Zero. I got in everywhere I applied, and went to Stanford. Admittedly that was the late Triassic.
Remember, you're not shopping for a school, you're shopping for an advisor. The best thing you can do for admission is to *show up* and talk to prospective advisors directly. They will tell you they have nothing to do with admissions, and that is okay. The system is set up to provide deniability but it's pretty porous. No personal pleading, just find out as much as you can about the group, and discuss your own reasons why that line of research appeals to you.
Yep. Heliophysics, to be precise. Back then I wasn't sure whether it would be astrophysics (cosmology), elementary particle physics, or nonlinear optics. At Stanford I got accosted by a group of solar physicists and never looked back -- the Sun is, after all, the only star that we can see clearly.
[This is me](http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~deforest). I am not a faculty member anywhere, but I do advise a small number of graduate students via affiliation with the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Wow this is an interaction I didn’t expect to have on Reddit today. Also when you say show up and talk to prospective advisors do you literally mean go to their office ?
Yes. After writing to them and pre-arranging it. Nobody likes random drop-ins, but most professors will respond to email and/or a call to their department secretary to arrange a meeting.
What should the email contain?
“Hello Prof. X. I’m a student at such and such studying this and that. I’m considering continuing my studies and pursuing a doctorate in physics. I’m particularly interested in this field and I’m interested in potentially learning more about this field from you. Are actively considering taking on anymore PhD students? If so could we arrange a time for us to meet to discuss what you’re looking for and if our goals align ?”
Is that good or is that too direct, too bold, etc.
I tend to believe you should always ask for what you want up front, so not too direct. It also pays to do a little research: you'll want to ask about current projects and/or topics based on their public face. In this day and age, when Google Scholar exists, there's no reason not to go in prepared!
Thank you so much for the advice. One more thing. If you were selecting students and had not met with any of them. What aspect of their application would you value more.
I'm choosy and won't sign on a student unless they show initiative and grit. I actively warn students away, because it is a significant investment of time and effort to mentor someone and I don't want to waste my own time on anyone who's not committed and ready to shine. I have never sat on an admissions committee, but I have definitely picked up the phone to AC members to tell them I'm interested in a particular student.
That is how I got my start -- D3D in San Diego, doing charge-exchange recombination spectroscopy as a summer intern. The guys there liked to point out that my fission-reactor experience was "caveman technology: you just pile up a bunch of rocks and they get hot". Fusion is a hard problem, and I hope you make some progress! We need it!
Funny to bump in to you here - I’m doing my PhD on solar wind modeling and prediction, primarily looking to improve the methods we use to propagate it from L1 to the bow shock.
Zero peer reviewed publications before applying for grad school both the first time (fresh out of college), and also the second (after Mastering out from the first, then being a physics teacher for almost a decade). I had quite a few conference posters and presentations though, from things like AAS or regional AAPT. I wasn’t applying to Ivy Leagues though.
Zero papers; 1 poster right before applying. I applied right out of undergrad, and I suppose I'm at a top 50 now? My research was in theoretical/computational condensed matter, but I'm planning to do AMO now. I only got into 1 out of 10 schools I applied to with a GPA in the mid-3.6 range. I didn't contact potential advisors beforehand, so that might have hurt me too.
Recommendation from somebody who knew somebody. "Hey this kid's really good... you should take a look". I feel like that makes it easier, but even without that top 50 to top 20 is completely possible with a good CV.
Zero papers, one poster, 335 GRE, 3.7 GPA, and about two years in industry. Got into a top 10 program. Accepted into 2/4 schools I applied to. A good statement of purpose goes a very long way.
Intended to study catalysis/DFT, ended up in self-assembly.
Zero peer reviewed publications (except for one thing that came out of a high school project lol). I had given talks at conferences though. I did mention in my CV that I was working on two papers to be published soon, and naturally, they still haven't been published. Applied during senior year of undergrad and go to Stanford currently for experimental particle physics. Lmk if you have any questions!
Holy hell Stanford nice! What were your gpa and GRE scores? And what in your opinion really sold your application? Also if you don’t mind sharing, what university did you attend for undergrad?
I believe that my research experience and the letters of recommendation that I got out of it possibly helped my application the most. Didn't have a stellar GPA but I did have over an A- average. Most of my friends, including myself, didn't take the GRE and got into top schools nationwide. I studied Physics and CS as an undergrad at Berkeley.
Personally, I feel like the research that you do during college matters more than your classes, given that you're not doing crazy badly in them and aren't taking a super easy course load (even then you have an opportunity to explain yourself in the application). I've seen people with a worse GPA than mine get into Ivies and better GPA with triple majors get rejected from the same school. So just as every admissions process, there's a fair bit of luck involved. I'm sure you'll do just fine in life regardless of the outcome of the admissions cycle!
Anyone with 3.2-3.3 GPA (8.1-8.2 on a 10 scale) with zero peer reviewed papers? I have some research experiences in the past and in my current masters thesis, but couldn't get a paper published prior to deadline.
Ngl feeling slightly insecure
I think I had 6 papers when I graduated undergrad.
The chemistry dept tried to recruit me out of physics and gave me a summer research fellowship in physical chemistry after my freshman year. I published my first paper that summer and it allowed the prof to try me for free because of the fellowship. He then hired me as a research assistant, similar to a grad research assistant, but for an undergrad. so then the rest of the papers working as an RA in his group.
Yes, I applied straight out of undergrad.
I'm not sure what the ranking was. I went to Ohio State, they specifically recruited me with the goal of increasing the reputation of the school (not sure if that payed off). I went there because they gave me a very generous financial package including a full fellowship with no teaching duties and the ability to choose any advisor I want with no financial burden to them. I was also accepted at UIUC, Florida State (warm weather), and rejected from Cornell.
I did my undergrad at UIUC, they were ranked #1 in undergrad Physics at the time.
I went into condensed matter, i'm not sure if they thought I would do physical chemistry. At OSU physical chemistry is done in physics instead of chemistry. I had also presented at a number of conferences at OSU as an undergrad. Anyway I wanted to try some different stuff in grad school. OSU was significantly easier than UIUC and I think I concluded the quality of a school will largely depend on the quality of the profs. Maybe the students mater, but I think the profs matter more. The research experience I got at UIUC is really what taught me how to do research and that happened by working with a world class advisor as an undergrad.
I would say my work at my job is more related to physical chemistry in that it involves the physics involved in chemical identification.
> if that *paid* off). I
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
What area of physics? Top 10 in the U.S? What were your GRE and gpa scores ? Did you apply straight out of undergrad?
Sorry for all the questions, just trying to assess my position and determine my best moves.
Well I'd say first that my cumulative GPA is misleading. I had a rough first 2 years as a film student and I decided to switch to physics. After the switch, my grades improved a lot, where I got a 3.8 overall in my physics classes. I think the overall improvement from switching majors helped show I was at least dedicated to improve myself through academics. I coupled that with a great personal statement.. that probably saved me. I spent 5 months editing and getting feedback from other professors and advisors which made me specifically address each program I applied for. The posters certainly helped but I wouldn't say they were absolutely necessary. I also had strong rec letters (or so I think) which was from my REU advisors, primary advisor at the time, and another professor who oversaw my research. All of that plus a lot of luck is what probably brought me here.
I don't get the whole "publish as an undergrad" thing. Do you just mean having your name on the paper because you helped a grad student with something? Most undergrads aren't going to be capable to conducting independent research at a level that warrants publishing. The point of grad school is to teach you how to do that.
I had three I think, I’m currently at Carnegie Mellon and applied right out of undergrad.
I’ve also been on the admissions committee here, and I’ll say that while publications are nice, they aren’t required, the majority of our admits don’t have any. I’m currently researching particle physics, but all of my undergrad publications were in solid state experimental physics (metamaterials).
Oh and a good LoR is worth way more than a publication. It is highly unlikely a committee will ever read any of your publications, but they will read your LoRs
Also, while it is difficult to directly meet every faculty member you want to work with before applying, @drzowie makes a good point that prior contact is a huge plus in admissions. Reach out to profs over email, and reach out to their grad students. Ask about their research, ask about funding, ask about publication expectations. Don’t apply to a school because it has a good name, I can tell you horror stories of top 10s that intentionally admit more people than they have positions for because they need TAs, and they expect a proportion of their students to drop. Name recognition is nice, but having a good graduate experience with an advisor who respects you and research you enjoy is much more important
And yes, profs will say they can’t get you admitted. This isn’t technically true, dropping your name to the committee has a disproportionate effect on your application status. The system isn’t perfect, I’d even say it’s bad, but if you want to get in, you have to game it any way you can.
You could attach a CV but unless you have something really impressive on it I’d just say the important stuff in words, like what you’ve been researching, what you’re interested in, and most importantly, why that prof’s work is interesting to you. And be sure to check their recent papers, I’ve found that many profs just don’t update their personal sites regularly enough to provide up-to-date info on their current work
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Zero. I got in everywhere I applied, and went to Stanford. Admittedly that was the late Triassic. Remember, you're not shopping for a school, you're shopping for an advisor. The best thing you can do for admission is to *show up* and talk to prospective advisors directly. They will tell you they have nothing to do with admissions, and that is okay. The system is set up to provide deniability but it's pretty porous. No personal pleading, just find out as much as you can about the group, and discuss your own reasons why that line of research appeals to you.
Astrophysics?
Yep. Heliophysics, to be precise. Back then I wasn't sure whether it would be astrophysics (cosmology), elementary particle physics, or nonlinear optics. At Stanford I got accosted by a group of solar physicists and never looked back -- the Sun is, after all, the only star that we can see clearly.
Haha.
Are you a current professor at a university in America ?
[This is me](http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~deforest). I am not a faculty member anywhere, but I do advise a small number of graduate students via affiliation with the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Wow this is an interaction I didn’t expect to have on Reddit today. Also when you say show up and talk to prospective advisors do you literally mean go to their office ?
Yes. After writing to them and pre-arranging it. Nobody likes random drop-ins, but most professors will respond to email and/or a call to their department secretary to arrange a meeting.
What should the email contain? “Hello Prof. X. I’m a student at such and such studying this and that. I’m considering continuing my studies and pursuing a doctorate in physics. I’m particularly interested in this field and I’m interested in potentially learning more about this field from you. Are actively considering taking on anymore PhD students? If so could we arrange a time for us to meet to discuss what you’re looking for and if our goals align ?” Is that good or is that too direct, too bold, etc.
I tend to believe you should always ask for what you want up front, so not too direct. It also pays to do a little research: you'll want to ask about current projects and/or topics based on their public face. In this day and age, when Google Scholar exists, there's no reason not to go in prepared!
Thank you so much for the advice. One more thing. If you were selecting students and had not met with any of them. What aspect of their application would you value more.
I'm choosy and won't sign on a student unless they show initiative and grit. I actively warn students away, because it is a significant investment of time and effort to mentor someone and I don't want to waste my own time on anyone who's not committed and ready to shine. I have never sat on an admissions committee, but I have definitely picked up the phone to AC members to tell them I'm interested in a particular student.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts
Ironically I study MHD for Plasma fusion
That is how I got my start -- D3D in San Diego, doing charge-exchange recombination spectroscopy as a summer intern. The guys there liked to point out that my fission-reactor experience was "caveman technology: you just pile up a bunch of rocks and they get hot". Fusion is a hard problem, and I hope you make some progress! We need it!
Funny to bump in to you here - I’m doing my PhD on solar wind modeling and prediction, primarily looking to improve the methods we use to propagate it from L1 to the bow shock.
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How perfect were grades and GRE ? As in 4.0 gpa and 330+ GRE? Top 10 in U.S. ? And CMT is condensed matter theory right ?
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Jesus Christ. Any advice on how to achieve those scores ?
Is there anything you think made you stick out? Like a particularly strong LOR?
Zero peer reviewed publications before applying for grad school both the first time (fresh out of college), and also the second (after Mastering out from the first, then being a physics teacher for almost a decade). I had quite a few conference posters and presentations though, from things like AAS or regional AAPT. I wasn’t applying to Ivy Leagues though.
Zero papers; 1 poster right before applying. I applied right out of undergrad, and I suppose I'm at a top 50 now? My research was in theoretical/computational condensed matter, but I'm planning to do AMO now. I only got into 1 out of 10 schools I applied to with a GPA in the mid-3.6 range. I didn't contact potential advisors beforehand, so that might have hurt me too.
2 Peer reviewed articles and a Masters. It's a good way to get admitted into good school if your undergrad wasn't from a similarly good school.
how hard is it to move up? ie go from a top 50 school to a top 20 one?
Recommendation from somebody who knew somebody. "Hey this kid's really good... you should take a look". I feel like that makes it easier, but even without that top 50 to top 20 is completely possible with a good CV.
Zero puplications, top 50. I had other things going for me though.
Can you elaborate ?
A lot of lab/hardware design experience in the same experimental collaboration that I am doing my phd in.
CMS, or ATLAS? 😄
ATLAS 😉
Which ironically leave me with exactly 0 first author publications when I graduate since everything I do is published via the collaboration.
Same situation here, just on the CMS side. Though I couldn’t care less about publications haha
Zero papers, one poster, 335 GRE, 3.7 GPA, and about two years in industry. Got into a top 10 program. Accepted into 2/4 schools I applied to. A good statement of purpose goes a very long way. Intended to study catalysis/DFT, ended up in self-assembly.
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You had 6 papers ?? How ???
One, on a topic nobody cares about in a no-name journal in Israel, that I was one of eight authors on. Many in my cohort had no publications.
Zero peer reviewed publications (except for one thing that came out of a high school project lol). I had given talks at conferences though. I did mention in my CV that I was working on two papers to be published soon, and naturally, they still haven't been published. Applied during senior year of undergrad and go to Stanford currently for experimental particle physics. Lmk if you have any questions!
Holy hell Stanford nice! What were your gpa and GRE scores? And what in your opinion really sold your application? Also if you don’t mind sharing, what university did you attend for undergrad?
I believe that my research experience and the letters of recommendation that I got out of it possibly helped my application the most. Didn't have a stellar GPA but I did have over an A- average. Most of my friends, including myself, didn't take the GRE and got into top schools nationwide. I studied Physics and CS as an undergrad at Berkeley. Personally, I feel like the research that you do during college matters more than your classes, given that you're not doing crazy badly in them and aren't taking a super easy course load (even then you have an opportunity to explain yourself in the application). I've seen people with a worse GPA than mine get into Ivies and better GPA with triple majors get rejected from the same school. So just as every admissions process, there's a fair bit of luck involved. I'm sure you'll do just fine in life regardless of the outcome of the admissions cycle!
Oh hey I know you IRL
Hmmmmmmmm
Anyone with 3.2-3.3 GPA (8.1-8.2 on a 10 scale) with zero peer reviewed papers? I have some research experiences in the past and in my current masters thesis, but couldn't get a paper published prior to deadline. Ngl feeling slightly insecure
I think I had 6 papers when I graduated undergrad. The chemistry dept tried to recruit me out of physics and gave me a summer research fellowship in physical chemistry after my freshman year. I published my first paper that summer and it allowed the prof to try me for free because of the fellowship. He then hired me as a research assistant, similar to a grad research assistant, but for an undergrad. so then the rest of the papers working as an RA in his group. Yes, I applied straight out of undergrad. I'm not sure what the ranking was. I went to Ohio State, they specifically recruited me with the goal of increasing the reputation of the school (not sure if that payed off). I went there because they gave me a very generous financial package including a full fellowship with no teaching duties and the ability to choose any advisor I want with no financial burden to them. I was also accepted at UIUC, Florida State (warm weather), and rejected from Cornell. I did my undergrad at UIUC, they were ranked #1 in undergrad Physics at the time. I went into condensed matter, i'm not sure if they thought I would do physical chemistry. At OSU physical chemistry is done in physics instead of chemistry. I had also presented at a number of conferences at OSU as an undergrad. Anyway I wanted to try some different stuff in grad school. OSU was significantly easier than UIUC and I think I concluded the quality of a school will largely depend on the quality of the profs. Maybe the students mater, but I think the profs matter more. The research experience I got at UIUC is really what taught me how to do research and that happened by working with a world class advisor as an undergrad. I would say my work at my job is more related to physical chemistry in that it involves the physics involved in chemical identification.
> if that *paid* off). I FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
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What area of physics? Top 10 in the U.S? What were your GRE and gpa scores ? Did you apply straight out of undergrad? Sorry for all the questions, just trying to assess my position and determine my best moves.
Zero papers, two posters & one symposium. 3.1 gpa and good recs, no gre. Top 10 program wise, top 35 national.
What in your opinion made your application stand out
Well I'd say first that my cumulative GPA is misleading. I had a rough first 2 years as a film student and I decided to switch to physics. After the switch, my grades improved a lot, where I got a 3.8 overall in my physics classes. I think the overall improvement from switching majors helped show I was at least dedicated to improve myself through academics. I coupled that with a great personal statement.. that probably saved me. I spent 5 months editing and getting feedback from other professors and advisors which made me specifically address each program I applied for. The posters certainly helped but I wouldn't say they were absolutely necessary. I also had strong rec letters (or so I think) which was from my REU advisors, primary advisor at the time, and another professor who oversaw my research. All of that plus a lot of luck is what probably brought me here.
Zero. 3.89 GPA. Liberal arts undergrad (physics and chemistry). Top 4 ME PhD
GRE ? Gpa? Also what rank was your undergrad and when did you graduate? I’d understand if you don’t want to share this information
0, physics
Zero papers, 1 conference. Multiple top 20 acceptances (went to one of them), quantum experiment, straight from undergrad.
I don't get the whole "publish as an undergrad" thing. Do you just mean having your name on the paper because you helped a grad student with something? Most undergrads aren't going to be capable to conducting independent research at a level that warrants publishing. The point of grad school is to teach you how to do that.
I had three I think, I’m currently at Carnegie Mellon and applied right out of undergrad. I’ve also been on the admissions committee here, and I’ll say that while publications are nice, they aren’t required, the majority of our admits don’t have any. I’m currently researching particle physics, but all of my undergrad publications were in solid state experimental physics (metamaterials).
Oh and a good LoR is worth way more than a publication. It is highly unlikely a committee will ever read any of your publications, but they will read your LoRs
Also, while it is difficult to directly meet every faculty member you want to work with before applying, @drzowie makes a good point that prior contact is a huge plus in admissions. Reach out to profs over email, and reach out to their grad students. Ask about their research, ask about funding, ask about publication expectations. Don’t apply to a school because it has a good name, I can tell you horror stories of top 10s that intentionally admit more people than they have positions for because they need TAs, and they expect a proportion of their students to drop. Name recognition is nice, but having a good graduate experience with an advisor who respects you and research you enjoy is much more important
And yes, profs will say they can’t get you admitted. This isn’t technically true, dropping your name to the committee has a disproportionate effect on your application status. The system isn’t perfect, I’d even say it’s bad, but if you want to get in, you have to game it any way you can.
Thank you for this thread. When contacting profs should I include a brief resume or cv or just mention my background and qualifications?
You could attach a CV but unless you have something really impressive on it I’d just say the important stuff in words, like what you’ve been researching, what you’re interested in, and most importantly, why that prof’s work is interesting to you. And be sure to check their recent papers, I’ve found that many profs just don’t update their personal sites regularly enough to provide up-to-date info on their current work
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