Was this just a very difficult PhD cycle?

[Kowllszad]

Applied to 7(technically 8 since a program was willing to make a late extension for me) rejected by 3 so far for a theoretical physics PhD.

 

I was surprised that things were this cutthroat and I thought my stats were good ones:

 

My stats:

-GPA: 3.7

-Several years of research experience and having publication by the end of this semester(didn't have when applying)

-Have an internship in a national lab in the summer

-my GRE scores range from the 70th-90th percentile

-Presented my research at a national conference and won an award before

-Was a TA

and some other miscellaneous stuff like winning scholarships etc

 

I thought I had a good application, but no acceptances so far and only rejections. Similarly people who I thought had some amazing stats are getting rejected left and right. This is my first real PhD cycle and I was not expecting this at all. Is it supposed to be like this, or was this a year a particularly tough one?

[statsday]

same

Edited March 9, 2020 by statsday

[Titus Flavius]

I blame the coronavirus.

[cropop]

The stats are fine. The problem is, there's a lot of other applicants that will have similar/better stats (far more than the program will actually accept).

If you're not getting interviews at all (assuming interviews are common in the field), I would look into improving your PS/SOP (or whatever you had to write) because they're critical. You can also evaluate how good your recommendations are (I know you normally can't read them, but try to decide whether they'd be strong recommendations, whether the recommender was a good choice, etc.)

If interviews aren't common in that field, then you need to contact PIs well before applicant deadlines and develop relationships. You can do this anyway and it helps (but isn't required).

 

 

[Kowllszad]

1 hour ago, cropop said:

The stats are fine. The problem is, there's a lot of other applicants that will have similar/better stats (far more than the program will actually accept).

If you're not getting interviews at all (assuming interviews are common in the field), I would look into improving your PS/SOP (or whatever you had to write) because they're critical. You can also evaluate how good your recommendations are (I know you normally can't read them, but try to decide whether they'd be strong recommendations, whether the recommender was a good choice, etc.)

If interviews aren't common in that field, then you need to contact PIs well before applicant deadlines and develop relationships. You can do this anyway and it helps (but isn't required).

 

My SOP was looked over by my professors and they said it was fine. I think it may just be the field I'm in. Theoretical physics tends to not get much funding, especially compared to experimental and along with that I applied to top tier schools that got like 800 candidates. If I don't get in this cycle, I'll try again next cycle. I think with actually having a publication under my belt and a rec letter from a national lab can help a lot, and I'll learn from my previous mistake and apply to much smaller schools too.