Schools Can I Get Into Grad School: My Story

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The discussion centers on the challenges of gaining admission to prestigious graduate programs in physics with a 3.4 GPA. The individual has a dual major in Math and Physics, along with significant undergraduate research experience and strong letters of recommendation from Ivy League alumni. Despite high grades in upper division courses, early college performance includes several C's and D's, leading to concerns about overall competitiveness. The importance of research experience and recommendations in the admissions process is emphasized, along with the need to take the GRE. The individual seeks clarity on their chances before investing in multiple applications.
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I'll explain my situation, I'm dual major in Math & Physics attempting to get my Graduate degree in physics(Nonlinear systems :Optics, Q&M and Particle Physic). I know my 3.4 GPA is probably not good enough to get me into Cal tech, Harvard, MIT etc... However I do have a year (3 semesters) of undergraduate research in Optics, Q&M and Particle Physic, as well as, five letters of recommendations from professors that are alumni from Ivy league schools. I have been told that research and recommendation are the most important to acceptance into grad school.

All of my upper division and most of my lower division Math & Physics credits are A through B+ ;however because my first year attending college I attained few c's and a couple d's in random courses. I feel that with even all of 4000-6000 lvl classes, research, and letters of recommendation I am still screwed in my chances of getting in.

Things I have left to do:
Take the GRE general & GRE subject
apply


I am in my last years of school and really only have more math/physics and researcher electives to fill up my slot before graduation.

It would be nice to know if I actually have a chance of getting before I spend about 100 dollars and application to about 8 different schools.
 
Physics news on Phys.org


Can't really say much about physics grad school. You could look here: http://www.physicsgre.com/viewforum.php?f=22

They seem to have different expectations about grades for whatever reason, so maybe 3.4 is really solid, I have no clue.
 
Hey, I am Andreas from Germany. I am currently 35 years old and I want to relearn math and physics. This is not one of these regular questions when it comes to this matter. So... I am very realistic about it. I know that there are severe contraints when it comes to selfstudy compared to a regular school and/or university (structure, peers, teachers, learning groups, tests, access to papers and so on) . I will never get a job in this field and I will never be taken serious by "real"...
Yesterday, 9/5/2025, when I was surfing, I found an article The Schwarzschild solution contains three problems, which can be easily solved - Journal of King Saud University - Science ABUNDANCE ESTIMATION IN AN ARID ENVIRONMENT https://jksus.org/the-schwarzschild-solution-contains-three-problems-which-can-be-easily-solved/ that has the derivation of a line element as a corrected version of the Schwarzschild solution to Einstein’s field equation. This article's date received is 2022-11-15...

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