Applied Physics - Fall 2007?

[physicssofun]

I'm waiting to hear from Harvard DEAS and Columbia. Anyone else applied to Applied Physics departments?

[Othello]

Heh, I see you have duplicate posts, so I'll post here also.

I also applied to the applied physics programs at Harvard and Columbia. I'm interested in the materials science side of applied physics.

[physicssofun]

Nice, Othello. I've seen your stats before on this forum. Don't you already have some realllllly good admits? Congratz~

I bet there is a good chance that you would be one of the first ones to hear back from Harvard and Columbia. Now I know that I have a reliable source on when they actually send out the results. just let me know whenever you hear from them! ill do the same.

I'm also interested in materials! (in nanofabrication side)

I'm from an Ivy applied physics program with GPA of 3.8...I've done 2 years of undergraduate research (couldn't do any REU's because I was an international student). My GRE score is 800Q/540V/4.5W (i don't think GRE scores matter that much anyway)

Hopefully I hear some good news.

[Othello]

One of my recommendations is actually coming from the applied physics department at Columbia, so I'll be quite surprised if I don't get positive news from them soon!

I've been accepted at Berkeley, Michigan and Princeton so far. Caltech is paying for me to fly out later this week, and I hear basically everyone invited to visit gets accepted soon after. I'm also wait-listed at Northwestern...meh.

Did you apply to any other schools? If so, have you heard anything from them? I have yet to hear from Columbia, Harvard, MIT, and Stanford.

Good luck, you have a great profile.

[Zart]

Othello,

I am going to Caltech this week too (for applied physics). Where did hear that this means we will get accepted later? If this is true, it's really good news! I also applied to Stanford and Cornell for applied physics. No news from either yet...

[Othello]

I'll be at Caltech for materials science. I've always wanted to visit the campus, so I'm pretty excited. I heard on another forum that Caltech usually accepts everyone they fly out. Of course this isn't a very reliable source, but they are only flying 17 of us out. That sounds like the right amount to accept given the fact that only about half will take their offer.

[emigre459]

Wow, you guys sound like you've got some great acceptances/almost-acceptances already. I applied to Cornell, CalTech, and UVa for Applied Physics. I have yet to hear from any of them. I'm not too surprised about CalTech, but still the disappointment's there...oh well!

[Othello]

I received my acceptance to Columbia today by FedEx. Good luck!

[physicssofun]

Hey, Othello, congratz. i didn't get it today....but my hopes are still up~ maybe you are a lot closer to Columbia than me and hopefully the mail is coming in tom (if i was accepted)...and it snowed like crazy today here so that might have affected things.

also it's possible that Columbia sends out multiple waves of letters.

anyway, thanks for letting all of us know that Columbia started sending out the results.

Congratz again!

[Zart]

othello, have you received an official offer from caltech yet? i am getting anxious!

[Othello]

Nope, not yet. We were told they were going to make the final decisions and arrange funding this week, so I'm hoping to hear something next week.

What did you think of Caltech? I couldn't believe that in our group of 17-18 students, there was only ONE(!) girl. Geeze...

[Zart]

There were three girls visiting for applied physics (out of 20 or so?)...slightly better but still pretty ridiculous. I was also not too pleased about the size of the school. But of course the research there is top notch, and I'd be happy to go there. Just waiting for the offer!

[Othello]

Caltech just e-mailed me notifying me of my acceptance. Phew...I was glad to see that.

[Zart]

congrats othello! i just got my acceptance too. no word on funding yet though... are you planning on going to caltech?

[Othello]

Congrats to you as well! Caltech offered me $26,000 a year with no apparent TA/RA requirements. I'm trying to decide between Berkeley, Caltech, and Stanford right now. I'm sure I'd be happy at any one of these schools. Are you planning on going to Caltech?

[r_jayakanth]

Congrats Othello! Cali sure rocks! Did you hear from the Harvard DEAS program? Any idea when we can expect the results?

[Othello]

Thanks, jayakanth. No, I haven't heard anything from Harvard. According to the results section here, the first decision from them came out Feb. 20th, so that's all I can go off of. Hopefully we'll hear next week...

[Othello]

I got an e-mail from a Harvard professor notifying me of my acceptance. They're offering to fly me out March 18-19. Good luck, everyone!

[r_jayakanth]

Hey congrats!

Is it an official offer or a mail from a professor?

[Othello]

Thanks. It's just an unofficial notice from a professor:

"Nothing is official until we meet with the deans of the graduate school of arts and

sciences in early March and they "bless" the list, but they have never overridden our

votes in the past and there is no reason to expect them to start now. You will receive

official notification on paper some time in early to mid March."

[r_jayakanth]

congrats anyway! So, where are you going finally? One of the california universities or Harvard?

[Othello]

Oh man, I'm dreading this decision... Harvard probably has the best research and campus, but I really want that California weather. I'm hoping I'll have a better idea after I visit them all. Until then, I'm clueless.

Do you know where you'll likely end up? MIT?

[Othello]

Do you guys know how Harvard Applied Physics ranks? US News doesn't rank applied physics specifically, so do you think it would be more in line with physics or engineering? Basically, I want to know if it would be stupid to choose to study materials science at Harvard instead of a place like Stanford. In terms of physics, these two schools are both top-notch. In terms of engineering, Stanford is far superior.

[r_jayakanth]

Right now, I will prefer Berkeley. I want to do something which is inbetween science and engineering. I think Berkeley is better than MIT in that respect (particularly, my program Applied Science and Technology). If I get Harvard, I think I will prefer Harvard. Harvard DEAS is very good for my research interest, infact better than Berkeley. Your decision can be different based on your RESEARCH INTEREST. I think if you want to work on devices, fabrication etc. just close your eyes and go to Stanford. There is no univ in the world to beat Stan in that area! (since, you are comparing Stan and Harvard, I made a wild guess). Let me know if I can help you in your decision making process!

[Othello]

I'm interested in the synthesis and properties of structural and electrical thin films. In terms of research, Harvard is probably the best fit. In fact, two of the professors I am most interested in at Harvard advised a *significant* number of my favorite professors at other top schools. However, I'm just worried that the Applied Physics division is lumped with engineering, which isn't near the level of Stanford, Berkeley, and Caltech.