Eigen

You would need your PIs approval to submit the draft, then. In my field, this would never be done- too much risk to patents, or the idea being stolen.

Because you are being graded on your writing, while they are not. Professional editing for for a grade is, in essence, cheating. It's no different than any other service where you pay someone to do/help you with work that you then turn in as your own. Between questions like this and the issues you seem to be having with plagiarism, I would guess that you haven't had a very good explanation of academic ethics, and that is causing you issued.

First, you would need to clear the submission of the paper draft with all other authors. I don't think it would help all that much. List it as "in prep" on your CV, or better, submit it before your apps go in.

I also like having my own website. That said, I don't like most templates- I wrote mine from scratch. It gives me a place I can post items of interest, keep a digital CV, and direct people to for more information. It helps control my digital footprint, too. Reclaim Hosting is a great place to start- it's designed specifically for faculty and students looking to make a persona/professional webpage. Run by a couple of faculty members that occasionally get grants to subsidize the cost of hosting, and are really helpful.

I would say depth is way more important than breadth. Chances are, you'll need to learn a lot of new techniques when you start grad school regardless of your undergrad prep- depth helps make sure you can easily learn them and keep on moving. It also shows that you have the dedication to keep on a project through the tough and un-interesting spots. Too much breadth without depth, and I start to worry that the individual doesn't really know what it's like to see a project through the problem areas.

Have you recently had a writing assignment in this professors class? Did you quote directly from sources without quotation marks and attribution? Who is the other person you're meeting with? I don't think you have any option other than to attend the meeting. When you go, have materials showing what of the work was yours, and what wasn't. At this level though, there's not nearly as much tolerance for accidental plagiarism- it's assumed you know better, and know how to work to avoid it.

Just to be clear, until you responded specifically to me, I was using the example you gave as a counterpoint, since it had been brought up. I'm still not sure why you felt the need to defend your choices or explain them- as you say, you weren't asking for my advice on your situation. Discussions evolve over time, based on the participants in those discussions. I would suggest that if you don't want other users to discuss a particular situation you bring up, then it's probably not wise to bring up that situation.

Field specific. All of mine want them all up front before they'll even look at the application.

The only two points I find warning flags are 1 and 2- the PI and Lab Manager. Now, since this is a new PI, they may get better as time progresses. I have also found that having a PI that's overly strict but with a supportive group of grad students/post-docs can be quite doable- even more so than a PI you like but lab-mates you can't stand. 1 NIH grant a year into a lab is fantastic, as far as things go. Using FACS when it's cheaper is just being smart about your money.

I can think of 2-4 PIs with those overlaps at my school alone, so there would be at least one place you could apply with multiple PIs of interest! Going to a school with a single PI you could work with is a very high risk move- you may not click with them, something might happen that changes their research direction, they might leave the school- they might have one spot for the year and someone else ends up getting it over you. Grad school is all about learning how to branch out on your own- having mentors is a great guide, but they don't need to support all your needs. You can even design your own committee, with different strengths to learn from. To use the example fields you gave- find someone working in education focusing on learning disabilities, and someone else in neuroscience with a focus on numerical/spatial learning. Get a co-advised situation. I don't know the specifics of your research or background or career plans.... But I have seen so, so many people fail and drop out of grad school due to narrowly defining interests when they were looking for labs, and ending up trapped with no good options when they were accepted.

I would say that you're over-limiting your search for PIs. You don't need to find someone who does the exact, perfect research you want to do for the rest of your career. In fact, in STEM, that can be a bad thing- it means you're not going to be able to differentiate yourself once on the market and at the same time stay in the field you want. You want to find someone with a good reputation doing work that you can be interested in, while at the same time learning things you will use in the future. And then you post-doc in another, related lab that lets you build another tangential set of skills. And then you start your own lab that blends that mesh of skills and expertise into what you ultimately want to do.

I don't think the summer REUs rank as highly in SC's minds as people think they do. They can be great for gaining experience, but consistent experience is also highly valuable. They're primarily a way to make connections at another school or to get experience if your home institution doesn't have any labs working in the area you want to go forward in. The important thing about your research experience is that you've spent enough time (years) in a lab to understand how research goes, to know how to solve problems when they arise, and to be very, very comfortable with basic lab skills, taking and keeping notes, etc. Accordingly, if your PI thinks your experience is great (and it sounds pretty good to me), trust them. They're the ones who will be writing a letter saying that your research experience is great, and SCs will listen to and trust that. Also keep in mind that the population here is way skewed from average.

They probably just don't know yet. They might have students that may or may not graduate before then, they might not know if funding is coming through for next year. In general, I wouldn't recommend applying to anywhere there aren't at least 3 PIs you could see yourself working with and being happy- less than that, and the chances you don't end up with a good fit are high.

Only one of my schools required official documents way back in the dark ages when I applied. Every other school either had an initial "screening" that allowed unofficial documents, or didn't require official documents until you're accepted.

I think you're overestimating how well a faculty members website shows the extent of their interest, or where they can help you. Even in the sciences, where that type of fit can matter much, much more (we all have to work on projects of some interest to our advisors), there's more complementarity than exact fit of interests. I wouldn't have wanted to pick a PI who was doing exactly what I dreamed about doing- if so, then I'm pushing myself into a niche that they already fill in that field, and moving on would require me going in a different direction. Instead, you pick people who are in a related area, but who can teach you things that overlap with your ideal future work. They are there to help you grow and guide, not always to be the ultimate expert in what you want to do.

To me, this would mean that you're looking at finding programs backwards. Rather than finding an interesting program and then looking at faculty, I highly recommend finding faculty in your area who you'd be interested in working with, and then looking at what program they're a part of.

I can't think of any measure that would put Monroe or Hammond into a high crime rate. New Orleans or Baton Rouge, maybe, but Hammond and Monroe are both pretty laid back small towns.

Fuzzy's given great advice, I just wanted to add one piece: I doubt your advisor was upset that you took time off without asking her, but that you didn't let her know that you wouldn't be able to make the meeting. If she only comes onto campus for meetings, she had to make a trip that ended up being a waste of time since you weren't there. I think it's probably not a big deal, and you apologized and moved on- I just don't want you to have the take-away that it was taking the time off that was bad, rather than the not letting her know.

I wouldn't generally classify any of those research areas as physical chemistry. They're either straight up materials, or inorganic, usually. Not it that there aren't some physical groups that study surfaces/materials, but they're more experimental/instrumentation based. Familiarizig yourself with the literature comes across in all areas of your application. And it's just something that you can't really be successful without doing. You need to know exactly what researcher you're interested in, and be able to show why you can successfully do that work. Especially coming from a background thatcher look scattered. If you come from a ChemE/Neuro background and say you're interested in physical chemistry, energy and surfaces, it will come across like you don't know the field. That said, your interests seem like they would fit very well in an engineering physics program or a chemical engineering program. Why are you interested in a Chem PhD over those options? In short, I think you need to take some more time figuring out your interests, and what you want to do with them before settling on a program of you want to have a better shot.

Rising Stars advice is good, but I'd also recommend thinking how you can deal with lab mates like this- many scientists get excited and can be quite loud. It isn't necessarily a sign if disrespect, and frequently the answer is to keep talking and not let them speak over you. The vast majority of my colleagues could be described a lot like you describe your labmate, including myself (outspoken to a fault), and learning how to deal with people like us can be a good thing.

It will help, sure. But you'll be trying to convince a program that you can jump into graduate level coursework (and research) in pchem, and that you're as able (or more) than any of the other candidates they have applying. I'm not saying you can't do it, I'm just highlighting the areas I see as red flags. What area of physical chemistry do you want to get into? Are you familiar with the literature in that area? If so, that can certainly help.

Be careful comparing ChemE thermo to Chemistry thermo. Both thy places I've been, the courses are very different. I assume you've taken QM, even if you didn't take Staf Mech?

If he's on sabbatical and you rarely see him... Why do you think there would be times during the break he'd specifically want you at school? Some schools are completely shut down- no heat, no one on campus at all.

In that case, I would imagine it would be fine.Just let them know they're both writing so they can cover different areas.

Do you have more than one PI in the lab? Or are you asking for a second one from a non-faculty member of the lab?