toomboola

Undergrad Institution: Small Liberal Arts College; virtually unknown for sciences Major(s): Physics Minor(s): Mathematics GPA in Major: 3.92 Overall GPA: 3.89 Length of Degree: 4 years Position in Class: top Type of Student: Domestic asian female GRE Scores: Q: 168 V: 161 W: 4 Research Experience: 2 REUs, one in renewable energy materials science at Colorado School of Mines and one in piezoelectric thin films at Penn State. 1 semester of experimental research on high-Tc superconductors with the only experimental condensed matter physics professor in my department. Penn State REU counted the most because I worked with a good group and PI. No pubs or presentations. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Service prize in physics (2 years in a row); Presidential Scholarship (based on a sophomore level research proposal); 4-year merit scholarship given by university. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: President of my college's SPS chapter. I wrote a grant requesting the society of physics students to fund the construction of a cloud chamber at my college, and led a working group to complete the project. Supplemental instructor and homework grader in physics/math for 3 years. Worked a bit for the college webmaster. Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I took a MSE course at Johns Hopkins (down the road from my college). I also spent a lot of time on my personal statements, but overall my Penn State REU was the most important when it came to getting into the schools I got into because the professor is well-known and was happy with the work I did for her. I wanted to post my results to encourage people like me who come from "unknown" schools with virtually zero research opportunities at their home institution. You can still make it into top PhD programs! Work hard, network, and never give up! Applying for PhD at: Penn State - MSE - Accepted - 12/9/2015 - 32K for the first year and 28K for second Maryland College Park - MSE - Accepted - 12/24/2015 - 30K for the first year Carnegie Mellon - MSE - Accepted - 2/9/2015 - 25K for the first year MIT - MSE - Rejected Princeton - EE - Rejected Harvard - Applied Physics - Northwestern - MSE - Northeastern - EE -