u/EffectiveFood4933

I am applying for PhD programs in physics. My research experience is:

• Joint project between Prof. A and Prof. B: at home institution, freshman + summer + sophomore year
• Project with Prof. C: at national lab, summer research program after sophomore year + invited back in junior year spring
• Project with Prof. D: at Cornell, summer research program after junior year

I currently have letters of recommendation from Prof. C and Prof. D, which I believe will be very strong.

For my third letter, I was hoping to get a letter from Prof. B because he is very well-known in the field (he advised Prof. D's PhD, for instance). I sent an email and follow up but didn't get a response, so I moved on and asked Prof. A, who agreed. I now finally got a response from Prof. B who has also agreed about a month later.

Now I have the issue of too many letters of recommendation. I'll send Profs. C and D's letters everywhere, but should I:

1. Pick a professor. I'm worried that Prof. B will submit late and possibly miss the deadline, but he is more reputable and likely helped me land the spot with Prof. D
2. Send all four (to programs that allow it): It's been a while since I worked with Profs. A and B, and I'm expecting the letters to be less strong than the recent ones with Profs. C and D. Not sure if this will distract from the stronger ones?
3. Mix and match: Split the programs in half and send one to each, essentially hedging

Kusturica was a standout performer at the recent FIBA U17 World Cup in Turkey, averaging 24.6 points and 6.9 rebounds while also winning the tournament’s Best Defensive Player award. The 6-foot-8 wing scored 37 points in Serbia’s loss to the United States in the gold medal game.

I took the physics GRE and got 850 (70th percentile). My subscores were 79% classical mechanics, 77% electromagnetism, and 44% quantum mechanics.

I am applying for accelerator physics programs at top schools (Stanford, Cornell, Stony Brook, Northern Illinois, Michigan State, etc) and most have optional GRE submission policies. My GPA is just over 3.6, I have three summers of research (one at UCLA, one at Stanford, one at Cornell -- all writing letters of recommendation) and two second-author conference papers. I doubt the GRE makes much of a difference in my profile, so should I submit it?