prolixity

It's quite true. Angela Merkel, a physical chemist in Germany, had to find herself a job in an entirely non-scientific field because of the lack of employment opportunities!

I was asked to derive the hamiltonian for a polariton on the fly last year. Then the professor asked me do describe, in detail, the particulars of an experiment he performed in 1979, as related though a publication in a small Czechoslovakian chemical physics journal.

By your logic, Harvard, with it's 40% international student population, must be the easiest program to enter.

Don't be one of those chumps who have to call. You'll find out before visitation weekend.

cool story bro. What is it you're trying to communicate here besides the fact that you've got a couple of nice qualifications?

GRE is going to hurt you. I'd advise you to retake it.

Come and visit. My graduate program is about 40% international students, 40% public school students, and 20% private. As far as I know, no one in my dormitory has ever been excluded from a social event because of a non-Ivy league upbringing. Such a distinction is actually quite stupid, if you think about it. (And how elite do you think we feel, living in a graduate student dormitory rather than apartments?) I go to a school in a place where we can discuss both ancient greek poetry and quantum field theory at the same dinner table. Don't let your unfounded biases prevent you from experiencing a similarly awesome opportunity. Brand names don't matter in graduate school.

The CB program is run by the Med School at Harvard.. no connection at all to the department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology which is GSAS. Admissions will be a bit different from other programs/departments. This year only 5 students matriculated.

^^This. Kept me sane for the last semester.

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You'll find many more WiFi hotspots in the USA than in Europe, but I have no clue how this relates to the prevalence in Australia. Most college campuses are completely covered (I'm writing this in the middle of a park).

Work on that GRE.. You should definitely be about 700 for chemistry.. especially analytical chem. As a foreign applicant, you're competing with approximately 12 billion Indian, Turkish, Pakistani, and Chinese students who have perfect scores for a couple hundred spots, so aim even higher. Also, you might want to consider a research-based internship to pass the time until the next application season.. technical skills are great, but the admission committees are looking for more than just an automaton. RISE-PRO by DAAD is a particularly cool internship for BS/MS holders.

I use loose-leaf computer paper and a clipboard. I don't even try to organize anything anymore beyond page numbering. Ended last quarter with five lecture courses of notes in the same pile. It was glorious.

Bergkirchweih was awesome also.. I only neglected to mention it because it was too late for the poster. I lived in Büchenbach in a rented apartment and interned at the Technische Fakultät on the east side of town (a good thirty minute bicycle ride). Forchheim is only about a thirty minute train ride/taxi drive north (though the train tracks were under construction when I was there, so it was considerably longer)

If you're looking for stuff to do in the .de.. I interned in Erlangen last Summer. Take a Schönes Wochenende pass up to Nürnberg. From there take Regiobahn to Zirndorf.. You'll find Zirndorfer Brauerei, home of, in my opinion, the best kellerbier in Germany. Also while you're in Nürnberg check out the Seven Deadly Sins Fountain and eat some Nürnbergers (or maybe Drei im Wiggla). Don't bother visiting Fürth (boring for the most part), but nearby Erlangen offers a lot to do. Annafest (one of the larger beer festivals in Bayern) begins July 24th in Forcheim, which is just north of Nürnberg and Erlangen. I STRONGLY recommend you make it out to this event.

Hah, we founded an unofficial club we called "the geriatric club" (twice monthly meetings at the campus bar) for the older undergrads at my school. It was pretty popular (10 regulars) at the end.

In the sciences it is quite common to use business cards; I even know undergraduates who carry around cards with their names, laboratory affiliation, and contact info. I'm not sure what sort of academic background from which the naysayers come, but I'm willing to bet that they're denizens of "the other world" (I.e. the humanities and arts). I carry my business card with pride. Think about it: Every realtor and bank teller you've ever met has a business card; isn't your work just as professional, if not more so?

To respond to the hard science perspective, it swings both ways. I attended community college for my first two years.. basically worked a job, got straight A's in community college, but there was little beyond coursework in terms of intellectual enrichment. When I transferred to a UC, I quickly found a job as an undergraduate research assistant, did as well as I could in the coursework (3.8 ain't bad), and established a first-name basis with every professor I encountered (as in they knew my first name outside of the classroom context, and I referred to them as Professor). Interning over the Junior year Summer didn't hurt either.. Long story short, I ended up entering a program ranked #1ish in the field. but what I mean to say, is that community college alumni such as myself, in the hard sciences (chemical physics) can be admitted to top programs. I didn't apologize in my application, in fact I didn't discuss anything in my application about my grades or whatever.. I just spoke about my research interests and how they meshed with that of several faculty. I don't think my experience is THAT much of an outlier that one can state that community college students have a harder time entering top institutions.

What he said. My GPA was high, my GRE's mediocre, but I had extensive industry experience and two years of research in an academic setting. Really build up a relationship with your advisors and do solid work for them and you shouldn't have any problems. Your stats are fine.. I got a B- in PDEs and I still got into great institutions for Chemical Physics!

Playing Devil's Advocate: If you think you're better than the institution, you won't learn anything the institution has to offer. Even the "lowest ranked" schools have awesome faculty with great insights. Don't let your peers drag you down, rather, focus on what your own instruction.

Your GREs are fine. Don't sweat them. I got into top schools with a lower chem GRE score than you.

Also in that boat. I'll be in Mass. and wife will be in CA while we both do our PhDs. I'm really concerned about being granted time off to visit her.. though I imagine the PI should be somewhat sympathetic.

Yes, you'll find graduate students to be the perfect audience at which to target your scams. We're so gullible and loose with our money.

$100 is kind of low end for high quality. These are IMO the best (advertising glitziness aside - they're heavy duty and functional): http://www.killspencer.com/

cough. Tandem Properties. cough.