<p>I am a female sophomore physics major at San Francisco State, and I have applied as a transfer to four schools: UCLA, UCSD, UCB and CalPoly. I currently have a 3.97 GPA and plan to keep it that way. I think I have little chance of getting into UCB, but I have a slight hope for the others. I am also hoping to get accepted for a 10 week research opportunity this summer. </p>
<p>My question is: Will I have a better chance of getting into a top-tier (ivy league) graduate school if I transfer or if I stay at San Francisco State? I'm basically asking whether graduate committees look at school and GPA or just GPA or just school...?</p>
<p>Graduate programs look at the entire application, not simply where you got your degree. There are several things you need to do and you have to ask yourself if your current university is offering you those opportunities.</p>
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<li><p>Undergraduate research. You need to have significant research experience to get into top programs. This is also the way you get excellent letters of reference. You can do this through summer REUs if your university does not have a lot of opportunities.</p></li>
<li><p>Solid preparatory curriculum. Make sure that you have a full year of the basic upper level courses, Classical Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics, and E&M. The QM particularly prepares you for the Physics GRE.</p></li>
<li><p>Excellent GRE scores (including the Physics GRE) and grades. These are often given too much importance but at those programs where you are competing with many, many others, it is essential to have something which makes you stand out in the applicant pool.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>All that being said, don’t get fixated only on those few highly selective programs. They are hard to get into and if you really want to get a Ph.D. in physics, you need to look at other programs that have excellent faculty in the area you are most interested in even if they are not “top-20” programs. The bottom line in a Ph.D. is who your thesis advisor is. A well-regarded thesis advisor at a less well-known program can help get you a good position.</p>