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Abstract Title: The Physics GRE does not help “overlooked” applicants
Abstract: One argument for keeping the physics GRE is that it can help applicants who might otherwise be missed in the admissions process stand out. In this work, we evaluate whether this claim is supported by physics graduate school admissions decisions. We used admissions data from five PhD-granting physics departments over a 2-year period to see how the fraction of applicants admitted varied based on their physics GRE scores. We compared applicants with low GPAs to applicants with higher GPAs and applicants from large undergraduate universities to applicants from smaller undergraduate universities. We find that for applicants who might otherwise have been missed (e.g. have a low GPA or attended a small school) having a high physics GRE score did not seem to increase the applicant's chances of being admitted to the schools. However, having a low physics GRE score seemed to penalize otherwise competitive applicants.
Abstract Type: Contributed Poster Presentation
Session Time: Poster Session I
Poster Number: 1.D2

Author/Organizer Information

Primary Contact: Nicholas T. Young
Michigan State University
MI
Co-Author(s)
and Co-Presenter(s)
Marcos D. Caballero, Michigan State University, University of Oslo