In Need of Grad School Advice

[Chemie]

As of April 2016, I am currently a junior at a small college (that maybe a lot of you may not know ) called Chestnut Hill College. I am majoring in Forensic Chemistry with a current GPA of 3.6.

The thing is, I want to pursue Graduate School and earn my PhD. But I don't have a strong grasp at what I need to do and where I stand as a PhD candidate.

I intend to take the GRE this October and I planned out a study schedule during the summer to prepare for the exams. I'm still on the fence as to whether I need to take the Subject GRE or not.

As far as research interests, I would like to do research involving spectroscopy, however, I feel like that is a broad interest.

My credentials include being a Clare Boothe Luce Scholar with 2 years of research experience at Chestnut Hill College and Gwynedd Mercy University. I also have presentation experience from colloquium meetings, the ACS-CERM (2014), my college's honor conference (2016), and the Philadelphia Young Chemists Committee (2015 and 2016). I am also a member of Alpha Lambda Delta (first year student honors), Sigma Zeta (science and math honors), and Phi Sigma Iota (foreign languages). I am also the Club President of my college's Chemistry Club and Culture Club. I also do volunteer work through my clubs whenever possible.

This summer I will be researching at Miami U.'s REU program and presenting at the ACS-National Meeting. And hopefully by the Fall, I will have an internship at the city's Medical Examiner's Office.

 

I would like to know where I stand. I have no idea what I can consider my "safety schools", but I do want to try to shoot for the top schools too. So far, I have started researching schools via USNEWS, but I wonder if there are also more resources than that. So I'd like to hear some advice. A lot of advice comes a long way, so I greatly appreciate your help!

[Hottotrot]

It sounds like you are staying active and conducting research so that is good! I would say as far as safety schools it is kind of a crap shoot (in my experience) just apply to a lot to be safe; Miami U could potentially be a safety school. I would maybe start drafting a resume, personal statement, and other required writing samples before your senior year fall semester starts because the deadlines tend to sneak up on ya. I used USNews as a loose guide, I personally feel you can not get caught up in rankings, but to start with you can look there. Additionally, you need to consider the specialty you want to go into. For example, a school may be conducting great research with great professors in one or two areas but have an overall lower ranking. For instance, UNC and analytical chemistry, while they are considered 15th overall they have what I consider a top analytical program. If spectroscopy is what you are interested in maybe find a school that has many professors doing that sort of research, because generally you should find a school that has multiple professors you would want to work for. Lastly, You should probably like the location as you will be there at least 5 years. To sum, I think you need to take many things into consideration when looking at schools.  Good luck! Sounds like you are on the right track  

http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/cen/80/i47/html/8047education2.html