatever the interview result...

arutunian
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Feb 15, 2019 9:58 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by arutunian » Fri Mar 01, 2019 9:55 am

Undergrad Institution: Large, public research university in US. Well regarded in physics.
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.9
Overall GPA: 3.9
Length of Degree: 4 years, graduating this Spring
Position in Class: Near top of class, honors student
Type of Student: Domestic, white, male

GRE Scores :
Q: 162
V: 162
W: 4.0
P: 850

Research Experience:
Summer research project in HEP-ex where I did some data analysis.
1.5 years working in a technician type role in a HEP-ex lab. Did a lot of software.
1 year working on a computational project for an honors thesis.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Four merit-based scholarships from my university

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Physics TA-type job for an intro class

Applying to Where:
All for high energy theory/gravity theory:

Berkeley - Rejected by email Feb 15
Stanford - Rejected by email Feb 20
UCSB - Rejected by email Feb 26
Michigan - Rejected by email Feb 15
Princeton - Rejected by email Feb 12
Washington -
UPenn -
NYU -

Needless to say, this has been extremely disappointing.

shane
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2019 7:12 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by shane » Sat Mar 02, 2019 7:46 pm

Undergrad Institution: Big state school on west coast. pretty big in physics
Major(s): Physics, Math, Astronomy
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.75/4.0
Overall GPA: 3.49/4.0
Length of Degree: 5 Years
Position in Class: top 15/300 according to advisor
Type of Student: Domestic/male

GRE Scores : (revised or old version?)
Q: 162 (80%)
V: 155 (69%)
W: 4.0 (59%)
P: 920 (86%)


Research Experience: 2.5 years in big dark matter experiment. Mainly worked in theory/analysis. One paper in works (1st author). One presentation on this work. 2 unrelated presentations

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: lots of deans list. In physics honors program.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
idk. I did two years of drum corps. Taught drumline for a couple years.

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)
One of my recommendations is pretty big (at least I think). I signed up for graduate general relativity, but after i sent out applications...

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
I mentioned grievances I overcame (family members passing/injured, etc.). This was related to how I got started with physics, so I figured Id put it in the app.

Applying to Where (trying to do astrophysics, work on compact objects):

University of Washington - physics - Astrophysics (Mar 15: Rejected for PhD via email)
Cornell - physics - Astrophysics (Feb 21: Rejected for PhD via email)
Caltech -physics - Astrophysics (Feb 25: Rejected for PhD via email)
Stanford - physics - Astrophysics (Feb 20: Rejected for PhD via email)
University of Colorado Boulder - physics - Astrophysics (Feb 18: Rejected for PhD via website. Email said to check updated application) :(
Cambridge - physics - Astrophysics
Oxford - physics - Msc Mathematical and Theoretical Physics (Mar 19: Rejected for MSc via email)
ETH Zurich - physics (Mar 1: Accepted for MSc via email!!!!!! WILL ATTEND :D )
University of Melbourne - physics
University of Arizona - physics


Im pretty stoked about ETH. After getting the masters, I'll go right for the Ph.D. Idk why I didnt apply for ESOP. Shouldve applied since there was nothing to lose. Boulder was my top choice and I had been in contact with a professor there, so pretty bummed about that, but ETH was my second choice so alls good.

Good luck to everyone else during this stressful time! Dont forget to breath!
Last edited by shane on Wed Mar 20, 2019 12:55 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Zombie_Nixon
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2019 4:53 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Zombie_Nixon » Tue Mar 05, 2019 5:06 am

Undergrad Institution: Technical state University with decent physics program
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.83
Overall GPA: 3.94
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Top or near top
Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?) Domestic white male

GRE Scores : (revised or old version?)
Q: 160
V: 164
W: 4.5
P: 650 (39%)


TOEFL: (R: , L: , S: , W: )


Research Experience: Over a year of photonics research with multiple regional presentations and two international presentations. Published in international conference proceedings and have intention to submit to a more prestigious publisher.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) Dean's list every semester, merit based scholarship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...) TA, grader, SPS treasurer, WIP treasurer

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)

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

Applying to Where:

Stanford - Rejected (expected)
UCF CREOL - Accepted
U of Rochester Optics College - Accepted
U of Arizona Optics College - Accepted
USC Physics - Accepted
CU Boulder Physics - Rejected
UCSB - Rejected
UCI
UCR
UCSD - Rejected
UCLA
Caltech - Rejected
Northwestern
U of Washington
Last edited by Zombie_Nixon on Sun Mar 24, 2019 7:10 am, edited 2 times in total.

bloc_crusher
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Mar 06, 2019 3:11 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by bloc_crusher » Wed Mar 06, 2019 3:18 pm

______________________________________________
Undergrad Institution: Top 15 US
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Scientific computing, earth sciences.
GPA in Major: 3.9/4.0
Overall GPA: 3.7/4.0
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: don't know
Type of Student: international male

GRE Scores : (revised or old version?)
Q: 166
V: 162
W: 5
P: 720


TOEFL: (R: , L: , S: , W: )


Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)
Freshmen year to senior year, one 2nd author publication, 2 aps march contributed talks.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)

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

Applying to Where:

Princeton - Physics - CMT/Biophysics (Feb. 12: Rejected via website/email)
Yale - Physics - CMT/Biophysics (Feb. 13: WILL ATTEND for Ph.D. Accepted via website/email + $Xk Fellowship + $XXk/X month TA)
Cornell - Physics - CMT/Biophysics - withdrawn

toa003
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Mar 09, 2019 12:34 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by toa003 » Sat Mar 09, 2019 2:10 am

Undergrad Institution: Top few in SE Asia. Not known for physics.
Major(s): Physics, Mathematics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.93/4
Overall GPA: 3.93/4
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: International Male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 170
V: 158
W: 4
P: 980


TOEFL: (R: 30, L: 29, S: 23, W: 29 )


Research Experience: Quantum info/ condensed matter, qubit implementation on semicon, theoretical, no publication (1 year). Ultra-fast laser, computational, no publication (0.5 year).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Undergrad scholarship, Dean's lists and top awards, but all from my school.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA, computer lab assistant (total about 1.5 year)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: clear double major requirements very fast.

Special Bonus Points: None

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

Applying to Where:

Harvard - Applied Physics - CME (Feb. 23: Rejected via website/email)
Stanford - Applied Physics - CME (Jan. 31: Rejected via website/email)
Caltech - Applied Physics - CME (Mar. 9: Rejected via website/email)
UC Santa Barbara - Physics - CMT (Feb. 27: Rejected via website/email)
Princeton - Physics - CMT (Feb. 13: Rejected via website/email)
Cornell - Physics - CMT (Mar. 2: Rejected via website/email)
UC Berkeley - Physics - CMT (Feb.16: Rejected via website/email)
UC Los Angeles - Physics - CMT. (Mar.26: Rejected via website/email)
university of illinois urbana champaign - Physics - CMT. (Mar.27: Rejected via website/email)

Post-application reflection and extra info (very long):

I certainly overestimated my qualifications, but no harm trying, right? Here are a few more details that are hopefully useful for future applicants.

Recommendation letters. All strong letters, probably the strongest one from a young physics prof who seems to be a rising star in the field. The other 2 recommenders are not known in physics. My recommendation letters might be one of the decisive factors to failure? Nobody will ever know anyway.

GRE and TOEFL. Certainly can be better; but it sure is costly. Having spent so much on applications, and being a penniless fresh graduate, this can be really crippling. So much inertia to retake these exams. Suggestion: I know a few people who stick around as project officers/ research assistants. This is probably the best choice: you can earn some money first (pay your loan etc) and get some RELEVANT publications (more on this later, I advocate committing yourself to a research topic and group). One of them got into Cornell (but not most other schools) with about 5 publications within 3 years working.

Research experience
My first research in an applied physics lab was utterly disappointing. The prof assigned me to a graduating PhD student who probably could not be bothered. He made me read textbook for the summer, and soon he graduated without leaving me so much as an inch of laboratory experience. Completely disillusioned, I left the lab. Afterwards, I was hopping about from one research to another. I was looking for a "good research group" and prepared myself with lots of computer programming. Do I find a "good" research group? On the hindsight it depends on myself; I must be too idealistic. So, I will say I did not. Why computer programming? Being rather disappointed in doing physics, I was simply preparing for future employment bearing in mind there is not much future for me in physics along the direction I envision. Doing computer programming, is that a good choice? Yes and no. No, because, I could have instead stuck to a physics research and commit my full attention to it, but this is hypothesis contrary to fact- pretty much meaningless. Yes, because at the very least I get the compromise choice I prepared for... well... Anyway, I learnt machine learning stuffs, contributed quite significantly to the company I did internship in (employed there later, before moving to my current job) and included them in my application; this point does not seem to help much in application.

On the hind-sight, I think it is important to join a research group early, stay committed to it and be highly adaptable. **Biased personal opinion ahead, stop reading if you are easily offended**: If things start to get rough and you start to think you do not like that research topic, then reflect on yourself, reflect on what you did wrong and stay there a little longer (in my case, I should then realise I was such a trash and I should do better). This is especially the case if the research group is at least somewhat renowned; you might not want to miss the chance to work there again just because of immaturity at the moment. This should apply in most cases other than research.

Application
The way I applied to these schools is quite simple. For each school, I checked the faculty list and indicated interests in faculties that are most reputable. My statement of purpose was mostly general, emphasized my versatility (I do not have a specialization) and appealed to myself being a somewhat minority w.r.t. US demographic (not sure about this). As you can see, my application is disastrous. The graduate admission may just think I am some undecided brat trying my luck and I cannot fully deny that.

That concludes my attempt at getting into a well-known Physics graduate school. It was expensive. Physics GRE only lasts for 2 years (unfortunately this is the second year for me) and too much of a hassle to relearn and retake. It is quite clear that the admission process is not fully merit-based anyway, plus with dying passion, given 3 more chances to apply I am more than 98% sure it will just fail again. At least 4 years of undergrad physics was fun while it lasted. Regrets? No regrets, if i have time to regret I should spend time planning for the next step and scheming to get the next better opportunity. I guess that's good bye physics.
Last edited by toa003 on Tue Mar 26, 2019 8:50 pm, edited 3 times in total.

striker6g
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Nov 26, 2017 5:35 am

QQ

Post by striker6g » Sun Mar 10, 2019 10:33 pm

Undergrad Institution: State school, no reputation for anything.
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 3 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores : Taken September 2018
Q: 168 (94%)
V: 161 (88%)
W: 5.5 (98%) Guess I should've majored in English.
P: 910 (85%)


TOEFL: N/A


Research Experience: 1 summer taking measurements on SQUIDS, a couple semesters working on simulating light in fiber optic cables in a variety of situations, did a semester of independent study in QC. No publications/presentations. Using the fiber optic stuff for my senior thesis.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List, physics scholarship that requires nomination from faculty (got this three times), another physics scholarship, placed 6th in a math competition

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutored in math, TA'd for a physics lab, have a job relating to thermal properties of materials.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Nah.

Special Bonus Points: One of my recommenders had connections at Texas A&M

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I didn't mention that I only took three years to graduate. Perhaps this hurt my chances due to my lacking much research experience.

Applying to Where: All for QC/QI

Texas A&M - Physics - (1/30: WILL ATTEND for Ph.D. Accepted via website/email + $30k/year Fellowship for four years (start TA second year, TA/RA third/fourth years)+$2k bonus for first month)
Colorado State - Physics - Also expressed interest in their photovoltaics group (2/19 ACCEPTED for Ph.D via website/email + $18k/9mo TA for first year)
CU Boulder - Physics - (2/18 REJECTED via website. No email.)
UW Madison - Physics - (1/30 REJECTED via website. No email.)

I should've applied to more schools, or applied for something other than QC. Seems like the applicant pool is really competitive, and probably has more relevant research experience.

tigerljl
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Dec 16, 2017 12:00 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by tigerljl » Mon Mar 11, 2019 7:52 am

Undergrad Institution: Ivy
Major(s): Applied Physics
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: N/A
Overall GPA: 3.86
Length of Degree: 3
Position in Class: N/A
Type of Student: Domestic Asian Male

GRE Scores :
Q: 170
V: 161
W: 4.5
P: 920


TOEFL: (R: , L: , S: , W: )


Research Experience: 3 years of research experience in on-campus lab. 1 Summer REU at Princeton. 1 Summer SURF at Caltech.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Tau Beta Pi

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Well known recommenders

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

Applying to Where:

Columbia - Applied Physics- (Jan. 29: Accepted for Ph.D. Accepted via website/email with Presidential Fellowship + $45k Fellowship)
Carnegie Mellon - ECE(Feb. 5: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via website/email +$32K fellowship)
Duke - Medical Physics(Feb. 15: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via website/email +$32K fellowship)
Caltech - Applied Physics - (Feb. 15: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via website/email +$35K fellowship)
Georgia Tech - ECE - (Jan. 25: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via website/email +$26K TA fellowship)
Yale - Applied Physics - (Feb. 11: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via website/email +$33K TA fellowship)


UC Berkeley - EECS - (Mar. 1: REJECTED via email)
Harvard - Applied Physics - (Feb. 22: REJECTED via email)
Harvard - Physics - (Feb. 25: REJECTED via email)
MIT - Physics - (Feb. 12: REJECTED via website)
MIT - Medical Physics - (Jan. 18: REJECTED via website)
MIT - EECS - (Feb. 25: REJECTED via email)
UPenn - Electrical and Systems Engineering - (Mar. 7: REJECTED via email)
Stanford - Applied Physics - (Jan. 30: REJECTED via email)
UChicago - Medical Physics - (Mar. 5: REJECTED via email)
UChicago - Physics - (Feb. 7: REJECTED via email)


Princeton - Electrical Engineering - (Feb. 12: WAITLIST via email)

UIUC - ECE- (Application Withdrawn)

manhcam0510
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2019 1:45 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by manhcam0510 » Mon Mar 11, 2019 3:02 pm

Undergrad Institution: national university, South East Asia, one of top schools in the country for physics (and natural science)
Major(s): Nuclear Engineeing
Minor(s): Medical Physics
GPA in Major: N/A
Overall GPA: 3.80/4 (9.17/10)
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top of the class
Type of Student: international male

GRE Scores : 318
Q: 170
V: 148
W: 3.5
P: 920 (86%)


TOEFL: 101 (R: 28 , L: 26 , S: 20 , W: 27)


Research Experience: research for undergrad thesis, in medical physics, 1.5 years, oral presentation at the national conference.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?): Vallet Scholarship, First Prize in National Physics Olympiad for Undergrad Students,...

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for the department after graduation

Special Bonus Points: recommenders are: 1) thesis advisor, who graduated from Florida State, 2) a professor from Univ. of Virginia.

Applying to Where:

Reach:
- University of Colorado Boulder, AMO: rejected on Feb 19
- University of Washington, AMO: rejected on Mar 16
- Michigan State University, HEP:

Match:
- University of Virginia, Medical Physics: accepted Feb 2, $25,600 ($5,600 for summer), WILL ATTEND
- University of Rochester, AMO: rejected on Mar 15
- Florida State University, AMO:

Safe
- Oregon State, AMO: late submitting of LOR, speaking score not meet requirement: almost certain rejected
- UT Dallas, AMO: accepted Feb 6, TA/RA: $1900.00/month.
- Tulane: only 2 LOR submitted, think they wouldn't consider my application. But Accepted March 12, $20,494 (36 weeks) + $7,968 (summer)
Last edited by manhcam0510 on Fri Apr 12, 2019 7:04 pm, edited 3 times in total.

aenews
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2019 8:05 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by aenews » Mon Mar 11, 2019 8:46 pm

Undergrad Institution: UCLA
Major(s): Astrophysics
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 2.67
Overall GPA: 2.92
Upper-Division GPA: 2.75
Length of Degree: 5 Years (Switched to Astrophysics from Biochemistry during Spring 2nd Year)
Position in Class: Below Average
Type of Student: Domestic/Indian/Male

GRE Scores :
Q: 164 (86%)
V: 163 (93%)
W: 4.5 (82%)
P: 620 (32%)

Research Experience:

2 Quarters Extragalactic Cosmology w/ Astrophysics Professor

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: N/A

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Technology Reseller

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: President of Major Non-Physics Club

Special Bonus Points:
Recommendation Letter from Astrophysics Professor with whom I did research
Recommendation Letter from UCLA Head of Graduate Admissions

Applying to Where:


Beyond Reach:

UC Berkeley (UCB) - Astronomy PhD - (XXX: Rejected via email)
UC Los Angeles (UCLA) - Astronomy PhD - (Mar. 26: Rejected via email indicating portal update)
UC Santa Cruz (UCSC) - Astronomy PhD - (Feb. 28: Rejected via email)
University of Washington - Astronomy PhD - (Feb. 6: Rejected via email)
John Hopkins University - Astronomy PhD - (Mar. 4: Rejected via email)
University of Wisconsin - Astronomy PhD - (Feb. 18: Rejected via email)
CalTech - Astronomy PhD - (Jan. 29: Rejected via email; Feb. 22: Rejected again via email)
University of Washington - Astronomy PhD - (Feb. 23: Rejected via email)
Princeton University - Astronomy PhD - (Feb. 6: Rejected via email)
Dartmouth College - Astronomy PhD - (Apr. 22: Rejected via email)

Reach:

University of Florida - Astronomy PhD - (Apr. 10: Rejected via email)
University of Iowa - Astronomy PhD - (Apr. 17: Rejected via email)

Maybe Match:

San Diego State University (SDSU) - Astronomy MS - (May 15: Accepted via Portal, May 17: Granted 7.2K/Year Tuition Waiver via e-mail indicating portal update) WILL ATTEND + (June 7: 18K/Year TA Position Offered)
Arizona State University (ASU) - Astronomy MS - (Apr. 6: Rejected via email)
University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) - Astronomy MS - (July 15: Rejected via email indicating portal update)
CSU Northridge (CSUN) - Physics MS - Did Not Submit
San Francisco State (SFSU) - Physics MS w/ Astronomy Emphasis - Did Not Submit
Last edited by aenews on Mon Jul 15, 2019 4:51 pm, edited 8 times in total.

pgeraghty3
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 10:17 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by pgeraghty3 » Tue Mar 12, 2019 10:42 am

Undergrad Institution: Above average technical school
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Applied Math
GPA in Major: ~3.7
Overall GPA: 3.48
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: domestic white male

GRE Scores:
Q: 165
V: 161
W: 5.0
P:



Research Experience: Senior Capstone research project in quantum optics, very theory based. Summer internship doing research in quantum information at Naval Research Labs, very good recommendation letter from them.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List 2 years running

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for the last 3 years

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Studied abroad in London and attended multiple physics workshops around Europe, met with people in graduate schools where I was applying. Great recommendation letter from 1 professor/research advisor.

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

Applying to Where:

Brown University - High Energy Theory (Mar 6: Rejected via email)
University of Washington - High Energy Theory (Mar 15: Rejected via email)
LSU - Gravitational Physics Theory
Penn State - Gravity/High Energy Theory (Mar 14: Rejected via email)
University of Oregon - High Energy Theory (Mar 11: Waitlisted via email)
Colorado School of Mines - Theoretical/Computational Physics (Mar 15: Rejected via email)
University of Nottingham - Gravity, Particles, and Fields MSc (Feb 13: Accepted! via email, no funding)
Utrecht University - Theoretical/Mathematical Physics MSc (Mar 6: Accepted! via email, TA position available)
Last edited by pgeraghty3 on Fri Mar 15, 2019 4:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

thePuzzledPu
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2019 2:53 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by thePuzzledPu » Wed Mar 13, 2019 3:34 pm

Undergrad Institution: school in UK with good reputation in physics
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 75/100
Length of Degree: 4 year MSci degree
Position in Class: ~45/200
Type of Student: International Chinese Male

GRE Scores : Revised
Q: 170
V: 170
W: 4.0
P: 950


TOEFL: Exempted


Research Experience:
All at my school.
2nd Year Summer Lab Intern (12 weeks): Laser cooling and molecule trapping; mostly hands-on lab work building a novel kind of molecular beam decelerator for feeding into the trap; learned plenty of practical stuff like vacuum kits, lasers, cleaning and 3D modelling; overall enjoyable but of course no publication or anything since it's pure manual work.
3rd Year Summer Lab Intern (10 weeks): Pulsed-Power Plasma experiments; again lab works only; very fun to learn about all the stuff like Marx banks and laser diagnostics and all the other tailor-made experimental set up, really cool lab; again no publication or anything tho.
Master Thesis Project (about 6 months but not full time): Perovskite material for solar cell applications; bit too much chemistry and not enough physics for my liking; limited scope; potential publication as results may be incorporated into a PhD student's work.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points:

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

Applying to Where:

Cornell - Applied Physics - CME/QO (WILL ATTEND for Ph.D. Accepted via email + tuition + $36000 stipend incl.summer)
Harvard - Applied Physics - CME/QO (Rejected)
Maryland - Physics - CME/QO (Rejected)
Yale - Applied Physics - CME/QO (Rejected)
Rochester - Applied Physics - CME/QO (Rejected)
Chicago - Applied Physics - CME/QO (Rejected)

Some Thoughts:
Haven't seen many posts that show similar experience to mine so I thought I would write a few words.
First of all it's not easy to assemble a decent application from a UK undergraduate degree, mainly due to lack of proper research experience. The system supports summer research but anything long term like REU in US is not encouraged. There are more physics modules and lectures instead. As a result, good recommendation letters are hard to come by. Also, publications are extremely rare among my peers. Those with publications have to show exceptional initiatives I think.
Masters in UK are one year only, so that constrains the time frame quite a bit compared to longer master degrees from say Europe or China.
Based on the results which are half expected, I would say just liking physics throughout undergrad degree and research is hardly enough. An early on commitment seems crucial. I am not a physics nerd since young, but rather grew to like physics gradually while keeping a wide range of interests. In hindsight this definitely makes the path to postgrad physics difficult, but I don't really regret it. That's just how I evolve as a person. So I would say don't get discouraged if you are like me.
I don't think GRE scores matter much as I have friends with perfect PGre scores and excellent course grades that got rejected by all.
Finally I will just mention that being a Chinese national these days may have made it a tiny bit more difficult? Like I am having VISA troubles even with offer letters. As a result I am deferring till next year just in case. I heard horror stories of how Chinese PhD students got stuck half way through their degrees when their VISA renewal application got reviewed and took couple months to more than a year. Hope someone can tell me how bad it really is currently.

jdvynk
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2019 6:58 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by jdvynk » Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:55 pm

Semi-victory post. Heard back from the biggest schools now, so I don't feel like I'll jinx myself. :)

Undergrad Institution: Big State, Top 20 in Physics/Astro
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Lots of classes in Geology 8)
GPA in Major: 2.9ish last two years
Overall GPA: 3.2
Length of Degree: 5
Position in Class: Struggled
Type of Student: DWF, older now that I've taken a break

GRE Scores :
Q: 155
V: 161
W: 4
P: 490 :shock: :lol: Probably could've retaken and jumped into 600's, but $$$ and I also didn't apply to all programs that required the PGRE.


Research Experience:
1.5 last years at school on linear device with spectroscopy. No pubs. Presented poster and got highest undergraduate research honor.

Summer REU building circuit for radar sensing system. Very rewarding, highly recommend (at KU). One co-author.

2 years at national lab (out of 4 I've taken off). First internship on semi-HEDP (plasma jets, woot woot). Second on a nuclear diagnostic for ICF implosions. One co-author; one potential co-author in manuscript. Presented poster at APS which was well-received. Gave a talk on the research, too.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Prize mentioned above. REU.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Hung out with the astro and SPS kids a lot, and was an officer for my last two years with Women in Physical Sciences. Started first-ever Physical Sciences Poster Fair at our school (the normal one is dominated by biologists and some engineers). Proudest moment was when I helped raise on the order of 10k's in $ to win a proposal to hold CUWiP at our school. :D

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Mostly focused on research and science-related activities in my application. Practically had a minor in music, but didn't think they'd care especially given my GPA.

Special Bonus Points: Two well-known recommenders in my field. One strong LOR from current advisor. Couldn't be more grateful.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Worked at a restaurant for two years while not in school. I'm an older student.

Applying to Where:


Reach:

Wisconsin, Madison - Physics - Plasma: Basic and fusion (Jan. 30: Rejected via website; March 1: Rejected via email)
UCSD - Mech and Aero Engineering - Plasma: Z pinches (Feb. 8: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email + $29k/yr RA) WILL ATTEND
U of Rochester - Mechanical Engineering - Plasma: ICF and all the HEDP laser things (Feb. 12: ACCEPTED via email for Master's instead of PhD, partially funded)
UNM - Physics - Plasma: Basic and pulsed power/pinches (Feb. 13: Rejected via website)
U of Michigan - Applied Physics - Plasma: LPI re- loads of stuff (March 13: Rejected via email) Was worth a shot!
U of Rochester - Physics - Plasma: ICF and all the HEDP laser things (March 14: Rejected via email to check website) Ah well, looks like I was in the running for a bit at least. :)

Because I had an infatuation with electrical and computer engineering:
Boston University - ECE - Optics and information theory (Jan. 24: Rejected via email)
Wisconsin, Madison - ECE - Optics and information theory (Apr. 19: ACCEPTED for Professional Master's instead of PhD or Research Master's via email) :lol:
U of Maryland - ECE - Optics and information theory

Fallback*:
UNM - ECE - Plasma: Basic and pulsed power/pinches (March 6: Unofficially accepted for Ph.D via email + $20k/yr RA)

*Honestly wasn't even sure I'd get in ANYWHERE, not even my "fallback."
Last edited by jdvynk on Tue Apr 23, 2019 11:43 am, edited 2 times in total.

Ankur Verma
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 10:57 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Ankur Verma » Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:24 am

Undergrad Institution: Top Indian Institue well known for engineering. Reputation in Physics: QS World subject ranking 401-450
Major(s): Engineering Physics
GPA in Major: 7.46/10.0
Overall GPA: 7.46/10.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: average
Type of Student: International

GRE Scores : Revised
Q:169
V:155
W:4.0
P:970


TOEFL:100 (R:29 , L:28 , S:21 , W:22 )


Research Experience:
4 months of experimental nuclear physics at home institution.
3 months doing data analysis in nuclear physics at home institution.
6+ months studying light-atom interactions (B.tech project) at home institution.
+ 4 minor engineering projects
NO PUBLICATIONS
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Ranked among National Top 1% in the National Graduate Physics Examination 2018(a national
level examination testing undergraduate level physics organized by IAPT) among 13924 enrolled
candidates

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: None

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:none

Special Bonus Points: none

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Significantly decreasing trend in gpa

Applying to Where:
All for HEPCOS-Th
Stony Brook -Mar 6: Rejected for Ph.D.(Accepted for Masters via email without funding)
Boston University -(Mar 14: Rejected via email)
Texas A&M university - (Jan 22:Interview , Feb 28:Accepted for PhD via website/email with full tution fee waiver, 2000$/month TA and 2000$ fellowship) WILL ATTEND!
UMass Amherst -
Rice University -(Feb 27: Rejected via email)
University of Illinois chicago -
SUNY Buffalo -
Pennsylvania State University(Mar 19: Rejected via email)

Remark: I started applying in Jan so had limited no. of universities accepting applications at the time.
Last edited by Ankur Verma on Sat Mar 23, 2019 3:48 am, edited 1 time in total.

MAGAftw
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Mar 23, 2019 1:22 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by MAGAftw » Sat Mar 23, 2019 1:37 am

Undergrad Institution: Somewhere in the formerly great state of Oregon
Major(s): Physics, Math
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.4
Overall GPA: 3.04
Length of Degree: 2 community college, 4 university (changed majors too many times)
Position in Class: average?
Type of Student: domestic, male, world minority-domestic majority

GRE Scores : (revised or old version?)
Q: 170
V: 164
W: 5.0
P: 580 (probably should've taken this seriously and studied)


Research Experience: 2 terms in physics, 1 in math, all senior year

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: started college at 16?

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: tutor and grader in math

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: I tame lions.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Sorry I'm posting this pretty late.

Applying to Where: High Energy, Astrophysics/Cosmology

UC San Diego: Rejected
SUNY Buffalo: Rejected
UC Santa Barbara: Rejected
U Washington: Rejected
U New Mexico: Rejected
UC Santa Cruz: Rejected
UC Merced: Accepted
Indiana University:
Oregon State (Medical Physics): Accepted
U Oregon (Industrial Internship Masters): Accepted
U Mass Amherst:
New York University: Rejected
U Denver:
U Nevada Las Vegas: Accepted
Colorado Boulder: Rejected
Portland State: Rejected
U Hawaii: Accepted

PleaseLemmeIn
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2019 2:52 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by PleaseLemmeIn » Wed Apr 03, 2019 5:25 pm

Writing this to destract myself from all the applications I need to work on.
I'm fairly sure I'm a bog standard applicant.

Undergrad Institution: Tiny private lib arts school in the midwest. Very good Physics Rep for such a small school.
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Astronomy/Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.4
Overall GPA: 3.4
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: 2nd (There were only 4 in my graduating class)
Type of Student: Bland as heck Domestic Male White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (I have a disablity that came up in a few of my apps)

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 159 (72%)
V: 155 (73%)
W: 4.0 (59%)
P: 690 (47%) :x I studied so freakin hard.


Research Experience: Three long summers at my home school. One publication that was high profile (169th author out of a guggilion). I think they're pretty dang cool projects. See what you think.
(1) Stellar Astronomy: Studying the dynamics of a Triple Star System. Measured the orbital dynamics with improved accuracy
(2) Stellar Astronomy: Studying merging binary stars. This one was high profile got alot of media attention. Modeled the surface of contact stars
(3) Plasma Physics: Studying Plasma Behavior in Dielectric Barrier Discharges. Worked with cutting edge plasma modeling software.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: The ussual. Several acedemic and research scholarships. Deans List several semesters. Also an eagle scout

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutored intro physics for two years, TA one semester, Lab Aide one semester, Astronomy Club Leadership)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I built a muon detector, conducted a double slit experiment.

Special Bonus Points: My recommenders are my research supervisors that I worked very closely with. Letters should be solid. These recommenders have connection with a few of the schools I am applying to.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Undergrad Research only slightly related to the field I am applying to grad school for. In my SOP I make sure to bring out the similarities in the research I have done with the research I want to do.

Applying to Where: Most of these very directed to space/solar physics program. All are PhD programs unless otherwise stated. Undecided exp or th. A few astronomy programs thrown in.

A kid can dream, can't he?:
University of Michigan Space Physics (April 1: Rejected via email)
University of Wisconsin Plasma Physics (Feb 4: Rejected via website)
University of Washington Space Physics (March 8: Rejected via email)
New Mexico State University Solar Physics (Feb 8: Unofficially Rejected via email) (April 15 official Rejection email)
Indiana University Stellar Astronomy (Feb 1: Rejected via email)

Reach:
University of Norte Dame Stellar Astronomy (April 5: Rejected via email with link to website)
Dartmouth College Space Physics (April 22: Rejected via email)
University of Iowa Space Physics (April 1: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email + Full tution fellowship + $19,000 month TA) 8) 8) 8) WILL ATTEND!!!!!!!!! Had connections. My reseach advisior used to teach here.
Univeristy of Delaware Space Physics (April 24: Rejected via email)

Match:
University of New Hampshire Space Physics (April 17: Waitlisted via email upon inquiry)
West Virginia University Space Physics (April 12: Waitlisted via email upon inquiry)

Saftey:
Montana State University Solar Physics (March 13: Rejected via email link to website) Getting really nervous :?
Auburn University Space Physics (March 18: ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email + Full tution fellowship + $24,270 month TA+ invite to visit April 1) Damn the first acceptance feels good!
Utah State University Space Physics

Masters Programs:
University of Wisconsin Plasma Physics (Feb 4: Rejected via website)
New Mexico State University Space Physics



Some Thoughts 4/3/2019:

For those of you waiting for response, heres some more speculation to fuel your anxiety. It seems to be a statisically significant trend that schools tend to send admission responses on the first day of the month.

For those of you thinking about applying to a PhD Program. Before you even apply to a school, EMAIL PROFESSORS in the reseach area you are interested in and ask if they has space and funding for new graduate students to work with them. I wish I had done this. Not only will this demonstrate your interest in the program and build a connection with potential advisors early; it will also save you time. I realized after I applied to MSU that all the positions for solar physics research were filled and the professors had no need for new students.
Last edited by PleaseLemmeIn on Thu May 02, 2019 5:47 pm, edited 4 times in total.

rbhas147
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2019 1:50 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by rbhas147 » Wed Apr 10, 2019 2:02 am

Undergrad Institution: Big Latin American university.
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): -
GPA in Major: 4.62/5.00
Overall GPA: -
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: not sure
Type of Student: International male

Grad Institution: the same as undergrad.
Major(s): Physics - Master's
GPA in Major: 92.8/100.0
Length of Degree: ~2 years
Position in Class: not sure

GRE Scores :
Q: 170 (96%)
V: 169 (99%)
W: 4.0 (59%)
P: 880 (81%)


TOEFL: 114 (R: 30, L: 30, S: 27, W: 27)


Research Experience: >3 years in the same lab (computational condensed matter). One conference paper (3rd author), 1st author paper submitted (not finished in time to be included in the applications, though). Four conference posters, two talks at my university.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Non-traditional student. I had completed an undergraduate degree in another (completely unrelated) field before I decided to study physics, and had a job in that field during my physics undergrad.

Applying to Where:

UC Davis - Physics - Computational CMP (Feb. 22: ACCEPTED for Ph.D. via email)
University of Tennessee - Knoxville - Physics - Computational CMP (Feb. 12: ACCEPTED for Ph.D. via email)
CUNY - Physics - Computational physics (Mar. 15: ACCEPTED for Ph.D. via email)

dirac
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2019 11:41 am

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by dirac » Sat Apr 13, 2019 12:07 pm

Undergrad Institution: High-ranking private university (good reputation in physics)
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.9
Overall GPA: 3.9
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Not sure
Type of Student: Domestic male

GRE Scores :
Q: 166 (90th percentile)
V: 165 (96th percentile)
W: 6.0 (99th percentile)
P: 900 (83rd percentile)

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)
I did 3 years of experimental fluids research in one lab at my school. I will be first author on a publication (not done yet/was not mentioned on my application).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)
A few departmental awards, but nothing incredible. I graduated summa cum laude.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...)
N/A

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
N/A

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)
I had 3 recommendations from people who are very respected and well-known in soft matter/fluids/applied math. I think this was a huge part of why I was accepted to some schools.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
I took a gap year.

Applying to Where:

Harvard SEAS - Applied Physics - Soft matter experiment - ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email + $37k funding - WILL ATTEND
New York University - Physics - Soft matter experiment - ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email + $40k funding
U Chicago - Physics - Soft matter experiment - ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email + $39k funding
Brown University - Physics - Hard condensed matter experiment - ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email/website + $30k funding
Columbia GSAS - Physics - Hard condensed matter experiment - REJECTED for Ph.D via email/website
U Penn - Physics - Soft matter experiment - REJECTED for Ph.D via email/website
Columbia SEAS - Applied Physics - Soft matter experiment - ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email/website + $39k funding
Boston University - Physics - Hard/soft condensed matter experiment/some fluids stuff too - ACCEPTED for Ph.D via email + $30k funding

ceraith912
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Apr 17, 2019 3:25 pm

Re: 2019 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by ceraith912 » Wed Apr 17, 2019 4:01 pm

Undergrad Institution: University at Buffalo
Major(s): Physics B.S.
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.577
Overall GPA: 3.461
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Above average
Type of Student: White male from New York
GRE Scores :
Q: 156 (61st Percentile)
V: 152 (56th Percentile)
W: 4.0 (59th Percentile)
P: 640 (36th Percentile) Wasn't a good time in October



Research Experience: 1 semester of independent study in theoretical high energy physics (Would have been 2 if there were no issues preventing me from starting in the fall)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Latin Honors

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Private tutor. Ticket sales at University ticket office.

Special Bonus Points: Participated in an Outreach program my professor was conducting. The same professor wrote a letter of recommendation and has collaborated with other professors at the schools I applied to. The professor I was doing an independent study with has also collaborated with the same schools and is known in the field.

Univeristy at Buffalo - Physics - Theoretical High Energy Physics (Feb. 25: ACCEPTED for Ph.D. Accepted via email - No support due to limited financial resources)
University of Colorado - Boulder - Physics - Theoretical High Energy Physics (Feb. 18: Rejected via website after email notification)
Pittsburg University - Physics & Astronomy - Theoretical High Energy Physics (Mar 20: Waitlisted via website after email notification. Waiting to hear back still after they said they would reply in early April)
Stony Brook - Physics and Astronomy - Theoretical Particle Physics (Apr. 9: Rejected via email)
University of Washington - Physics - Theoretical High Energy Physics (Mar. 15: Rejected via email)
Florida State University - Physics - Theoretical High Energy Physics (Apr. 10: Waitlisted via email after contacting them. Waiting to hear back from the second round of applications)
Souther Methodist University - Theoretical High Energy Physics (Mar 15 ACCEPTED AND WILL ATTEND for Ph.D Accepted via email after contacting them about the status of my application. They emailed the wrong address and found out on Apr 13 +$26,400/year + Health Insurance + TA position)



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