Hi everyone,
I am new to this website, and hope that this is the right place to post my question. I would really appreciate anyone who is willing to read my situation and offer advice or blunt opinions on my chances.
Short:
University: Top 5 in world
GPA: Only a 3.1 overall and ~3.0 in major. Although this is a very terrible GPA, I am slowly improving through time and effort.
GRE: I have just taken general thus far, and scored about 90th percentile. Will definitely retake. Physics GRE expected to be around 800-850.
Research:
- One summer fellowship at a top-50 worldwide ranked university.
- One summer fellowship at my university with a very encouraging research professor. This led to a presentation at APS Meeting. We are also about to submit a publication (I would be second author) and might submit one more publication before I graduate. The professor frequently mentions that he will give me a very glowing recommendation letter.
- I am about to graduate one year early, and instead of fourth year undergrad I will be researching with a prestigious professor (one of best in his field) at top-25 international school.
Extracurriculars: I do some volunteer work. For what it’s worth, I also speak pretty solid Chinese for a non-Chinese.
Other Possible Factors:
- Female.
- Graduating university one year early
- Married. My husband is top student in his year with multiple publications and major awards; so if graduate schools evaluate spouses’ applications together that could potentially help me.
- At least one professor who is extremely supportive of me.
Obviously a top-tier university would be out of the question for me (unless they really want my husband and take me as a package deal), but would a second-tier university be plausible? Also, does anyone know how to de-emphasize my poor GPA?
Thank you so much for the help!
Graduate schools don’t care how long you take to graduate unless it’s egregious (more than 6 years full-time) so you graduating a year early isn’t necessarily a plus. In fact, it could be a minus - if I saw a student graduated in 3 years with a 3.0 GPA, I’d wonder whether they were busy rushing through the program and didn’t take the time to do well in their coursework. Graduate schools typically do not evaluate spouses’ applications together, as far as I know. With few exceptions, they’re not going to accept you just because they want him. (Academic jobs are a different story - spousal hires are definitely a thing.)
However, I would say that aside from your GPA you actually have a pretty competitive package - or rather, you will, once you do the year of research with this professor. One way to take the focus off a low GPA is to take some graduate-level classes and do well in them. So while you are at this other university doing research, could you also take some graduate-level physics classes as a non-degree student?
@juillet is providing good advice. Take some graduate courses and prove that you are able to handle that level of difficulty. Your GRE scores will help but your GPA is probably a bit low for the most selective physics programs, however the fact that you have done publishable research is a big plus.
The two body problem is a challenge. I presume that you are both in physics so you probably would do well to apply to the same programs but also to apply to programs in large metro areas where you might not get into the same school but you might both be accepted to programs in the area. Boston and Chicago come to mind as good examples. In all my years doing graduate admissions for the Illinois Tech physics program, there has only been one case where we have accepted two students who are clearly together (although not married).
Juillet and Xraymancs-- thank you both for the advice! It’s great to hear from people with admissions experience.
You make very good points about taking grad student classes-- actually the majority of my physics courses this year have been graduate student classes, but I will try to take some more as a non-degree student.
As for rushing through the program… well, you are not entirely wrong. At first I wasn’t certain whether physics was the right choice for me (I’m so slow compared to my classmates!) and I wanted to just finish and move on to a career where I could be more useful. As a result, I began studying intensely-- about 12-14 solid hours each day-- and actually began to really enjoy physics again, especially research. My main motivation in graduating early at this point is so that I can work for the world-class theorist mentioned earlier.
If you don’t mind my asking one more question-- do you think I have a decent shot at second tier schools? And is it reasonable to assume I will get into most third tier schools, or would my GPA be a problem for them also?
Not sure where the tiers split. Back when I was finishing my engineering undergrad, the department undergrad advisor gave a presentation where he gave the following general advice regarding GPA and grad school:
With a 3.5+ GPA, you should be looking at top-5 grad programs.
With a 3.2+ GPA, you should be looking at top-25 grad programs.
With a 2.9+ GPA, you should be looking at grad school but should not be picky about ranking.
I think physics GPAs trend a little bit higher, maybe 0.1-0.2, so I would say that based on GPA alone you should expect top-25 programs to be a reach, but as juillet noted you have a lot else working for you. I would apply to some top-25 programs, but wouldn’t bank on admission to them.
I just wanted to echo @xraymancs advice here. My wife and I were applying at the same time in very different fields, and limited our search to the few schools that were well regarded in both, as well as those areas and cities where appropriate programs were located acceptably close. I would suggest the same, as the only stories I have heard of “you and your spouse” admissions are at least several decades old.
Like @cosmicfish I am not sure exactly what second tier really is. I like to group programs as most highly selective and highly selective on down. The ones that you always think about are in the former group simply because there ae so many applicants that they can afford to triage based on GPA and GRE and they know that they won’t really be missing much if they only keep a few applicants in the final pool. I think that those programs will expect GPAs significantly higher than 3.5 in physics.
There are many really good programs which are not as selective and they could be just as good for you if you find the right advisor. I can tell you that the students who have done their Ph.D. with me all have found good positions even if my university would not even qualify as being in a “tier”.
Given your research experience and high GRE scores, i think you can definitely go for those highly selective schools but make sure you apply to a few which are not quite as selective too.
“actually the majority of my physics courses this year have been graduate student classes”
So what is your OVERALL UG GPA and major GPA countung only UG classes ?, without the graduate level classes.