Eigen

Hah, yeah.

I've never heard of that site, so I can't validate it's ranking system. That said, there are very few legitimate methods for ranking graduate programs... It's generally a feeling of "consensus" within the field as to which programs are "best". My comment on deciding based on specific research groups was primarily directed at the OP- she has two excellent programs, and the best way to decide between them is to find the group among the two where she feels most comfortable. Here are some very relevant (and recent) ACS articles on Rankings: http://pubs.acs.org/...8843cover2.html http://pubs.acs.org/.../8843cover.html It's worth noting that the NRC only did "ranges" this time around- going with the idea that everyone knows who, say, the top 10 programs are, but ranking them past that is really tricky. Unlike other disciplines that might have fewer reputable programs, NRC ranked over 175 doctoral programs in chemistry for this last data set (collected mostly in 2005-06).

I know several CMB groups at our school that are nearly exclusively Mac (PI's choice) so from that I infer that a great deal of the software is available for that OS. I know that most of the programs I'd use for Biochem/Molecular Modeling are available for both Mac and PC. I really recommend holding off on "expensive" computer purchases until you get a bit settled in grad school. If you have something that works at all, keep using it- if you can get something cheap as a stop-gap, do so. If you get a Mac and your PI/group use PCs, you'll have problems.... And the same is true if you have a PC, and your PI/group use Macs. Writing papers between the two is not as seamless as you'd hope, and keeping versions in a format that each can read/format/edit can be a real pain. I have a PC and my boss uses Macs... And I'm considering entirely switching over just so I don't have to deal with all the conversion issues.

? Not sure what you're getting at here, but both Harvard and Scripps are top-notch chemistry programs. I'd say visit both schools (doesn't Scripps do an interview/visit weekend? Has that passed already?) and see where you personally feel you fit. You also need to start looking at specific groups that you would want to work with/wouldn't want to work with. I think finding a group you fit into/specific research that really interests you is the deciding factor at this stage.

Honestly, by the time you're in grad school, your parents money can either make a big difference or not at all. That said, I'd still say most of the students in our program are low-income families. No idea on global statistics, or even if someone collects this.

I guess I should clarify... What I meant was that I don't think any school will let you completely "stack" multiple fellowships. My school is similar to yours, except we can go up to 25% of the value over our internal funding. There's no way my school is letting me stack an internal fellowship for 30k and an external fellowship for 30k, however.

I will mention that you should be really careful about reaching out to other programs before you've talked to someone in your program about transferring. It's a hard line to walk. I've heard stories of a peer that reached out to other schools where he had contacts... The first thing the PI's at those schools did was call his adviser and ask what the deal was. It made for very uncomfortable situations all around. Transferring is not impossible, but you need to be careful how you go about it.

You'll have to define low-income for anyone to answer in a qualified fashion. I'll add that I'd consider nearly everyone in my graduate program to be "low income".

From my experience, be as careful as possible: I found it really easy to burn bridges with these things. In fact, I recently ran into the program coordinator/graduate recruiter at a department where I declined admission over two years ago... And she said she still remembers being really upset that I declined. It's worth noting that you may well burn bridges simply by declining an offer, and you want to minimize that as much as possible. Fields can be small, and keeping good connections is really helpful. As was mentioned earlier, it's not like you'll make or break their year by not coming- but if they've taken the time to put together visits, financial packages, etc. they've already invested a decent amount of time in you, and you should be courteous and somewhat personal in declining, imo. Especially if you're in the running/have received fellowships, etc. I wrote mine emphasizing my choice based on research fit. It was the easiest way to go, and got the best response, I think. I sent e-mails to PI's I'd met with (that I was particularly interested in working with), as well as the program director/DGS. Declining based on fit is a professionally respectable choice- declining based on financial packages, location, weather, etc. are all less so. I still keep up with people from schools I did not attend, and I think the connections you make in the application/admission process can be quite beneficial down the road.

We go out when we have a reason- prospectives visiting is one reason, but we also try for regular department happy hours and such. It's also really common to take a lunch break with people from the department, go grab coffee as a group, etc. I got involved with our Graduate Student Studies Organization (Grad Student Government) and that's helped a lot with meeting grad students from other departments.

This. I know my boss gets somewhere between 50-75 e-mails each day that he needs to respond to- it's very easy for them to get lost in the shuffle.

You might not be able to take on side-jobs and still get the departmental funding. In at least two programs I know of, if you are receiving funding from the department and they "catch" you working somewhere else, you either give up your funding or quit the other job.

Most fellowships you will have to file yourself- which thankfully means you're FICA exempt. However, if you will owe more than $1000 in taxes at the end of the year, you will have to pay quarterly "estimated taxes" or be left with what can be a pretty hefty penalty at the end of the year when you file. I forget where the breakpoint is for this, but you will probably need to file estimated taxes on most fellowships, assuming you're single/no dependents. From what I recall, none of the national fellowships are tax free... At least none of the major ones. There *might* be some armed forces fellowships that are non-taxable. Last time this discussion came up, no one was able to come up with a single example of a non-taxable fellowship. That said, a lot of students dodge paying their taxes on fellowships, since they are self-reported income (don't show on a W2), and the IRS has to subpoena school records to get the fellowship disbursement information. Scholarships/fellowships are filed as "other" income in the same place you would file a cash gift, and you write "SCH" off to the side of it. There's an entire IRS publication devoted to Scholarships, Fellowships and Education.

This. You should have a good write up on your research experience to date, what it's taught you, and then you need to tailor how it (and the rest of your background) help you to fit into a physical chemistry group. That part of your personal statement will be how they assess fit, not e-mails you send back and forth to the PI. You'll have want to read all or at least most of the recent papers by any group you're interested in, and understand them well enough to discuss them (if asked), and possibly provide small suggestions for future directions on the work that really interest you. Also (since this didn't come up last time, when you were interested in Inorganic Chem) how's your math background? I'm assuming it's really strong or you wouldn't be considering a physical PhD.

Don't worry about going and not drinking. This isn't undergrad, it shouldn't be a big deal. I'm not much of a drinker, and it's not yet been a problem. As the previous poster said.... Since I'm usually game for going out, it means I'm a set designated driver, and people enjoy having that around. I've gotten my cohort out of several drinking induced sticky situations. What I've found to be the main problem is people associating you not drinking with you thinking drinking is wrong- if you can dispel this feeling, you'll be fine. I'll also add that Woodchuck Cider is a nice alternative- most bars will have it, and it goes down quite smooth. And you can nurse one all night! Or really any beer- no one notices how far in you are very much.

There's nothing legal holding the school to their acceptance... That said, it's not common for them to take it back.

Were I you, I'd push for a tuition waiver as a starting place- will save you a lot of money. Then you can look at loans/internships/outside jobs for your living expenses. Then start looking for external funding for next year- NSF, NIH, DoE, DoD, SMART... Any of them should be options depending on your area of specialty.

Are you maybe combining the funding needed for your tuition and stipend? $70k sounds about the value of my tuition + stipend for a year. I agree that it's really high to ask, however. What field are you in? SMART and DoE grants are the only ones I know of that are north of 30k for the stipend alone (40k and 35k respectively), but 30k is a really good fellowship. Most TAships are going to be less. And this is assuming Science/Engineering... It's going to be less in most other fields.

Oh, I completely agree that you should be notified... And I don't think there are many cases of a grad school *not* notifying people of rejections. Just contrasting the cases. As many others have said, it's still a bit early to be angry that you haven't heard, imo. I'd give it at least until April 1. I think a lot of people also forget how many layers there are to the application process- the administrative layer (at the college, likely) that takes the fee- then the admins in the department that collect all the application materials- and then the adcoms who read and make decisions- and then back to the college to approve admissions- and then back to the department admins to send out letters- and then back to the college and college admins to send out official funding offers. It can take a while to get it all done, and especially done properly. I know all of our Adcom members do it mostly over their lunch breaks/in their offtime in the evening since they're too busy to do it the rest of the day.

If you took the time to go back and look at Delfi's original post, you would see it wasn't. It was StarlaJane about halfway down the first page (Post #14) who was expressing anger about bad advice.

It wasn't the original poster who made those points. I think a lot of you that are focusing on the fact that "admissions is a part of their job" have it only partially right... It is a "service" position they fill in a rotating basis. None of your application fees go to paying anything for the Adcom- I think it all gets sucked up at the college/university level at most schools. And how long you want them to take also factors in how well you want them to pay attention to your application, and how many people you want to read it. That said, prompt notification of the first "rejections" certainly isn't the top thing on any departments mind. They're focusing on the people they are trying to attract, not the people that didn't make the first cut. And honestly, that's perfectly understandable to me. I know people don't like it when I compare grad school applications to the job market, but it's extremely common not to ever *get* a notification that you're not in the running for a job you applied for. Most companies don't think it worth their time to notify anyone but the people they want to interview.

This is correct- you can defer for up to 1 year.

You can add it up yourself pretty easily. Search for posts by you, with a date range... Number per page is 25, so count the number of pages of results + the number of results on the last page.

I'd pick someone who's general research interests align with yours (it would be strange for me to get an e-mail from someone in a completely different subfield), but even then I'd be as helpful as possible (or refer the e-mail to someone who could answer more specifically). But yeah, past that, I've never minded cold e-mails. That's why my e-mail address is up online.

Wow. I thought I had posted a lot this month! Mine was all due to lots of free time while waiting on cells to grow....