Physics Graduate School Admissions?

  • 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.

Bufalay
Posts: 51
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2004 5:05 am

Physics Graduate School Admissions?

Post by Bufalay » Tue Jan 31, 2006 7:16 pm

Now that many of the deadlines for applications have past has anyonre heard back from the schools that they applied to?

tleilax
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:56 pm

Post by tleilax » Wed Feb 01, 2006 9:39 pm

Not yet.....fingers (and toes) crossed...

Bufalay
Posts: 51
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2004 5:05 am

Post by Bufalay » Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:53 pm

Its a very anxious time. Which schools did you apply to?

HCarias
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 8:34 am

Two Acceptances

Post by HCarias » Thu Feb 02, 2006 8:44 am

I recieved two acceptance e-mails on Jan. 30. One from Duke and one from Chapel Hill.. The Chapel Hill e-mail never actually said I was accepted but they did want me to clarify some information so they could know what fellowships I was eligible for, Harvard sent me an e-mail in December for this same purpose. The Duke e-mail offered to fly me out in a couple of weeks so I could see the department and so they could try to convince me to attend.

Stats
BS Chemistry 3.65, BS Physics 3.75(will graduate in May)
790 Math
750 Verbal
790 Physics
Extensive research experience. First publication in J. Med. Chem. when I was a sophomore (19).
Hispanic (but I indicated other or declined to say if given the option)
Multiracial

Schools
Harvard - Applied Physics
Caltech - Applied Physics
Duke
Chapel Hill
Rice - Applied Physics
Austin
GaTech
Arizona - Optics
UCF - Optics

tleilax
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:56 pm

Post by tleilax » Thu Feb 02, 2006 3:54 pm

You have a nice layout, HCarias, so I stole it :) In response to your question Bufalay:

Stats:
I go to a small Ivy league school (not Harvard or Princeton)
BS Chemistry 4.0, BS Physics 4.0, overall 3.98 (will graduate in June)
790 Math
750 Verbal
830 Physics
870 Chemistry
Some research experience (2 REUs, current thesis project, one publication as a minor author)
Caucasian

Schools applied to:
Harvard - Physics - Waiting
Caltech - Physics - Accepted
Stanford - Physics - Accepted
Berkeley - Physics - Waiting
Princeton - Physics - Rejected
Last edited by tleilax on Tue Feb 21, 2006 1:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Bufalay
Posts: 51
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2004 5:05 am

Post by Bufalay » Thu Feb 02, 2006 8:37 pm

Sounds like you have some pretty nice prospects. I will also steal your layout.

Stats:
I go to a huge party school
BS Physics 4.0, overall 4.0
710 Math
520 Verbal
750 Physics
Have worked in the same lab 2 years now. I am doing a senior thesis, and am second author on one publication. I also did an REU prior to starting in my current lab.

Schools applied to:
Harvard - Physics
Cornell - Physics - Accepted
Stanford - Physics - Rejected
Berkeley - Physics
Yale - Physics - Rejected
UC San Diego- Physics - Accepted
University of Washington-Physics - Accepted
UC Irvine-Physics - Accepted
Brown-Physics
Last edited by Bufalay on Fri Mar 03, 2006 8:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

nutbrown
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:38 am

Post by nutbrown » Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:37 pm

I removed this entry due to objections over the fact that there was "too much information". My apologies.
Last edited by nutbrown on Sun Feb 26, 2006 3:46 pm, edited 5 times in total.

raysum
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2005 4:48 am

hello!

Post by raysum » Sun Feb 05, 2006 7:36 am

All of your scores are impressive and you all deserve the best. Keep patience!!

HCarias
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 8:34 am

Update

Post by HCarias » Mon Feb 06, 2006 5:00 pm

I have been officially accepted at Chapel Hill, Rice and UCF. Rice has offered me the Dean's Fellowship at $24000/year and UCF is nominating me for the Trustees fellowship at $18000/year + $7000 more if I get it.

nutbrown
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:38 am

One acceptance

Post by nutbrown » Wed Feb 08, 2006 10:24 am

<deleted>
Last edited by nutbrown on Sun Feb 26, 2006 9:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

student
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2006 5:08 pm

Notification website

Post by student » Wed Feb 08, 2006 5:23 pm

I came across the following websites. It would be useful to others if you could post your responses as they arrive. Good luck to everyone! Waiting to hear from physics departments is very stressful, but I hope it works out for all of us. I've only heard from one of my ten schools so far (accepted to Northwestern).

http://lavenderspice.com/poll/survey.php?s_id=2

http://lavenderspice.com/gradschool.html

student
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2006 5:08 pm

Any more responses?

Post by student » Tue Feb 14, 2006 4:18 pm

I was recently accepted to the University of Illinois with very nice fellowship but was just rejected from Stanford. The latter hurts.

Has anyone heard from other schools?

Bufalay
Posts: 51
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2004 5:05 am

Post by Bufalay » Tue Feb 14, 2006 6:12 pm

I just got rejected from stanford also.

tleilax
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:56 pm

Post by tleilax » Tue Feb 14, 2006 7:40 pm

I got rejected from Princeton at te end of last week.

I just found out that I was accepted to Stanford, $28,523 stipend/year including TA.

nutbrown
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:38 am

Another acceptance...

Post by nutbrown » Tue Feb 14, 2006 7:40 pm

<removed, ditto as above>
Last edited by nutbrown on Sun Feb 26, 2006 3:47 pm, edited 2 times in total.

HCarias
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 8:34 am

UT-Austin

Post by HCarias » Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:49 pm

I was accepted at UT-Austin last week sometime. They haven't made a financial offer yet but I recieved a separate e-mail from a faculty member in my field strongly encouraging me to attend their recruitment weekend. I leave for Duke tomorrow.

nutbrown
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:38 am

Third acceptance

Post by nutbrown » Wed Feb 15, 2006 1:22 pm

<removed, ditto as above>
Last edited by nutbrown on Sun Feb 26, 2006 3:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

tleilax
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:56 pm

Post by tleilax » Wed Feb 15, 2006 3:54 pm

I was notified by email too, nutbrown. One email, first half was from the admissions committee chair (looked like a form letter to me), the second half was fromt he committee as a whole talking about how their program works.

Got into Princeton Chemistry this morning (Physics had forwarded my application)..sort of irrelevant I guess but there it is.

slightlyconfused
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2005 6:11 pm

Post by slightlyconfused » Thu Feb 16, 2006 1:08 pm

nutbrown, since you're not a US citizen but have been going to school here, do you know if you were considered in the admissions process as an international applicant or a domestic one?

nutbrown
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:38 am

Post by nutbrown » Thu Feb 16, 2006 4:00 pm

slightlyconfused,

I'm not sure how I was considered. I think that the most reasonable expectation is that I was considered domestic academically, but international in terms of funding constraints, in the sense that they don't expect me to come with the fellowships that I would certainly have applied for was I a citizen/permanent resident. However, as the GRE tests college-level knowledge, I'd think I would be conisidered a domestic student as far as GRE scores were concerned, and domestic also in terms of research opportunities (since most foreign students don't have the chance to do research unless they're coming in with a master's degree) and GPA (since after all I do go to a U.S. institution.)

I don't have a clear answer for you, though, since I posted asking for guidance on this myself quite a while back (see 'Scores from November available...), and never received a response!

tleilax
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:56 pm

Post by tleilax » Thu Feb 16, 2006 11:46 pm

Got an acceptance from Caltech this afternoon...graduate teaching assistantship

nutbrown
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:38 am

4th One...

Post by nutbrown » Fri Feb 17, 2006 8:24 pm

<removed, ditto as above>
Last edited by nutbrown on Sun Feb 26, 2006 3:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.

tleilax
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:56 pm

Post by tleilax » Sat Feb 18, 2006 1:22 pm

That is weird...I got the Princeton review email yesterday, but I had heard from somebody in the department the day before.

waded1
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2006 2:45 pm

Post by waded1 » Sat Feb 18, 2006 2:51 pm

Hi All --

I've been out of school for about seven years, and I'm applying to programs with larger programs in condensed matter.

So far, I've heard from...

UCSB Rejected
Yale Rejected
Illinois Accepted

I'm still waiting to hear from Princeton, Berkeley, Caltech, and Harvard.

Anybody have similar school results? I have to say that my expectations were upside down: I expected to get into UCSB but get rejected from Illinois. No complaints, though!

tleilax
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:56 pm

Post by tleilax » Sat Feb 18, 2006 4:07 pm

Hey waded1,

Still waiting on Harvard and Berkeley as well, the only reason I heard from Princeton was that they wanted to give my file to the Chemistry department after they rejected me and had to get my permission.

student
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2006 5:08 pm

Yale and Chicago?

Post by student » Sat Feb 18, 2006 5:42 pm

Waded1: When and how did you hear from Yale? I haven't heard from them yet.

Also, someone on another board mentioned a rejection from Chicago via postial letter dated 2/13, but I've received nothing from them either.

Why does my university's mail have to be so slow?

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

Post by phun » Sun Feb 19, 2006 3:19 am

waded1:

congratz on getting accepted to UIUC!
may I ask how you went about getting recommendations from professors after 7 years? Or did you have other people to get references from.
Did you have a very defined research interest when you applied?
I am asking these because I am concerned about myself not having a very defined research interest and good sources for references.
I am just wondering if one is able to get into such good schools as UIUC w/o above mentioned things (I'm not saying that you don't, but I'm just assuming you may not, from the fact that you were out of school for 7 years)

physicsrob
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 2:31 am

Responses

Post by physicsrob » Tue Feb 21, 2006 2:44 am

I'm waiting anxiously for responses as well.

Stats:
Medium sized state school
BS Physics 3.6, 3.7 overall

790 - Math
490 - Verbal
860 - Physics

Moderate research experience.

Applied to:
UC Berkeley -- Waiting for decision
UC Davis -- Accepted
UC Irvine -- Accepted
UCLA -- Waiting for decision
Stanford -- Rejected
Caltech -- Waiting for decision

Bufalay
Posts: 51
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2004 5:05 am

Post by Bufalay » Tue Feb 21, 2006 2:40 pm

I got a rejection from Yale on friday, and just got an acceptance from Cornell : )

student
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2006 5:08 pm

Post by student » Tue Feb 21, 2006 3:58 pm

Congratulations, Bufalay, on Cornell. That's a great acceptance.

How did your Yale notification arrive, and did it say anything about the number of applicants? I'm not at all expecting to gain admission there, but I haven't heard either way yet.

Bufalay
Posts: 51
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2004 5:05 am

Post by Bufalay » Tue Feb 21, 2006 4:13 pm

Yale sent me an Email saying that decisions had been made, and instructed me to log in to my application to check the status. In the application there was a letter notifying me of their decision.

It said that more than 8000 people applied to the graduate school, but nothing about the department in particular.

tleilax
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:56 pm

Post by tleilax » Tue Feb 21, 2006 4:30 pm

Congrats to you Bufalay, Cornell is a great school, and the Ithaca area is beautiful.

jsym12
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 6:06 pm

Post by jsym12 » Tue Feb 21, 2006 6:12 pm

hey - new to the site...

So far I know...

Columbia- A
UT-Austin -A
Wisconsin-A
Irvine-A
Boston -A
Hawaii- ?
UCLA-?
U of W-?
Tufts-?
Stony brook-?

Konstantin
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 6:38 pm

Post by Konstantin » Tue Feb 21, 2006 7:44 pm

Stats:
an international (russian) student, I go to Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (I think the best physics school in Russia)
GPA - 3.94, MS is expected in summer
910 Physics
800 Q
330 V (I'm an international :-)

Research experience in theoretical condensed matter physics (2 years).

Schools applied to:
Princeton - Physics
MIT - Physics
Yale - Physics - Accepted (I've just received a e-mail)
Stanford - Physics - rejected
UIUC - Physics - rejected
Berkeley - Physics
CalTech - Physics
Rutgers - Physics
Cornell - Physics
Stony Brook - Physics

plancklength
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 7:57 pm

Post by plancklength » Tue Feb 21, 2006 8:10 pm

Bufalay:

First of all Congrats on acceptance to Cornell! I applied to Cornell as well and have been waiting anxiously for their response for about a month now. SO far I haven't heard anything. Were you notified by e-mail or through the mail? And if you don't mind answering, what kind of offer did you get?

plancklength
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 7:57 pm

Post by plancklength » Tue Feb 21, 2006 8:11 pm

Also has anyone else heard from Cornell...??

Konstantin
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 6:38 pm

Post by Konstantin » Tue Feb 21, 2006 8:33 pm

I've sent a e-mail to Cornell concerning about receiving my documents and the status of my application (it was in mid-January) but they haven't answered yet... That's strange. I haven't received anything from Cornell at all.

Bufalay
Posts: 51
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2004 5:05 am

Post by Bufalay » Wed Feb 22, 2006 1:05 am

plancklength, The offer I received from Cornell arrived via email and seemed pretty standard...TA position worth about 21000/ 9 months, and some sort of TA or RA during the summer as well.

Thanks for all the congratulations, much appreciated

abc123
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 2:14 pm

Admissions

Post by abc123 » Wed Feb 22, 2006 9:50 am

Hi,

Im new.

Verbal 670
Quantitative 800
Writing 4.5
Physics 900

Physics GPA 3.97, small unkown university

2 theoretical publications

Applied to:

Harvard-Physics-waiting
Princeton-Physics-waiting
Cornell-Physics-waiting
Caltech-Physics-waiting
Stanford-Physics-Rejected
Columbia-Physics-Waiting
U of Chicago-Physics-Waiting
Berkeley-Physics-Waiting
MIT-Physics-Waiting
UC San Diego-Physics-Accepted
U of Rochester-Physics-Accepted

Did any one who has already recieved acceptance notification to one of these schools, indicate an intrest in theoretical particle physics?

Do you guys think that since Im still waiting on most of them, that this probably means I was rejected?

Thanks for your input!

nutbrown
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:38 am

Post by nutbrown » Wed Feb 22, 2006 10:55 am

<removed, ditto as above>
Last edited by nutbrown on Sun Feb 26, 2006 3:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

KMac
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2005 5:35 am

Post by KMac » Wed Feb 22, 2006 12:32 pm

Hi, I thought I'd post what I'm looking at right now.

Academics:
Dual degree in Physics and Computer Engineering from Notre Dame
GPA 3.63, ~3.7 in physics major
780 Physics GRE
800 math
600 verbal
4.0 writing

Grad schools applied to
Caltech
Michigan
U of Chicago - rejected
UIUC - accepted (surprised I got in, looking at some of the school lists here)
Wash U - accepted
Purdue - accepted
Ohio State - accepted

The list is pretty much in the order of schools I'd like to go to. I put on the apps that I was interested in Quantum Computer and/or condensed matter, depending what areas the schools had. I don't think I have much of a shot at Caltech, but I'm really hoping to get in the Michigan. Hopefully will hear by the end of the week :(

I'd be happy with UIUC though, especially since I'm thinking condensed matter there (even more surprised I got in since I said that on the app!)

nutbrown
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:38 am

Post by nutbrown » Wed Feb 22, 2006 1:16 pm

<removed, ditto as above>
Last edited by nutbrown on Sun Feb 26, 2006 3:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

abc123
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 2:14 pm

Question for Kmac

Post by abc123 » Wed Feb 22, 2006 1:35 pm

KMac Hi,

Did your notification from U. Chicago come by postal mail or email?

Thanks and I hope things go well!

KMac
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2005 5:35 am

Post by KMac » Wed Feb 22, 2006 1:37 pm

Got U of Chicago letter by mail, post marked Feb 13th.

nutbrown
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:38 am

Post by nutbrown » Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:02 pm

---
Last edited by nutbrown on Sun Feb 26, 2006 3:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.

KMac
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2005 5:35 am

Post by KMac » Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:14 pm

Wow, congratulations nutbrown. You'll be slightly less poor than the rest of us for the next few years :)

jupiter_dubois
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2006 11:07 pm

Cornell and Stanford Applied Physics

Post by jupiter_dubois » Wed Feb 22, 2006 11:13 pm

Greetings group. It looks like there are quite a few fabulous acceptances thus far. I've heard back from 8 of my programs, but I'm still waiting to hear from Cornell and Stanford (both applied physics). Has anyone gotten any word from either of these programs?

Thanks,
Alan

Heisenberg
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2005 4:01 pm

Post by Heisenberg » Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:09 am

Dear Jupiter,

I received an acceptance email from Stanford Applied Physics on the 16th of Feb. I also happen to know of people who got rejected , something which leads me to surmise that you are wait listed.

jupiter_dubois
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2006 11:07 pm

Stanford AP

Post by jupiter_dubois » Thu Feb 23, 2006 3:35 am

Heisenberg:

Thanks for the update. I had some email correspondence with the secretary Paula Perron at Stanford on Valentine's day with regard to updating my application (I had a fourth paper accepted for publication). She told me that decisions would be made shortly, but I had no sense of the time scale. Anyway, congrats your admission to Stanford and no doubt many other schools.

-Alan

samk
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 3:51 am

Post by samk » Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:04 am

Hi all. I've been overseeing the discussion for a few days now. Thanks for all the updated information. So far I've got into Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill (I may have even met some of you at Duke last week), still waiting for response from many others.
Alan, I'm in the same situation as yours with applied physics of Stanford. I heard that some people got rejected and some people got accepted, but I've got no response yet.
Hi Heisenberg, thanks for the information first of all. Did the acceptance email give you the deadline for responding to the department about whether or not you'd accept the admission? If you don't mind, can you tell us if they've made financial offers as well?
It'd be frustrating to be on the waiting list of any school that you really wanna go to. If my second-choice school asks me to respond before a certain date by which I still get no response from Stanford...you get the picture.



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