Saftey and reach schools

[LopeyTall]

Hi all,

 

I am applying to a physics PhD program this winter and would like some advice on where to apply based on my profile, i.e. how qualified am I.
I feel my profile is strong, but my pGRE scores are abysmal.
My profile is as follows:

Rising senior at very very small liberal arts school Ursinus College
Domestic white male
Major: Physics and Mathematics double major
GPA: 3.93
Kappa Mu Epsilon (national mathematics honors society)
Cub and Key Society (on-campus honors society)
**Our department does Sigma Pi Sigma (physics honors) at the end of senior year... boo**

Research Assistant at home uni August 2016 - Present
• Working under PROFESSOR NAME conducting atomic physics concerning quantum control of highly excited atoms exploring new avenues of experiment and simulation for future research as well as improving analytical programs to aid in research
• Author on paper submitted to Physical Review Letters titled PAPER TITLE
• Presented research at American Physical Society’s Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 49th annual meeting in Ft. Lauderdale, FL
• Presented research at American Physical Society’s Division of Laser Science 33rd annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
** Will be working towards an honors thesis this upcoming year**

Research Assistant through NSF REU experience May 2018 - August 2018
• Worked under PROFESSOR NAME in AdS/CFT and its applications to high temperature superconductors
** Just started this so pardon the lack of info**

Summer Fellows Research Assistant at home uni May 2017 - July 2017
• Worked under PROFESSOR NAME conducting atomic physics concerning quantum control of highly excited atoms by improving upon simulation to better model experimental capacities as well as examining potential improvements to parameters of the algorithm used
• Presented research at an end-of-fellowship symposium and published results through Ursinus College’s archive, UC Digital Commons
• Presented research at American Physical Society’s Division of Laser Science 33rd annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Help Room Tutor August 2016 - Present
• Running a weekly help room focusing on new difficult concepts, homework difficulties, and test preparation

Teaching Assistant August 2016 - May 2018
• Set up, completion, and analysis of introductory physics labs as well as assisting students perform these experiments and analyze their results

Extracurricular

 

**Currently applying for NSF GRFP and Fulbright Open Study**

President of Society of Physics Students – extracurricular physics, mathematics, and computer science

Former President of Ursinus College Active Minds – a club on campus working to break down the stigma of mental health illness

Kemper Scholar of 2019 class (declined to pursue physics research) – 3-year scholarship awarded to freshman pursuing business; includes 2 internships, $3000-$10000 annually, and career coaching

Publications
• **PAPER TITLE (submitted to PRL)**
• **Invited poster at DAMOP poster **
• Bennett, Jason and Choice, Kevin, “POSTER TITLE” (2017). Invited poster at 33rd Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Laser Science (Collocated with Frontiers in Optics) 2017, Washington, D.C., September 17-21, 2017.
• Bennett, Jason and Choice, Kevin, "PAPER TITLE" (2017). Physics and Astronomy Summer Fellows. 12.
http://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/physics_astro_sum/12

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Now onto the blemish...

I took the pGRE in April to test the waters. I had breezed through Conquering the pGRE very briefly over spring break (about a ten day bit of studying a month prior to the exam) and got a 3% percentile.... Yeah. I have since raised this about 100/150 points with more intensive studying this summer while I'm not at work for my REU. I am 2/6 practice tests down, and I'm worried I wont improve enough to make this just a weak point of my resume and not a glaring blemish!
I haven't taken the regular GRE yet but my first free diagnostic test from ETS PowerPrep was 156 Verbal 160 Quant and 5 AW. I'm confident I can get this up to around 160/165/5 by September. I did very well on the SAT and this is similar.

__________________________________________________________________

My question is, where should I apply!?! 

I have a grad school spreadsheet in Excel with some places that have cool research, but I am oblivious as to if this list is too ambitious or I'm being to hard on my self and should shoot for a few more around or above the 20 US News rank! I also need to cut some of these schools... application fees are real...
The list currently is as follows, with the name of the school followed by US News rank:

University of Washington 22
Penn State University 25
Duke University 28
Brown University 35
Boston University 37
NYU 37
University of California Santa Cruz 37
University of Rochester 44
University of Virginia 44
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill 47
University Of Pittsburgh 47
North Carolina State University 52
Northeastern University 56
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 56
University of Massachusetts Amherst 56
University of Oregon 56
Brandeis University 61
Case Western University 61
Dartmouth College 61
University of Southern California 61
Virginia Tech 61
Syracuse University 69
College of William and Mary 71
University of Connecticut 71
Tufts University 83
Lehigh University 100
Tulane University 100
Bryn Mawr College Not ranked"