Graduate schools that are easy to get in to...?

[cadogan]

I have a B.Sc. degree in Physics (3 years) and I was wondering if it would be possible to get in to any graduate school (in the US) with my present situation

 

GPA : 3.05

GRE : 150 Verbal, 155 Quantitative

GRE PHYSICS : Nill (too late to be taken now)

 

Do you folks know of any Universities which I may have a chance with?

[TakeruK]

I can't help you with the exact question you have now, which sounds like you are interested in schools that will still accept students for a Fall 2014 start? I know that they exist but I don't know about them since most North American programs admitted students for Fall 2014 back in April 2014 or so.

 

However, it's almost time for the Fall 2015 application season to open, would you consider also applying for Fall 2015 start? For Physics, deadlines tend to be around December 2014 for Fall 2015 starts. You can write the Physics GRE in Fall of this year. 

 

One additional thing is that most North American schools have 4 year undergraduate programs so having a 3 year BSc degree is something many schools may be worried about. To increase your chances, one way to mitigate this would be to spend the 2014-2015 year doing research if possible and scoring high on the Physics GRE. Or, if you can find a way to enter a Masters program first to show that you can handle the coursework but this might not be a good idea if you don't get into a funded program.

 

Just some thoughts!

[cadogan]

Say, are private colleges easier than than public ones? Also, aren't there admissions during the winter term (2014) or spring(2015)?

Edited July 4, 2014 by cadogan

[TakeruK]

Yes, some programs do admit in the winter or spring term. Not very many though and it's more of an exception than a rule. The few people I know who started in Winter/Spring are those who were actually admitted for Fall but then had to defer for a semester for one reason or another. Physics programs tend to not be very large, even at big schools, and what I have experienced is that courses may be offered only once per year or every 2 (or 3) years, so missing a semester might put you way off the normal course progression. 

 

However, you should still continue to look for programs that admit in the Spring/Winter! 

 

To answer your other question--private colleges could be easier than public colleges for international students. At public colleges, international students pay the non-resident tuition for their entire degree. The department/supervisor usually grants a tuition waiver, but this can cost them around $30,000 to $50,000 per year. A domestic student's tuition may be in the $10,000 to $20,000 per year range. So, due to the extra cost of an international student, public schools sometimes are more picky when selecting international students. However, at most private schools, tuition for both Americans and international students are the same, so this isn't an issue.

 

So, if you do not have American citizenship, you might find it easier to get into a private school than a public school, assuming both schools have roughly the same standards of admission. I applied to several schools in California of roughly the same ranking and got rejected from all the slightly lower ranked public ones but accepted at the higher ranked private one.

 

In general though, I think most private schools tend to compete with the higher ranked public schools and these big programs usually only admit in the Fall. I should add that very few Physics schools will even admit you without a Physics GRE so when combined with Spring/Winter admits, your list could be really narrow.

 

My advice is that you should still keep looking but study for and plan on taking the Physics GRE this fall (registration should start soon) and apply for Fall 2015 admit this winter as well, just in case (assuming that grad school is a high priority goal for you).

 

Finally, I think a really useful resource is another forum site like this one, but specifically for Physics students: http://www.physicsgre.com/

 

You should take a look at the applicant profile threads (they go back many years): e.g. http://www.physicsgre.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5203 (last year's applicants). You can see the scores/GPAs that people have and what schools they applied to and their results. Keep in mind that the people that post their profiles are not a representative sample of graduate school applicants--students who are high achievers are the ones that tend to post their results, but you can still see approximately what kinds of scores get accepted/rejected from various schools.

[cadogan]

Thank you for your time. That was a very nice reply indeed. As you've mentioned, the list is going to be very short for me, and I have no idea where to start or how to start forming that list. Should I just lookup private colleges that offers physics which also turns out to have admissions this winter and doesn't require pgre (sigh...) OR should I prepare for pgre and skip a year (admissions for 2015 fall), which I beleive might get a bit stressful.

Edited July 5, 2014 by cadogan

[geographyrocks]

I am assuming that you are funding your own education as spring admissions generally don't come with funding. If that is so, are you prepared to pay the $30,000-$50,000 per year that private schools generally charge?

I was accepted with partial (half) funding at one private university and it would still have cost me over $20,000 a semester.

Edited July 5, 2014 by geographyrocks

[DerpTastic]

Personally I would wait. For mainly the reasons others stated above. The list of schools you can apply to will be extremely short and limited. You're looking only at schools that accept in spring and don't require the PGRE. Your gpa isn't stellar, and funding isn't generally given for spring admissions.

 

I would study for the PGRE, maybe retake the general (you probably want a 160 quant score), and aim to apply for next year. It'll really open up so many options, plus will open up the possibility of funding!

[TakeruK]

Thank you for your time. That was a very nice reply indeed. As you've mentioned, the list is going to be very short for me, and I have no idea where to start or how to start forming that list. Should I just lookup private colleges that offers physics which also turns out to have admissions this winter and doesn't require pgre (sigh...) OR should I prepare for pgre and skip a year (admissions for 2015 fall), which I beleive might get a bit stressful.

 

It's up to you what you want to do but I agree with everyone else that your opportunities are severely limited if you apply to schools that do not require the PGRE and will accept you for Spring. Not to mention the high cost of unfunded programs. 

 

Note that applying for 2015 Fall isn't really skipping a year and some people who intended to apply for Fall 2015 all along are already starting the applications now. You need to get these applications submitted around December 2014. You probably already know that the PGRE is only offered 3 times a year, so you have to write it during the two fall dates! This gives you about 2-3 months to study, which is probably an ideal time. I think this really is the best way forward if you know you want to get into a physics PhD program and are willing to spend the time and money for applications to do so.

 

Ultimately, it's up to you, but I would think you are better off submitting well prepared Fall 2015 applications this December than to rush and submit incomplete (i.e. no PGRE score) applications to the tiny portion of schools that will accept both no-PGRE and a spring admission.

[DerpTastic]

Now that I think about it, I think I had started studying for the PGRE right around this time last year, and took it twice in the fall. 

[GeoDUDE!]

A version of this book: http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Physics-A-Calculus-Based-Text/dp/1133104266 is very good for the physics GRE. 

 

I found the depth of the questions on the pGRE to be in line with many of the intermediate problems in that book. Its expensive, but perhaps you can find a used earlier version for much cheaper.

[cadogan]

Thank you folks. Does the PGRE require only months to prepare? Isn't it quite difficult?

[TakeruK]

Thank you folks. Does the PGRE require only months to prepare? Isn't it quite difficult?

 

It depends on the student and their target score. I wrote it twice. The first time, I started to study about a month before and then decided to not apply to US schools and didn't study any further. However, I forgot exactly why but I wrote the test anyways (maybe it was because I wanted a trial run or maybe because it was too late to get my money back) and scored 640 (44th percentile or something like that). The second time around, 2 years later, I spent probably around 4 hours per week for 8-12 weeks and it didn't do much more for me. I scored 690 (53rd percentile). When I had applied to PhD programs, there was no "ScoreSelect" so schools saw both of my scores. I applied to only "physics-derivative" fields, like Astro and Planetary Science, so the PGRE isn't as high (my target score was 750 but oh well). I got into top programs in both Astro (more physics oriented) and Planetary Science (less physics oriented) programs without any real issues despite both of my scores.

 

So, I think if I was a little better at taking multiple choice time limited physics tests, 2-3 months should have been enough time for me to score something like 750. I know a lot of other students who are really good at physics / test taking and studied a lot more (according to their reports, about 10 hours per week for 2-3 months) and they scored in the 900 range. 

 

Personally, I don't think it is a good investment of time to spend more than 2-3 months to prepare for the PGRE. But how much time per week is also important. I think 4 hours or so per week is probably a good minimum (I had a Masters program to finish too!) but probably not enough to score very high unless you are very good at the physics GRE. But probably better to spend say 10 hours per week for 2-3 months than 5 hours per week for 4-6 months, in my opinion. 

[cadogan]

Thankyou folks, for your kind replies. I couldn't help but worry about the pgre's influence during admission. Say, someone like me - with an average gpa, average gre scores and not so reputed undergraduate degree - could push through if pgre scores were high? Most of the universities that I've looked in to sees it as an assessment test rather than a competetive test. Something that will set the bar.

 

So, my concerns here are :

 o  wheather or not pgre could be that one factor that will guarantee an admission?

 o  should I look for student loans and get in to a private school instead?

 

Note: I'll have to skip this year(with nothing to do) if I go with pgre.

Edited July 18, 2014 by cadogan

[TakeruK]

I think for you, the PGRE will be more important because you would want to have at least one area of your application be "above average". Like you said, everything else is "average" and generally, graduate students are not average BSc graduates--they tend to be slightly above average. If you were able to somehow rank every BSc graduate, I don't think the students that are at the 50th percentile will get into very many graduate schools. 

 

As many of us have suggested above, if you want to get into grad school, your best bet really is to study for the PGRE now and take it this fall, then apply for Fall 2015. If you don't want to wait a year, you can also start applying to the few programs that will accept Spring 2015 admission AND not require the PGRE but that will be only a small number of programs. But hey, if you do both and get into spring programs, then you don't have to worry about the other stuff anymore! But either way, now is the time to start studying and/or writing applications!

[prospecting]

I am assuming that you are funding your own education as spring admissions generally don't come with funding. If that is so, are you prepared to pay the $30,000-$50,000 per year that private schools generally charge?

I was accepted with partial (half) funding at one private university and it would still have cost me over $20,000 a semester.

 

I was accepted for Springs admissions and received full funding + stipend to a highly renowned research school. That being said, different schools may do it differently and I guess that depends on how deep their pockets are.

[Cosmojo]

My University does spring admissions for masters program (with full funding) but you can then fill out paper work after 1 or 2 good semesters for admission into PhD funding and PGRE isn't required just recommended....so yes they do exist.