I’m an undergraduate student in physics looking for a graduate university in my field. Below is my resume:
Undergraduate in physics and maths - GPA: 4.0 out of 4.0.
Have a paper (third author) on arXiv.
Two years of research experience with two different professors.
Won a full scholarship for participating in a well-known summer school.
Participated in CERN summer school.
Won a medal in IPhO and passing several advanced courses both in phys. and maths.
Gave several talks.
TOEFL: 103, GRE: Good.
My first choice is the direct doctorate physics in ETHZ. The point for the programme is that if I got accepted, I would win full merit-based scholarship.
What is your (realistic) opinion on my chance of getting admitted to direct doctorate physics in ETHZ, MIT, Caltech, and Harvard?
Hi there! Your TOEFL test meets the benchmark so that’s a nice start. MIT, Caltech, Harvard and ETHZ are some of the best universities in the world, so it’s definitely not going to be easy, but I think your resume is good enough for you to have a realistic chance of being admitted. Now that you’ve finished most of what’s required for admission to a graduate program, there’s not much left that you could do. One thing, however, is to even strenghten the bond between you and the professors you ask/have asked/will ask to write a letter of recommendation of you, if possible. Obviously, the opinions/letters of recommendation of established professors are going to be very important, so make sure they’re good. This could be done by providing the professor with enough info about you and what he could write about, going to office hours et cetera… the basic stuff, really.
The fact you have good scores, you’ve done research/published a paper, won a medal at the IPhO, participated in CERN stuff and gave several talks, will definitely help you with profiling yourself as a very ambitious and great student. If you make this (be it vaguely) shine through in all of the other stuff you have to submit and/or your professor(s)/counselors, I think you actually have a decent chance.
Good luck!
PS Doesn’t ETHZ require you to have obtained a Master’s prior to enrolling? I thought they, like almost all European universities, require that, unlike US universities, where students with a Bachelor’s can enroll in a PhD programme without earning a Master’s first.
Hi! Thank you very much for your comment. I’m glad you have a positive view on my resume. And yes, ETHZ has a direct doctorate program for physics where you start your Master+PhD directly after bachelor. The thing I am somehow worry about is that I need full fund. Would you think I have a chance of full fund in these universities?
That is actually the more relevant question. I don’t know if the universities on your list even allow unfunded PhD candidates (some will only accept the ones they can fund). If they do, you don’t want to go without funding. Imo, it is a recipe for disaster. You are better going somewhere else where you can get funding.
I also second the comment about recommendation letters. Don’t underestimate their importance. Getting excellent letters from known people in the field can go a long way.
US science programs at the level you are discussing rarely admit unfunded students, and generally have no problem obtaining that funding for them. So worry about applying, the funding should sort itself out.
As to your chances, they seem decent… which still doesn’t mean much. Graduate admissions is holistic and individual, and at this level extremely competitive. I think your qualifications as listed would get you past the first round of admissions but no one can say whether you will be admitted - plenty of people with your apparent qualifications get rejected from these programs every year, simply because there are so few spots, so many good candidates, and so many different things that they can and will consider.
As always, I would advise having a back-up plan, whether that is applying to less-selective schools (only those that you would still consider attending!) or the job market. I would also recommend that you try contacting potential advisors at the schools of interest - they may not reply, as they are very busy and besieged by such requests, but if you can honestly engage them they can really help you to refine your decisions and even sometimes help in the application process.