NOESYChemist

Hello all: I was hoping to gather advice from others regarding chemistry graduate school admissions and possibly delaying the application process. My stats are as follows: Area of interest-Synthetic Organic B.S. Chemistry 2012 (Top 25 public university, not renowned for its chemistry program) American student Cumulative GPA-3.36; Major GPA-3.62 Three semesters of undergraduate research. However, no publications. Participation in student ACS chapter including a poster presentation at a national meeting. One departmental scholarship and one departmental award. Chemistry Subject GRE-75%; General GRE- Have not taken yet. Currently, I work in industry for a medium-sized (global presence) chemical company. I have over three years of research experience here working on synthetic projects, research and development, and process optimization. During this time I have greatly expanded my synthetic skillset and characterization knowledge (2D NMR, GC methodology, etc.). I have received various awards and a promotion in my current role. My initial plan was to apply for the Fall 2017 programs when they open. However, based on my ambitious graduate school list and my objectively poor GPA and lack of publications, I’ve considered postponing until 2018. I may try to use my contacts at my undergraduate institution to work in one of the labs of the organic faculty members over the weekends for a year given that I still live in reasonable proximity. My goal would be to have at least one publication to reinforce my application for Fall 2018. I should point out that I will have three highly endorsing LOR from both academic and industrial chemists (albeit not Nobel Laureates!) that can attest to my research capabilities. Each of the graduate schools on my list contains multiple investigators that strongly interest me. My top school is Scripps (La Jolla). A comprehensive list follows below: UI-Urbana Champaign, U Penn, UNC Chapel Hill, Princeton, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UW-Madison, Ann Arbor. To summarize and clarify, do you all think that I should keep working for one more year and put in the time during my weekends towards a publication? Or do you think that I should just move forward with the Fall 2017 application process? I’ve considered applying for 2017 and then re-applying in 2018 if things go poorly. However, I would hate to put my recommenders through the same process only a year later. Many thanks for your thoughts or advice.