Personal Question regarding Admission Competitiveness of Good Grad Physics Program

[Coatdumid]

Hello,

In my freshmen year, I did not study hard or provide myself with the proper motivation to do well. I poorly in my science classes (which composed of two biology class, general chemistry, and Calc II - no Physics) and got a 2.5 GPA as a result. My non science classes were all B's and A's that year. I then switched from Biology to Physics and took the appropriate physics, electives, and upper-level math courses during my Sophomore and Junior year. I buckled down and literally only got A's in these class and expect to do so again this upcoming semester. Due to my first year, my current GPA is 3.48 and I expect it to rise to 3.51/3.52. I have good extracurriculars, above average GRE General and Physics scores, and lab experience. Do I stand a chance against all the other applicants who didn't have a terrible first year as I had?

I know it is never certain and more specifics could be stated, but I just want to know if there are people with similar freshmen years such as myself who still were accepted into good physics programs. You can ask more questions if you wish. I thanks you for any advice given.

[SymmetryOfImperfection]

Don't worry about it. Your GPA is fine, but grad admissions are a dice roll for top 20 schools.

Edited July 27, 2012 by SymmetryOfImperfection

[TakeruK]

Although many applications will ask you to fill in a box for your cumulative GPA, I don't think that number is taken very seriously. It may be used to weed out people with, say, < 3.0GPA (or maybe higher at more competitive schools), but from talking with profs after the admissions process, it really seems like they will actually look at your transcript. Some schools will weigh the upper level courses a lot more, and not even care about non major courses. So having all As and better in the last 3 years should make you much more competitive.

It also depends on what you mean by "good" grad school. If you have strong research experience, then your profile is good enough, in my opinion, to make it worthwhile to apply to all the top programs that interest you, but like SymmetryOfImperfection says, it's very stochastic. Make sure you apply to a good range of schools so that you don't aim too high or sell yourself short!