Chemcki

I have to tell you April visits are really usually intense, you are going be meeting fewer fellow students (maybe feeling isolated). Professors are going to ask you questions and this is going to be like a real interview, as opposed to visiting weekends where they meet 20 something students, whatever you do and say is going to leave a strong impression which they will remember. I bet they will even remember your name. My advice: 1. Know your own research well. The most difficult questions are going to come from your own research. I once met this Argentine professor who questioned my resume quite a lot. 2. Be clear about your research interest (show them you are genuinely interested in their work). There are professors that will tell you you are not right for the program, but the point is for you to meet a couple profs. that you will say to them that you are really interested in their work.

It depends, you can ask the school admission coordinator, it is not something they keep secret from you. Some visit before or after, there are even some that may happen in early April if you are on the wait list or something like that, and they do accept some without visiting, even some domestic students. Schools usually offer more than the spots they have for example if they have 15 spots they probably gives offers to 20-25 people.

I spent a few minutes reading TSRI's financial report of Sep 2012, it seems like two things Chemist242 described in the previous post were inaccurate, 1: Scripps has ~68 endowment funds (where Chemist242 said TSRI none). 2. While contracts exist, Scripps's revenue primarily comes from federal agencies such as NIH. (where Chemist242 said TSRI is privately funded). It seems like TSRI does has some increasing debt to pay off each year, and some fair increase of benefit costs but I don't see obvious projections of problems for 2014, although I cannot access their financial health right now, based on their cash/liability ratio one would have expected healthy growth if it is a private company. Again, thanks Ruben for the clarification.

Thanks for sharing the info., 10-15 probably means slim chances for me. Best luck for the rest of the applicants.... In response to asaprocky's earlier question. From my communication with the scripps admission, I was told it would probably be April... but that was probably before this situation came up as Chemist242 mentioned...

It seems like there are other schools with monetary problems, but 10% for interview is a small amount. Do you know how many ppl have been invited for interview? Rejecting students with that reason is understandable, inviting so many for interview is also understandable because they want to maximize the chances of getting the best students. Does this have to do with cutting NSF ? Have to admit, the previous post by MOchemist123 has a point, it is unbelievably sm amt of students to admit, considering they have already given out offers to ppl w/o interviewing.

are you notified by Yale or MIT?

This question is equivocal to asking how to make math more attractive to undergrads.... Many ppl I knew chose ochem or analytical classes cuz they just prefer less calculus and a higher GPA. As a matter of fact, hardcore pchem is less attractive to undergrads also because they could not see much direct use of it in industries.

Sweet, thanks for the info. I am not sure about the proper level of specificity one need, but biophys/and quan chem was my research focus for more than two years and I cannot avoid being very specific. In Yale I aimed for computational and structural groups. Since the back to back rejection from Stanford and MIT, staying positive has gotten harder, but there is still hope in me at least the force is still with me.

Good to know another applicant interested in Biophysics. Waiting for Yale too, it seems to me that Biophysical track often come after the other tracks, don't loose spirit so soon.

Nobody wants to go through the PHD application allover again. If you want to stay, then at least try to work things out with your PI and be frank about the difficulties suggest the possibilities of switching focus. Bring it up again may be from another angle tell her you want to be productive too and the lab environment is preventing it or something. Meanwhile, talk to your department chair or someone in charge of graduate students about possibilities of switching lab, or even department. Your PI cannot determine whether you switch lab or not. Remember, she might have invested money in you, you have invested valuable time in her project. You do not necessarily owe her to stay. It might be unpleasant, but if your department chair would allow, there is no reason you cannot join another lab. Also talk to the new faculty about the situation, tell him you would rather work for him than reapply. Forge an agreement before you burn down the old bridge. If not then make up your mind to graduate, and start planning your application. It is not a simple situation, but there is no magic solution, you just need to get through.

You asked how you could stand out and that was the answer. No you are right, just finish what you are doing. You don't "need" to have a publication. Most don't because the cycle for publication in Biochem usually take longer commitments. Taking a year off would not do much good. Good GPA and good GRE can get you there. Like the other response from the other person, a well prepared SOP will be very important.

I miss read your post originally, I thought you were a biochem major. Chem major usually do well in Biochem. Get a good GRE, you will have a good chance. If you want yourself stand out, you need publication in Biochemistry, if not at least good recommendation from a Biochem professor. Materials science research is really different from Biochemical pathways, and what is golden in your research might not be so obvious for a biochem professor. Also, you should realize that many Biochemistry programs out there are really Molecular Biology more than Biochemistry.

I have been there, but it's like telling a girl you think you shouldn't see each other anymore. The longer you wait,the more damage you will do. I think I agree with all your replies, you must be stressful enough deciding where to go in the first place, don't let this get in the way

I can tell you that it really depends on the program you are in, and the choices you make. You can succeed in graduate school either way: you can be a straight A nerd know a lot or you can be someone who do extremely well in research in a certain area. Some programs are more challenging than others, and at the same time, some majors are more challenging than others. If you are not very ambitious just find a senior student learn about how they succeed in the program and copy their act. If you want to make the most out of your graduate life, then you got to learn as much as you can. Unfortunately, you will probably meet graduate students that are more like undergrads, and they ended up graduating just fine, there are people who spend a lot of time satisfying their bosses and they usually ended up doing extremely well but there are also people who have objectives and do more than they are asked to. Of course knowing more is better than less, it is always a matter of what you want. You will be doing a lot of presentation, lab meetings, and research meetings. Then you have committee meetings, qualification exams, teaching responsibilities, and also conference presentations. So you probably cannot read all chemistry book during the next 6 months, but you can train yourself to be comfortable at presenting your own work, it will take a lot of stress away when you are in grad school. Most people I know who struggle cannot deal with the stress that comes with oral presentations. Oh, by the way, if you are in anyway going to be teaching organic chemistry or some kind of high level undergraduate lab, have fun now while you can.

Chemisto is right, but federal income tax does not vary, different states do have different state taxes, Texas for example, have no state income tax. Different nations have different treaties with the US, which determine how much tax return you will receive, but once you become a resident for tax purpose, you will pay taxes like every one else. I am a Chinese national, and I received all my taxes back for my first year, including the taxes for my fellowship. But second year on, I paid full taxes. Your stipend is probably in the range of 20K-30K, so individual tax probably 15% so you should do the calculation yourself. I know nothing about your state income tax but you can find that information on web easily. To calculate your taxes check out the wiki page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_the_United_States Chances are, your net income will be similar because some areas have high living costs. Such as Boston, you pay a lot for rent so it is normal that you receive a bit more offer. As opposed to Texas, may be your stipend seems low, but considering the cheap gas and low rent, you would probably ended up having a couple more bucks in your pocket, but don't make decisions based on stipend unless you have a family to support. The quality of your ph.D. degree is worth so much more.

Well use my undergrad PI's answer, "why did you apply for those schools in the first place?" If you obviously would not consider them. From my previous experience, those schools would not be so interested in hearing your reasons, "just say I am sorry, I have accepted another offer. " They will want to hang up the phone sooner than you think.

Invited to UCSD interview weekend. It is a little later than others' but it's my first. For those who are nerve-racking about MIT, I was told that they will be making majority of their decisions in the period mid-late February,i.e. if you are of average awesomeness that's probably when you should give up hope....

Well these things happen, the important thing is to look forward. I will recommend you to make sure you get the credit you deserve. You need to make a deal with your professor and ensure your name on the future publication. For I know people who did a lot of work left the lab and never even appeared in the acknowledgements, if your professor still pays you do what he asks you to do, afterall you are probably off to a better school, and if whoever inherit your work can finish your work you have a publication. To me that does not sound so bad. In my own experience, I gladly did whatever asked, ensured a publication, graduated and now I am interviewing with a much much better school. I would not go back to my original lab even if they pay me double. There are so many opportunities out there for people who have ideas like you, and you will be better off working for someone who doesn't have "funding" problems.

I also did my college and masters in US, had to apply as international student....and UC irvine had to ask me for TOEFL....anyways, congrats, just wondering what field are you applying for?

Well, don't know about Chem Program in UC berkeley, but I actually got rejected by their MCB program (biophysical chem) today. Although this is the only school I did not apply for the Chem Department, just thought people should be glad that they have not been rejected yet. Am I helping? Got 160V, 165M, 1 JACS pub, little weak on GPA, though....Guess that did not impress Berkeley....