GRADUATE SCHOOL INFORMATIONAL MEETING

Jonathan FengUndergraduate Advising Committee

Department of Physics and AstronomyUC Irvine

Monday, 12:30 – 2:00 pm3 March 2008

Natural Sciences II 1201

PURPOSE OF THIS MEETING• Juniors

– ~10-15 UCI students apply to graduate school in physics and astronomy

– Would like detailed information and advice: the grad school application process, timeline, GREs, etc.

• Sophomores, 1st years– Many considering grad school– Would like general information and advice: research

opportunities, etc.

• Complements individual advising sessions– Many students have the same questions– Gathers experts from various viewpoints– Not all will agree! This is one of many resources

Who is Here

• Professor Jonathan Feng – professional track advisor

• Professor Jim Rutledge – Chair, UCI Graduate Admissions Committee

• Professor Virginia Trimble – NSF Graduate Fellowships selection committee, physics GRE exam writer

• Professors Manoj Kaplinghat, Peter Taborek – astro/applied track advisors

• Other faculty members involved in undergrad advising

• Kirsten Lodgard, Monica Ugwu, Jaycee Chu – undergraduate and graduate student affairs officers

• Graduating seniors going to grad school

The Plan• Timeline

• Components of the Application

• GRE

• Recommendation Letters

• Essays

• Research

• NSF Graduate Fellowships

• Where to Apply

Questions, advice, comments welcome at all times

Timeline• Research

– Sophomore, junior, senior years

• Professional track advising: May 08

• GRE– General: any time– Physics subject: 12 Apr 08 (reg: 7 Mar 08), Oct 08, Nov 08

• NSF Graduate Fellowship deadline: Nov 08

• Application deadlines: Dec 08 – Jan 09

• Acceptances: Feb 09 – Apr 09

• Prospective visits: Mar 09 – Apr 09

• Decision deadline: 15 Apr 09

• Enter grad school: Fall 09

Components of the Application

• Transcripts (up to Fall 08)

• GRE Scores

• Recommendation Letters [Research]

• Essays [Research]

Physics GRE

• Importance – uniform, quantitative

• Weird format– 100 Multiple Choice questions– 170 minutes

• Stresses ability to work quickly– dimensional analysis– limits– order-of-magnitude estimates

• 92, 96, and 01 exams available here (also 86)

• GRE Topics and Weighting

Recommendation Letters

• Almost always 3

• Recommenders write paragraphs, rank in various categories (intellectual ability is only one)

• Best if based on personal knowledge– Not impressive: “Jane Doe got an A in my course”– Impressive: high praise from research mentor

Essays

• Demonstrate excellence, commitment– Not impressive: “I’ve wanted to study physics since I was a young

child”– Impressive: tangible evidence demonstrating sincerity of interest

• Discuss some physics topic intelligently; doesn’t have to be your eventual field

• Research experience is vital

• Suggestions– Present facts about your research experience – don’t assume its

covered by recommendation letters– Ask faculty members to read your essays– Mention relevant faculty whom you might work with

Research• Importance

– No better way to decide if grad school is right for you– Learn how research is done, any subfield will do– Helps inform choice of subfield– Counts twice in application (letters, essays)

• UROP: Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program– At UCI, $3000 for summer (SURP), $1000 for school year– SURP Deadline: 19 May 08

• REU: Research Experience for Undergraduates– Summer research positions at many universities– Competitive – typically must have previous research experience– Typical deadlines ~ Feb 09

• Also possibilities at National Labs

NSF Graduate Fellowships• Extremely valuable

– 3 years of funding, freedom from teaching– Provides freedom to choose advisor– Prestigious

• Awards in 2007 (success rate: roughly 1 in 8)– 35 in Physics– 11 in Astronomy– 81 Honorable Mentions

• Stresses Physics GRE, broader impacts

• See handout for additional advice

• Also others: e.g., Hertz Fellowships– 5 years of funding, “applied physics”– 5 Physics and Astronomy awards in 2007

Where to Apply• Rankings

– Useful 1st step, but…– Usually out-of-date– Enormous variations by

subfield

• Talk to UCI faculty in your field(s) of interest

• Select a range in– Selectivity– Geography

• Gradschoolshopper.com– Physics and related fields

2002 1995 NRC