Physics Grad School Prospectives

[scisyhphysics]

Hello all,

Just wanted your opinion on my prospectives for grad school. What are some "safety" schools that I should consider? Likewise, what are some schools that I might have a fair chance of getting into? Do I have a chance for schools like MIT/Berkeley/Stanford/Santa Barbara?

I screwed up on the math GRE-will this make a difference? Also, I'm still waiting on my writing score, but it would be best to assume its no better than 4.

GRE scores:
verbal: 590
math: 770
writing: still waiting

Physics: (800 on practice exam under testing conditions, still waiting for results from the real one that I took November)

GPA: 3.45/4.0 (maybe a little higher for physics courses)
from one of the top 20 US Universities

I've taken the following courses:
class mech
undergrad quantum
Adv. E&M
particle physics
thermodynamics
physical chemistry
intro. computational physics
graduate quantum (taking this year)

I've been doing research continually since winter of my sophomore year. I'm currently preparing a paper for publication.

Thanks for your help:)

 

[robphy]

What field are you interested in?
What field is your paper in?
What math courses have you taken? and how did you do?
Do you prefer a big school (with a large physics graduate-student entering class)? or a small one?