Realistic Graduate School Opportunities in Computational Astrophysics

[nmanphysics]

Hi,

I'm a junior at a Ivy League (H/Y/P/C - going to remain anonymous for privacy reasons) and I wanted your honest opinion on what my chances are for graduate school in computational astrophysics and where I should look for the best chances.

GPA: 3.5/4 (working to raise this, had a bad semester that derailed my GPA)
GRE: haven't taken yet
Recs: Two from current researcher/PI (PI is well-known in field) - not sure if they will be "greatest student ever seen" but should be solid as I've produced good results over past 2.5 years + one from head of astro department who I've taken a class with and have a good relationship with
Research: worked on X-Ray binaries, black-hole timing analysis, and modeling of x-ray outbursts (should have something published by the time I apply)
Summer Experience: two summers working in industry

Where should I be thinking of, what should I improve on? Does meeting with prospective advisors help at all?

Thanks in advance for your help

 

[MisterX]

If you can get your GPA up a little bit and get a decent physics GRE score (above 700), then I think you should have a good chance at getting into graduate school. I think maybe not top 5 in your field but who knows until you try. I think those schools can turn down students with great GPAs and GREs, so it might be a long-shot although not impossible. Other schools may see you as a great candidate though, assuming you can get those scores up to where I said. I don't know much about the lay of the land in computational astrophysics in particular or what schools you should be thinking about specifically.

Does meeting with prospective advisors help at all?

Yes, this can be extremely beneficial to you. Having a connection to potential advisers or other professors in the physics department can make you more attractive for admissions as you become less of an unknown. It also helps you scout ahead for your future should you get accepted. Success in physics is more than just getting accepted, and which adviser you end up with can be a very important part in determining what your physics career will look like. So I think its a beneficial idea to have contact with prospective advisers as it can help with admissions and also help you be ahead in finding the working relationships that you prefer.