Chai_latte

If you want to be a professor, go for the top 15 place. Period. Even if you don't, I might still lean towards it. Latching onto a tenure-track professor can be tricky. If he/she gets tenure, great. But, what if he doesn't? Where will that leave you (3-4 yrs into your project)? And, as the previous poster said, a 70% match is still high. On the flip side, the 5 yr. grad fellowship is pretty sweet. Are there any tenured profs whose interests align with yours?? If you don't want academia, my main concern with #75 is that the prof doesn't have tenure yet.

Congrats. I am much less familiar with Amherst. A number of years ago, I quickly drove through it. The part I saw was quaint, and I did see one edge of the UMass campus. It seemed as if everything there was geared towards the students, and it appeared livelier than some of the nearby towns, like Northampton or South Hadley. I'm not a fan of Buffalo, NY. The UB campus is split into two...North and South. They're about 10-15 min. apart (driving). I don't know which campus you'll be on, but the area surrounding North is more suburban. I didn't think there was much to do there. However, a 15 minute drive from South campus is Elmwood Village. That's a pretty nice part of town. It is also quaint. Honestly, it kind of had a New England vibe. Looking back, it could remind me of the part of Amherst, MA that I saw (but, maybe larger?). Anyway, aside from Elmwood, I didn't think Buffalo had much to offer on a daily basis. And, after a while, Elmwood got old...it's not that expansive. When I was there, downtown Buffalo was pretty rundown looking. Maybe things have improved in the last 5 years, but there was a little too much blight for my taste. I can't speak for gay dating in either place, but Elmwood seemed welcoming to everyone. I know that the area around Amherst has very liberal enclaves in which gays are represented/feel comfortable, so maybe Amherst itself is welcoming. However, I did hear that UMass was no stranger to ethnic/racial tension. Hopefully, someone who knows more can talk about these two towns, particularly Amherst. Hey, I just found this vid about Buff. Of course, it glosses over some of the blight I was referring to, but they do mention it and show a couple of quick pictures. Just note that in some areas of town, that IS what predominates. In my experience, the "pretty" pictures/clips were over-emphasized. So, all images are accurate (I've seen both, in-person), but the ratio of attractive areas to unattractive areas represented in the film is "off". Anyway, it's great to see the city's revitalization efforts!

Oh, wow...good luck! I hope things work out for you in a timely fashion.

I'm doing okay today. But, yes, I thought that I'd have my ish together at this point...and I don't. I thought that I'd be done with school (I'm applying to my second set of grad programs) and living in a condo (I call campus housing home) by now. NO! But, that's okay. My apps are done, I'm patiently waiting it out and I'll be back into the lab tomorrow. I can't complain.

Nuthin'!!!! However, I did review for upcoming, placement exams. So, the real answer is: nuthin + reviewing everything I'd ever learned.

I realize that you're in a different field, but UMich + the RA caught my eye. While it's not CMU, it is a top program with a strong network (particularly in AI and maybe in related, engineering sub-fields?). The fact that you got an RA-ship is a big deal. Honestly, I'd take that and not look back. There's no guarantee that you'll be in this position again after your MS.

I like Organic Chemistry by Clayden, Physical Chemistry by Castellan and Inorganic by Housecroft or/and Atkins. With the exception of the inorganic books, I sought out the others on my own (they were never required texts). Honestly, the older editions are fine for placement tests.

There are lots of Asian supermarkets on/near Cherry St. (approaching the Convention Center at 11th St.). They're also building new apartments on Cherry. Walk-ups predominate on 10th, lofts are on Race St./Arch St. and relatively new apartment buildings (and walk-ups) are on 9th St.

They have graduate housing on the edge of Chinatown, at the Podiatry campus. I've met a few Temple students who live in the Poplar section of Philly (btwn Fairmount and Northern Liberties, I think). Congrats on your acceptance.

I would update them. I'm not sure if I would ask about the status. Play that one by ear...it would depend on who you're talking to, how receptive he/she sounds etc.

Okay, thanks.

I have a question. When applying to grad programs in science, for example, professors are the admissions committee. However, certain professional schools (e.g. MBA programs) have separate, "non-professor" adcoms. Does anyone know how TC does it? Are department professors making the admissions decisions? Just curious.

Agreed. The path to fashion design is not going to be any less intense than the PhD->postdoc(s)->tenure-track grind. My whole thing is: life is short. You need to do what will make you happy. If that's fashion, pursue it. Rather than jumping to fashion design school right now, you should probably go for an internship first. See the ins-and-outs of the field with your own two eyes. As for the right Bio program- make sure the small program graduates PhDs who are doing the type things that are of interest to you. You already know you like the tone of the program. Find out if you like the career prospects for recent alumni. Whether the school is large or small, you want a "good fit". Other than that, good luck.

I think I know the school you're talking about. I took a class there one summer in the E&EB department, actually. I requested a transcript and had to go through those same maneuvers. What a nuisance (especially as a visiting student without a NetID)! Honestly, I don't think any other school uses that 'system'. Anyway, I guess I'm a veteran. I'm going for my second grad degree. Even though this year's process was generally less stressful, the statement of purpose was a challenge. My next degree will be in a different field, so I had to highlight transferable skills and emphasize why my academic background would be wonderfully fantastic for their program. As a "second-timer", I only applied to places that were a good fit (I wasn't as strict about that during my last round of apps). As a result, I actually spent less money on application fees and had a lot less paperwork to keep up with.

Medicine is not the sure bet it once was. Health care reform has changed things and will continue to do so. Talk to doctors (seasoned and newbies alike) in both primary care and various specialties. Don't make a decision like this in a vacuum. Also, it's more difficult to land a residency nowadays. For years, the number of U.S. medical schools was capped. Over the past 5 years, there has been a new-medical-school boom and graduating class size at preexisting medical schools has increased BUT the number of stateside residency slots has remained the same. So, many more U.S. med students are being squeezed into the same, old number of residency positions. You know the not-so-pleasant backstory about academia. Make sure you know all of medicine's ins and outs. Don't idealize it. Good luck

This isn't my field. I'm speaking as an alumna and future parent. I went to an elite, private school in NYC K-12. An Ed.D. was not a necessity (even though there are/were some faculty members with terminal degrees...usually PhDs in their respective fields). I'm not sure if our head of school had an Ed.D. BUT, if you want to climb the ranks at a private school (or even get your foot in the door), your academic pedigree should shine. Ivy League is preferred (and possibly a tacit requisite for leadership roles). If you already have that, you may not have to go back to school at all! Here's the caveat: I think the education field is getting more competitive*, and an undergraduate background in ed. isn't ideal. Normally, people had degrees in an "old-fashioned" field (e.g. English, history, math, physics, a language) and then tacked on education graduate work. This was always true for heads of school/ department chairs. Since you're straight education, an Ed.D. just might put you over the top. The other leadership roles you listed are VASTLY different. Our admissions head, diversity director, head of the Lower School, dean and after-school-program coordinator had very different jobs and probably different backgrounds. Figure out what role you want first. It seems like you were just listing any out-of-the-classroom position you could think of. But, assuming that you're most serious about being a head of lower/middle/upper school, an Ed.D might be the ticket. Target some K-12 schools or non-profits and SEE where the leadership people trained and what their highest degree was. Better yet, reach out via email and find out what THEY think the best educational path is. *I just checked. Our current head of school has an Ed.D. from a top place (former English major). The Headmaster when I was there also had one. So, I guess that is a common denominator. What has changed is the departmental leadership. The people have insane credentials now. The head of Upper School science has a PhD from a top place in a physical science field. The head of the CS dept. came from top places on the west coast and left the Valley to teach. Back in my day, a number of our department heads had masters degrees! Honestly, if you really want private schools, you may want to consider the Ed.D. More and more of your competition (and/or future colleagues) will have the terminal degree. Just my 2 cents...

Great! Good luck.

I'm not sure I would do this. If you definitely want a PhD, why spend the year (and money) getting a stand-alone MS first? Unless you need to strengthen your app., the master's probably isn't the best move. I think a terminal, science MS is good for students who need to plug in academic holes and those who will transition into complementary fields (e.g. pairing a science MS with an MBA or JD).

You should definitely look at MIT. If you don't think you can get into their PhD-Chemical Engineering Practice program initially, applying to LGO might be a smart move. Dartmouth also has a program that might be a good fit. It's called the PhD in Innovation, and it's out of the engineering school. Students concentrate in a field (e.g. ChemE), complete an internship, do research, take a few applied math/innovation/commercialization classes as well as electives at Tuck (business school).

I have a very uncommon name. I'm probably the only person on the planet who has it. A couple of years ago, my facebook account got hacked and a duplicate page was set up...with a scantily clad woman posing suggestively in the profile pic. UGHH... I only realized it recently when someone was trying to friend me and could only find the duplicate/fake page. Of course, I requested that FB take the page down, but they ignored my request. Anyway, that's one of the entries associated with my name.

@lewin- I wasn't saying that one group was smarter than the other. I asserted that class discussion (as opposed to lecture) can be mind-numbing for students who don't like that format. I, personally, can't stand it! Drives me nuts... That was the "culture shock" I was referring to (not "dumb-ness"). If my science courses were structured similarly, I'd say the exact same thing.

I wouldn't mention AAU. I'd just say that I was working things out with my current institution, or something like that. @symmetry- I agree. But, the bottom line is that there are some AAU schools that aren't very highly rated in chemistry (I know one or two AAUs are ranked in the 90s and several others are in the 70s/80s). Just because a school is AAU, doesn't mean it's better than (or even equal to) a non-AAU in your field. It usually is, but not always.

Are you interested in academia afterwards? If so, you'll want the strongest, "good-fit" school you can get into. It's not about convenience/switching in time for next semester. Focus on reapplying to programs that are good fits (cool research, funding, great PIs/advisors in your subfield). Fit is more important than any AAU label. *I don't think the AAU label means much, but that designation generally corresponds with stronger, research-oriented schools. Most likely, if you're moving from an AAU to a non-AAU, you're moving to a lesser known/respected program*

YES! Like, within the past few months. Some people are really upset about the new/increased requirements. But, for Sci->Engr folks, it's great news! Definitely, look into this. Side note: It's great that you made the switch in spite of the old PE rules. I thought of Mat Sci for grad school, but decided against it b/c of the licensing problem. I don't have regrets, but it's cool that you pursued engr. anyway. Good luck with your new path!

Okay. I was going for a little geographic diversity. Whenever I apply, I always add in 1 or 2 equally ranked schools that aren't in "hot" locations. They tend to have slightly higher acceptance rates, but still enjoy solid reputations.