St Andrews Lynx

...Probably not. I think the main criteria for reimbursement is that you do attend the interview, politeness doesn't really come into it. Cancelling the interview itself would be straightforward - just say you've decided to accept the offer from another institution. I'd just suck it up and attend the interview. At the very least it will give you a practice at faking enthusiasm - a useful skill in grad school...

I'm interested in soliciting opinions about the Chemistry Program at Rutgers (New Brunswick): their applicants & attendees seem to be under-represented on the GC forum. From what I've seen so far it's a fairly decent school (Top 60 in US News Ranking for Chem) and their Chemistry Dept is well-funded. Does anybody have either 'Don't go my friend had a terrible experience there' or 'I know several chemists who enjoy being there' stories to share?

I occasionally refer to myself as a Pescatarian. Sounds similar...

Being a scientist I wear anything from business casual to jeans & t-shirt, but I always make sure my outfit is "lab safe". Full length trousers, trainers/closed shoes, sleeves not so long that they come out from the sleeves of my lab coat, etc. I want to wear clothes that I feel professional in, outfits that try to ensure others take me seriously.

How much caffeine do you drink? I try not to drink too much after a certain hour (4pm for me), but if I've been knocking back double espressos all day it still negatively impacts the quality of sleep I get. Perhaps cutting down by a few cups of per day will have an impact? A trick that helped me sleep through the nights is meditation. If you try just 10 minutes of v. deep breathing (thinking about nothing else besides the breaths) before going to bed it'll help (a) get oxygen to your brain, relieving stress ( calm your mind down and stop it thinking of a million things when you're trying to doze off.

It depends on the institution you're interviewing at, as well. Professors on the West Coast are likely to have more liberal attitudes to those at Ivies on the East, etc...

I'd go ahead and apply for the TA. If you end up doing a PhD there will be TAing involved. Maybe learning how you cope with teaching undergrads whilst an M.S. will give a better indication of if you really want to do that PhD...

This time around I got 2 acceptances and 3 rejections. I'm still waiting to hear from 3 UK universities, who operate on a slightly different timeline. Last year it was 5 rejections. ...I take this as an improvement.

Ranking doesn't always correlate to competitiveness or chances of admission. A lot of very good candidates could be applying to the "lower ranked" universities as their safety schools for the same reasons you are. Perhaps the lower-ranked university has less funding, and is able to take on fewer students than a better-ranked place. Also, you can apply to the lowest-ranked university on the list, but if the Admissions Committee don't think your research interests match with what they have available...you aren't going to be accepted. No of us here are (a) psychic ( sitting on your AdCom meetings © professional bookmakers. We can't give you your odds of admission. Sorry I can't be more encouraging...

Thanks for the input guys, that helps me a lot.

If you already have a job and the PhD is just a qualification your employers are looking for, perhaps a shorter 3-year PhD would be better? Doing the American PhD with the extra coursework would give you a more rounded education, but if you are already educated to a Masters-level then you will have done coursework at 1st year level. The best way to find a British advisor is to look on the university websites and read about the faculty and their research programs. UK universities often hold postgraduate Open Days (where you can visit the school in Winter/Early Spring BEFORE formally submitting applications), which is a good time to meet potential advisors in person if you are able to attend. Otherwise, email is the standard approach. I hope that is useful.

Hugs and sympathy. Perhaps the news came as a shock to your supervisor? He might not have realised when you first talked just how serious you were. I think it's likely that the words he said were in anger, and he'll probably regret he said them later. Anyway, its *far* better that you made the decision to get off the PhD program in your 1st year than realise 2-3 years in when it would be harder to get out. Deciding not to do a PhD DOESN'T make you a failure.

Get a couple of your classmates together and have an informal run-through a week before the presentation. They're probably wanting to practice their talks, too. That will give you experience of presenting within a safe environment. Your classmates can ask you questions afterwards as well as give feedback, and that'll give you an idea of what to expect from the audience on the day. There isn't any other way to get over a fear of public speaking...apart from through public speaking. Practice as often as you can. It does get easier.

Go for it. It's fine to email just to say that you've been offered and place and are interested in working for him, asking a couple of questions about his group/research if you have them. I think in general professors understand that you might want more information before committing to a program. If he responds in a positive and enthusiastic manner about the possibility of you working for him...well, that's a very good thing.

Back in the summer I was in the office of a Seriously Big Name Professor (Ivy League) expressing an interest in his university and research program. SBNP asked me which other universities I was going to apply to for grad school. I listed the schools I had visited that summer: 2 Ivies, 2 state universities (public Ivies) and 1 centre city university. "Well, you named 2 good schools there," he replied. At which point I was introduced to the concept academic snobbery in the US system. Come February 2013 and I've not been accepted into the Ivies I applied for, but I have received an offer from a large public research university on the East coast. My interest is in industrial research careers rather than sticking in academia - thus I'm probably going to have to complete a postdoc at a Top 10 institution if I want to get into big pharma. What I'm concerned about is if academic elitism is going to play against me, and what I can (if anything) do about it. Have any other chemists on this forum gone to a large public research university for their PhD? Have you faced outright academic snobbery in the process of your graduate/postdoctoral education on account of this? Any advice for me?

I'm not technically a "graduate student blogger" - partly of course because I've not yet started grad school. But I've written about the application process (and repeat cycle) on my blog, and will almost certainly be writing a lot more on the subject. This is mostly a personal blog - I've done lots of travelling and living around the USA and Europe: http://www.standrewslynx.wordpress.com

Ask POIs about starting in the summer. A lot of (most?) Chemistry programs have this as an option. My advice would be to not worry too much about choosing a research group/POI. If you are interested in doing your PhD with a superstar professor for whom *everybody* wants to work for, then impressing them during a summer project would give you a head-start on the competition. On the other hand...some programs expect you to rotate through several labs before making a commitment to thesis advisor, anyway. The POIs will understand that you want to explore your options and find the best fit within the Department (they've got to put up with you as much as you have to put with them!).

I think that the name of ETH is better known internationally than TU Delft, so having it on your CV might be more helpful. I can't speak for either of their programs, however.

I would give the general advice to make sure that there are 2-3 faculty members at your top choice university whom you would be interested in working for before you officially commit to any PhD program. Just in case it turns out Prof. Dream-Inorganic isn't accepting any graduate students. Did you reference the POI in your Personal Statement? I reckon it couldn't hurt to send him an email explaining that you got accepted into the program and are interested in working with him, is he taking on new students et cetera. Good luck!

I think offering to cover travel expenses is fairly standard - the Department is trying to woo you into taking up their offer, after all. Depending on the general finances of the school they will offer to compensate you anything between $200 and full-expenses (& accommodation).

From my experience of German-speaking countries, I think business casual would be OK. Certainly not jeans and t-shirt...but you wouldn't need to go as far as a suit & tie.

I have 2 acceptances and am awaiting a decision from more 3 places. At the moment I don't feel much like celebrating - perhaps just because it feels so strange finally getting an offer (after a long, stressful time), though also because I've been rejected from my Top Choice and still waiting to hear back from the Second Top. The acceptances feel kinda bittersweet after the rejection. I think I owe myself a spa & sauna trip for the two acceptances. If I hear back something positive from the Second and Third Top I owe myself a holiday to Switzerland to catch up with friends. When I sign along the dotted line to formally accept an offer I will be heading out for a night of expensive (non-alcoholic) cocktails with friends.

A number of pharma companies offer internships for chemists. I think that most of them are targeted towards undergrads doing summer placements, but it isn't unheard of for companies to take recent graduates for a 3-9 months (you're relatively cheap to run). It might be worth your while searching online for positions or sending out speculative CVs to pharma companies in your area. Advantages are that you get full-time research experience and a headstart if you decide to go into industry in the future. You also get a salary. Disadvantages are that you are highly unlikely to publish anything whilst there. Industrial referees are often given lower weight than academic ones when it comes to applying for PhD positions. Just a thought.

You could ask which programs they had to decide between, why they selected this one, and if they're happy with their decision.

I'm envious that you've got all your choices lined up. My American choices are finalised...but I put in several applications to British universities and I'm going to have to wait a while to hear back about them (could be March-Easter before PIs & British universities know what their funding situation is like...)