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LSU is a tier 1 university. Another good university in Louisiana is Tulane. As for non-tier 1 universities in louisiana you have University of New Orleans, UL-Lafeyette. If Louisiana is where you want I would apply to three with tulane and LSU being two so you will get into at least one.

Well, at lower rank schools (any outside the top 40) they allow you to have 3 chem classes missing, This includes classes like p-chem, inorganic chemistry, Instrumental anylsis, certain physics, aka. So Im kinda thinking if you didnt take p-chem because of physics you wouldnt of meet the two physics class alone. But if a chem phd is what you want, Im sure theres a program out there for you. Just might go in on probation but chemistry departments are hurting for students.

Well, first you have to call the university where you accepted the offer and ask for a release. If they grant it then you go ahead and accept the other offer. If they dont release you, you dont have to go but you are on the hook for a full semester of tuition and fees

They get deferred after you sign up for your classes and the university takes care of everything. So most likely you will have to keep paying until august

No school is guarenteed. A good list is 1 or 2 dream schools, alot of reasonable ones like you listed then maybe 1 or 2 more likely schools.

Don't do that its a bad situation dont make it horrible. By doing that your reputation is forever tarnished. Those professors know others in your field and your field has conferences. If you end on bad terms it could haunt you your whole life.

Let me clear something up. It wasn't out of nowhere since I studied 3 months for the gre and did pay the app fee. I am just a little worried about the time investment and the fact that my field has a 50% drop out rate after 2 years.

Option 1- Don't go back to school and be happy with just my Bachelors(BS). Stay at my current job making good money, good benfits, more time off than anyone could imagine, and best of all its in my field and I love it. Option 2- Get my phd in a totally funded program with a nice stipend and once I finish I'll make more than double than I would with just a BS. It would take 6-8 years to get but I would be funded every year. I have taken 5 years off. Not sure why I applied but I did. Now I am tring to decide if a phd is something I would want. Any insight or advice would be welcomed.

Well, my philosphy is go with the guarentee over an unknown. So I would accept school B and go on and never look back

If you have all three degrees from the same uni its imposssible to get tenure anywhere. If you have two from the same uni it makes it hard but it is possible. Its best to get it from three different places

Well my mac is 5 years old and still going strong

Not going to answer any of the top questions because stats are worthless. As long as you meet the min. your be fine. But do follow if they say min gre is 1100 dont waste your money if you have below 1100 and same thing with gpa. If your gpa is below 3.5 and it says the min is 3.5 dont apply. The advice below is for phd programs only. Masters dont need to visit and not knocking them just being honest that they are easier to get into if anything is considered easy with grad schools. Decissions: You may think multiple offers is a luxury but it's a curse. You only applied to programs you could see yourself at so when you must decide it's tough. Ultimately I went with the best fit and nothing else matters. Since the only thing that matters is what you did while your were there. Advice: Make a list and see if they are taking students. Then VISIT all schools. And if you cant afford to visit all, make a list of what programs you want most and visit them in order until you run out of money but make sure you visit at least a couple. Not only will the visit help you get accepted, you see the places and the interactions and it may make you never even apply there but without the visit you might of had to spend 5 years in a place you hate. Also, have all applications in a month before hand then 1 week before hand call and make sure they have everything. This allows you a week to get any lost materials in since some places just discards your app if not complete and they love losing materials.

This whole agrument is bad. Every field has different expectations. In some fields you dont do it without funding based on the programs. However some other programs it is expected not to get funding. Not to mention the fact you can only have funding the first two years anyways since you are expected to go off and do your research on your own in some fields and cant fulfill the obligations of teaching, ta or research assistant. As for the field MA in education alot of programs are vicious to their prespective grad schools thus they are sometimes referred to nothing but cash cows. Also, at a top school out of my field I know for a fact all first year phd students dont get funding. And after that only one of all of them gets it each year and you must compete every year for it. But the program is a top program and they have their pick of students so they don't need to give them. PHD programs are all about your advisor and what you did in it. Not rankings from the early 90's. So in a way if you have a ga its taking time away from your own research and thus putting you behind the 8 ball. So before you make a general statement about phd must get funding, make sure to examine all fields and not just your field or your situation. Some advisors yes it matters and their ga get special treatment but not all advisors and it can even vary from advisor to advisor in the same program and the same school. So do your homework and find out if it matters. If it does dont go without funding, if it doesnt matter and your even given other perks by not having funding and you can afford it chose that one.

if your an analytical chemist unc-chapel is number 1