Astrophysics: Feasibility of schools selected

[Rajashik]

Hello,
I am a student from India applying for astrophysics programs in the US. My profile is as below
CGPA - 9.24/10.00
GRE- 162(V)/170(Q)/5(AWA)
PGRE- 950
1 publication with low author ranking
1 publication submitted as the first author
1 manuscript under preparation as first author
1 Patent Under Review

2 Scholarships
4 Awards
1 Popular Award
1 Best Paper Award

Over 2 years of Research Experience at research groups in India and Europe.
2 strong recommenders. 1 recommender is internationally acclaimed.

My current choice of schools:
Harvard
Stanford
Princeton
MIT
UC Santa Barbara
Columbia
Chicago
Caltech
UC Berkeley

I also have two safe schools for which I am mostly confident. 

Am I being too ambitious in the choice of above schools?
Can you suggest other programs?

[TakeruK]

Whenever people ask me about their profile in astro/physics/planetary, my criteria is always whether or not it's worth submitting an application, not whether or not you have a good chance of getting in. This is because for the most competitive program, it's almost impossible to determine what is a "good chance" of getting in as there is a lot of unknown and random factors. In the USA, there are about 300 new astronomy grad students every year. I think only the top 1% or so will have profiles so strong that they are pretty much guaranteed to get in anywhere. The rest of us will have strong profiles that make it worth applying to the top schools, but admission is never guaranteed. Although a very strong student that applies to 8+ schools is likely to get in somewhere, hopefully!

So, in your case, based on this information you've provided, it seems like your profile is strong enough that it's worth applying to any school where you find a good research fit and you're interested in attending. Whether or not I can suggest other programs really really depends on your research interests. I would say that on your current list, there are only 2 public schools, which is a good thing as international student spots at public schools are pretty hard to get.

If you don't want to discuss your research interests here (understandable, as it will make your post less anonymous but also more helpful), take a look at these other schools if you haven't already. In my opinion, they have strong astrophysics programs, although in many cases they are specifically strong for certain areas which may not be your interest:

U. Washington, Cornell, Yale, University of Pennsylvania, Penn State University, U. Arizona (for Planetary Science), UT Austin, Ohio State, UCLA

[Rajashik]

2 hours ago, TakeruK said:

Whenever people ask me about their profile in astro/physics/planetary, my criteria is always whether or not it's worth submitting an application, not whether or not you have a good chance of getting in. This is because for the most competitive program, it's almost impossible to determine what is a "good chance" of getting in as there is a lot of unknown and random factors. In the USA, there are about 300 new astronomy grad students every year. I think only the top 1% or so will have profiles so strong that they are pretty much guaranteed to get in anywhere. The rest of us will have strong profiles that make it worth applying to the top schools, but admission is never guaranteed. Although a very strong student that applies to 8+ schools is likely to get in somewhere, hopefully!

So, in your case, based on this information you've provided, it seems like your profile is strong enough that it's worth applying to any school where you find a good research fit and you're interested in attending. Whether or not I can suggest other programs really really depends on your research interests. I would say that on your current list, there are only 2 public schools, which is a good thing as international student spots at public schools are pretty hard to get.

If you don't want to discuss your research interests here (understandable, as it will make your post less anonymous but also more helpful), take a look at these other schools if you haven't already. In my opinion, they have strong astrophysics programs, although in many cases they are specifically strong for certain areas which may not be your interest:

U. Washington, Cornell, Yale, University of Pennsylvania, Penn State University, U. Arizona (for Planetary Science), UT Austin, Ohio State, UCLA

1

Thank you for this detailed response. It helped me frame my thoughts much better. I had looked at a few schools you suggested but not all of them. I shall study them further. Thank you again.