Listing Grad school responses (Admits & Rejects)...

  • 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.

Asianbob
Posts: 25
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 10:30 pm

Post by Asianbob » Sat Feb 10, 2007 7:53 pm

So you applied to both biophysics and medical physics... where else did you apply for MP?

shirazu
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Feb 06, 2007 1:19 am

Post by shirazu » Sun Feb 11, 2007 9:07 pm

I would just tell them the truth that you have already comitted to another open house during that time, but would really like to come out and visit. Since the point of paying to fly you out there is so that you will go to their school, I would think that it if anything they would be more likely to pay for your trip in this situation.

tnoviell
Posts: 235
Joined: Sun Nov 05, 2006 10:31 am

Post by tnoviell » Sun Feb 11, 2007 9:23 pm

Asianbob - Duke was all. I was going to apply to the joint Harvard/MIT program, but I missed the deadline (I thought it was a week later than it was). I was also going to apply to some other places but I felt that I didn't want to do MP, I want to do biophysics. I was accepted to the 2 schools I wanted for biophysics, and if Duke accepts me I will mull over the situation...

fine man
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2007 5:21 pm

More acceptances

Post by fine man » Sun Feb 11, 2007 9:24 pm

I received email acceptances from:

University of North Carolina (physics) on January 31
University of Virginia (physics) on February 8

I'm a domestic student with the following stats:
Top 50 undergraduate institution
GPA: 3.86
GRE (Q/V/W): 800/530/4.5
Physics GRE: 710
Research: 1 REU, 2 years departmental research
Recommendations: 3 pretty good ones

dbl
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:15 am

Current List

Post by dbl » Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:29 am

Domestic
Ivy (the hardest in our opinion)
GPA: 3.2 (plus one grad class after graduation with 3.7 gpa)
GRE (Q/V/W): 800/620/5.5
Physics GRE: 640

Research:
2 REUs - both at very good programs. One was on the project that I want to work on in graduate school.
Working as a full time research assistant for a group working on a current NASA telescope mission (since June 06)

Teaching: 3 years of TA for computer science course
Other Skills: very good with computers and part of a CS major done before I decided to drop it.
Recommendations: All should've been excellent - one from a very well known person (in astronomy)

Applications (intended field is obs cosmology or exp relativity):
Penn State (astro) - Accepted (phone/email, 1/31/07)
UC Davis (phys) - Accepted (email, 2/9/07)
U Florida (phys) - Accepted (email, 1/24/07). Declined offer (2/26).
Columbia (phys) - Rejected (email, 2/23/07)
UWisc Milwaukee (phys)
Louisiana State (phys) - Accepted (phone, 2/16/07). Declined offer (2/26).
Princeton (astro) - Rejected (email, 2/12/07)
Caltech (phys) - Accepted (email, 2/21/07)
MIT (phys) - Rejected (postal, 3/3/07)
Michigan (phys) - Wait listed
Berkeley (astro) - Rejected (email, 2/16/07)

One thing I'll add about admissions. The professor I work with right now told me that the first thing he looks at is the numerical scores and who wrote the recommendations. Thus, if a well known person is writing you a recommendation, this is a big bonus to get noticed quickly.

Bonus points to anyone who can figure out what project I want to work on in grad school (8/11 of the schools have big groups for that project) :)
Last edited by dbl on Sat Mar 03, 2007 9:27 pm, edited 7 times in total.

quasar
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Jan 23, 2007 7:40 am

Post by quasar » Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:25 pm

After quite a few rejections, I got my first acceptance: phone call from Harvard astro :)
Good luck everyone, don't let rejection emails scare you!

dbl
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:15 am

Princeton

Post by dbl » Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:32 pm

I just got rejected from princeton astro, so it looks like they're sending out those e-mails.

kdub
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2006 5:53 pm

Post by kdub » Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:32 pm

Yeah I got my rejection e-mail from Princeton astro today too. Guess they must have filled their quota quickly.

quasar, where else did you apply that rejected you? It seems to me that if you got into Harvard astro (I'm still waiting to hear from them), you would be pretty competitive at almost any other school.

rjharris
Posts: 101
Joined: Wed May 10, 2006 6:48 pm

Post by rjharris » Mon Feb 12, 2007 3:07 pm

i also just got the call from harvard astro.

braindrain
Posts: 158
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:23 am

Post by braindrain » Mon Feb 12, 2007 4:08 pm

rjharris: Congratulations! How are you ever going to decide between
Princeton and Harvard? A good position to be in no doubt.

rjharris
Posts: 101
Joined: Wed May 10, 2006 6:48 pm

Post by rjharris » Mon Feb 12, 2007 4:15 pm

braindrain:

God only knows how. i really really really was not expecting to be in this position. my guess is i'll talk to faculty here. one of my astro profs who i'm kinda buddy buddy with said he might be able to talk about choices i might have since he had been at most of the places on my list or knew about them. we'll see. thanks for the congrats!

mom
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 5:56 pm

Post by mom » Mon Feb 12, 2007 5:58 pm

My son received an email acceptance from San Diego today. Funding information to follow in 10 days or so.

braindrain
Posts: 158
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:23 am

Post by braindrain » Mon Feb 12, 2007 6:01 pm

Yes, my mom is nervous and watching the mail along with me too.
Aren't moms great? She already wants me to go to the closest school
to home if I get in.

phun
Posts: 28
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2006 2:53 am

Post by phun » Mon Feb 12, 2007 6:55 pm

there is an entry today on thegradcafe.com about someone getting a postal service mail from mit. I guess this means the mails are out?

jormiga
Posts: 26
Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2006 6:30 pm

UT Today

Post by jormiga » Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:10 pm

Got an official offer of admission from UT Austin (Physics) today.

monomer
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2007 2:22 pm

MIT

Post by monomer » Mon Feb 12, 2007 9:34 pm

I got an acceptance to MIT in the mail today, + $2k/month fellowship !

anyon
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 9:26 pm

Post by anyon » Mon Feb 12, 2007 9:34 pm

I got accepted from MIT today via a postal service. I am an international student with US degree and applied for theoretical condensed matter.

Note: I'm not the guy who posted the result on thegradcafe.com though.

dbl
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:15 am

Post by dbl » Mon Feb 12, 2007 9:42 pm

To people receiving MIT acceptances, where are you geographically located? I saw that last year there was like one person on the first day, and then a bunch on the second and third day.

mp1984
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:26 pm

MIT

Post by mp1984 » Mon Feb 12, 2007 9:42 pm

Also got into MIT today!!! International with a US degree, experimental astro...
Located in the Midwest...

rjharris
Posts: 101
Joined: Wed May 10, 2006 6:48 pm

Post by rjharris » Mon Feb 12, 2007 9:52 pm

congrats mp1984

you picked the correct form of astro to get into MIT :D

(also congrats to everyone else who got into MIT & elsewhere for that matter)

slee
Posts: 38
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 7:10 pm

Post by slee » Mon Feb 12, 2007 10:03 pm

congrats everybody! has anyone heard from harvard physics yet? i applied through the physics program with a focus on astrophysics, so i'm wondering when that will go through...

i also got my official fellowship/offer package in the mail from princeton astro today!

good luck to everyone!

llsop
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 11:48 am

Post by llsop » Tue Feb 13, 2007 12:12 am

Also got acceptance mail from MIT.
Last edited by llsop on Wed Apr 18, 2007 11:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Asianbob
Posts: 25
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 10:30 pm

Post by Asianbob » Tue Feb 13, 2007 2:07 am

Congrats on getting accepted!

devilzadvocate
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Jan 29, 2007 5:25 am

Post by devilzadvocate » Tue Feb 13, 2007 2:10 am

getting a bit nervous....
sure to get the MIT package in tomorrows mail though.......

somebody
Posts: 68
Joined: Tue Jun 13, 2006 4:25 pm

Post by somebody » Tue Feb 13, 2007 2:22 am

hey devilzadvocate wouldn't it be funny if somebody from MIT grad committee randomly found their way to this site and saw you acting like a moron and decided to reject you when they saw your application package matched the profile of the dumbass from this message board? i personally think that would be awesome.

schmit.paul
Posts: 161
Joined: Sat Nov 04, 2006 7:48 pm

Post by schmit.paul » Tue Feb 13, 2007 2:33 am

oh geez, let's not get another one of these exchanges started on this thread...if you must, start a new one (devilzadvocate can even make her name the subject of the thread).

And I must say, there's nothing like the feeling of opening up a mailbox and seeing nothing but bills and advertisements, or even worse, nothing at all ("did the mailman come already...i know it's 6pm, but maybe he got in a wreck, had to get a new mail truck, and then came back to drop off my admissions letters late instead of going home to his family....it could happen")

CPT
Posts: 77
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2007 2:05 am

Post by CPT » Tue Feb 13, 2007 3:56 am

  • * rjharris, congratulations on Harvard, you're on a roll here!
    * Congrats to everyone into MIT !
    * Good luck to the rest of y'all!
The guy collecting the list of acceptances wrote:
01. Yale Biophysics
02. Ohio State Biophysics , Astronomy
03. Stanford Biophysics
04. UCSF Biophysics
05. UC Berkeley Biophysics
06. Harvard Biophysics (22nd Jan)
07. College of William & Mary
08. UC Santa Barbara Materials department
09. Caltech Materials department
10. MIT Nuclear Science and Engineering
11. Johns Hopkins Physics 26th January
12. U. of Washington Physics
13. USC Physics
14. Ohio State Physics - 01/27
15. UCSB Physics - 01/29
16. Caltech Astronomy/Astrophysics 01/27
17. Princeton Astronomy - Feb 1
18. U Chicago Astronomy - Feb 3

19. Penn State, Astronomy - Feb 5
20. UIUC, Astronomy - Feb 5
21. Cornell, Physics - Feb 6
22. Texas A & M
23. Lehigh University - Feb 7
24. Rochester, Optics - Feb 7
25. UC Davis, Applied Sciences
26. University of Michigan - Feb 8
27. Florida State University- Feb 8
28. Washington University - Feb 8
29. Columbia University - Feb 8
30. Carnegie Mellon - Feb 8
31. Indiana University Astronomy 2/8
32. Dartmouth Physics
33. Boston U Physics

34. Harvard Astronomy
35. MIT Physics 12/2

inflaton
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:18 am

strange results

Post by inflaton » Tue Feb 13, 2007 4:16 am

My results so far:
CERN (theory) - accepted
Max Planck Institute for Astrophyiscs - accepted
Harvard - accepted

Hawaii astro - rejected
Texas A&M - rejected
USC - rejected

Waiting for a reply from Caltech astro. Slee, would you share with us when the list of prospective astro grads at Caltech seems complete?

This pattern looks strange to me, I would have expected the opposite. Does anyone understand that?

European applicant (with MS in physics)
GRE 790/640/4.5 680 (Q/V/W Physics)
really a lot of different research/teaching experiences, but not very focussed (some of the extremes are string theory and an experiment in a parabolic flight)
national fellowship as undergrad, international competitions in highschool

baksiidaa
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Feb 03, 2007 6:35 pm

Post by baksiidaa » Tue Feb 13, 2007 4:39 am

Inflaton - am I correct in assuming your Harvard acceptance is for astro?

newscience
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:48 am

Post by newscience » Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:56 am

I'm an astronomy applicant- never posted before but I was hoping to compare information. I was also accepted to Princeton astrophysics last Friday. Has anyone else accepted there heard anything about visiting? My acceptance to Princeton, unlike a few other people on this forum, was via email, and I can't find anything about a visit in the admissions packet.

Other results so far: University of Chicago (accepted), University of Arizona (accepted), University of Hawaii (accepted), Harvard (waitlisted). All for astro.

Also, has anyone in astro heard from U of Washington?

proudparent
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:54 am

Washington Texas New Mexico State

Post by proudparent » Tue Feb 13, 2007 8:04 am

My descendant was rejected from UWashington Astro (Feb6), accepted at UT Austin Astro (Feb7) and NMSU Astro (Feb7). UT is holding 2 recruiting weekends (1st &3rd) in March.

Got an email from UFlorida astro (Feb11) saying to hold on due to traveling committee members first round won't go out for ~10 days.

slee
Posts: 38
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 7:10 pm

Post by slee » Tue Feb 13, 2007 10:51 am

hi inflaton, congrats on your acceptances! as for caltech, their list was at 3 for a week, then 6 for a bit, and i think they just added another quite recently to make it 7. however, i received another e-mail from the chair yesterday that looks like it might have gotten sent out to everyone, so they might be done.

newscience, congrats on princeton. i was contacted by phone (with some difficulties), e-mailed a few days later, and received my package yesterday - but i also haven't seen/heard anything about a visiting weekend. the stuff in the package was all from the graduate school, not the astro department. the prof on the phone encouraged me to visit, but he didn't make it sound like there was a particular weekend.

devilzadvocate
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Jan 29, 2007 5:25 am

Post by devilzadvocate » Tue Feb 13, 2007 3:02 pm

did get the MIT packet but of course wont join!

CPT
Posts: 77
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2007 2:05 am

Post by CPT » Tue Feb 13, 2007 4:31 pm

devilzadvocate wrote:did get the MIT packet but of course wont join!
Congratulations. Which university do you plan to go to?

MoePhysics
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Feb 05, 2007 9:49 pm

Post by MoePhysics » Tue Feb 13, 2007 4:40 pm

Just got into UC San Diego for physics, got an email. But they said that they wont know the package for at least another ten days.

proudparent
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:54 am

UVA

Post by proudparent » Tue Feb 13, 2007 5:27 pm

descendant got acceptance letter in mail from UVirginia astro with fellowship Feb 13

newscience
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:48 am

Post by newscience » Tue Feb 13, 2007 8:48 pm

Accepted to UCLA astronomy today (by phone).

Daharoni
Posts: 64
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2006 1:49 am

Post by Daharoni » Tue Feb 13, 2007 10:02 pm

Congrats to all... good job on the UCLA astro. I got acceptance emails from UCSD yesterday and UCSB today

somebody
Posts: 68
Joined: Tue Jun 13, 2006 4:25 pm

Post by somebody » Tue Feb 13, 2007 10:55 pm

hey inflation, how did hawaii astro notify you of rejection? i haven't heard anything yet and i'm assuming i'm rejected because i've seen alot of acceptances around but i was just curious.

CPT
Posts: 77
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2007 2:05 am

Post by CPT » Wed Feb 14, 2007 1:58 am

@Daharoni: Congratulations on UCSB, that was your first choice, right? Did you apply to Physics or Astro over there?

somebody
Posts: 68
Joined: Tue Jun 13, 2006 4:25 pm

Post by somebody » Wed Feb 14, 2007 2:22 am

ucsb doesn't have an astro department

Daharoni
Posts: 64
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2006 1:49 am

Post by Daharoni » Wed Feb 14, 2007 3:28 am

CPT, I got accepted into the UCSB Physics program. It would be one of my top choices but I have to see where my girlfriend gets into too (shes applying for a phd in philosophy). I think berkeley and stanford are on the top of the list.

CPT
Posts: 77
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2007 2:05 am

Post by CPT » Wed Feb 14, 2007 5:26 am

Oh ... Good luck anyway, both to you and your girlfriend. Hope you get somewhere in the same place, which is good for you both. I'm worried about that too ...

Jaunty
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2007 2:20 am

Post by Jaunty » Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:50 pm

Whee! I also got an acceptance from UCSB today. That school is really high on my list and I'm very excited about it - can't wait to visit. Not only that, but our school got hammered by the northeast snowstorm and canceled afternoon classes. Best day ever 8)

anyon
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 9:26 pm

Post by anyon » Wed Feb 14, 2007 5:54 pm

got into Columbia today by email

Daharoni
Posts: 64
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2006 1:49 am

Post by Daharoni » Wed Feb 14, 2007 6:03 pm

Physics or astro?

anyon
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 9:26 pm

Post by anyon » Wed Feb 14, 2007 6:20 pm

I applied in condensed matter physics

Gti337
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2007 10:26 am

Post by Gti337 » Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:15 pm

Just got accepted to UC - San Diego. That first one feels real nice.

astroste
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2007 5:03 am

Post by astroste » Wed Feb 14, 2007 9:36 pm

Finally I got an acceptance from UCSD. =)

Stat. up to now:
UCSD (accept)
Chicago (reject, due to TOEFL, stupid)
Arizona (reject)

slee
Posts: 38
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 7:10 pm

Post by slee » Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:34 pm

hi all, the caltech list just grew to 12, if anyone was wondering...



Post Reply