<p>I am a rising senior at Rice University. I will get my BS in Physics in a year and I am looking at graduate schools in Physics/applied physics.</p>
<p>I'll admit I am confused on how graduate admissions works. How different is it from applying to undergrad?</p>
<p>My GPA is about a 3.5 which is low, I know, but it is Rice.
GRE scores will likely be pretty good.
My senior year will consist of some undergraduate research which will help.</p>
<p>But what other factors are important?
Recommendations?
The courses I took?
URM status (I am Hispanic)?</p>
<p>I prefer a medium size to bigger university in an urban setting (which is obviously good at physics).
Which of these schools are reaches/matches/etc.
UT
UIUC
Berkeley
Caltech
Stanford
MIT
Cornell</p>
<p>I imagine most are reaches for most, but can anyone give me an idea of how I stand or which schools I should add?</p>
<p>Am I a lost cause? Thanks.</p>
<p>Black_Iris... Being URM will be a big help... Line up some good rec's, especially from the professor you're doing research with... If you can publish your research even as a second or third author I would say you have a very good shot at all the top schools...</p>
<p>3.5 is low?? Is there some kind of massive grade inflation at Rice? 3.5 is not low at all especially if your applying for a masters</p>
<p>I am an undergraduate physics major as well, but a rising sophomore. How hard is it to get a 3.5 in physics?</p>
<p>You need psychotherapy before you go to grad school, if you think a 3.5 is low. Or are you saying that Rice grade inflation is even worse than Stanford's.</p>
<p><em>Wow</em> I suppose I had an ignorant view on GPA then. Rice definitely doesn't have grade inflation.</p>
<p>Getting a 3.5 is tough, but doesn't require having no fun either.</p>
<p>Black_iris, </p>
<p>Do you know what area of physics you're interested? I found that schools like specific statements of purpose (i.e. "I am interested in ... , particularly the research of Prof. X and Prof Y") </p>
<p>I think your GPA is fine. Will senior fall be your first time doing scientific research? If so, you may want to consider getting a job in a lab after senior year and then applying to grad school the following year as the top schools tend to like substantial research experience. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>It will be my first research, yea.</p>
<p>Also, do you know of any good websites that give a lot of info about graduate schools (basic info, acceptance rates, GRE scores, price, etc.) in one place?</p>
<p>The forum at <a href="http://www.thegradcafe.com%5B/url%5D">www.thegradcafe.com</a> is really very good - there's a good chance that you'll find some useful information there.</p>
<p>It can be quite difficult to find acceptance rates and average GRE scores for programs, which is not all that terrible because the information is somewhat useless. As long as you get a high enough score on the GRE to avoid a cutoff point, most schools will not care very much about your GRE scores beyond that point.</p>
<p>Most programs in science (well, PhD programs at least) do not cost anything; graduate students in the sciences are generally paid a stipend and full tuition remission.</p>
<p>Yeah, I agree with Mollie that stats of previous admittees are probably not very accesible or useful. The only school I recall giving out any info was UC Boulder which publishes average GRE scores of admitted students. </p>
<p>Your best bet is probably to talk to your professors. With their help, make a list of 10-15 schools and scour their websites for info. When I went through this process, I first focused on finding professors I was interested in working for. Schools where there were 3 or more faculty made my final list. As Mollie said PhDs are fully funded -- I didn't worry about the funding specifics until I was admitted. It can't hurt applying for fellowships through: NSF, NDSEG, etc. I believe there are also some specifically for URMs.</p>
<p>In response to your first inquiry about reaches/matches/safeties: grad school admissions is very unpredictable. I, for one, got in everywhere but my "safety". </p>
<p>If you want urban, why Cornell and UIUC ? I would think you would like Harvard, Columbia, etc. It's hard to suggest places without knowing your area of interest. For example, if you like optics, I would say you should add on U of Arizona, Rochester, UC Boulder, and University of Central Florida. String theory: Princeton, Harvard, UC Santa Barbra. Atomic: MIT, Havard, UC Boulder, UIUC, Yale, Stanford ...and I could go on and on.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>