payel1986

I think you have good chances in most of the universities listed with your good credentials. I am not sure about university of Chicago though as they ask for cGRE score. How's that for you? To my opinion, you should proudly mention that you are currently ongoing at a premier institute like IISc though you want to expand your horizon by utilising cutting-edge infrastructure at US universities that research scholars often are devoid of being in the developing countries. Be sure to mention these in your SOPs and try to get reco from your current advisor. Have you already applied? I have also applied to some of the above and now just bitting my nails upto March (?). All d best!

Thank you guys for your wonderful suggestions..first I will have to click somewhere, then comes the thought of selection. This is just the nail-biting time.

Hi, I've applied for chemistry PhD in Fall 2015 to ten US universities. I would like to know if except of ~ 1500$ monthly scholarship provided by the university itself, there is the options to avail any additional scholarship at the national/international levels for the foreign grad students in the US. I find it will be difficult to meet my expenditure and send some money back home with such a little amount of ~1500-1600@. I badly need some additional stipends to support my parents in India. Anybody suggest please!

Thanks folks for your great suggestions! I am out of time..otherwise would definitely consider retaking it.

I am applying for chemistry grad admission in fall 2015. In spite of having strong research experience (4 pubs, 9 patents in 6 yrs of research in MNC R & D and strong GPA, LOR etc), My TOEFL score is just 99 (speaking 23). I want to apply in USC, Gtech and U Maryland and each of their TOEFL cut-off is 100. Should I go for applying? Am I still eligible? My GRE is 312 (Q 162) (please see the stats in my profile). Does 100 cut-off mean they are not at all going to accept the student or after acceptance he/she has to sit for an english exam? Does it mean, even if the student is admitted, he/she will not be granted TA/RA? Please help! I am standing helpless with deadline approaching so soon. Thanks!Any suggestions are welcome!

Thanks a lot, bhr...I will search on the basis of your suggestions now

I know one friend of mine from India, who had only 1-2 months of research experience and that is from an university not too-renowned. He had a good percentage of marks in BS and MS, however, not that steller. His GRE was ~1380 and he did his graduation from one of the top research labs in Ohio State. So, with your fascinating GRE score, and GPA, no need to get nervous. Only be sure to add 2-3 safe schools in your application. Also, make a good package of LOR and SOP. Whatever experience you have gained so far, be sure to extract all of it in the SOP. All d best!

Hi bhr, I don't know how to thank you . You provided so many informations I can't believe! Yes, my husband's pdf offer is from NCI at ft. detrick and it would be nice to find an apartment nearby so that we can commute via the shortest route. We will not be able to afford a car at least 4-5 months after relocation. Can you tell any safe neighbourhood nearby? Which apartment you used to stay in? Are you currently a postdoc there at NCI? If yes, you probably can tell where most of the postdocs stay there.Thanks again!

Thank you guys, for your nice suggestions . I found the people on this forum to be pretty helpful. Wish you all d best!

Hi Rising-star, many thanks for your response. Do you reside nearby Maryland? Can you please highlight about the availability of public transport in a suburb like Frederick? It appeared from google streetview that the place is far from being a city-type and every person owns a car. Since we will be relocating by december, it would be quite snowy and we are wondering about whether public bus service would be available or not. We are from tropical country and don't have least idea about the lifestyle during harsh winter. Please advise!Thanks!

Choosing of schools and the no. of schools will depend upon your GRE scores. Many good schools (e.g. Berkeley, Umass Amherst, Duke, GTech, etc) do not ask for subject GRE at all. Off course, having the score is always a good thing. I would better suggest to go for at least 8 schools, don't forget to apply to 2-3 safe schools. 4 ambitious and 2-3 moderate would work fine. All the best!

Thank you so much, TakeruK ...your advice would be indeed helpful for us. We are neither extravagant nor very outgoing, so hopefully we will be able to do with.

Hi friends, I am so overwhelmed to see the posts here! I am a R & D professional in India, working for the last 6 years. I am dying to join the graduate school now at the age of 31. I am just married and taking the decision to quit my present job (that offers a fat salary) is not-at-all easy at this age, especially from India, where this is really really difficult to manage a job with good pay scale. I am applying this fall, let's see what happens. All the best for your future endeavours-I am gaining so much courage now. It feels like I am not alone .

Hi, I am not sure whether this forum is an appropriate place to discuss the topic. But I could not find anything else. Please forgive if the topic seems inappropriate here. My husband has been offered a postdoc position from one of the premier NIH affiliated labs located at frederick, maryland. They offer a stipend of 59,900$ pa before deduction. As we googled a lot about the place and the apartment rentals, it came out to be very costly. Even a 1 BHK does not come at less than 1000$. Can anyone highlight after tax deduction, how much will be the monthly take-home and wheather that would be enough for a family of two? We are from India, never been to the US before and so it is indeed hard to have a concept of expenditure. Can anybody help, please!

Thanks Eigen for your valuable advices

I am applying to a number of grad schools this fall and Umass Amherst is one of them. I found the school's chemistry dept. has quite a few professors worth watching. But it does not rank among the top 50 schools. Can anybody highlight how are the prospects of the PhDs from here? I am especially interested to be in industry after graduating. So, I would rather ask how are low-ranked grad school's student's evaluated by the industries? Does the pedigree matter or having a good number of publications with good impact can overcome the shortcomings? Thanks! Any help appreciated.

Thanks a lot friends for your wonderful suggestions ! Indeed I am applying to 10-12 schools and let's see what happens finally. I really find this forum immensely helpful .

Thanks for the opinion GeoDude! I will have to think about a lot over the issue before finally selecting.

Hi, I am applying to grad schools for fall 2015. Though I have contacted the professors of many top-tier schools, I did not receive positive response from many of them. Only a few replied with 'ok, go on applying to the grad school itself and see what happens' kind of story. Though I understand that ultimately it is the grad school's adcom's decision, but, if the professor shows interests in you, its definitely good, is not it? I have always received great and very timely responses from one renowned professor of my field who works in the university with ranking (times higher education) ~90-92. It seems he is really interested to absorb me. However, I am getting confused which one is to opt for: a group from top-20 school with publications not that great or this group from a low-ranked school with regular history of high impact and numerous publications (provided I am selected in both, ). Thanks for your suggestions!

All d best! I am also applying this time.

Thanks for giving me some confidence . I was wondering whether I should retake, but time is also very short..it would not permit retaking in any case .

Hi all, I am a non-native english speaker from India, applying for Fall 2015 in Chemistry PhD. My GRE score is a bit low: Q 162, V 150. TOEFL and AWA pending. I was wondering how would my dangerous verbal score affect the Adcom. Can you please tell how does the chemistry Adcom prioritise the verbal score. I have four publications in Elsevier, RSC and ACS with one as the corresponding author and one as first author. I have 6 years of research experience in the R & D lab of a global FMCG company (fortune 500) and have nine filed patents here. My GPA is eqv to 4 in US scale (76% in 100 in Indian scale, I am the topper in Inorganic Chemistry). I do have numerous awards for research capability awarded by my employer. Is my profile worth it for applying to U southern california, Duke, Umass Amherst, UT austin and U llinois-Urbana? Please suggest. I am in hurry as application deadline is approaching. Thanks! Any help will be good.

Thanks, Vene. Let's see how it works. Today only I took the GRE. score: V 150, Q 162. TOEFL pending. I am thinking of applying to USC, Duke, UMass Amherst, UT austin, UI Urbana. Do you have any idea how does chemistry Adcom see the verbal score? can my GPA of 4/4, 4 publications and 6 yrs of work ex as a research executive in R & D of an MNC cover up those shortcomings?

Can you highlight something on the impacts filed patents can have on Adcom?Thanks again.

Thank you Vene...I have gained some confidence now