What tier PhD programs should I be looking into?

[ugrad_phys/math]

Hello all,

I am a third year physics and math major, and I would like to pursue a PhD in physics. I have experience working in 3 different research projects, but I do not have any publications. I do have a poster presentation and a research thesis completed. My GPA is a bit low ~3.4. I have also not yet taken the PGRE...

With this information I was hoping to get an idea of what schools/programs I could be looking into.

Thank you very much,
ugrad_phys/math

 

[Choppy]

Your first priority shouldn't be figuring out which "tier" of a program to apply to. Rather, it should be to figure out what sub-field you want to get into and what kind of project you would like to work on and where you want to go in the long term. Once you have an idea about this, you can make a short-list of schools that you'd like to apply to. As you research those, and talk to your professors (starting with the ones you've done research projects with) you should get an idea of what schools you have a higher probability of being admitted into - a much better idea than what we can give you based on an approximate GPA.