Madmoony

How do you determine if a journal is high or low tier? Just the impact factor and whether or not it is peer-reviewed? Or are other things considered too? And how good a journal would have to be for it to be considered a top tier journal?

Hello everyone! At the moment I am studying for (will start my final year next month) a BSc in Chemistry in my home country, but want to get my PhD in the USA. However, I am not sure about my chances of acceptance in the programs I want to get in, mainly because of my research experience (6 months) and how my undergraduate education will be viewed (it is a 3-year degree, but almost entirely chemistry). So I have been considering getting a 2-year MSc degree here before applying to PhD. Somehow the only con I see is that I would start (and finish) the PhD 2 years later, but can you think of any others?

Hello everyone! At the moment I am studying for (will start my final year next month) a BSc in my home country, but want to get my PhD in the USA, however I am not sure about my chances of acceptance in the programs I want to get in, mainly because of my research experience (6 months) and how my undergraduate education will be viewed (it is a 3-year degree, but almost entirely chemistry). So I have been considering getting a 2-year MSc degree here before applying to PhD. Somehow the only con I see is that I would start (and finish) the PhD 2 years later, but can you think of any others?

Not total synthesis, I'm more interested in developing new methods and catalysts for use in organic synthesis. Thanks for that advice! I had already started looking through the research interests and work of professors at different universities. It seems I haven't yet narrowed down my own interests enough, because there are a lot of professors, whose work really interests me... But this means, I still have a few months to really decide who to write to.

Of course it is possible that I am overestimating myself, but, if the practice tests are an indication of what the real tests are like, with some preparing and practice, my scores should be good enough. I guess it should be okay then. If there is one thing I really like about my lab, it is that the PI is really great, and he usually explains what we are doing and the concepts we are using. I had already decided to contact the members of faculty that I am interested in working with, but didn't really know what to write, so than you very much for that link! Also, when would be a good time to contact them? I know it will be tough, but I don't care about that, as that is the part of chemistry I love the most And while running columns isn't the most exciting thing to do, it gets the job done (mostly) and there is an unlimited amount of worse things I could be doing as part of a career Thank you for the advice

Hello, everyone! I am an international student, and I've decided to apply to a grad school in the USA, so naturally I have some questions, mainly about choosing universities to apply to. I know, I will be able to get good GRE results and I am sure I will have good LORs. The problem is that I have some concerns regarding my research experience and about how my undergraduate university might affect my addmitance to some universities. About research: At the moment (and for the past four months) I am working at the Institute of Organic Synthesis of my country, which, I think is the place to be for organic chemists here (as you might have guess from this, organic chemistry is the field I am interested in ). But I don't know how much of what I am doing can really be counted as research. I am mostly just performing chemical reactions I am told to, without much other input, and will really be starting my own research - my undergrad thesis - in about a month. So I doubt i could be able to get my name on any publications by the time applications are due. Would this amount and type of experience (it will be approx. 8-9 months when I apply) be enough? And about my current university: While I think the teaching here is good and this is the best place for chemistry students in my country, there are probably very, very few in the USA who have even heard of it, and I don't know how much worth a good LOR from here would have. Despite all that, I think I could be successful anywhere (and I intend to try fo some of the best universities), but I don't know if adcomms would think the same. So what do you think I should do? Perhaps contact the schools I want to apply to and ask them if I'm not wasting both my time and theirs?

And how accurate in your experience is the Powerprep test?