<p>hmm they had good GREs. Seems in physics you need teh whole package- Good GRE/Good PGRE, good everything</p>
<p>how badly did he do though? Like lower than 60th percentile?</p>
<p>I know a Caltech student who had an AMAZING GPA and AMAZING research, and still got rejected nearly everywhere. </p>
<p>Also where did this Caltech student apply to? Probably top 10-20 programs.Knowing students from Caltech, they woudl expect to get a PhD at the best of the best. Well the best of the best want the whole package-grades, test scores and research experience.</p>
<p>Not really surprising</p>