GeoDUDE!

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I am not comfortable talking about what happened. It may not affect you.

Either situation will leave you with what ifs. Would you rather wonder about your love or your career.

I didn't think the physics GRE was tough, but long. I didnt finish and scored an 820 on it (75%), which was a bit disappointing from my standpoint. I thought the material on the exam was well below what was expected of me in most of my physics classes, and I came from a SLAC. If an applicant has stellar grades and their program does not require a subject test I think that applicant would be crazy to take it; It could only sink them. I think its a good idea for a fringe applicant to take it, and most applicants to PhD programs are; they have 3.2-3.6 GPAs (the upper end is good, but they arent solid 3.7-4.0). That's probably why its recommended. Furthermore, if a program isn’t used to evaluating the subject GRE ( which is often the case in earth sciences since there is no Geology GRE), it will be difficult for them to monitor what is a strong score: for example, a domestic student who scores 60%+ on the physics GRE is considered reasonably strong. I don’t think its so cut and dry in the Earth sciences and I would defer to asking your POI if you should take such an exam.

Social skils are also a big thing. People wanna accept people they like as people as much as they look good on paper. Having a fun lab is important. There are many factors.

Head of graduate admissions in the department, ie, the head of the adcom.

Either way, wait until the admissions season is over for everyone. They are busy, and less likely to respond now.

Funded.

It's still a bit early; wait until mid april before asking.

I didnt know that there was a restriction to where I could post, especially when its on the most recent post sidebar. That's fine, I'll shut up, I just think that wanting to know if the color of my skin or my gender gives me an advantage is a bit short sighted; Wouldn't you want it to be an even playing field, or at least one where one's abilities arent in question. Anyway, I'll shut up.

Am I the onlyone who finds this conversation completely obtuse?

Eric Ferre is awesome...

you can change schools before april 15th, even if you have formally accepted the offer.

I wish i did field camp... seems the seminal experience of geology majors. +/- of not studying geology in undergrad.

I only got rejected from one school(MIT).... went to an unranked geology dept for my masters.

I mean its very hard to be successful in graduate school when you are paying for it. Most people try to go in and finish as fast as possible, that never happens. Geophysicis is good in that it could lead to a reasonably paying job, but in my experience friends have taken 3-8 months to find a job after graduate school. If you are international, you are outta luck then because you have the very real possibility of being deported after you spent (or likely taken out loans) at least 50k on a degree because from my understanding you only have a 3 month grace period to find a job after you graduate. Its a huge risk. It took a graduate in my lab a about 15 interviews(maybe 60-70 applications) before he finally found a job, and that was after moving to houston. Thats not even counting the the stress of actually completing a degree. I suppose the one really good thing about self finance is that you dont have TA/RA responsibilities, but the stress of those jobs is far less then the stress of pinching pennies and worrying about rent. Every professor I have talked to has told me that if they really wanted me at a school they would find a way to finance me. I that is true.

A perfect physics gre along with 2 publications should net you admission into any program you desire unless your SOP/LOR are terrible. What kind of contact did you have with potential advisers during the application process? What was the impact factor of the journals you published in? I know people with far less than you that had no problem getting into multiple top 10 programs in physics; While its very competitive the dropoff after MIT/Caltech/Harvard is substantial and i'm surprised you are having trouble.

What is your pGRE ? Was your statement of purpose too general? Perhaps try atmospheric physics or geophysics if you like modeling. Have to talked to any of the professors you have considered working with? Do you know if those specific groups you were applying to were accepting students? Perhaps ask the programs why you were rejected? My feeling is your SOP sucked if you have this profile and cant get in.

I haven't rejected it yet; I am waiting to see what my POI says about funding and projects. URI was one of my top choices originally but quickly fell. I can still switch as long as its before april 15th. but yes, I will probably(99.999999%) be declining it.

I really caution any person in stem to go to graduate school if you have to self finance. It almost never works out the way you want it.

Friend got into OK and UT; i think those decisions are already out.

I got into University of Rhode Island today, oceanography (geophysics) but will decline since i've already accepted a spot elsewhere.

I think everyone should get a trophy.

The Physics GRE is reasonably difficult to complete; I studied for about 2 months and did well for a domestic student. I was a physics major

Iive in LA or Boston or NYC or SF ect.... the point of the GRF is that it enables you to choose where you go; its versitile. Any student capable of winning the GRF will be able to get into a good graduate school; enough funding is a different case.