DropTheBase

For a chemistry PhD those scores are plenty competitive. Make sure you have some good letters of recommendation. Good luck! DTB

There is a bus that goes over the Dumbarton bridge in the morning, but not very late at night. Without that bus, it takes 3 hours via public transport to get back to Fremont. If you have your own car then like with any other bridge, if you go early enough there won't be as much traffic, but how early do you really want to get up every day? There's also a $5 toll, by the way. Also, while the housing in Palo Alto isn't cheap, you won't save THAT much living in Fremont. Personally it wouldn't be worth it to me unless you were already towards the end of your program, when you're more time-flexible. DTB

Welcome to the forums! When I was asked for my "Chemistry GPA" I just solely factored in classes that started with the name "Chem" (i.e. Chem 101, Chem 234...etc.) . This seemed the most fair to me since different schools have all kinds of different requirements for graduating as a chemistry major, whereas the chemistry classes are fairly the same. If you aren't comfortable with that, then it's best to ask a staff advisor what "GPA for your major" means for your school. DTB

International students accepted to Top 10 engineering/matsci programs usually have very high Quantitative scores (but usually lower Verbal scores, nice job!). It might be worth trying to raise your quanitative score, but this depends on how the rest of your application looks. It might not be necessary. DTB

It's never too early. In my emails, I did the following (similar to dat_nerd): Subject line: Prospective Graduate Student Interested in (Project that POI does) <- they'll know right away what this email is about - I'm from (school), I work in (professor)'s group working on (project). <- keep this sentence as short as possible. - I read your paper on (project you're interested in) and I was hoping you could tell me more about the current status of this project ----------------- I was very lucky. I got a response from every POI I contacted using this type of email. This type of email says so much about you and only asks for a little bit of information in return. It doesn't put the POI in an awkward situation. In my experience, if you make it clear to a POI that you're a prospective graduate student (subject line), he/she already knows that you're curious whether or not the POI is taking new students, and he/she will most likely mention it. They were once in your position. If you are confident and want to go the extra mile. In the email, ask the POI if he/she is available to speak over the phone. You can demonstrate your knowledge and enthusiasm in the POI's work over the phone on a much more personal and memorable level. DTB

For me, the best was to associate either real memories with the word, or associate synonyms of the word with real memories. The words I memorized best were ones I could "feel" using, if that makes any sense. For example, when I learned the word "legerdemain".... I used to work at a daycare and I would associate the word with one of the children who would always try to get seconds at "snack time" by convincing other staff that he never got any snacks in the first place. I had to be a little more creative for words that I had no experience with, such as "abase." I don't have any experience disgracing somebody, despite having seen it all the time. Most effective was imagining myself doing the ridiculing. I would associate the image of myself pointing my finger down at somebody (an overly dramatic image). Now when I read the word, it's the first thing I think of. --- I find that to be the best method for me, otherwise I ended up associating the word with the image of its definition written on a flash card. It's much easier to remember a real life event rather than specific words on paper, in my opinion. Hope that helps. DTB

I too would love to know how efficient writing on a tablet is. I'm heavily considering getting a Galaxy Note 10.1 since it has a stylus that's specifically designed for writing efficiently and making sketches (I think it's called an S-Pen). DTB

I don't know much about schools in Canada except U. of Waterloo. I ended up not applying to that prpgram because they would not accept PhD students without previously having a masters unless they had an 'A' standing. My gpa was not that high, so I just assumed they wouldn't consider me (contrary to the advice I posted above). I should have applied there anyway. What I mentioned above, I know is true for US institutions. DTB

I took it last year. I was in the 81st percentile on the verbal section if I remember correctly. The memorizing really paid off for those infuriating questions that had THREE blanks in them. I also think zapster's approach is more natural. However, for someone like me, whose vocabulary already wasn't stellar to begin with, broad memorization really improved my scores. This was because I was originally wasting time just trying to logically determine what the answer choices meant! I didn't know the meaning of the words in the answers, so I had no chance actually selecting the correct one. DTB

Philip Guo's advice. http://www.pgbovine.net/grad-school-app-tips.htm (Slightly more relevant for applicants in the natural sciences, but still great general advice). It's something I wish I read at least a year before I applied. He also gets into applying for fellowships. DTB

Not just Caltech, most public schools in general. The low GPA is certainly a drag on the application, but it is not a deal breaker by any means. GPA is low on the list of things considered for science PhD programs. The only thing that you should really watch out for is that most (if not all) PhD programs have an automatic (often computerized) cutoff at a GPA of 3.0. You can attempt to circumvent this by having a professor from your university personally appeal your application for review. This professor must really believe in you and more importantly, must be convincing. This can work and has worked. Your letters of recommendation and publications are going to be by far the most important (and impressive) thing about your application. Your main objective is just to have your application read. If you can pull that off, you have a MUCH higher chance than you think, even at prestigious institutions. Most applicants have no publications or conference presentations whatsoever. And as mentioned above, don't forget to address the GPA in your SOP (no pathetic excuses). DTB

These are prerequisites for a chase! Whereas all you have to do to obtain a siginificant other passively is be content with being alone! Those attributes are also important for maintaining a relationship, not just obtaining one. If one wants somebody, shouldn't one be active about it?

It is certainly possible to do this! I memorized all 500 of Kaplan's words in 4 weeks (I memorized the final 10 the day of the exam). MANY of them showed up on the exam. They either helped me rule out an answer, or were the answers themselves! DTB

I think it's his DIRECT way of saying he's busy during the time you two originally scheduled, and he's willing to meet with you at a different time. There are way too many factors that skew a comparison between your friend's and your situations. When you meet, you'll know if he's somewhat interested in getting to know you better if he asks you questions about yourself. And you'll know for sure he's actually interested in getting to know you better if he actually listens to your answers! DTB

"Damsel in distress" ... sorry, apparently words get deleted when I type on my phone. DTB

My advice is gender neutral. You made it quite clear to everyone that you're no damsel, fuzzylogician. What I mean by that statement is that this person (who happens to be a guy) hasn't reciprocated and asked wildviolet for coffee to talk about "research". However, wildviolet, you haven't explicitly demonstrated you romantic interest to him, so why would/should he? DTB

It sounds like you're way overthinking this. That is a totally standard reply to a variety of emails. If a guy is into you, he will make the time to pursue you. You'd naturally friendzone him before having to guess whether or not he liked you. If a guy is into you and he DOES NOT pursue you, then he's not the kind of guy worth dating. Why be with someone who doesn't make time for you?. And lastly, it's possible he's "just not that into you." DTB

The only thing I would watch out for is that some applications might automatically reject sub-3.0 GPAs (via software). If this is the case, you usually will need a faculty member to petition to still have your application reviewed. So you should ask the school. I am told that people still get accepted this way. You have fantastic credentials, so I would keep your hopes up. GPA is not as important as everything else you have going for you. DTB

In most applications, it does not make a difference since the prompt will be fairly specific. However, if an application only mentions submitting a "statement of purpose" or a personal statement, then I see it like this: Statement of Purpose: What you hope to achieve (including getting into the PhD program), your career goals, and why you're qualified/prepared to succeed. Personal Statement: Why you're interested in the subject in the first place (and how your background relates to this) and why you'll succeed. Based on these definitions, it's fairly clear why you almost always see a statement of purpose for chemistry PhD applications. DTB

Welcome to the forum! Last year I spoke with chemistry professors on the admissions committee of one of those schools you mentioned are tough to get into. Here is what they said: 1. Don't worry too much about the GRE because they don't see it as an accurate measure for how well one will do in grad school (especially the chem GRE). They just don't want to see red flags (super bad scores). 2. They DO like to see a higher verbal scores because they do want people who know how to write. Note that I mentioned "verbal" rather than "writing." They are very aware that the writing section of the GRE demonstrates nothing more than your ability to write about garbage within 30 min. Given that, what I did was buy those "GRE frequently used vocab" flash cards and memorized all 500 of them within 2 or 3 weeks. This noticeably helped my verbal GRE score. But if you ever feel stressed about this, refer back to point #1. You probably don't need to spend money on a class. 3. In your personal statement they're looking for a 'spark', something that genuinely shows your excitement/passion for doing research. 4. Certain professors will read your letters of rec, and if they are very strong (they confirm you have the ability to do research), they may end up only skimming the rest of you application for red flags. In other words, your letters will be by far the most important piece of your application. Hope that helps! Keep in mind, this advice may be just for that particular school and not necessarily for all schools. Good luck! DTB

Welcome to the forum Giraffe19! I can relate to the overwhelming feeling right before starting senior year. You'll soon find out how irrelevant "tiers" are to the whole grad school process, but they can be a good place to start. I remember going through the schools that I thought were "top" schools and looking for professors whose research I was interested in. That search led me to read up on professors' work from schools not as prestigious. You can then start making a list of professors at each school, and then you'll have a list of schools for consideration. You want at least 2 professors (aim for 3) for each school. If you're lucky, you'll have a fairly long list of schools and then you can narrow down the list using other factors later on. --- Another resource would be professors at your university that do research in the field that you might want to study in grad school. They will know which professors do related work and which universities they are at! --- Your stats are great. You most definitely have a chance of being accepted into "top" schools (but once again, you'll soon find out that the rankings are more irrelevant than made out to be). Aim for the professors. Good luck! DTB

Unless you were already awarded one, external fellowships might look at your undergrad transcripts.

I can't say much about biochemistry, but I can confidently say that Los Angeles is a sh*thole compared the Bay Area. You'd have a much better California experience living in Palo Alto.

Thanks for the great input guys. I should mention, the research interest at both places is fairly equal. It's more the adviser's style and group dynamic (my first impression from the visit, that is).

Thanks for the input. I was admitted to this program. It is a top program; however, this POI is in a different department which is not well known. In other words, there aren't many others aiming to join this group. The department I got into has a fantastic, collaborative community. There is plenty of funding for me at this institution. The school, as far as I know, has no problem with me working for an adviser in a different department. The choice between schools for me is at this point solely based on the adviser/group. Everything else is relatively equal. In one program there are multiple advisers I could see myself working for, yet they may not be entirely ideal. In this program that I'm talking about, there is only one extremely ideal adviser. --- I'd consider myself fairly competitive since I have been doing very similar work that this POI does, which comes with a personal recommendation from my current adviser (they know each other).