<p>First things first: I am an international student who is considering putting UNC-CH (whether I will remove a school from my list or not for UNC-CH depends on the answer to the question below) on my physics PhD list, with (very?) early universe cosmology in mind. As information I often rely upon for chancing for UNC-CH, NC state schools are subject to an 18% OOS cap which, for undergrad, means that I have to check against Duke's standards for UNC-CH if the chancee is not a NC resident.</p>
<p>Here's my question: is the 18% OOS cap also applied to PhD student bodies?</p>
<p>I know for the MD program, the 18% OOS cap is very much in place, whereas for the MD/PhD program the 18% OOS cap does not exist (due to regulations from the NIH).</p>
<p>Those are the only two postgrad programs I know about though.</p>
<p>I knew that, for law school, UNC tries their hardest to get to the 82% limit (although unsuccessfully, because they currently sit at 70% in-state) but MD/PhD is distinct from a physics PhD. </p>
<p>Then again, if there is no OOS cap for the physics PhD program, then NSF regulations may very well be the cause.</p>
<p>They said that they usually enroll 12-15 PhD students yearly; are you saying it’s impossibly hard to recruit 10-12 yearly among NC residents who graduate with a physics degree? This would mean an average of 1 NC resident apiece from each NC public school (excluding Chapel Hill)…</p>
<p>Got an answer from a potential advisor at UNC-CH: the 18% cap is enforced on a campus-wide level… in which case PhD programs are given more leeway.</p>
<p>The vast majority of PhD students at UNC-CH are from outside NC.</p>
<p>"are you saying it’s impossibly hard to recruit 10-12 yearly among NC residents who graduate with a physics degree? This would mean an average of 1 NC resident apiece from each NC public school (excluding Chapel Hill)… "</p>
<p>At the standard of the current physics PhD program? Yes, it would be impossible. At UNC, the graduate students tend to be vastly more qualified and high-achieving than the undergrads. Many of your TAs went to Harvard or Princeton.</p>
<p>But I would have assumed that there would be strong institutional pressures to recruit high-achieving in-staters… to the point where there would be a discrepancy between what is asked from NC residents and out-of-staters in general (maybe not as significant as for undergrad but one such discrepancy would still exist). In my mind, the admissions committee would pick a well-qualified in-stater over an equally qualified out-of-stater. </p>
<p>If only I was a NC resident… Or do I stand a chance as an international student? I know it’s murky at best but here’s my profile for future reference:</p>
<p>Undergraduate GPA: 3.67
Graduate GPA: 3.80
Research experience: One year in theoretical particle cosmology (one publication under preparation as a co-author)
Physics GRE: 910 (87th percentile)
General GRE: V162 (89th percentile)/Q167 (95th percentile)/AW4.0 (54th percentile)
TOEFL iBT: 110 (although I feel I would get no extra push at 110 than at 95) R28, L30, S26, W26</p>
<p>No, at least in the academic phd programs I’m familiar with, admission is totally ‘blind’ - they are trying to get the best students. If a department is really strapped for cash, it might favor an in-stater, but that would be a desperate situation. All phd applications are a crapshoot, so just apply everywhere you’d consider going if admitted (and can afford to apply to).</p>