PhD Chemistry Decsion

[AvinashBoth]

Greetings !!!

I'm an Indian student and I've got acceptance from the following universities in Chemistry PhD program for the fall 2016 term:

 

Oregon State University, Corvallis

Texas Tech University

University of South Carolina, Columbia

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

 

I'm really confused in making the final decision. Any help would be really appreciated.

[Eigen]

You've really not given us anything to go on. 

Grad school decisions are based on fit (your research interests with particular faculty) as well as the details of the offer (funding amounts, etc.), none of which we can know from your post. 

[007jb]

20 hours ago, AvinashBoth said:

Greetings !!!

I'm an Indian student and I've got acceptance from the following universities in Chemistry PhD program for the fall 2016 term:

 

Oregon State University, Corvallis

Texas Tech University

University of South Carolina, Columbia

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

 

I'm really confused in making the final decision. Any help would be really appreciated.

What is your funding status? Do you have funding from all the unis?

Edited March 28, 2016 by 007jb

[007jb]

21 hours ago, AvinashBoth said:

Greetings !!!

I'm an Indian student and I've got acceptance from the following universities in Chemistry PhD program for the fall 2016 term:

 

Oregon State University, Corvallis

Texas Tech University

University of South Carolina, Columbia

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

 

I'm really confused in making the final decision. Any help would be really appreciated.

Please properly explain your situation so that one can provide you with the best possible support.

[AvinashBoth]

On 3/28/2016 at 5:57 AM, Eigen said:

You've really not given us anything to go on. 

Grad school decisions are based on fit (your research interests with particular faculty) as well as the details of the offer (funding amounts, etc.), none of which we can know from your post. 

Sorry for not providing proper info...

I've applied in Material Chemistry and I'm getting funding from all the three universities which are as follows:

 

1. University of Nebraska, Lincoln = 28,880$ per year (tuition fee waived but have to pay 1100$ for health insurance per semester)

2. University of South Carolina = 24,000$ per year (only tuition fee waived)

3. Oregon State University = 24,000$ per year (tuition fee and health insurance also waived)

4. Texas tech University = 21,100$ per year (700$ for tuition fee and 1100$ for health insurance per semester)

5. University of Saskatchewan, Canada (official letter not received yet)

[Eigen]

That still says nothing at all about your research fit with the faculty at any of those schools. 

[AvinashBoth]

10 hours ago, Eigen said:

That still says nothing at all about your research fit with the faculty at any of those schools. 

1. In University of South Carolina, I'm Interested in joining Dr. Andrew Greytak's research group.

2. In Oregon State University, I'm interested in Dr. Chong Fang's research group.

3. In University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I'm interested in joing Dr. Barry Cheung's group.

4. In University of Saskatchewan, I'm interested in Dr. Matthew Paige's group.

 

I hope this information is sufficient.

[Eigen]

Well, on the one hand, it seems none of the universities are a very good research fit. I can't, in good conscience, recommend anyone going to a PhD program where they only have a single PI/research group they want to work with. My general recommendation is that you should not attend a program unless there are at least 3 research groups you'd be very happy joining. 

On the other hand, you still haven't given any real information for any of us here to go on. Giving professors and a generalized description of what you want to do doesn't allow any of us to help you figure out how you would fit into those groups. 

Do the projects you want to pursue align with the research in those labs? Did you get along with other graduate students/the PI when you visited/skyped? Have you emailed and talked to graduate students in any of the labs?

None of us can tell you how well your background and experiences help you *fit* with any research group unless you tell us something about it.

All I can note is that while all of the groups you mention are technically "materials" groups, they're very different in the subset of materials research they do, the applications of that research, and the approaches and methodology they apply. It means it should be relatively easy to pick one over the other based on your personal interests, as they're quite different researchers.

You also didn't mention, but have you talked to each of those professors? Do they have room in their research groups, and are they interested in taking you on? Have they discussed what project of theirs you'll likely be working on?