Maxtini

Congratulation!

I think it's one week after my last document (LoR) was received by them, although I have submitted my application earlier (around 11 Nov). The admission coordinator is also very engaging and knows alot about my background and circumstances. I think that's the apparent benefit of submitting early.

Finally got the official admission letter from TAMU~ (Tuition waive and US$24,000 TA) Too bad my USC application was rejected... maybe the Professors I am interested to do not accept new students One early admission and One early rejection~ that's okay I think. At least I won't anxiously wait anymore

I have just been contacted by TAMU Chemistry informing of my unofficial admission! Never expected such early news~ I bet my early submission really paid off.

Don't be too obsessed with top 10 schools~ there're a lot more schools you can go and still get top research experience. TAMU for example has quite respectable chemistry research despite being top 100 school (globally). Hearing from my seniors' past interview experiences, most US universities won't really care about your extremely high score and GPA (of course you still need higher score than domestic applicants). The most decisive factors are your English speaking ability and research experience (publication etc... ); Having a TA experience will also boost your competitiveness considerably~ 9 out of 10 interviewers will always ask about this.

You get the same GRE subject score like me! I even got Q163 and V160~ LOL but my AW is 4.0 though... I sent my score anyway... instead of freaking out on something that can't be change, I try to focus on what's next: SoP, LoR, find research group I'm really interested in....

If possible~ I would suggest you retake GRE exam, aim at total score > 320; What is your GRE writing score? For TOEFL score, it depends on schools, some require more than 100. But 90 is okay especially you had 23 on speaking. But overall, they give impression that you have a some difficulty with English, which might lower your chance of getting TA. Apart from it, you stat is quite good, especially your publications. With strong SOP and LoRs, you might get into top 50 university, even top 10.

You might also want to consider going to European Universities~ they consider PhD student as worker and you can get more money "working" with them. The ETH-Zurich for example provide 70,300 CHF (73,000 USD) salary for the first year full time employment and up to 80.320 CHF (83,000 USD) for third year. But don't expect any student-like privilege/treatment since you'll be considered as a full time professional employee.

If you have a lot of projects, it would be better to have a bullet point format so it would look more organized.

I don't have time for that since I'm now working. There would also be a lot of work to do and might be expensive. I need to have court approval, go to civil registration office to ammend my name and notify any party about the changes (local government office, police, DMV, National Health Insurance Agency, Tax agency) within 30 days.

Thanks~ It seems there will be a lot of troubles to overcome then.

Ohio state Department of Chemistry only charge 5 dollars~ maybe the cheapest one. But their application website is very awful and full of bugs.

Hi~ I am international applicant intending to apply for PhD program for fall 2015. Legally, my name consisted of only one word (mononym), and so far this has created a lot of technical hassle when I apply to several US universities. Some universities suggested that I apply as "Maxtini Maxtini" (NB: Maxtini is not my real name), some suggested that I apply as ". (dot) Maxtini", "(space) Maxtini", another suggested to apply as "FNU Maxtini". Whatever the name is, I was warned that their systems cannot automatically match my TOEFL and GRE scores with my application and I need to inform them by e-mail for manual verification. So far these are all still managable. But I can't imagine how it would be once I am in America, especially dealing with bureaucratic paperwork there (vISA, Social Security, Insurance, driving liscence, bank account). One of my nightmare is dealing with publishing journal (ACS) there. After much wrangling with the journal editor, they agree to publish the paper with my mononym name. But Alas! My name won't appear on their web nor is it citable using software such as EndNote. My name only appears as " †" (space †). I am worried that the admission committe will reject my application as fraudulent once they cannot see my name in the web journal (the print version contains my mononymous name though). Does anyone here have any prior experience?

I am a little bit in dillema now. Is it beneficial to submit your application early? My SOP is pretty much fix now, but I am hesitating because I feel I need to buy more time incase I need to revise my SOP. My last year senior submitted his application by November and he said he had been contacted by UC Irvine for admission before Christmas!

Some universitites specifically mention to submit GRE chemistry, although they accept other subject. Others do not specifically mention which subject though~ (Btw, I applied to Department of Chemistry not Department of Biological sciences) Since my background is chemistry, especially organic synthesis, I think I will have more chance to score higher on cGRE. I don't mind taking biochemistry GRE, but the GRE also test molecular and cell biology as a whole. I am not familiar with these two and I don't have the confident to take the test. Furthermore, I already got A+ in my biochemistry and A- in advanced graduate (master) courses in chemical biology, so I don't see the need to take the test to demonstrate my competency in this area.

Hi~ I'm going to apply for PhD program in bio-organic/chemical biology to several US universities. GRE Chem score is out today and I am very disappointed by my mediocre score of only 810 (79%)~ considering I'm international applicant I am a little bit nervous that this score won't suffice. (I was aiming at 850+) Stat-wise: Undergrad Institution: A Top National Univ in Taiwan (international student) Major(s): Chemistry GPA undergraduate: 78.53/100 (WES conversion: 3.32/4.00) Grad (MS) Institution: A Top National Univ in Taiwan (international student) Major(s): Chemistry - Chemical Biology GPA graduate: 3.93/4.30 Research Interest: Bio-organic chemistry and Chemical Biology GRE Scores: V: 160 (84%) Q: 163 (86%) W: 4.0 (54%) Chemistry: 810 (79%) Research Experience: 1 semester in organic lab (undergrad); 2 years in bioorganic lab (master) Publications: 1 publication in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry Presentations: 1 poster presentation in Department of Chemistry Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Outstanding Overseas Chinese Scholarship - Ministry of Education (Taiwan) Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Junior TA in organic lab (1 semester); Junior TA in analytical lab (1 semester); Working at non-chemistry related field (Marketing and Sales) for 2 years. Applying to Where: Yale; UNC-Chapel Hill; UC Berkeley; UPenn; USC; Northwestern; Chicago; NYU; UCSD; Texas A&M; Houston; UCSC; Arizona; GATech; OSU