Physics Graduate School Admission Results

TTPB: I'm also waiting to hear back after my interview.

Did anyone else have an interview with Northwestern that has/hasn't heard back yet? My interview was almost four weeks ago and I haven't heard anything since, and I'm worried they forgot about me

Virtually all programs dropped the GRE and PGRE requirements for this year. This is a good indication that those were barriers to access for many students. Some schools have less funding due to the crash in the economy that happened with COVID. That's not universal to every school, but certainly doesn't help. Also, in general, I think schools are being more cautious with their budgets since they aren't sure how the economy (and state funding) is going to recover.

Ignore the Waitlist. Have any of the candidates who have applied to the PhD (not the masters) program heard back?

Not the same poster as below, also got email stating an official offer would come the next week but wanted to check that I was still interested. Declined as I had a couple better offers. (hep-ex) Best of luck to the rest of the applicants.

TTPB: Can you please share the name/ initials of the person from the admissions committee who contacted you?

TTPB neutrino/ dm experiment. It was not an official offer and there was no funding information. I was told they are going to be sending official offers next week but wanted to see if I was still interested.

TTPB: What is your subfeild? Did you get the official letter? How much is the TAship?

Ignore the waitlist. TTPB: For those waitlisted at Baltimore, I got accepted there and I will definitely be declining the offer after the grad visit day to open up space. So, be hopeful.

The reason for my rejection (or rather my application being withdrawn) as they've mentioned in my application status, is because I do not hold an equivalent of a US Bachelor's degree, given that I'm an international student. I hold a "License d'études fondamentales", a 3 years degree. However that doesn't make sense since this means any applicant from my home country wouldn't be admitted for this very reason. I find it very absurd, also they haven't notified me via email until like 3 or 4 days later... Ah, and their rejection letter was absolutely terrible!

TTPB: There are many problems with this. PhDs in the US are long and hence very expensive if not funded. Many programs also do not want to become a rich kids' club out of e.g. concerns of inclusiveness and fairness to all prospective PhD applicants. Now, if you win a competitive external fellowship, that's a different situation...

To the person who answered my question regarding choosing only Stanford: Thanks, hope it works out for you. Otherwise, there is always next year :-)

Contacted by a member of the admissions committee that official results would be sent next week. Declined offer to make space for someone else. Good luck!

TTPB: (Ignore interview) What email did you receive? Did it say something regarding your current status? I received an email from the Postgraduate Admissions Office regarding the evaluation process and what happens if accepted. By the way, my status is still "under consideration by your department".

isn't it better to admit the students without the assistantship and fellowship for this year because it is very hard to get funding for a US university due to recession? If students can afford by self payments, then University should think about this option rather than sending rejection.

I received the same email. But my status is still “under review by the department”

Received an email from the Chair of the Graduate Admissions Committee saying that I've been waitlisted.

How many students does Columbia Physics usually accept in a typical year? 10? 20?

From my POI: Columbia plans to take 8 students (cut down because of high yield last year) from 650+ applications (40% rise this year). So that's....1% acceptance:(( I guess only the absolute prodigies are making it in this year. To all my friends, please dont get disheartened, we all love Physics and we'll do good research wherever we are. Don't let uni tags affect your motivation.

Waitlisted and invited to open virtual visit day!