What Grad Programs Look For

Abdelkader Kara is a professor and the graduate program director in the Department of Physics at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Daniel Britt is a professor and the program director for planetary science in the Department of Physics at UCF. The department offers the following graduate degrees: master of science (MS) in physics (standard); MS in physics (MS to PhD bridge program); MS in physics, planetary sciences track; PhD in physics; and PhD in physics, planetary sciences track.

Question: Your department has two tracks. How are the physics and planetary sciences grad programs related?

Answer:
Kara: We admit 20-something students each year to the physics graduate program. They are mainly PhD students, with some master’s degree students.

Britt: Planetary sciences is a separate degree program with a different admissions process, but it’s in the physics department. Depending on availability, we admit maybe three to five graduate students per year.

Question: What do you look for in potential graduate students?

Answer:
Kara: We’re always looking for great students. We use a rubric to determine admissions for the physics MS and PhD programs. Applicants receive points for a number of factors, such as GPA, research experience, strong letters of recommendation, teaching experience, and outreach activities. We don’t require the general GRE, and the physics GRE is optional. Instead, we do a course-by-course evaluation to see what people have taken and whether they seem to be improving, and we allot points accordingly. Then the scores are compiled and ranked for admission.

Britt: In the planetary sciences program, we don’t use a rubric. We mostly look at letters of recommendation, GPA, research experience, and qualities such as motivation and initiative. We also consider an applicant’s research interest and how it matches faculty research. The university has a GPA cutoff of 3.0 for admission to graduate programs, but we don’t really admit people with GPAs in the B range.

Question: What commonly missed opportunities or mistakes do you see in applications?

Answer:
Kara: You can tell us that you want to live in Florida because it’s warm or because your family lives close, and we will sympathize, but there is no place for that in the rubric. We want to know who you are and your research interests. It’s a mistake not to include the areas of physics you’re interested in, and it’s even better to mention specific professors you would like to do research with. Not discussing this hurts your application, especially if we’re on the fence.

Britt: There’s a difference between people who want to do planetary sciences and people who are capable. We turn down many people who would like to do it but who we don’t think are good matches for our faculty and the program’s rigor. Also, make sure you’re interested in the kind of research our faculty is doing before you apply—reach out to them about their research in advance.

Question: What advice would you give to students who plan on applying to physics graduate programs soon?

Answer:
Kara: Take it seriously. Complete your application before the deadline. Pay attention to everything. Prepare yourself and think ahead. Initiate research if you haven’t already, and get involved in mentoring, teaching, or outreach related to physics. When you apply to a particular department, tailor at least one part of your personal statement to that place—it’s a big mistake to submit a generic application. Tell us about yourself and your activities. If you have a low GPA, address it, and we may still consider you. If your GPA is low because you’re a first-generation college student working two jobs to pay for school—let us know. We’re looking for the person behind the paper.

Puragra (Raja) GuhaThakurta is a professor and former chair of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The department offers a PhD, and students may earn a nonterminal master’s degree along the way.

Question: Do most of your grad students have bachelor’s degrees in physics or astronomy?

Answer:
It’s a pretty good mix right now. It used to be the case that almost every student had a physics background because astronomy bachelor’s degrees were rare. But now, probably more than 50 percent of our students were astronomy majors or received significant astronomy or astrophysics training as undergraduates. Some students come in with a master’s degree; usually they’re international students.

Question: What do you look for in potential graduate students?

Answer:
We pay a lot of attention to applicants’ essays and letters of recommendation. We pay some attention to transcripts. We look at how the student has done in the classes that matter in graduate school. We also look for gradients—when a student struggles early on but improves.

We’re not simply interested in how much an applicant has achieved. That would be easier. We’re interested in predicting how well an applicant will do when they get to our department, given our resources. To gauge that, we try to determine what the student achieved as an undergraduate given the resources they had.

We don’t look at GRE scores at all. We think those are far-from-perfect indicators of success in graduate school.

We interview a short list of applicants before we send out offers. We ask about their favorite research project and the broader context of the project. We also let them ask us questions, which tells us whether they are interested in our program. In the end, we’re looking for a good match.

Question: What do you look for in personal statements and other essays?

Answer:
We look for perseverance. We look for grit. And we look for signs that the student went above and beyond what was easily available. If a student has overcome a significant obstacle, we want to hear about that.

It’s tempting to pick the applicants with the most papers, but there are pitfalls in using this as a metric. First, we don’t know what opportunities each applicant had to write papers. Second, it’s a metric that students and faculty are gaming. If I know—as a student—that I’ll get my name on a paper if I join a project about to be written up, I may decide to join that project. Then I’ll have a paper, but I didn’t experience the grind that is the essence of research. Every admissions committee has to watch out for this.

We also look for passion. Graduate school is such a hard grind that it can be hard to succeed unless you’re really excited about what you’re doing. But just saying that you’re passionate isn’t enough—show us your passion through your journey.

Question: What commonly missed opportunities or mistakes do you see in applications?

Answer:
It’s very hard to make these decisions. This last cycle we had 360 applicants and made 15 offers. It’s become brutal. We’re not just looking at good versus not-so-good applications. We could have admitted 150 of those 360 students, and we’d have been perfectly happy. We say no to people on very flimsy grounds in hopes that they will get in somewhere else, and it will be our loss, not theirs.

Question: What advice would you give to students who plan on applying to astronomy and astrophysics programs soon?

Answer:
Be sure you really want this because graduate school isn’t everything it’s made out to be. For example, graduate students are often not paid well, and it can be hard to afford rental prices near the school. This is a common story for graduate students around the world.

If you really want this, apply to multiple schools and have backup plans. It doesn’t matter how strong your portfolio is; that’s just the reality of the numbers. It’s important to be realistic.

If you apply to many places and don’t get in, that doesn’t mean you’re not fit to do research. It just means that the committees didn’t see your potential amidst the glare of the hundreds of other students applying to the same program. It doesn’t mean that you’re not capable. Not at all.

Physics and Astronomy by the Numbers

The American Institute of Physics Statistical Research Center is your source for data on education, careers, and diversity in physics, astronomy, and other physical sciences. Explore the data at aip.org/statistics.

Diyar Talbayev is a professor and graduate physics advisor in the Department of Physics and Engineering Physics at Tulane University. The department offers the following graduate degrees: MS in physics, MS in materials science and engineering, PhD in physics, PhD in materials physics and engineering.

Question: What do you look for in potential graduate students?

Answer:
Ultimately, we look for people who can complete the program. There are two major hurdles before the thesis defense: coursework and the qualifying exam. At a minimum, we want graduate students who can pass them. There’s no perfect way to judge who will be successful, but we look for good grades in relevant coursework. We look for applicants who want to work in science and are motivated to work toward their goals. We read their personal statement and letters of recommendation to get insight into what the applicant has already done to illustrate this desire. For example, if a student has had a summer research experience, that’s a great indicator that they want to pursue a research career. We don’t require the general or physics GRE.

Question: What commonly missed opportunities or mistakes do you see in applications?

Answer:
The main missed opportunity is in the letters of recommendation. Sometimes letters can be insightful and helpful, but sometimes not. We use the letters to judge a student’s interest, experience, and nonacademic qualities, like motivation and collegiality.

Question: What advice would you give to students planning to apply to physics graduate programs soon?

Answer:
If you can, participate in hands-on research to see whether you like it and if it fits you. It can be theoretical or in the lab. If it lights a fire in your belly, write about that in your application.

Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

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See how representatives from Penn State, University of Alabama, and University of Maryland, College Park answered similar questions in the 2022 issue of GradSchoolShopper magazine .