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doyouevenchop

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    VA -> La Jolla, CA
  • Interests
    Hiking
    Climbing
    Lifting
    Shooting
    Surfing
    Reading
    Sleeping

    and some research I guess
  • Application Season
    2015 Fall
  • Program
    Chemical Biology/Organic

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  1. I'm a current first-year in chemical biology at Scripps. Can't speak for the other schools, but Scripps definitely takes international students. I believe exam scores are looked at more rigorously, but it seems like you have decent scores.
  2. Hey there. I'm currently an undergrad at VT, but I can answer some of your questions. I don't know anything about the engineering programs here, except that they are rigorous and highly respected. Weather ranges from cold to hot, we get all four seasons. February is typically the coldest month, with an average temp of low 20's to 30's. Snowfall varies year-to-year, we got 6-8 inches on two occasions this Feb. Weather typically starts getting cooler in late October, transitioning to cold in November thru early March. Blacksburg gets very windy, which is really the worst part about winter here. Starts getting hot around May. It can get somewhat humid at the peak of the summer, but not too bad. As far as living in the US goes, Blacksburg is very affordable. I currently pay $405 for rent, but it's for a very spacious appt that I share with 2 other roommates in a good location. Lots of grad students live in the Foxridge community, where you can get buy paying ~350 for rent in a shared appt. Utilities aren't too bad, maybe ~70 per month for everything. Food is pretty cheap if you're good at catching sales. I spend 200-300 per month on food (sometimes more, depending on the month), but I'm 6'3 and 200 and athletic, so I eat a lot. I think I have a pretty good standard of living here, you could easily get by on 10-15k a year. If you like the outdoors, there's lots of opportunities here. We live within an hour of a bunch of great hiking trails, including the Appalachian Trail. We are also half an hour from the New River, where you can fish or going kayaking/tubing/rafting. Good outdoor climbing activities out in neighboring West Virginia. Shooting range pretty close by. Football games are hugely popular, and a blast. Other sports are free to walk in to watch. If you don't like the outdoors, there's really not too much to do here. Besides drink. Which we like to do. Southwest Virginia (where Blacksburg is located), is a rural area, so it may be a culture shock when you leave campus, depending on where you're from. Blacksburg Transit runs a tight ship, the bus system is very good. However, I would suggest owning a car for shopping/activities. There aren't any big-box stores in Blacksburg proper, only some grocery stores and small specialized retails, although the town is expanding on the southern end (new movie theater going in!). But Christiansburg is only 10 minutes away and has a mall, Walmart, Target, restaurants, etc. Parking on campus is a huge pain-in-the-ass though. Students (and everyone) here are generally very nice and outgoing. Lots of fit people - we're the fittest campus in the nation, along with happiest and we have the best food. We have spectacular gyms and dining halls. Faculty are in general nice and approachable. VT is really a special place. If you have any more questions, I'd love to answer them.
  3. I also had a great time, and I'm chem bio. I talked to grad students from a ton of labs and had good conversations about a wide range of topics. But I'm also an extrovert. Now if basically had replaced TSRI with Caltech then I would agree with every word.
  4. I'll probably see you there! I'm 90% sure I'll be picking Scripps. I don't know all the answers to your questions, but I did ask some grad students similar questions when I was there a couple weeks ago. Apparently a lot of students live in the UTC and PB (pacific beach) areas. Commute will differ, iirc UTC is pretty close to TSRI, but PB is farther away (15 minutes?). No idea about one br appts, I'm planning on going the multiple roommate route. There is also this great resource: http://education.scripps.edu/files/course_documents/campus_documents/LaJolla_Student_Life_Guide.pdf
  5. I'm also assuming that. Never heard back from UC Berk or UW Madison, which I thought was odd. I have my mind pretty close to made up as to where I'm going though.
  6. Paula Bruice's Organic Chemistry (I have 6th edition) is one of my favorite textbooks. Easy to read, helpful practice problems, and you should be able to scoop it up pretty cheap on amazon
  7. I think it depends on what you want to do with your PhD. I'm currently looking at industry/biotech/pharma/startups, so I think having a big name is important - obviously the professor you end up under is more important and will have a bigger direct impact on your life, but it is silly to think that prestige and name recognition are not important. I do not want to do a post-doc, unless I absolutely have to. Also, cost of living, activities, and the area itself. You have a school like Kansas, leader in med chem - but you have to live in Kansas for 5 years. I'm a very outdoorsy person, so living in a place with nice weather and mountains/lakes/beaches/trails/etc is important to me.
  8. Damn, I was pretty interested in their program.
  9. It does seem like a pretty great program overall - but I honestly don't know much about it. I actually talked with Hsieh-Wilson on the phone and will be meeting with her (and hopefully Arnold)! I've lived on the east coast for my entire life, and I think I'm ready for a change. I've visited out west before and absolutely fell in love with the scenery and culture out there... cost of living, not so much. Nice to know that the students are "normal" (relative to chemists I assume ). Your pro's and cons are pretty similar to mine... I would miss having football every weekend as well! Beach might make up for it though. I also looked up the housing and it doesn't seem *too* astronomical for CA housing (given, where I am, rent is 300-400 for nice places). I still need to get my shuttle too! Thanks for reminder.
  10. You know what to do... Are you planning on visiting? What do you see as pros and cons of the program? Which PI's are you interested to meet? I'm personally going to be visiting on the Feb 26-28 weekend, looking forward to it.
  11. No judgment...just curiosity. Don't know anyone my age who doesn't drive
  12. I understand not owning a car... but how do you guys not know how to drive/have licenses?!? I just did my first visit last weekend, some of the questions I asked were how well they liked living in the area, what kind of activities there are to do, typical cost of living, good areas to live, bars to go to, sports, etc. Asked different students what kind of hours they worked, and the resounding answer I got was: if you work for an un-tenured professor, expect to be worked to the bone (one student worked 72 hrs/week) - however you might get more publications out of it.
  13. i'm visiting in March for Chemical Biology. I have similar pros/cons right now... talked to a prof for an hour, he was really nice. I don't mind being in the middle of nowhere so much, but the complete flatness of the area. I need some mountains or streams or forests to run around in. It also seems like an extremely affordable place to live Seems like they have a strong program, it's an internationally recognized and well respected university. They also have some cool research going on, and a pretty sizable chem bio department.
  14. I just got a call from professor at Caltech on the 22nd and received an email shortly after. They have an additional visit weekend Feb 26-28 (deadline is Jan 30, so I assume all accepts will be out by then)
  15. Agreed, wishing I would've applied to Harvard now
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