- #1
genxhis
- 37
- 1
Hi. I am sort of an idiot and only applied to one graduate school in physics, namely the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Most likely to do Condensed Matter, but I'm not completely sure. I just submitted the application today as a matter of fact. Anyway, I am obviously anxious because I sort of have one shot here. (Of course, I'm now preparing to apply to more schools for the following year in case I don't get in.)
Anyway, here are my stats. Two of my letter of recommendations should be good/vgood. One of them is sort of an x-factor; but this was my "research" professor (though it's hard to imagine he would write something bad). I did some relatively simple research on the flow of carriers in ZnO after the surface is struck by a light pulse (and I am going to broaden that this semester). My major is a math BS and physics BA (missing one lab for BS) from the University of Florida. My overall GPA is 3.92 (low grades in two non-science classes) and major GPA 4.0. I also took the first year graduate math courses last year. I might have done the same for physics this year, but graduate courses are expensive, and my mother pushed me to take premedical classes as a backup. And I did last semester (man.. those premed folks are real competitive), but I decided it was waste. So this semester I just have optics, solid state, and a writing course I need to graduate. My GRE is 550 Verbal, 800 Math, and 4 on Writing. And Physics GRE 880. I literally did these at the 11th hour too, so maybe I could have done a little better with some preparation, especially with the writing. I don't know where the personal statement stands, so I'll just say average.
I hear they only accepted 50 of 500 last year, so I'm pretty ambivalent. If the odds aren't so good, I better really focus for next year.
Anyway, here are my stats. Two of my letter of recommendations should be good/vgood. One of them is sort of an x-factor; but this was my "research" professor (though it's hard to imagine he would write something bad). I did some relatively simple research on the flow of carriers in ZnO after the surface is struck by a light pulse (and I am going to broaden that this semester). My major is a math BS and physics BA (missing one lab for BS) from the University of Florida. My overall GPA is 3.92 (low grades in two non-science classes) and major GPA 4.0. I also took the first year graduate math courses last year. I might have done the same for physics this year, but graduate courses are expensive, and my mother pushed me to take premedical classes as a backup. And I did last semester (man.. those premed folks are real competitive), but I decided it was waste. So this semester I just have optics, solid state, and a writing course I need to graduate. My GRE is 550 Verbal, 800 Math, and 4 on Writing. And Physics GRE 880. I literally did these at the 11th hour too, so maybe I could have done a little better with some preparation, especially with the writing. I don't know where the personal statement stands, so I'll just say average.
I hear they only accepted 50 of 500 last year, so I'm pretty ambivalent. If the odds aren't so good, I better really focus for next year.