2016 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.

CoffeeMug
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2016 12:32 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by CoffeeMug » Thu Jan 14, 2016 1:04 pm

Undergrad Institution: UK top 3 in physics
Major(s): Physics
GPA: 1st / 2.1 (~3.5 on 4.0 scale)
Length of Degree: 4 years with integrated master's
Position in Class: In the top third
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores :
Q: 168
V: 167
W: 4.0
P: 990


Research Experience: One summer of HEP-ex in neutrino physics, Master's project in optoelectronics

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Some stuff for good grades, but nothing special

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Ain't nobody got time for that

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Nope

Special Bonus Points: Some graduate courses from doing the integrated master's

Applying to Where:

Experimental AMO/HEP for all of these as I'm still a bit undecided

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Waitlisted
University of Chicago Rejected
University of Wisconsin-Madison Accepted!
University of Rochester Accepted
University of Colorado-Boulder Rejected
Northwestern University
Yale Accepted
Last edited by CoffeeMug on Thu Mar 10, 2016 1:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.

asphodelus
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2016 11:33 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by asphodelus » Thu Jan 14, 2016 11:41 pm

Undergrad Institution: Research university, very good for physics
Major(s): physics
Minor(s): English
GPA in Major: 3.38
Overall GPA: 3.63
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: slightly above average in physics? maybe?
Type of Student: domestic white female

GRE Scores :
Q: 165 (90%)
V: 169 (99%)
W: 5.5 (98%)
P: 710 (53%)


Research Experience: Two years of research in HEP-ex with the same professor, including two REU programs. No publications or anything prestigious.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Nothing really besides Dean's List

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Had a summer job as an engineering intern. That's about it.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: I'm female? My research advisor is pretty well-known in her field, which might help. I'm good at writing but I suck at physics (lol).

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

Applying to Where: (All HEP-ex)

Washington - admitted 2/5 ($2060/month + $1500 fellowship) - Attending!

Wisconsin - admitted 1/25 ($20k TA + $3k fellowship + $5k fellowship)
Minnesota - admitted 2/3 ($19k TA + 6k summer)
Brown - admitted 1/14! ($32k fellowship) :D
Pittsburgh - interview 1/20 admitted 2/2 ($26k TA/RA, will be considered for fellowship)
Boston University - admitted 3/15 ($31k TA/RA + 5k fellowship)
Northeastern - admitted 2/19 ($22k 9 month TA)

Harvard - rejected 2/24
MIT - rejected 2/12
Columbia - rejected 2/26
Yale - rejected 2/26
Michigan - rejected 3/9

Notes: I was really surprised I had the success I did given my PGRE and physics GPA (3.38!). Ended up with a lot of choices and had a really difficult decision - excited to be attending UW in the fall!
Last edited by asphodelus on Thu Apr 14, 2016 8:40 pm, edited 24 times in total.

g0rteks
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2015 5:28 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by g0rteks » Fri Jan 15, 2016 12:17 am

Undergrad Institution: Engineering School small physics department
Major(s):Applied Physics
Minor(s):Applied Math
GPA in Major:3.7
Overall GPA:3.54
Length of Degree: 4.5
Position in Class: cum laude maybe magna, top 3 i think of about 10
Type of Student: domestic male minority

GRE Scores : revised
Q:162,160
V:155,152
W:4.5,6
P:680(46%) :shock: :shock: 8) :( :D :D



Research Experience: about 6 months in programming in C++ facial detection. about 1 year in condensed matter spectroscopy at my institution. Some work in a National Lab, Presentation in APS Meeting and upcoming publication in Phys. REV

Awards/Honors/Recognition: deans list every semester, won a grant from the NSF to do some research over the summer in CME, and won a seed grant from an external board at my institution to work on the programming project mentioned above.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor, research assistant, worked IT for 4 years?
Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:I'm a self proclaimed good guy!

Special Bonus Points: 2 of my recs should be strong from good researchers.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:I'm black?

Applying to Where: Tried to apply to a good range from 20-50 per the advice of my advisers only one above 20.

Ohio State - Physics & Astronomy CME: Admitted!! :D 1/22 24.7K/year + fellowship nomination
Rutgers - Physics & Astronomy CMEAdmitted!! :D 2/15 25K 10 months + summer stuff
University of Minnesota - Physics & Astronomy CME Admitted!! :D 2/3 25K/year including guaranteed summer 2016 work + fellowship nomination
RPI - Physics & Astronomy CMEAdmitted!! :D 2/11Will decline!
University of Florida - Physics & Astronomy CMEAdmitted!! :D 3/7 22k for 12 months + 2k fellowship 3 yrswill attend best match with advisor
Boston University - Physics & Astronomy CME Rejected! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Columbia - Physics & Astronomy CME Rejected! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Stonybrook - Physics & Astronomy CME Admitted!! :D 1/22 21.5K for 9 months 5K summer + fellowship nomination
Home Institution - Physics & Astronomy CME Whithdrawn

NSF GRFP Honorable Mention ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This was a pretty cool resource so i decided to put one up even though i don't really have scores to brag about. We will see how it goes. Good luck everyone else.

update: So far so good. probably should have applied a little higher!!... DON'T LET YOUR DREAMS BE DREAMS...JUST DO ITTTTT!!!!!
Last edited by g0rteks on Mon Apr 18, 2016 9:52 am, edited 13 times in total.

plzdolan1
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2016 10:02 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by plzdolan1 » Fri Jan 15, 2016 10:13 am

Undergrad Institution: Top Indian Institute
Major(s):Engineering Physics
GPA in Major:8.7/10
Overall GPA:8.4/10
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: No clue
Type of Student: International Indian Male

GRE Scores : revised
Q:164
V:161
W:4
P:960

Research Experience:
Work in computational condensed matter and nano-particle interaction. Presentation in APS Meeting.
Work in electronic structure theory and calculations.
Senior thesis on superconducting circuits.
Work in generalizing computational algorithms in condensed matter systems.
Bunch of other course projects and reports.

Awards/Honors/Recognition: Undergraduate research award, Government Scholarship (KVPY)

Applying to Where:

UCLA - Physics & Astronomy Neuro/AMO - Rejected
UIUC - Physics & Astronomy QI/AMO - Rejected
Yale- Applied Physics QI - Rejected
UWaterloo/IQC - Physics & Astronomy CME - Accepted
UWashington - Physics QI/AMO- Rejected
NW - QI/AMO - Rejected
CMU - Computational Physics - Accepted
UTokyo - Mathematical Physics - Accepted
Okinawa - CMT/Neuro - Accepted
Last edited by plzdolan1 on Tue May 03, 2016 8:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

HEPStudent
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2016 7:06 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by HEPStudent » Fri Jan 15, 2016 7:18 pm

Undergrad Institution: Big state school, not known for physics
Major(s): BS in Physics and BS in Mathematics
GPA in Major: 4.00
Overall GPA: 4.00
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: first in class
Type of Student: domestic white male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 164 (88%)
V: 161 (87%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
P: 690 (49%) :cry:

Research Experience: 2 years ATLAS experiment from university, including over summer. Writing senior thesis in physics on related topic. Also writing senior thesis in mathematics. Did a summer of freshman researcher as well in nuclear physics.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Multiple competitive scholarships across college, physics department, and mathematics department, recognized as top junior in department, many president's honor roll (straight As), several honors societies

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: SPS secretary, President of amateur radio club

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Significant programming experience, already familiar with CERN's ROOT. I think I had solid recommendation letters.

Applying to Where: All for HEP-ex, specified astrophysics or biophysics as potential secondary interest where appropriate

U Washington - Rejected 3/2 via website
Columbia U - Rejected 2/26 via email to check website
NYU - Admitted 2/9 via email, funding info came 2/17 via email
Boston U - Rejected 2/25 via email
Northeastern U - Admitted 2/19 via email to check website
UCLA - Rejected 3/9 via email to check website
UC Irvine - Admitted 2/1 via email with $5000/year fellowship
Johns Hopkins U - Rejected 2/29 via email
Brown U - Rejected 3/18 via email to check website
U Penn - Rejected 4/7 via email to check website
Stony Brook U - Admitted 1/28 via email
Last edited by HEPStudent on Sun Apr 10, 2016 3:23 am, edited 21 times in total.

CFlower1
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2016 7:23 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by CFlower1 » Fri Jan 15, 2016 7:35 pm

Undergrad Institution: Duke University
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 3.75
Overall GPA: 3.78
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: About top 3rd
Type of Student: Domestic white male.

GRE Scores :
Q: 164
V: 163
W: 4.5
P: 810
Was never particularly happy with the physics GRE scores... took it twice. Got a 750 the first time. At least I broke 800. Took the regular GRE once, did not study.

Research Experience: Two years in Nuclear physics with highly reputable professor. One publication in Physics Letters B, one of many co-authors. Another two years in Medical physics (there was some overlap.) Pioneered several experiments in spin exchange optical pumping, one of which had some remarkable results. First author publication prepared and submitted to Physical Review Letters. Rejected by peer review for lack of a certain control (essentially.) It was in the "being prepared for resubmission" stage when I applied. Sending to Phys Rev A rapid communications next. Letter of Rec from Medical Physics prof should be very strong, as well as a letter from a postdoc in medical physics.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: American Nuclear Society Scholarship, Honorable Mention in Triangle Area DataFest 2014, SMIF Undergraduate research grant recipient (2 years), Dean's List for 3 or 4 semesters,

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Physics TA at johns hopkins CTY and in the physics department for a year. SPS Officer for a year or so.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Not that come to mind but I did make a typo in my SoP...

Special Bonus Points: Two grad classes completed by the time I applied. A- in both.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: One of my fall semester grades has a note "Changed from Incomplete" because I didn't quite finish work for an independent study in time. However it was changed to an A.

Applying to Where:

Harvard - Physics - Quantum Information Experiment
MIT - Physics - Quantum Information Experiment - Rejected 2/12 - Website
Yale - Physics - Quantum Information Experiment
Princeton - Physics - Quantum Information Experiment
University of Maryland - Physics - Quantum Information Experiment Accepted! 2/17, unofficial email
University of Chicago - Physics - Quantum Information Experiment
CU Boulder - Physics - Quantum Information Experiment Accepted! 2/12 - Email
UC Berkeley - Physics - Quantum Information Experiment
Stanford - Physics - Quantum Information Experiment
UCSB - Physics - Quantum Information Experiment
Caltech - Physics - Quantum Information Experiment - Rejected 2/12 - Email
Note: Quantum Information Experiment in this case often meant either Condensed Matter or AMO but with more specificity.
Last edited by CFlower1 on Thu Feb 18, 2016 4:47 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Numberwang
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2014 9:57 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Numberwang » Sat Jan 16, 2016 1:52 am

This is my second time applying to graduate schools. The first time was a disaster, but I got lucky and one of the schools was gracious enough to accept me in spite of my profile.

Undergrad Institution: Lousy school in India. Highly selective nonetheless.
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 1.9/4
Overall GPA: 2.1/4
Length of Degree: 5 years (Integrated master's programme with no exit option)
Position in Class: ~12/20

Graduate Institution: One of the big public universities in the Midwest. The physics department is underrated.
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major: 4.0/4
Overall GPA: 4.0/4
Length of Degree: 2 years (MS)
Position in Class: 1/20

Type of Student: International male of the overrepresented variety

GRE Scores : (revised)
October 2013
Q: 168 (95%)
V: 158 (79%)
W: 2.5 (7%)(I suck, apparently)
November 2012
P: 960 (91%)
October 2015
M: 750 (70%)(I was down with the flu. I was coughing my way through the entire test. Surely must have pissed off everybody else in the same classroom.)


Research Experience: Research for my master's thesis on electronic states of a single layer graphene sheet. No publications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Nothing noteworthy.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for a year.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Nah

Special Bonus Points: Zilch

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

Applying to Where:

Wesleyan University - Mathematics - Topology - Rejected 04/15/2016
Emory University - Physics - Theoretical biophysics - Accepted 02/02/2016
Dartmouth College - Physics - Quantum systems theory - Interviewed 02/16/2016 - Accepted off waitlist (presumably) 03/08/2016 - Will attend
Northeastern University - Physics - Network science - Rejected 02/19/2016
IST Austria - Interdisciplinary - Mathematical physics - Rejected 02/11/2016
Last edited by Numberwang on Sun Apr 17, 2016 3:57 am, edited 13 times in total.

nocespizza
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2016 3:34 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by nocespizza » Sun Jan 17, 2016 4:21 pm

Undergrad Institution: Big state school, good physics reputation
Major(s): Physics, Math
Minor(s): Computer science
GPA in Major: 3.9 Physics, 3.7 Math
Overall GPA: 3.7
Length of Degree: 5 years
Type of Student: domestic white male

GRE Scores :
Q: 167 (94%)
V: 163 (92%)
W: 5.5 (98%)
P: 810 (72%)

Research Experience:
All research in high energy nuclear theory.
Theory group at my university, on and off 4 years; SULI internship, 1 summer; research internship in Germany, 1 summer

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
- First author paper in major journal
- Poster, invited talk at pair of international conferences
- 4 contributed talks and 1 poster at U.S. conferences
- First prize, LLNL intern poster event
- Phi beta kappa, deans list, etc

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
- recitation instructor in math, TA in computer science, and member of student board for undergrad research.

Miscellaneous Accomplishments:
- networked to create a research opportunity in Germany and earned grants to fund it

Special Bonus Points:
- 2 grad physics, 2 grad math classes, and 3 research letters, my advisor at school has a good reputation in nuclear physics

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

Applying to Where:
All nuclear physics.

Fellowships
NSF GRFP
NNSA SSFP

Reach

MIT - rejected via website.

Columbia

Match

U. of Maryland, College Park - Accepted 2/18, details pending
U. of Colorado, Boulder - Accepted 1/25 TA + 6000 grant
U. of Washington - Accepted 1/22, TA + 1500 grant
Michigan St. - Accepted 1/19 w/ university fellowship
UC Davis - Accepted 2/18, TA + 5000 grant
Last edited by nocespizza on Mon Feb 22, 2016 3:15 pm, edited 7 times in total.

nost
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:28 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by nost » Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:40 am

Undergrad Institution: Well-known top private school
Major(s): Engineering Physics
Minor(s): Computer Science
Overall GPA:3.86
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: No idea, but probably within top 25% or so
Type of Student: Domestic White Woman

GRE Scores : (revised)
Q:169 (99%)
V: 170 (98%)
W:6.0 (99%)
P: 750 (61%)


Research Experience: REU at a state school working on thermal transport research.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None that would matter on an application.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Lots of TA experience (academic summer camps and undergraduate courses)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I've taken many grad level classes. I did a cool project once in a machine learning course that I talked up a bit. I also run a community service singing group on campus and worked on residential staff.

Applying to Where:

Looking for schools within weekend-visit distance to the DC area that have good programs in imaging, sensing, or nanoscale devices:

Columbia - Applied Physics Ph.D. - Accepted 1/22, Presidential Fellowship (ATTENDING)
Georgetown - Physics Ph.D. (Industrial Leadership in Physics concentration) - Accepted 2/5
Virginia Commonwealth University - Medical Physics Ph.D. - Rejected 4/11
Virginia Tech - Electrical and Computer Engineering Masters - Accepted 4/12 + Webber Master Fellowship
Rochester Institute of Technology - Imaging Science Ph.D. - Accepted 2/4

I ended up visiting Columbia, Georgetown, and RIT in person for admitted students weekends/open houses/etc. PM me if you want to know more about my experiences visiting those departments; I was definitely surprised with a lot of what I found (both positively and negatively.)

Good luck to everyone applying in upcoming years!
Last edited by nost on Tue Jul 19, 2016 1:55 am, edited 5 times in total.

KroNoS
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2014 2:02 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by KroNoS » Mon Jan 18, 2016 8:48 am

Booking a spot to be updated later.. 8)

liftupyoureyes
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:44 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by liftupyoureyes » Mon Jan 18, 2016 5:10 pm

______________________________________________
Undergrad Institution: Big state school, good physics and astronomy rep
Major(s): Physics, Applied Math, Astronomy
Minor(s): German Language, European Studies
GPA in Major:3.9, 3.8, 3.9, resp.
Overall GPA:3.8
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: Domestic Male white/minority

GRE Scores :
Q: 166 (92%)
V: 163 (92%)
W: 4.0 (56%) ...
P: 860 (80%)


Research Experience: 8 months in galaxy dynamics simulation, 1 REU with two separate projects in infrared astronomy

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List, department award

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for 4 introductory astronomy courses for non-majors, TA for one semester of undergrad cosmology for majors, heavy in outreach

Special Bonus Points: recommenders got PhDs from Harvard, Princeton and UCB (if that matters)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: REU involved working with image processing for GPI and instrumentation for Keck, I am also continuing the REU research with GPI

Applying to Where:
Varying programs in astronomy and astrophysics at
UCB - interview (1/19) Rejected (2/9)
UCLA - Accepted (2/5)
UCSB - Accepted (2/22)
UCSC - interview (1/25) Accepted (2/2) Will Attend
UT Austin - interview (1/25) Rejected (2/5)
UW Seattle - Rejected (3/17)
UM Ann Arbor - Accepted (1/30)
U Chicago - Rejected (2/16)
Harvard - Rejected (2/11)
Cornell - Accepted (2/12)
Princeton - Rejected (1/29)
Last edited by liftupyoureyes on Sat Jun 04, 2016 4:59 pm, edited 14 times in total.

svssvs1490
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2016 2:42 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by svssvs1490 » Fri Jan 22, 2016 2:59 am

Undergrad Institution: good university in middle east
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major:12.5/20( C)
Length of Degree: 4
[master degree ]: best university in my country
Major(s): Physics
GPA in Major:16.84/20 (A)
Length of Degree: 2
Type of Student: International, male
GRE Scores : (revised
Q:170(98)
V:143(18)
W:2(02) :shock:
P:750(61) :( i was not ready at all.


TOEFL Total: 100

Research Experience: some research as master thesis

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Rank 48 in national master degree entrance exam among 8000 applicant

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: teaching assistant for one year

Special Bonus Points: some PHD Courses like CFT ,Electrodynamic and mathematical courses but i dont thing they gonna count cuz i am applying for biophysics :( ,very good recommendations from best physicists in my country


Applying to Where:
Emory university Rejected 2/10
Kansas state University Waitlist 2/2
Wake Forest University Rejected 2/10
Clemson University

i will re take Gre subject and will apply next year
Last edited by svssvs1490 on Wed Feb 10, 2016 3:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

ceres.hypnos
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2016 5:43 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by ceres.hypnos » Fri Jan 22, 2016 6:02 am

Undergrad Institution: foreign university, among the bests in my country.
Major(s):Physics
GPA in Major:3.23
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top 10%
Type of Student: International female

GRE Scores :
Q: 160
V: 149
W: 3
P: 800


TOEFL Total: 99

Research Experience: 4 month on three-body problem. some researches on neural networks and complex systems. some experimental researches on Nanostructured semiconductors.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for General Physics I

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points:

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

Applying to Where:
Purdue -Physics - hep-ex and biophysics - Rejected :cry: (Email to check website, Feb 18)
Texas A&M - Physics - hep-ex and cosmology - Admitted! TA: $1859/month + $2k fellowship (via Email, March 7)
Northeastern - Physics - hep-ex and biophysics - Admitted! TA: $11,258/semester (via Email, Feb 19)
North Carolina State University - Physics - biophysics - Admitted! TA: $21,211 (via E-mail, Jan 29)
UC Riverside - Physics - hep-ex and biophysics - Admitted! $8K fellowship stipend + $19.2K TA + 6.1K summer (via E-mail, Feb 4)
Pittsburgh - Physics - hep-ex and cosmology
Emory - Physics - Biophysics -Skype interview, Jan 29 =>Waitlisted, Feb 5
Houston - Physics - complex systems and biophysics => I withdrew my application

Calgary - Physics - Complexity Science => Admitted - TA & RA: $24450/year (via Email- Feb 25)
Last edited by ceres.hypnos on Fri Mar 18, 2016 2:57 am, edited 5 times in total.

ssedd1123
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2016 10:54 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by ssedd1123 » Fri Jan 22, 2016 11:25 am

Undergrad Institution: Top university in Asia (virtually unknown to anyone I know in the US)
Major(s):Physics
GPA in Major: 3.89/4.00
Overall GPA: 3.59/4.00
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: International

GRE Scores : revised
Q:170
V:161 Began to recite vocabularies 4 months prior to the test. My revision improves my TOEFL scores as well.
W:3.5
P:990


TOEFL Total: 107 (L:30 R:30 S:23 W:24)

Research Experience: A summer (13 weeks) in Michigan State University for nuclear physics, a summer in University of Oxford for hep and a semester in Fluid physics at my university. No publication though.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean list every year, various scholarships (although none dedicated to my graduate studies)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Private tutor for high school, a common job for undergraduates in my country

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Connections at MSU

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

Applying to Where:

U of Michigan - Physics - HEP (Skype interviewed 22 Jan)(rejected 6 Feb) Sigh. I was so excited when I was offered a chance for interview.
U of Washington - Physics - Nucelar
MSU - Physics - Nuclear (accepted 9 Feb)
Columbia - Physics - HEP
UCLA - Physics - HEP
UC Berlekey - Physics - HEP
Yale - Physics - HEP
Last edited by ssedd1123 on Tue Feb 09, 2016 10:57 am, edited 5 times in total.

integratedfields
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2016 12:04 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by integratedfields » Fri Jan 22, 2016 12:19 pm

Undergrad Institution: State School not known for physics
Major(s):Physics
Minor(s): Math/ concentration in astronomy
GPA in Major: 3.6
Overall GPA: 3.64
Length of Degree: 4 years of physics, but transferred from other school where I studied the arts.. so a long time
Position in Class: top 10-15%
Type of Student: domestic white female

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 80%
V: 90%
W: 37%
P: 35%


Research Experience: 3 years research on Martian atmosphere/ 1 REU on stellar clusters/ 1 semester galactic research/ 1 year in biophysics which I hated

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Undergrad research award/ Space Grant

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: tutor for 2 years/ LA for 1 year

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Knew no math or physics before college and learned all of it from scratch.

Special Bonus Points: I think I will get strong letters of rec.

Applying to Where:

All for Astronomy

Ohio State- ACCEPTED! (1/6) $26-29K depending on whether I get a 3K fellowship or not +$2K research/moving fund -~500 a semester in fees WILL ATTEND HERE
ASU
Wisconsin Waitlisted 2/19 Withdrawn
U Central Florida-planetary science Offered skype interview 1-29 Accepted 2-2. Financial info to come Withdrawn
U Virginia Waitlisted 2/13 Rejected
Drexel Accepted Withdrawn
Wyoming Waitlisted 2/18 Withdrawn
Texas Tech Accepted 2/18. withdrawn
NMSU Waitlisted 2/17. withdrawn
Penn State- Rejected 1/27
U Georgia- Skype Interview 1-28 Accepted through interview 1-28. Will decline
Last edited by integratedfields on Tue May 03, 2016 12:01 pm, edited 10 times in total.

AbhiS
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2016 1:32 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by AbhiS » Sat Jan 23, 2016 6:54 am

Undergrad Institution: International research school(started 10 years ago but increasing reputation)
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Life Sciences, Mathematics
GPA in Major: 9.04/10
Overall GPA: 8.80/10
Length of Degree: 5 Years
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 167 (94%)
V: 161 (87%)
W: 3.5 (38%)
P: 930 (88%)


TOEFL Total: 109

Research Experience: 3 years of research experience in theoretical biophysics and computational soft matter physics; One summer at The Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc); No Publications

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: CSIR-NET (All India Rank - 37); INSPIRE Fellow; National Science Olympiad (All India Rank - 2)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for Intermediate Classical Mechanics
Special Bonus Points: Three strong recommendations


Applying to Where:

OSU - Biophysics -
USC - Physics - Accepted (1/23)
UMich - Biophysics - Rejected
UCLA - Physics -
UCSD - Physics - Rejected
UChicago - Biophysics - Rejected
Purdue - Physics - Accepted
UMaryland - Biophysics - Accepted
UIUC - Biophysics -
University of Oxford - DPhil in Theoretical Physics -
Max Planck Institute for the physics of complex systems (Selected for interview)
LMU-Munich - Quantitative Bio sciences - Rejected
Last edited by AbhiS on Sat Mar 05, 2016 9:59 am, edited 2 times in total.

UnanimousSnail
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Dec 25, 2015 3:33 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by UnanimousSnail » Sat Jan 23, 2016 12:41 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top 10 state school, top in condensed matter
Major(s): Engineering Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.82
Overall GPA: 3.83
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: No idea
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores : Revised
Q: 163 (83%)
V: 165 (95%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
P: 930 (88%)


Research Experience: 1 year CME at home institution: Workshop presentation, 4th author pub
1 year CME at home institution: Group meeting talk, undergrad research poster, senior thesis + talk

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: In-school scholarship award, college honors, Dean's List

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 1 semester TA, unofficial tutoring

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Best research poster award ?

Special Bonus Points: One grad class, 2nd adviser is department head and well-known

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:Poor, 1st gen. American

Applying to Where:

All phys depts (except Stanford, applied physics), all CME

Stanford - (2/2) Rejected via email
Cornell - (2/12) Rejected via email
Princeton - (2/12) Accepted via email
UC Berkeley -
UMD - (2/17) Accepted via email
Johns Hopkins - (1/21) Accepted via email
UCSD - (1/27) Accepted via email
Stony Brook - (1/22) Accepted via email
Michigan State - (1/15) Accepted via email
Ohio State - (1/21) Accepted via email
Penn State - (2/3) Accepted via email
Last edited by UnanimousSnail on Sat Feb 20, 2016 6:54 pm, edited 10 times in total.

drvic
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Jan 23, 2016 2:43 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by drvic » Sat Jan 23, 2016 3:18 pm

Undergrad Institution: Canadian university, close to the top
Major(s): Physics & Math
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 4.27/4.3 in Physics
Overall GPA: 4.11/4.3
Length of Degree: 3 years
Position in Class: top

GRE Scores :
Q: 167
V: 157
W: 4.5
P: 850 (78 %) - aimed for more, but luckily it was enough!-


TOEFL Total: 113 (good in all the categories)

Research Experience: I did some research in math before my undergrad. During my undergrad, I worked in mathematical physics and statistical mechanics at University of Montreal (first summer) and then in theoretical condensed matter at University of Waterloo (second summer - financed by a canadian REU-type award). I am going to Okinawa next summer to work on CMT. No papers, but advisors are still working on what I did.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 2 honors for my math research prior to undergrad, 3 summer research awards (university award, NSERC award and Okinawa). Dean's List.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Member of the organizing committee for weekly math conferences for 2 years. Did 4 talks about my summer internships.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Chief Scout Leader for 3 years, have been a scout for ~10 years.

Special Bonus Points: My advisor have lots of connections, and I contacted potential PhD advisors prior to applying.

I am applying everywhere in CMT, but in my letter, I state that I am flexible. Could end up in biophysics, statistical mechanics, plasma theory, quantum computing, who knows!

Applying to Where:

CU - Boulder - Physics Rejected
Johns Hopkins - Physics - Accepted! (01/21) Invited to Open House on February 19-20
Princeton - Physics Rejected (02-22)
Cornell - Physics Rejected (02-15)
UChicago - Physics Rejected (02-19)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Physics Accepted! (02/05) Invited to Open House March 11 - Funding via TA 22.5 K
Berkeley - Physics Rejected
UCSB - Physics Rejected
Rutgers - Physics Accepted! (02/10) Open House on April 1st - Funding via TA 26 K Will attend :D
Boston University
- Physics Rejected

If you are Canadian (especially form Quebec) and have some questions about the whole process, feel free to email me!
Last edited by drvic on Sat Apr 16, 2016 3:38 pm, edited 10 times in total.

supra2jz
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2016 5:28 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by supra2jz » Sat Jan 23, 2016 5:24 pm

Undergrad Institution: Big state school, top 30 in Physics.
Major(s): Physics, Math
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.96
Overall GPA: 3.96
Length of Degree: 3
Position in Class: Not sure, but pretty good
Type of Student: US Domestic

GRE Scores : Revised
Q: 170
V: 167
W: 5.0
P: 880

Research Experience: Two student publications in high school. (Not that intense). Two years of particle physics research, coauthorship + senior thesis coming soon.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Received a couple of scholarships. Dean's list. Nothing much.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Research assistant.

Applying to Where:
All high energy experimental unless otherwise stated.
MIT - Physics Rejected
Berkeley - Physics Rejected
Stanford - Physics Accepted 38k wowowowow
Princeton - Physics Rejected
UChicago - Physics Accepted 29k
UCLA - Physics Accepted ??
Cornell - Physics Accepted 29k
Duke - Physics - Accepted 29k
Caltech - Space Engineering Rejected
Harvard - SEAS Accepted 35k
UCSB - Physics Accepted 30k
UCSC - Physics Accepted 18k
Oxford - Physics Rejected
Cambridge - Maths No Updates....

Good luck everybody. I have pretty good grades and above average test scores, I'm hoping this will be good enough to get me into a couple of top universities. Hopefully experimentalists won't require my Physics GRE to be perfect. I'm also hoping that my lack of spectacular research won't hold me back. Let's see what happens.
Last edited by supra2jz on Sun Mar 06, 2016 6:51 pm, edited 4 times in total.

jobaer94
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 2:26 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by jobaer94 » Mon Jan 25, 2016 2:41 pm

I spent many a sleepless night looking at these when taking my Physics GREs, and though at first I was hesitant to subject other future applicants to comparing themselves with me, after my first couple acceptances I knew I HAD to. Because you CAN get in to grad school even if you don't get a 990.

Undergrad Institution: Small NESCAC Liberal Arts School. Good reputation but not for physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math and Religious Studies
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.94
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: 11th in my total class of ~500, probably first or second in Physics
Type of Student: Domestic White Female

GRE Scores : (revised or old version?)
Q: 165 / 90%
V: 163 / 92%
W: 4.5 / 80%
P: Spring '15- 710 / 53% // Fall '15- 740/ 59 %


Research Experience: Two summers at a a National Lab as an Undergraduate Research Fellow. No papers

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Deans List every year, a handful of physics specific awards from my department for either being a female or most promising in experiment, etc.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Physics Tutor and Physics Grader

Special Bonus Points: Really strong recommendations from my professors and the mentor from the national lab. Started up monthly get togethers for the female physicists in the department

Applying to Where:

Reach Schools
Princeton - Physics - Condensed Matter REJECTED 2/22 by email
U Chicago - Physics - Condensed Matter REJECTED 2/19 as I was drinking wine at the JHU open house dinner. Not a bad way to go
Yale - Physics - Condensed Matter REJECTED 2/26 by email after inquiry
U Maryland - College Park - Physics - Condensed Matter REJECTED 2/22 by email upon inquiry

Match Schools
Johns Hopkins - Physics - Condensed Matter ACCEPTED 1/21 by email- visiting 2/19 for open house
U Wisconsin- Madison - Physics - Condensed Matter ACCEPTED 1/25 by email ~ $15,000 TA, $10,000 Fellowships, $5000 summer research WILL ATTEND
U Washington - Seattle - Physics - Condensed Matter REJECTED by email
Northwestern - Physics - Condensed Matter Interview 1/21 by phone - ACCEPTED 1/27 by email- ~$29800 Fellowship for first year - visiting in march
U Minnesota- Twin Cities - Physics - Condensed Matter ACCEPTED 2/3 by email 9month TA position of $18,696.60 DECLINED 2/14

Safety
U Illinois - Chicago - Physics - Condensed Matter ACCEPTED 2/2 by email 9month TA position of $16,726 DECLINED 2/14
Last edited by jobaer94 on Mon Mar 28, 2016 10:43 am, edited 7 times in total.

medicalfizzics
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 5:04 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by medicalfizzics » Mon Jan 25, 2016 5:28 pm

Undergrad Institution: Middle tier UC
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
.... I had a late start in motivation and work ethic my first couple years so:
GPA in Major for all UPPER DIV courses: 3.75
Overall GPA: 3.38
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Above average but not top

GRE Scores:
Q:162
V:157
W:4
P: 760 (for 3 months of preparation reviewing all of lower-div physics that i had a poor background in, I was stoked on this result lol)

Research Experience: 2 years of cutting edge medical physics research analyzing data for a preclinical head scanner

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List a few quarters, a monetary award to do research for the summer

Special Bonus Points: Three letters of recommendation coming from reputable PhD's who were pleased with my medical physics research work.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I worked very hard on forming an impressive statement of purpose.

Applying to Where:
(all applications are for PhD with focus in radiation therapy)

U Wisconsin- Madison - Medical Physics -ACCEPTED 1/15 by email (received RA offer after open house, will attend) :-)
U Minnesota- Twin Cities - Medical Physics
Duke- Medical Physics -REJECTED (saw this one coming lol)
Oregon State - Medical Physics-ACCEPTED
Last edited by medicalfizzics on Wed Mar 09, 2016 4:09 am, edited 6 times in total.

KevinMango
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 10:23 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by KevinMango » Mon Jan 25, 2016 10:56 pm

Undergrad Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison, large state school, top 20 in physics, plasma focused
Major(s): Applied Math Engineering and Physics, Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.19
Overall GPA: 3.24
Length of Degree: 4.5 years
Position in Class: No idea, probably average
Type of Student: White male, protestant. (->Domestic)

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 162, 83%
V: 164, 92%
W: 4.0, 56%
P: 820, 74%

Research Experience: 18 months as a lab assistant in a quantum computing lab (machining and soldering, no interesting physics), 5 months working with X-ray diffraction group, numerical simulations, one publication, fourth author of twelve

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: none

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: nope

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Graduated with 3.238 but earned somewhat higher grades in upper division coursework; after 8 months out of school I came back as a special student in order to work for one of my professors from undergrad and take a pair of classes on lasers and nanophotonics. Earned A's in both, while doing research and working 30 hours a week in retail, and my publication came out of that as well, so I think that looked good in my statement of purpose. Last four semesters then look like 3.4, 3.4, 3.7, 4.0. Undergraduate major ended up with almost as much coursework in materials science as in physics, focused on electronic properties of materials and solid state physics, for a prospective focus in experimental condensed matter.

Special Bonus Points: the PI I work for now did his post-doc at Bell Labs, I don't know how if that gives his recommendation any extra weight, and I'm unsure of how prominent he is in his field.


Applying to Where:


Reach schools:

University of Wisconsin - Materials Science - Electronic Materials (connections with department faculty) Rejected, contact with department member with access to shortlist for admission
UT Austin - Physics- Experimental Condensed Matter Invited to open house Feb 17-19 on 2/1 via email Damn, this is nice!
SUNY Stony Brook - Physics- Experimental Condensed Matter Admitted to unfunded one year masters 2/16. Oh well
University of Washington-Seattle - Physics- Experimental Condensed Matter
UC Irvine - Physics- Experimental Condensed Matter

Match Schools:

NC State - Physics- Experimental Condensed Matter ACCEPTED 1/20 via email, 21k per year open house 2/19, favorite 'match' school.
University of Rochester - Physics- Experimental Condensed Matter ACCEPTED 1/25 via email, 19k over 9 months
University of Oregon - Physics- Experimental Condensed Matter
University of Iowa - Physics- Experimental Condensed Matter ACCEPTED 2/8 via email, 19.6k per year
Oregon State University - Physics- Experimental Condensed Matter

Safeties:

Colorado School of Mines - Physics- Experimental Condensed Matter
Cornell - Applied Physics- masters in applied physics
Columbia - Applied Physics- masters in applied physics
University of Wisconsin-Madison - Electrical Engineering- masters, w/ focus in applied physics
Oregon - Applied Physics- masters in industrial internship, phone interview on 1/27/2016, Withdrawn
Last edited by KevinMango on Tue Feb 16, 2016 2:00 pm, edited 9 times in total.

physicsnerd
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2016 12:58 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by physicsnerd » Wed Jan 27, 2016 3:21 am

Undergrad Institution: Indian Institute
Majors: Physics
GPA in Major: 100%
Overall GPA: 93%
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: International asian female

GRE Scores:
Q: 159 (81%)
V:167 (94%)
W:4 (56%)
P: 950 (91%)

TOEFL Scores:
115/120

Research Experience:
- 1 summer in General relativity and cosmology
- 1 summer in observational radio-astronomy
- 2.5 years in HEP-Ex

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
- Academic excellence awards
- Represented India at a international summit
- DAAD WISE fellowship
- Indian Academy of Sciences fellowship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: None

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: None

Special Bonus Points: Good letters (I guess)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Not really

Applying to Where: All for HEP-ex
1. Wisconsin-Madison - ADMITTED with TAship (via email on 26 Jan,2016) (Declined)
2. Rutgers - ADMITTED with TAship (via email on 11 Feb,2016) (Declined)
3. MIT - Rejected
4. UChicago - Rejected
5. UC Berkeley - ADMITTED (via email on 29 Feb, 2016) (Will attend)
6. Stanford - Rejected
7. Cornell - ADMITTED with TAship (Declined)
8. Columbia - Waitlisted
9. Caltech - ADMITTED with GRA (Declined)
10. UCSC - Rejected
11. UCSD - Rejected
12. TAMU - ADMITTED with TAship (Declined)
13. CMU - ADMITTED with TA and SERB fellowship (Declined)
14. UPenn - ADMITTED with TA (Declined)
Last edited by physicsnerd on Fri Apr 15, 2016 4:28 am, edited 5 times in total.

User avatar
sam1608
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2016 4:24 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by sam1608 » Wed Jan 27, 2016 4:38 am

Undergrad Institution: College of engineering in India. (No reputation in Physics)
Major(s): Electronics & Communications Engg.
Minor(s): No concept of minors
GPA in Major: 7.8/10
Overall GPA: 7.8/10
Length of Degree: 4 Years
Position in Class: Average
Type of Student: International, male

GRE Scores : Revised
Q: 157 (68 %ile)
V: 150 (45 %ile)
W: 3.5 (38 %ile)
P: 700 (51 %ile)


TOEFL Total: iBT; 106

Research Experience: None; no papers

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Probably doesn't count, but was selected as the best student on the basis of a dissertation on AGNs in an astronomy course.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: None

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Took up a lot of MOOCs on coursera/edX on Physics & Astronomy

Special Bonus Points: None

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

Applying to Where: All for astronomy (high energy/X-Ray); PhD programs

1. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill - Rejected, 16/2
2. Arizona State University
3. University of Maryland, College Park - Rejected, 12/2
4. Northwestern University - Rejected, 6/4
5. UC, Irvine - Rejected, 5/4
6. Drexel University - Rejected, 14/4
7. Montana State University - Rejected, 19/4
8. University of Maryland, Baltimore County - Waitlisted, 16/2
9. Rutgers University - Rejected, 19/4
10. UC, Riverside - Rejected, 10/3
11. Pennsylvania State University - Rejected, 28/1
12. Ohio University - Rejected, 18/3
13. Rochester Institute Of Technology - Waitlisted, 6/3
14. University of Florida - Rejected, 9/3
15. Australian National University - Rejected, 6/4
Last edited by sam1608 on Tue Apr 19, 2016 7:40 am, edited 13 times in total.

Pretendo_64
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2016 5:53 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Pretendo_64 » Thu Jan 28, 2016 6:17 pm

Undergrad Institution: UIUC
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 4.00
Overall GPA: 3.99
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top/Near top
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 170
V: 165
W: 3.5
P: 990


Research Experience:
3 semesters + 1 summer (ongoing) in nuclear simulation using Geant4 to simulate light collection systems of nEDM experiment
1 semester (ongoing) in nuclear experiment measuring helium-3 polarization lifetimes in the presence of different materials
1 presentation, no publications, wrote a senior thesis on my simulation work

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Summer research award form physics department
Committed student award from local SPS chapter
Smaller, general academical award from college of liberal arts and sciences

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Active in SPS, SWIP, and other smaller outreach, aforementioned SPS award

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: n/a

Special Bonus Points: Will have taken 4 grad classes (2 semesters of grad quantum and 2 semesters of mathematical physics) by the time I graduate. Took a summer study abroad course taught by Nobel Laureate (this appears on some apps, but not others). One recommendation should be very strong I feel.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Poor, rural background. First-generation college student (only appears on apps with diversity statements)

Applying to Where: All Department of Physics. All for HEP-theory (phenomenology/QCD) except Yale, which was nuclear-theory.

Harvard Rejected by email to check website 2/24
MIT Rejected via website 2/12
Princeton Rejected by email 2/22
Cornell Rejected by email 2/15
Berkeley Rejected by email to check website 3/4
Yale Rejected by email to check website 2/26
Columbia Rejected by email to check website 2/26
Stony Brook Accepted by email 1/28, - $21.5k/9mo TA + $5k summer TA
UIUC Accepted by email 2/2, - $22.3k/11mo TA
Boulder Accepted by email 1/22, - $17.9k/9mo TA + ~$9k summer RA + $10k "signing bonus"

NSF GRFP
Last edited by Pretendo_64 on Sun Mar 13, 2016 11:56 pm, edited 9 times in total.

Taco_Night_98
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 6:32 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Taco_Night_98 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 1:29 pm

Undergrad Institution: big state school, Medium to low Reputation in Physics?
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Electrical Engineering
GPA in Major: 3.8
Overall GPA: 3.7
Length of Degree: 3.5 years
Position in Class: Top-ish
Type of Student: Domestic, male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 164 (88%)
V: 159 (81%)
W: 3.0 :cry:
P: 660 (42%) :cry:


Research Experience: 3.5+ years in a CME lab. 1 paper under review 1 paper in progress.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: REU summer of 2015, Dean's list, Cum Laude

Special Bonus Points: Graduated early and started graduate work at my undergraduate institution during what would normally have been my last semester.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: C++, java, Matlab, Mathematica experience

Applying to Where:

All CME physics
UT Austin
UC Bolder - Rejected
Michigan State :mrgreen: - Offer by email on 1/15 (TA, $1000 per 2 week or $2600 per year). Campus visit 2/19
Duke - Rejected
UNC Chapell Hill
Vanderbilt
NCSU :mrgreen: - Offer by email on 3/9 (TA, ~$2100 per year). Campus visit 3/21
UI Chicago
University of Maryland - Rejected
Georgia State- skype interview
UT San Antonio
Last edited by Taco_Night_98 on Wed Mar 09, 2016 5:38 pm, edited 3 times in total.

orangeCat
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 7:27 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by orangeCat » Fri Jan 29, 2016 7:44 pm

Undergrad Institution: Ivy League, good reputation in Physics and Astronomy
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.62
Overall GPA: 3.74
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: average (within intensive track)
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores :
Q: 165 (90%)
V: 162 (90%)
W: 4.0 (56%)
P: 750 (61%)


Research Experience:
1 summer and 2 years in Astronomy at my school, 1 publication (10th author)
1 year in Biomedical R&D in the industry (programing and statistics intensive, SUPER FUN biotech startup)


Awards/Honors/Recognitions: none

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 2 years tutoring, TA at a Stats workshop for a conference, 1 summer in Patent-law

Special Bonus Points:
3 letters of recommendations from professors who really like me, 2 of them are research advisors well-known in their respective fields
Good programmer in multiple languages and strong background in statistics and applied math
Authored 2 softwares, and contributed to another one, all with scientific applications
One of two undergrads to feature in a promotional video for the Astronomy Department
I draw very popular caricatures of speakers during conferences :mrgreen:


Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Haven't picked a particular field, but expressed an interest in statistical methods applied to experimental Physics/ observational Astronomy. In many cases, I expressed an interest in Biological Physics, and Soft Condensed Matter.

Applying to Where:

Johns Hopkins - Physics and Astronomy - waitlisted via e-mail 03/07 - rejected 05/03
Yale - Physics - Physics and Engineering Biology - rejected via e-mail to check website 02/26
Columbia - Physics - no news as of 3/22, unofficial waitlist? - rejected 03/22 (Heart Broken)
NYU - Physics and Astronomy - waitlisted via e-mail 02/22 - rejected 04/22
MIT - Physics - rejected via website 02/12
Berkeley - Physics rejected via e-mail 03/05
Cornell - Physics - rejected via e-mail 02/12
Harvard - Astronomy - rejected via e-mail 02/13
Princeton - Astronomy - rejected via e-mail 01/29

Looks like I've survived a wave of rejection from Columbia, I hope I'm on an unofficial waitlist. I've also taken steps towards working another year at my current research lab (got an unofficial offer on 3/22!!), and I'm prepping the PGRE for April. It would be heart-breaking not to get in, but I'm coming to peace with spending one more year working on my current research, getting one or two pubs out, and making a bit of money.
Last edited by orangeCat on Tue May 03, 2016 5:42 pm, edited 11 times in total.

vjade
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2016 1:28 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by vjade » Sat Jan 30, 2016 3:56 pm

Undergrad Institution: Large state school, good physics rep
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): none
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 3 years
Position in Class: topish?
Type of Student: Domestic white female

GRE Scores :
Q: 163 (86%)
V: 163 (92%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
P: 710 (53%)


Research Experience:

Experimental nanoscale physics at home institution for entirety of undergrad: one publication 2nd author, first author publication under review at time of application, another manuscript in progress. Several conference talks and will result in honors thesis. NASA Space Grant.

REU at top 10 school in solar system dynamics, conference talk.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list, some research awards at school.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Physics mentoring program and outreach activities.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I did everything in three years and emphasized this in my application.

Special Bonus Points: Female. My SOP was well thought out, and I expect my letters were very good.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I took some courses out of order to pull off the three year graduation. Not sure whether this has any impact.

Applying to Where:

Physics, CME:

University of Pennsylvania - ACCEPTED! 2/24 by email; invite to open house.
University of Maryland - ACCEPTED! 2/9 by email from JQI. Official offer letter came 2/22 (JQI Fellow) :D Visited for open house. Going here!
Johns Hopkins - ACCEPTED! 1/21 by email. Full funding info came 3/11: Rowland Fellowship. Visited for open house.
UCSB - ACCEPTED! 2/19 by email to check website. Official offer letter came 2/22! (How did this even happen??) Visited.
U Colorado-Boulder - ACCEPTED! 1/28 by email with official offer. Invite to open house.
NYU - ACCEPTED! 2/2 by email. Invite to open house. Official offer letter came 2/10.

Columbia University - REJECTED 3/22 by email to check site.
UCSD - REJECTED 3/5 by email.
UC Berkeley - REJECTED 3/5 by email to check site.

That concludes my application season, and I'm very happy with my results. Good luck to everyone; hopefully this can give some encouragement to those who aren't best of friends with the PGRE!
Last edited by vjade on Sat Apr 09, 2016 1:23 am, edited 11 times in total.

LengthContracted
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Jan 30, 2016 6:51 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by LengthContracted » Sat Jan 30, 2016 7:12 pm

After looking at these posts for years, it's my turn?

Undergrad Institution: Unknown, Small Liberal Arts School
Major(s): Physics, Mathematics
Minor(s): Computer Science, Scientific Computing
GPA in Major: 4.0/4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: First
Type of Student: Domestic male, no minority status.

GRE Scores :
Q: 170 (98%)
V: 160 (85%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
P: 890 (84%)

Research Experience:

5 Semesters and 1 summer of research at my undergraduate institution in AMO (Computational, theoretical), with 1 summer of research at a separate institution (REU program, theoretical AMO). 3 Conference posters, 2nd author on a publication, and a senior thesis completed in my junior year.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list x6

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor, SPS president

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Graduating with ~170 credits due to overloading most semesters.

Special Bonus Points:

Courses in General relativity and QFT.

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

Applying to Where:

Princeton - Cosmology - Rejected (2/22)
Stanford - Cosmology - Rejected (2/22)
Last edited by LengthContracted on Mon Feb 22, 2016 6:39 pm, edited 4 times in total.

coolingc
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2016 4:11 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by coolingc » Mon Feb 01, 2016 4:35 pm

Undergrad Institution: Mid-size state university in the midwest, no particular reputation in the sciences
Major(s): Physics (BS) and Philosophy (BA)
Minor(s): Ethics
GPA in Major:3.69
Overall GPA:3.67
Length of Degree: Took 5 years for undergrad, part-time student fifth year
Position in Class:Class of about ten, I was at least top half
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 162 83%
V:167 97% (goooo Philosophy! )
W: 5.0 93%
P:650 39% :(


Research Experience: One summer and an academic year at home school in Physics, one paper published. Summer internship at ivy league in Chemisty program(no papers), and a SULI program over the summer at a National Lab in Materials Science (potential paper).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:One school-wide leadership award, award from Philosophy Dept, several Physics departmental awards

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Spent one year being a TA

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: *Really* involved in school student government- sat on several committees, ran for student body president, leadership positions in several clubs, etc.

Special Bonus Points: Got one paper with mentor just published, who also wrote a rec letter. Tried to start a biodiesel program at my school.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Letter's from summer supervisors at ivy league school and national lab. Graduated in Honors program.

Applying to Where: All applications have been submitted on/before Jan 1.

Colorado School of Mines - Physics- Condensed Matter Experiment/Photovoltaics
University of Arizona - Physics- Condensed Matter Experiment - 2/3 ACCEPTED , TA @ $16k/yr
University of Iowa - Physics- Applied Physics 2/8 ACCEPTED, TA @ $21k/yr
Northwestern - Applied Physics - Condensed Matter Rejected 2/20 via email to check online app
University of Minnesota - Physics- Condensed Matter Experiment Rejected 2/24 via email
Michigan State University - Physics- Condensed Matter Experiment 1/15 ACCEPTED TA w/ $26K/yr + $2k fellowship first year (3/25)
University of Oregon - Physics- Condensed Matter Experiment Rejected 2/24 via email
Oregon State University - Physics- Condensed Matter Experiment
Last edited by coolingc on Sun Apr 03, 2016 10:48 pm, edited 5 times in total.

broo
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 7:23 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by broo » Mon Feb 01, 2016 6:08 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top 5 USNWR, good reputation in physics
Major(s):Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: ~3.75
Overall GPA: ~3.50
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: No idea
Type of Student: Domestic/Hispanic
GRE Scores : revised
Q: 165 (90%)
V: 169 (99%)
W: 4 (56%)
P: 990 (94%)


Research Experience: Somewhat continuous research in 3 different labs since the summer after my freshman year. Currently working on senior thesis. Not much else.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List...

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Hispanic. One of my recommenders was very enthusiastic to write my letter, another seemed confident in me so I imagine he wrote a good one, not too sure about the quality of the third.

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

Applying to Where: Focusing on neutrino-ex. Ordered somewhat geographically

MIT - Physics- Accepted 2/11 - Will Attend
Harvard - Physics- Rejected 2/19 Called to inquire. Official e-mail on 2/24
Yale - Physics- Rejected 3/1
Stony Brook - Physics- Accepted 1/28 - declined
Columbia - Physics- Accepted 2/15 - declined
UChicago - Physics- Rejected 2/19 On the website
UWashington - Physics- Accepted 1/15 - declined
UC Berkeley - Physics- Accepted 2/29 - declined
UC Irvine - Physics- Accepted 2/1 - declined
Caltech - Physics-Rejected 2/24
Last edited by broo on Wed Apr 13, 2016 11:32 pm, edited 10 times in total.

toast
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Jul 25, 2013 1:15 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by toast » Mon Feb 01, 2016 6:35 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top 40 Private School
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): CS Focus
GPA in Major: 3.6
Overall GPA: 3.44
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Cum Laude
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores :
Q: 164 (88%)
V: 159 (81%)
W: 3.5 (38%)
P: 890 (84%)

Research Experience:
- 1 year biophysics lab work
- 8 months at CERN working on detectors (publically available note, and UROP poster presentation)
- 1 year working on simulations for the ATLAS detector

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list and Cum laude...

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
- 1 year post-grad working installation / development of a 250 MeV proton synchrocyclotron for cancer treatment
- 1 year post-grad working on software controls for the same machine (C/C++)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
-Took Quantum I and E&M II in french abroad and got an A, A- respectively
-Scholarship chair in a fraternity

Special Bonus Points:
- One strong recommendation from my advisor who I knew throughout nearly all of college, one from the head of my group at CERN, and one from my current boss
- A in Advanced Lab grad course

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
- Graduated in 2014, but have worked in what I think is a relevant field

Applying to Where:
Applying for HEP-Ex everywhere, organized by my preference :)

MIT - Rejected 2/12 by website
UC Berkeley - Rejected 3/5 by website
U Chicago - Rejected 2/19 by email
Columbia - Rejected 2/26 by email
UCSB - Rejected 2/29 by website
UCLA - Email indicating likely acceptance 2/11 Accepted 3/12 by email - $38,000 / 12 months
UC Irvine - Accepted 2/1 by email - $33,000 / 12 months
UC Davis - Accepted 2/17 by email - $29,000 / 12 months
U Washington - Rejected 3/1 by website

Good luck everyone and thanks for this wonderful resource that helped me so much with the application process!
Last edited by toast on Sat Mar 19, 2016 5:34 pm, edited 14 times in total.

cokeheaven
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2016 11:02 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by cokeheaven » Mon Feb 01, 2016 11:19 pm

Undergrad Institution: University of Toronto
Major(s): Engineering Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:
Overall GPA: 3.89/4 cumulative after 7th semester
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class:
Type of Student: international

GRE Scores : (revised or old version?)
Q: 170
V: 169
W: 4
P: 990


Research Experience: 2 summers on molecular beam epitaxy, 3.5 school years on pulsed laser deposition, 2 years on atomic layer deposition (3.5 years total with some overlaps)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: typical dean's lists, NSERC research awards (REU equivalents)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA in 4th year for math courses

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: 1 grad course in 3rd year, 4 grad courses in 4th year

Special Bonus Points: President of a club. Holds a pilot's license.

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

Applying to Where:

(all CME)
MIT - Physics - rejected Feb 12th D=
MIT - DMSE - rejected Feb 1st D=
Stanford - Applied Physics - accepted Feb 1st, $3130/month
CalTech - Physics - accepted Feb 2nd, $31,200/year
Princeton - Physics - rejected Feb 22nd D=
Harvard - Physics - rejected Feb 24th D=
Cornell - Physics - accepted Feb 11th, $27,428/9mo
UBC - Physics - accepted Feb 3rd, $23,576 CAD/year
UofT - Material Science - (late deadline, so will only apply if rejected everywhere else)

Reflection:
I didn't sweep my applications, but being an international student with no legacy or connections, I was very happy with my results. The most surprising thing was that I didn't get into MIT physics after being picked up by Stanford and CalTech. I had a great match with a professor there and he said he recommended me to the admissions committee. Our program also has had a tradition of top students being admitted to MIT physics. You would think that a great match and a strong profile would get you into a top school like MIT, but now that I think about it, maybe luck is also an important aspect. Maybe also the lack of publications (because I was doing a lot of instrument development) played a factor in the east coast schools. At this point, I really don't know what the admissions committees (especially at MIT) are looking for, so take my advice below with a grain of salt.

I think that all the things that people mention as bonus points, such as famous recommenders, being female/minority, or great extra-curriculars, help maybe a bit at a subconscious level when the committee is reading your application. But you really shouldn't rely on them giving you an edge over anyone; you should instead focus on demonstrating you are capable of mastering a set of skills that is critical in a field. I had non-famous people writing probably-not-stellar letters, but I really pushed myself to master deposition and growth techniques, which are becoming increasingly important in all condensed matter experimental groups. People are building integrated MBE systems with literally everything from ARPES systems to STM system. I can now practically join any group and develop my interest in any technique because I have my sample growth background. Of course this is just one route you can follow, and this is my way. I'm sure there are many other ways to impress the admissions committee. But if you are a condensed matter experimentalist and have no idea which technique you would want to do, you can try following my footsteps. I think this can be generalized to other fields but I'm not familiar with them.
Last edited by cokeheaven on Wed Feb 24, 2016 9:05 pm, edited 15 times in total.

Fatima18
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2016 2:41 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Fatima18 » Tue Feb 02, 2016 2:59 am

Undergrad Institution: University of Maryland, solid reputation in physics and astro
Major(s): Physics; Astronomy; Arabic Studies
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 3.6
Overall GPA: 3.67
Length of Degree: 4.5 years
Position in Class: UMD doesn't rank
Type of Student: Domestic, female, african american

GRE Scores : All taken fall 2015
Q: 165
V: 159
W: 4.5
P: 720

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)
1.5 years in high energy astrophysics: 3 semesters at my school studying AGN in elliptical galaxies (observational), one summer in Germany studying relativistic jets (observational)
1 year in planetary astronomy: 2 semesters at my school studying dust dynamics in the Pluto-Charon system (computational)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)
-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Undergraduate Research Fellowship: Research funding for 2 years
-DAAD RISE (German Academic Exchange Service's Reseach Internship for Science and Engineering) Summer 2014
-Deans List all semesters

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...)
TA for 2.5 years, 1 year teaching biophysics and 1.5 doing intro astronomy

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
Kinda my biggest thing: I was the primary author for a course redisgn at my school: I wrote all the new lab activities for the into astrophysics lab at Maryland, some from scratch, and taught the newly redesigned class. Our materials were published and we presented on the successes of the new course at AAPT last year.

Special Bonus Points: None, I think

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

Applying to Where:

UC Berkeley - Astronomy- Accepted via phone 1/26! ~$33,000/yr
Columbia - Astronomy
University of Chicago - Astronomy & Astrophysics
CalTech - Physics
Stanford - Physics
University of Maryland - Astronomy - Interviewed 1/27
University of Washington - Astronomy
University of Texas at Austin - Astronomy - Interviewed 1/26

outdoorsphysicist
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2015 9:27 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by outdoorsphysicist » Tue Feb 02, 2016 12:22 pm

Undergrad Institution: Small liberal arts university, good reputation in physics
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): German Studies
GPA in Major: 3.60
Overall GPA: 3.44
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top quarter/third? We don't rank
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores :
Q: 161 (80%)
V: 164 (94%)
W: 5.0 (93%)
P: 750 (61%)

Research Experience: Two years at home institution, 1 REU, 1 NASA internship, currently working on honors thesis and have a paper with 10+ citations in Phys Rev C

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list twice, study abroad scholarship as well

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Not really

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Well known REU advisor, plus a publication with a few citations

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Studied abroad for a year, so that adds a layer of complexity. Did well abroad, have been asked about this in interviews so far, so GPAs don't necessarily reflect my record since most of my major was done abroad.

Also, here's hoping my post boosts the number of posts useful for people who don't have the best grades/scores - there's clearly still hope to find good programs!

Applying to Where:

Michigan State - Physics - Nuc/hep-th/ph - Accepted 1/15, $24k/year TA up to $26,143/year with RA

Texas A&M - Physics - Nuc/hep-th/ph - Accepted 2/12, $1850/mo TA for 9 months with $2000 fellowship

McGill University - Physics - Nuc-th/ph - Accepted 2/15, $23,200/year Canadian

University of Michigan - Physics - Rejected 2/15

UT-Austin
Duke

UC Davis
UVA
Notre Dame
Oxford
Last edited by outdoorsphysicist on Mon Feb 15, 2016 7:13 pm, edited 6 times in total.

kingofharts
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2016 2:04 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by kingofharts » Tue Feb 02, 2016 2:35 pm

Undergrad Institution: Small public school (ranked 75th, solid reputation in physics for its size)
Major(s): Engineering Physics (curriculum not significantly different from ordinary physics degree)
Minor(s): 3.9
GPA in Major: 3.9
Overall GPA: 3.9
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: No idea ... near top?
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 166 (92%)
V: 165 (95 %)
W: 5.5 (98%)
P: 850 (78%) eh good enough


Research Experience: One summer at Los Alamos National Laboratory (SULI program) and one summer at NIST Gaithersburg (SURF program), both in the AMO ballpark. Currently researching in the theoretical physics dept at my school (many-body/computational physics). Pending publication (although I did not mention it on applications).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None mentioned on applications.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor for 3 years (ACT, AP classes), intern at National Instruments (very brief 3 months, got Los Alamos offer and quit)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: None mentioned

Special Bonus Points: I got recommendations from two of the best professors in my dept. One of them, who I'm currently doing research for, is famous for his work in quantum simulation/many body physics. He's published over 100 papers and has given over 100 talks. He told me that he wrote me a very strong letter.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Transfer student (had a great GPA at that school too though, 3.95)

Applying to Where: For all of these schools, I signified AMO and condensed matter as my primary interests. All applications were for physics PhD.

UT Austin - 2/24 - Accepted (offered TA position, 18k/year)
CU Boulder - 3/1 - Rejected
UC Santa Barbara - 3/1 - Rejected
UC Berkeley - 3/7 - Rejected
UC San Diego - 3/5 - Rejected
University of Washington - 3/7 - Waitlisted
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor - 2/15 - Rejected
Georgia Tech - 2/24 - Accepted (offered TA position and fellowship, 35k/year)
Boston University - 3/1 - Rejected
Columbia - 2/26 - Rejected

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with my results - I expected about 2-4 acceptances, so a 2.5/10 is more than good enough for me. Advice to future applicants: ask your advisor about underrated schools. You might get more love (in the form of fellowships :D).
Last edited by kingofharts on Mon Mar 07, 2016 5:23 pm, edited 4 times in total.

slashley
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2016 1:37 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by slashley » Wed Feb 03, 2016 2:31 pm

The amount of stress I've experienced from this website is definitely unhealthy. I said to myself that if I got into even one decent school with my GRE scores that I would post. I'm hoping I can help others get over this fear that I experienced. Depending on your department, a lot of universities take more holistic approaches. Don't be discouraged!

Undergrad Institution: Large state school with no reputation in physics
Major(s): Physics|Math
GPA in Major(s): 3.86|3.93
Overall GPA: 3.90
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Near top
Type of Student: Domestic white female

GRE Scores:
Q: 160 (78%)
V: 152 (54%)
W: 4.0 (56%)
P: 550 (17%) [Made the mistake of only taking once. Pathetic, I know]
(this is definitely the weakest point in my application - standardized testing and I simply do not get along)

Research Experience:
- Two years of research at home institution in exoplanets
- REU in exoplanets at top ten school, resulted in AAS poster, will eventually lead to paper
- Observing run in La Serena, Chile at Gemini South Telescope
- International data science school in La Serena, Chile

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
- Dean's List (all semesters)
- Presidential Honor Society
- Sigma Pi Sigma
- Tau Sigma
- Phi Beta Kappa

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
- TA for computer security class for two semesters
- Tutor in science for inner-city kids

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
- Co-author on published paper in Astrophysical Journal
- 5 presentations at 5 different conferences within the last year

Special Bonus Points:
- Strong background in math
- Strong letters
- One letter coming from professor at top ten school who is well-known in his field
- Female, First-generation, Non-traditional
- Additional grad physics courses taken (Computational Methods, Bayesian Data Analysis, Optics)
- Had pre-application visits to both CU Boulder and UChicago (so many interactions with admissions committee professors)

Applying to Where: (No safeties for me. Go big or go home, right?)

Caltech (Astronomy) - (Informal interview at AAS)
Harvard (Astronomy) -
Stanford (Physics) -
UCLA (Astronomy) -
CU Boulder (APS) -
Chicago (Astrophysics) -
Chicago (Geophysics) - Skype Interview 1/21
UArizona (Astronomy) - REJECTED by e-mail 1/25
UArizona (LPL) -
Yale (Astronomy) -
Hawaii (Astronomy) - ACCEPTED by e-mail 2/2 $31k/yr TA/RA stipend
Princeton (Astrophysics) - REJECTED by e-mail 1/29
Cornell (Astronomy) -
UT Austin (Astronomy) -

Fellowships:
NSF (Applied 10/30/15)
NPSC (Applied 12/9/15)
Last edited by slashley on Thu Feb 04, 2016 1:07 am, edited 1 time in total.

Ykwvn
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2016 9:07 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Ykwvn » Wed Feb 03, 2016 9:31 pm

Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?)... Overall Reputation in Physics?)
Small state liberal arts school w/ semi decent local physics rep
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.73
Overall GPA: 3.70
Length of Degree: (Are you graduating after 3, 4, or 5 years?) 4 years
Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?) No clue, near top?
Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?) Domestic white female

GRE Scores : (revised or old version?) revised
Q:162(83%)
V:160(85%)
W:4.0(56%)
P:690(49%)


Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)
1 summer of astronomy research with observatory runs with home college, and 1 summer REU in HEP at national lab

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)
Sigma Pi Sigma? if that counts, otherwise no.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...)
Tutored in our physics learning center 1 semester

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)Nothing really other than female

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

Applying to Where:

Applied to all as Experimental High Energy Physics PhD
UWashington -
URochester - Accepted 2/2/16 by email--- 26k/12mo
Indiana Bloomington - Accepted 1/25/16 w/ 34k Fellowship first year, 24k RA
U Oregon -Accepted 2/3/16--details to come

Stony Brook -
William and Mary -
U Virginia -
U Pittsburgh -
Drexel -

Definitely got myself super worried on this site that I wasn't going to get in anywhere. Especially before I got my PGRE scores back (my practice tests went reallllyy badly). But its been turning out okay! Now I kinda wish I hadn't wasted money applying to so many schools.

minaamq
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2015 9:32 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by minaamq » Thu Feb 04, 2016 3:56 pm

Undergrad Institution: Somewhat known School in the country. Completely unknown Internationally.
Major(s):Physics
Minor(s): No concept of Minors but I took some Elective courses in Material Science
GPA in Major: 3.5/4.0 (roughly)
Overall GPA: ...
Length of Degree: 5 years (3 years B.Sc + 2 years M.Sc)
Position in Class: Between Above Average to Top-ish
Type of Student: International Indian Male.. Sucks to be me

GRE Scores : Revised
Q: 163 (86%)
V: 157 (74%)
W: 4.0 (56%)
P: 730 (57%) :( :(


TOEFL iBT: 115/200 (29/30 in Speaking. That's what matters, no?)

Research Experience: Average research exp. No publications.
- 6 months research exp on Biosensing of Sn-Thin Films at my M.Sc school
- 6 months work on Growth and Characterization of Organic NLO Crystals at a reputed National Lab
- 6 months project on Computational Material Science.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Magna cum Lauade in my M.Sc.. Does that count?

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Part time Volunteer work at a Reputed lab ever since I graduated 7 months ago.

Special Bonus Points: An upward trend in my GPA. From the bottom 1/10 in first year to the top 1/10 by my final year. One of my recommender talks about this transition. Hope it helps.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: A professional Rock n Roll guitarist since 3 years. Not sure if it would matter but was strongly encouraged by my supervisor to mention in my application.

Applying to Where: I'm kind of split between Seismology and Material Fabrication... (Weirdly varying interests, I know)

CU Boulder - Geophysics - Seismology/Environmental Geophysics
Colorado School of Mines - Geophysics - Seismology - REJECTED 2-11
Ohio State - Experimental CMP - Fabrication
University of North Carolina - Experimental CMP - Fabrication - REJECTED 2-16
North Carolina State University - Experimental CMP - Fabrication
Arizona State University - Geophysics - Seismology - APPLICATION WITHDRAWN
University of Utah - Experimental CMP - Fabrication
Utah State - Experimental CMP - Fabrication
University of Tennessee - Experimental CMP - Fabrication
University of Wyoming - Experimental CMP - Fabrication

University of Alberta - Geophysics - Seismology
Calgary University - Geophysics - Seismology
Not too keen on Canada but have some personal reasons for applying to Alberta and Calgary.

Apart from these, I have applied to multiple Institutes in Germany for a Masters coz I'd rather do a second masters than sit idle.
Last edited by minaamq on Tue Feb 16, 2016 12:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

wompwomp
Posts: 38
Joined: Fri Sep 26, 2014 10:00 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by wompwomp » Thu Feb 04, 2016 8:23 pm

Undergrad Institution: Respected liberal arts college
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math (my college doesn't have a "minor", but I took tons of Math classes)
GPA in Major: 3.5
Overall GPA: 3.65
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Top 25%
Type of Student: International

GRE Scores :
Q: 166
V: 165
W: 4.5
P: 890

Research Experience: 3 years of work experience in a computational biology research group. 1 yr each of AMO and Astrophysics research. One first author paper. Multiple 2nd/3rd author papers. 2nd time applying - I applied mostly to Applied Math groups last year, which turned out to be a bad decision.

Applying to Where:

Yale - Physics - CMT - Rejected
Penn State - Physics - CMT - Accepted with extra fellowships - Declined
UNC Chapel Hill - Physics - Computational AMO/CMT - Accepted - Declined
Northwestern - Applied Physics - CMT - Accepted - Attending!
Brandeis - Physics - CMT - Accepted - Declined
Rice - Physics - CMT - Rejected
UCSB - Computational Science - Applied math (basically) - Rejected
Georgia Tech - Computational Science (Home dept Chemistry) - CMT (basically) - Rejected
CMU - Physics - CMT - Accepted - Declined
Harvard - Applied Math - CMT - Rejected
NYU - Physics - CMT - Rejected
Last edited by wompwomp on Thu Apr 14, 2016 10:28 pm, edited 4 times in total.

rpols
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2016 12:24 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by rpols » Fri Feb 05, 2016 5:25 pm

Undergrad Institution: Small liberal arts university, completely unknown
Major(s): Mechanical Engineering, Physics, and Math
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: ~3.98
Overall GPA: 3.97
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: Top of the class
Type of Student: White domestic male

GRE Scores :
Q: 167 (94%)
V: 163 (92%)
W: 4.0 (56%)
P: 990 (94%)


Research Experience: 2 years at my school with biomedical instrumentation, detection, and computational modeling. An REU at Yale on solar energy ideas, and an REU at the University of Michigan on epitaxially grown nanostructures.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater Scholarship honorable mention 2015, a few awards from my school in physics and engineering, AAPT Outstanding Physics TA award.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Lab TA for physics for scientists and engineers.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Poster presentations at my university and a BMES conference, talks at my university and the REUs.

Special Bonus Points: Good letters of rec from my REU advisors, taking a basically independent study-and-explain class on quantum optics

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Applied for both the NSF GRFP and the NDSEG Fellowship

Applying to Where: All condensed matter and quantum optics/information science focuses (basically all experimental)

Applied Physics PhD
Caltech - ACCEPTED! 2/17 by email (33k stipend)
Stanford - Rejected 2/2 by email
Yale - Rejected 2/16 by email referring to look at the application status
Harvard SEAS - Rejected 3/2 by email referring to look at the application status
Rice University - Accepted 1/20 by phone (Fellowship first year; $2400/month stipend)
University of Michigan - Accepted 2/18 by email (Fellowship/RA/TA $2400/month stipend)

Physics PhD
University of Southern California - Accepted 1/7 by email (Fellowship first year; $27.5k stipend, TA/RA other years)
Boston University - Accepted 2/12 by email (TA/RA, $31.5k stipend including summers)
University of Connecticut - Accepted 2/11 by email (TA 20 hrs/wk, $22k stipend)
UC Riverside - Accepted 1/27 by email (Fellowship first year $34.6k; $19.2k TA/RA other years)
Last edited by rpols on Wed Mar 02, 2016 3:25 pm, edited 10 times in total.

Aliensgirl
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2016 12:42 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Aliensgirl » Sun Feb 07, 2016 12:47 am

Undergrad Institution: 1st in Canada, 20th overall. Very good reputation in Physics. Large research institution.
Major(s): Physics (Honours program)
GPA in Major: ~3.5 (4.0 in all last three semesters)
Overall GPA: 3.45 (2.7 in first year life sci program; 4.0 in all last three semesters)
Length of Degree: 4 years - took me 5 years because started out in life sci for 1.5 years
Position in Class:
Type of Student: White female; International (for US/Canada schools) - EU student (for UK schools)

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 162 (83%)
V: 163 (92%)
W: 4.0 (56%) :|
P: None - I did take it, and got sick about 20 minutes into the test. I had to leave the room, not able to come back. So my score is pretty much the lowest possible, but I attached an explanation for the few schools that required it (MIT, UC Boulder, Washington, UT Austin, and U of Hawaii). I assume they believed me, since it would be hard to get such a score otherwise. I wish I could have taken it a second time, but the very last sitting required me to go to the US and was the same day as a final exam I had :/ Best advice: even if you don't feel ready yet, do take the Physics GRE twice. Just do. It's worth it. You never know what could happen to bet such an important test on only one day. I'm just lucky that only a few schools required it and so it didn't completely kill my chances of going to grad school. I would probably have had to reapply the year after if I was only applying to physics/astronomy departments and not planetary.

Research Experience: Three research projects at my home institution with one of them major and directly related to my field of interest (paper in progress). One summer at NASA Ames with major project directly related to my field of interest (paper in review).

Publications: 1 publication in ApJ as 3rd author (unrelated to research interest), and 1 publication in review at PSS as 1st author (directly related to research interest). 1 paper in progress as 1st author, mentioned in recommendation letter.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for first year physics (one semester)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Minor: Vice-President of an astronomy club last year. Other diverse executive positions taken over the last 4 years.

Special Bonus Points: Two very good recommendations, by persons well-known in the field.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Specifically interested in astrobiology. Research experience very relevant to potential supervisors that I mentioned in applications and in some cases talked to by email.

Applying to Where: Focusing on Planetary Science departments or Astronomy. Applying to a LOT of schools as I was told it's a good idea if you're an international student...

Reach:

Caltech - Earth and Planetary Science - Rejected by email 02/12 :cry: :cry: My top choice :cry: :cry:
MIT - Earth and Planetary Science - Rejected by email 02/15
Oxford - EU student - Atmospheric Oceanic and Planetary Physics - Formal interview 02/29 - To future Oxford applicants: their interview was much harder than your usual grad school interview. Definitely must learn about all the physical concepts related to your future project even if you don't think you're expected to know them yet. - ACCEPTED by phone 03/03 - (16.5K lbs/year stipend)
Very, very BIG surprise given I did so, soooo bad on the interview (could not answer any of their questions and they seemed annoyed at me)!!!
- Declined
U of Chicago - Geophysical Sciences - Informal "interview" 01/22 - ACCEPTED by email 02/02 - (86k/year in TA/RA incl. 50K tuition) :) - WILL ATTEND! :D
UC Berkeley - Earth and Planetary Science - Rejected by email indicating to check website 04/01
UCLA - Earth and Planetary Science - Waiting on advisor to see if he can support my application (no acceptances made without that)
Cambridge - EU student - Astronomy Masters - ACCEPTED by email 02/26 - Will decline

Match:

U of Toronto - Astronomy - Rejected by email 03/30 - thanks home institution..
U of Arizona - LPL - Rejected by email 03/04
UCSC - Earth and Planetary Science
UC Boulder - Astrophysical and Planetary Sci - Rejected by email 02/09
Penn State - Geosciences - Really good email exchanges with advisor - Informal "interview" with advisor 03/03 - ACCEPTED by email 03/07 - (18.5K stipend + 6K summer stipend) - Declined
U of Hawaii - Astronomy - Rejected by letter 02/26
U of Washington - Astronomy - Formal interview 02/17 - Waitlisted 02/26 on their "very small waitlist" lol
John Hopkins - Planetary Science
UT Austin - Astronomy - Formal interview 01/25 - Waitlisted 02/05 - Notification that the waitlist closed without any offers made to waitlisted students 04/08
U of Michigan - Atmospheric Oceanic and Planetary Sci - Withdrawn
Georgia Tech - Planetary Science - Rejected by email 04/05

Safety:

Florida Tech - Physics and Space Sci - ACCEPTED by email 03/02 - (15k $/9months stipend) - Declined
U of Victoria - Earth Sci - Informal interview with advisor 12/23 - ACCEPTED by email from advisor 02/11 - (16k $CAD/year stipend) - Declined
UC Riverside - Earth Sci - Email exchange with advisor indicates likely acceptance - Withdrawn


NOTE: I got rejected by all the schools where I hadn't contacted an advisor (except UChicago), and accepted by all the schools where I had contacted someone beforehand. It's VERY important to contact an advisor, unfortunately I learned that a lot of departments don't offer admission unless a faculty member supports your application, and they're much more likely to do that if you contact them. So future applicants, CONTACT ADVISORS :!: (even if you think you're a good match to the school and would get in)
Last edited by Aliensgirl on Tue Apr 12, 2016 3:43 pm, edited 82 times in total.

DarklordoftheSUSY
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 12:47 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by DarklordoftheSUSY » Mon Feb 08, 2016 1:30 am

Undergrad Institution: Private Liberal Arts University. No reputation in physics whatsoever (we are so understaffed we can't even create an undergrad curriculum with all the normal coursework!...but we are known for Law. Our Law School is best in the State, and our Governor is an Alum)
Major(s):Physics
Minor(s):nope
GPA in Major: I honestly I have no idea.
Overall GPA :3.43
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: We don't really do that.
Type of Student: Domestic white LGBT student, so there is that.

GRE Scores: revised
Q: 154
V: 156
W: 4.0
P: 600 (I know it sucks, but maybe if my school actually HAD statistical mechanics/thermodynamics coursework I'd be more prepared)


Research Experience: I have ZERO publications as of application time, but I did a project last summer with the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate, am currently finishing the final draft of my honors thesis on conformal symmetries in Electroweak Symmetry Breaking that can explain Dark Energy if the Higgs is coupled to a dilaton field, and am doing a computational project on the explosive properties of Ball lightning.I hope to publish the latter two soon but that's too late for admissions.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: The Air Force thing gave me the fancy title of "Phillips scholar" after General Samuel Phillips USAF and Director of the Apollo Program. I have a scholarship for Italian language studies, and am a member of Sigma Pi Sigma.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Well, I suppose my Research experience at the Air Force also counts as a job considering I was paid...

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I am a member of the National Language Service Corps for my fluency in Italian, I was in an exchange program with the University of Bologna in Italy where i took and aced coursework on nuclear and particle physics IN ITALIAN, and attended the 4th Graduate Summer School on Complex Plasmas.

Special Bonus Points: I'm bi-gendered (like genderfluid but direct switch from male to female).

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I'm one of the few people in physics to want to get into National Security as a career, and made a point of doing that with nuclear stuff at Yale and GW. Yale in particular has an experiment I am IN LOVE WITH

Applying to Where:
Yale- Physics - Nuclear Exp.-Rejected 2/26 by email not surprised, but this was my top choice and still hurts :cry:
George Washington- Physics - Nuclear Exp.-Rejected 3/30 by email
Dartmouth- Physics - Cosmology-Rejected 4/6 by email
PSI-Rejected 4/7 by email
Lehigh-HETRejected 4/21 by email
UC Riverside HET Rejected 4/28 by email

Looking back, it appears the GRE is the gate keeper regardless of research experience or aptitude which I think is really stupid for a RESEARCH degree.
Last edited by DarklordoftheSUSY on Fri May 20, 2016 4:22 pm, edited 10 times in total.

soft_rains
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2016 9:00 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by soft_rains » Wed Feb 10, 2016 9:09 pm

Undergrad Institution: large state school, strong undergrad physics program
Major(s): Physics and Astronomy (double degree)
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.5
Overall GPA: 3.5
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: middle-top
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores : (revised)
Q: 166 (90%)
V: 161 (87%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
P: 820 (74%)

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)
1.5 years in medical physics (proton beam sims)
0.5 year in medical imaging (PET detector sims)

No papers :( One small talk

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: lol

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 2 years tutoring

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: lol again

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

Applying to Where:

Washington - Physics - Waitlisted
Oregon - Physics - Rejected via email
Oregon State - Physics -
Colorado Boulder - Physics - Rejected via email
Utah - Physics - Accepted 2/8 via email - 17k for 9mo TA + 3k bonus for first year, will decline
Michigan Ann Arbor - Physics - Rejected via email
Wisconsin Madison - Medical Physics - Invited to Interview 2/26 - Accepted 4/1, will attend :D
Last edited by soft_rains on Sun Apr 03, 2016 11:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.

inconceivable!
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2016 10:58 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by inconceivable! » Wed Feb 10, 2016 11:50 pm

Undergrad Institution: Big State - Good Physics/Astro rep
Major(s): Astronomy/Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.95
Overall GPA: 3.90
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: N/A
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores : revised
Q: 167 (94%)
V: 165 (95%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
P: 880 (83%)


Research Experience: Stellar Astrophysics Research on and off at home institution for 3 years. Summer REU 2015 leading to publication either first or second authorship (still in prep); presented this at AAS 227.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Physics and Astro dept. scholarships, university-wide scholarship, honor roll.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Astronomy club officer for 2 years; mentor for 3.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Nah

Special Bonus Points: Just one grad Astro class; though lots of elective undergrad classes like cosmology, GR, and advanced electro

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Was kind of in between looking at new fields during application process so that probably made me look pretty naive but ah well I thought everything tied together nicely :P also applied for the NSF

Applying to Where:

UC Berkeley - Astronomy - SNe/Cosmology - Rejected
Ohio State - Astronomy - SNe; Cosmology - Accepted Jan 6 by email. $26.5 or $29.5k pending University fellowship (Got the Fellowship!!) A letter writer was good friends with a committee member. Pains me to admit, but I probably wouldn't have gotten in without that.
Harvard - Astronomy - Cosmology - Rejected
UT Austin - Astronomy - Stellar Astronomy/binaries Rejected
UCLA - Physics & Astronomy - Rejected
Washington - Astronomy - Stellar Astronomy/binaries - Withdrew application
Chicago - Astronomy & Astrophysics - Cosmology Accepted Jan 28 by phone. $31.5k whoa! what an uplifting acceptance considering all the rejections. I guess my love for cosmology got through! So excited to visit.

For all you obsessive individuals like myself, go check out thegradcafe dot com for live news and stuff (this is where those probably rejections came from). Also the NRC rankings over at phds dot org are great to tinker with and use to throw your current choices into the gauntlet.

Takeaways:
Washington does things really late. Don't be surprised if you're already sold on another school before they even get back to you. Really strange application process they have going on there.

Departments seems to make pretty good choices for yourself if you're completely honest in your statement. I was rejected from schools I thought I would want to go to, but realized after that I didn't really fit in.

Go for good fits - schools you think may be safe schools can definitely reject you (none of my safer schools accepted me lol). From what I've been hearing, the increasing lack of "safety" at supposed safety school is also a result of an increasing number of overqualified applicants applying to a ridiculous number of schools.
Last edited by inconceivable! on Sun Mar 20, 2016 11:32 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Elvis444
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2016 3:56 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by Elvis444 » Thu Feb 11, 2016 4:24 am

Undergrad Institution: Large state school; very good physics reputation
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Math, although I did not declare the minor until after submitting applications
GPA in Major: ~3.87
Overall GPA: 3.92
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Near top
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE Scores : Revised
Q: 165
V: 170
W: 4.5
P: 820


Research Experience: At my school; just over two years in a quantum information laboratory

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: research scholarship, department outreach award, most prestigious university honors program

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: SPS service and outreach chair for almost three years

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: None

Special Bonus Points: One completed graduate course in quantum mechanics; two more in progress (quantum mechanics 2 and quantum information)

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

Applying to Where:

Ohio State - Physics - AMO - Accepted Jan. 21 with $26k fellowship for first year
University of Arizona - Optical Sciences - AMO - Accepted Feb. 9
University of California, Berkeley - Physics - AMO
University of Colorado, Boulder - Physics - AMO - Rejected Mar. 1
University of Maryland - Physics - AMO - Rejected Feb. 24
University of Michigan - Physics -AMO - Rejected Feb. 15
University of Oregon - Physics - AMO - Accepted Jan. 27
University of Rochester - Institute of Optics - AMO - Accepted Jan. 27 with $30k/yr
University of Wisconsin - Physics - AMO - Accepted Jan. 25 with $20k TA +$3k fellowship
Last edited by Elvis444 on Tue Mar 01, 2016 1:55 pm, edited 2 times in total.

vincent
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2016 2:16 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by vincent » Thu Feb 11, 2016 11:55 am

Undergrad Institution: University in east asia. Top 10 worldwide in physics.
Major(s):Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:3.26
Overall GPA:2.78
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: no idea
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores : revised
Q:162
V:149
W:2.5
P:830


TOEFL Total: 93

Research Experience: Nuclear experiment at my home institution for half an year. Computational astrophysics at one of the Ivy League schools for two months. X-ray data analysis of supernova remnant at my home institution for 3 months. There are other little research experiences.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:Scholarship for summer program at a university in Taiwan. Two scholarships for studying at American universities (they are ranked within top 5 worldwide)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Lots of miscellaneous jobs such as writer, exam grader, illustrator, etc. Almost all of them are not related to physics.
Was a member of the varsity athletics team.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Took (kinda had to take) LOTS of grad level courses (more than 20). My supervisor have a lot of connections in my field.
A recommendation letter from a prof at one of Ivy League schools. A strong letter from my supervisor. Talked to (visited) professors at most of the schools I applied to.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:My SOP was well written. All the people who read it said it's very good. I can write codes in C++(ROOT), python, Mathematica etc.

Applying to Where: All nuclear exp.

The University of British Columbia - Physics & Astronomy Accepted 02/03 via E-mail. Come with a fellowship (something like NSERC scholorships)
Simon Fraser University - Physics Accepted 02/02 via E-mail. $24,000 (TA/RA)
University of Guelph (GWPI) - Physics Accepted 02/10 via website. Details to come
Michigan State University - Physics & Astronomy
University of Notre Dame - Physics

I originally wanted to go to UBC so I'm satisfied already. I hope I can encourage people with low GPA and not-so-good GRE scores like myself.

gemini_man
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2015 3:09 am

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by gemini_man » Fri Feb 12, 2016 8:06 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top 15 Liberal Arts(Good Astro rep)
Major(s): Astrophysics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:3.1
Overall GPA:3.0
Length of Degree: 4 Years graduated 2013
Position in Class: average in physics
Type of Student: Domestic

GRE Scores : revised
Q:164(89%)
V:162(90%)
W:4(50%)
P:660(42%)


Research Experience: 2 years of research(1 year after graduation) observational astronomy with focus on data processing. An additional 6 months working as a research assistant at an observatory in Hawaii.

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: around 2 weeks worth of time operating telescopes at kitt peak, CTIO, and Mauna Kea, poster at IAU and pending paper.

Special Bonus Points: 3 really good letters of recommendation

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

Applying to Where:
All for Observational Astronomy, with most offering strong Astro instrumentation
Ohio State Rejected
UT Austin Rejected
Hawaii Rejected
University of Michigan Rejected

Texas A&M(TAMU) Accepted

Boston University Withdrawn
Rutgers Withdrawn
Arizona State SESE Withdrawn
Last edited by gemini_man on Sat Apr 16, 2016 6:45 pm, edited 4 times in total.

smith6
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2016 5:55 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by smith6 » Sat Feb 13, 2016 6:43 pm

Undergrad Institution: community college -> ivy
Major(s):Physics
Minor(s):N/A
GPA in Major:3.7 (ivy GPA)
Overall GPA:3.7 (ivy GPA)
Length of Degree: 2.5 years at community college, 2 years at current institution
Position in Class: top 20% i guess
Type of Student: domestic Asian female
GRE Scores : revised
Q: 163
V: 140 lol (I had an issue when taking the GRE, but didn't mention that in the applications)
W: 3 lol
P: 800



Research Experience: 1.5 school years in AMO, 2 REU in condensed matter, no publication

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: none

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: math tutor at community college

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: yes, I'm female.

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

Applying to Where: All AMO/Condensed matter experiment

Harvard - Physics Reminder to submit the Supplemental Data Form 1/22 Rejected 2/24
MIT - Physics Wait listed :l 2/15
UC Berkeley - Physics Rejected 3/05
Stanford - Physics Rejected 2/22
Princeton - Physics Accepted 2/12
Caltech - Physics Rejected 2/12
Cornell - Physics Accepted 2/12
UCSB -Physics Accepted 2/04
UChicago - Physics Accepted 2/19
Last edited by smith6 on Wed Mar 09, 2016 5:40 pm, edited 7 times in total.

backpacker23
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Feb 15, 2016 4:34 pm

Re: 2016 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by backpacker23 » Mon Feb 15, 2016 4:59 pm

Undergrad Institution: Large public school, small (unknown) physics department
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top, I guess
Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores :
Q:168 (95%)
V: 160 (85%)
W: 5.0 (93%)
P: 780

Research Experience: About one year at my home institution in a quantum optics lab which led to one presentation at the school's undergraduate research conference, one summer in Germany working on geophysics.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: DAAD RISE scholar, Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Mu Epsilon, Dean's List every semester

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I tutored physics, math, and chemistry for two years.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I was president of an honor fraternity on campus

Special Bonus Points: I will have taken two graduate level courses when I graduate.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I'm not sure how good my letters of recommendation are. One is from my first physics professor, another is from a foreigner who might not know what American universities are looking for. I am a good writer, so my statement of purpose should have come out well.

Applying to Where: All AMO experiment

CU Boulder - Physics
MIT - Physics Rejected 2/12 via website
University of Chicago - Physics Rejected 2/19 via email to check website
University of Michigan - Physics Rejected 2/15 via email
University of Washington - Physics
Rice - Physics Accepted 1/15 via email
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Physics
Penn State - Physics
UConn - Physics Admitted 2/15 via email to check website
Georgia Tech - Physics
Maryland - Physics Rejected 2/22 via website
Last edited by backpacker23 on Wed Feb 24, 2016 8:56 am, edited 1 time in total.



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