Alchemist921

Hey Zifn, School's are often willing to accommodate students that show interest but are not able to attend specific visit weekends. I personally experienced that. I suggest contact the graduate coordinator and ask if there's any chance that you can come visit another weekend, making sure the professors you are interested in will be present. If they really want you to attend you will notice very clearly how helpful they will be. Good luck!

Absolutely. You will find that the Princeton Chemistry Graduate Program is structured well. Reasonable requirements in a timely and organized way. Looking forward to your visit!

As I previously stated you run your own NMRs. You prepare your sample. Then you go to the basement. Choose an NMR instrument depending on the experiment you want to do. Then you log into the computer. Input the experiment you want. And since the instruments are automated it will be placed on a queue so you don't have to wait. You go back to your lab and do other things. After x amount of time, you log into your computer (yeah you don't have to go back downstairs) and using a FTP program you can get your NMR spectrum. At no point is anyone else running your NMR experiment. Hopefully that answers your question. As for the generals exam. I've heard from other students and also been present in a practice generals talk from a 2nd year in my group. There are two parts. For organic students, the first part is comprised of your Research Progress Report. What have you done in the last 1.5-2 years. What's really important, more than the amount of data collected, is if can you tell a story about your project. The second part is an independent out of field proposal. Yeah the generals exam are stressful, as they should be. It seems common place for the advisor to give their students 1 month off from the lab in order to prepare for the generals exam. Then there's the practice generals exam with your group, although the advisor sits out for the independent proposal. During the generals exam, you can get asked all sorts of questions. The committee just wants to see that you can defend yourself with the acquired chemistry knowledge. This is where the first year classes come in handy. For the generals you are expected to know a lot and they are difficult. That being said, most people pass the generals exam. From what I hear, Princeton is known to choose prospective students that will pass on to PhD candidacy. Is something that everyone must get through.

Haha. Wow. Lots of great questions. You'll come to the visit weekend having all these questions answered and then you can just have fun! 1. In terms of working here for the summer (vs. internship). I started working here August 1st, one month work of summer. Half the students in my year started some time in the summer. The other half started on time. Yes for more competitive labs, working during the summer is key. I highly recommend starting during the summer. There's no commitment in staying with the same advisor after the summer. It's a great way to settle in Princeton before the start of the semester. I wouldn't say its disadvantageous to not do the summer here, depends on what the internship is. Professors are very open as to when you can start. 2. a. You can do the whole parking permit when you are here. Do you plan on living on campus? I live on campus, which is an 8 minute bike ride to the lab or a 20 minute walk. Yes, to this day I bike it to the lab and it's great! I don't own a car, so I'm not particularly clear about the parking situation. From my understanding if you live on campus then it's hard to get a permit since they are trying to encourage other means of commute (walking, biking). We get housing for three years, why not take advantage of it. I come from NYC commuting for over 2 hours each day, right now I enjoy biking 8 minutes. b. I'm living in the New Graduate College (NGC). It's practically a graduate student dorm. Not the best, but does the job. Next year I'll be moving to an on campus apartment, probably with a room mate. Rent for the NGC is like $750/month. The apartments might be like $800/month. Not really sure. As far as off campus housing, I can't help you there since I don't really know much about it. Definitely ask that when you come visit. My advice, take advantage of the campus housing whenever you can. 3. Yes there's a lab technician. However, you run your own NMRs. He's there to make sure all the NMR instruments are up and running well. Also if you are ever having any issues with an experiment, or are wondering if a unique experiment can be done he will be more than happy to help you. Very knowledgeable guy. As far as the other instruments go, look you are coming to do a PhD. Independent use will be encouraged. That being said, at the beginning people will be showing you around, showing you the instruments. Once you get a handle on it, then you are on your own. Simple things like GC-MS, LCMS, IR or even the Biotage, once you know the software you are good to go. X-ray crystallography for example, I get a crystallographer to do my crystals right now. But I plan on learning some time in the future. (5 years is a very long time) Best of luck with your decision!!!! (I also had to choose between Princeton and Columbia and it was not an easy choice).

Hey guys! Princeton is GREAT! That's it. Haha. See you guys in the visit weekends! Any questions, just ask. -- First Year in Prof. Doyle's lab.

Thought I'd check in on this site that kept me very busy during the 2014 PhD application season. Just wanted to say congrats to those admitted to Princeton University, see you guys during the visitation weekend!

My general GRE scores were 58% in verbal, 91% in quantitative and my chemistry GRE score was a 94%. Everyone told me not to focus so much on the GRE scores, but you know what? I did. I made sure to do well in math and chemistry, and I'm sure those scores helped! Besides I was also coming from a small college, so I needed competitive standardized scores in order to put myself in the pool with other students coming from top programs. So my advice is that right now we are in June. You have plenty of time. I would consider retaking both exams. Try to get above a 75% in quant and above a 70% in chemistry! You are almost there, so I think it is a reasonable goal. I hope this advice helps you!

PM if you want

Hmm, I wonder if we met at any of the visitation weekends. Who are you looking to work for at Princeton and at Columbia?

Who's thinking of going to Columbia University?

Who's thinking of going to Columbia University???

Originally, I'm from Colombia. But I grew up in NYC.

Ha! I'm also an international student but I've been in the US for QUITE A WHILE!!!! Looking forward to next week!! I also want to figure out housing during that visit. They seem to give several options, so I want to make sure to choose the best one for me.

I am stuck between Princeton and Columbia university. I'd say that at this point I'm 50.5% Princeton and 49.5% Columbia. But still, I could go either way. I'm waiting to visit them. Princeton I'll visit next week for the first time. As for Columbia, I've visited them multiple times, but looking forward to their visitation weekends to know more about the department.

I am also thinking of accepting the offer from Princeton University. However, I am also still considering Columbia University. Will be visiting Princeton at the end of next week. Looking forward to it.