metallocene2015

Will be attending UCLA for chemistry PhD ! Does anyone know whether I should choose Weyburn or Hilgard for graduate housing ?

Me- still nothing from Wisconsin yet

Yea I just found out that the course I'm TA-ing for actually has 2 TA's, so I guess this part won't be a problem anymore. It's odd though that no mention of visiting weekends were made on any of the acceptance letters I've gotten so far- were yours mentioned in your offer letters ? If they really do reimburse you for transport/accommodation then I might seriously consider going..

Thanks guys for the encouraging responses ! It's reassuring to hear that you've all gotten what seem to be positive responses to these kinds of emails. I am also thinking about doing this with POI's from schools other than my top choice that I've been accepted to - would it be impolite/awkward if after some correspondence, I decided to decline their offers ? I'm a bit stuck between choosing a higher ranked program with older advisors that might allow me to get a post-doc position or get published more easily vs a lower ranked program with a younger advisor who seems to fit my personality better.

Yea UC Irvine rejected me- I sent them an email about 2 weeks ago and within a few days my status changed from "being reviewed" to a rejection letter. A few days after that I got the official rejection letter from Tenley Dunn. I don't know about Duke and NYU (except for the 2 or acceptances I saw recently on the results page) but I can tell you that for UCLA, I was invited for a Skype video interview in early January and got the acceptance in mid-January. I 've also seen 1 or 2 acceptances from UCLA on the results page these past few days so I guess maybe there's still some hope for you ! Perhaps you can try emailing Duke and NYU and ask them if they are still making offers ?

Hi everyone, So I've gotten some offers so far and I'm trying to decide which school's offer to accept. I was wondering if anyone's ever contacted a POI at a school you've already been accepted to ? I know a lot people like to contact the POI prior or during the application process but what about after being accepted ? There's this POI that I'd really like to work for who seems to be very popular (almost 20 people in his lab !) and whether or not he's willing to take me on will probably determine whether I'll accept this school's offer. Would it seem odd/too direct to contact them so early ? I am international and probably won't be able to make it to visiting weekends (and also my TA contract forbids me from leaving during the semester), so I'd like to get a feel of this POI's personality and most importantly, whether or not he'd be able to take me as a student before actually accepting the offer. Any advice would be appreciated !

Emailed UIUC and UMich last week and they said that they are still reviewing applications..wouldn't get my hopes up though given the rejections on the results page..

Me ! I emailed them last week and I got a reply today telling me that the adcom is hoping to make decisions within the next few weeks and that they will email me if they do come to a decision

Yea now that I think about it I don't think the adcomm would have that much time to interview each potential candidate for 4 hours and also, the longest interview I had so far lasted 45min - I guess I'll just tell them that I'll be doing the interview and ask how long it takes ! Thanks for pointing that out for me !

Thanks, evanescent_wave ! Yea I guessed so too- not sure if I'd go through with it though, 4 hours is a long time and I already have offers from two other schools that I am much more interested in attending. I see in your signature that you've been accepted to UC Irvine (congrats !)- when did they notify you ? And if you don't mind me asking, are you international ? UCI is one of my top choices but I haven't heard anything from them since my applications status changed from "under review" to "being reviewed" a week or so ago..

Has anyone gotten an email asking for a skype video interview from Indiana U ? I just got one today and it's asking for a 4-hour interview since according to them, my TOEFL iBT does not meet the minimum requirements (79-80 overall) even though I scored far above the minimum (116 total). I am tempted to email them and ask about this but I am not sure if doing so will give the wrong impression (or even result in the cancellation of the interview). Dear Prospective Student, The Department of Chemistry at Indiana University is in the process of reviewing your application for admission. The Graduate Admission Committee selected you to take part in the next step of the evaluation. As part of that process we want to invite you to participate in a Skype video interview. You will need to download Skype on your computer. After doing so you will need to add us as a contact. Our contact information is: iubchemistry After setting up Skype on your computer you need to send me your Skype contact information. Once I have your Skype contact I will send you another email telling you the date and time of your Skype video interview. All the interviews will be next week, February 1 – 5, from 8:00 to 12:00 noonfor the Chinese applicants and a time yet to be determined for all other international students. During this interview you will be speaking to one of our faculty on the Admissions Committee while representative(s) from our Center for English Language Training will be following the interview to establish your spoken English skills and ability to effectively communicate. It is important that you communicate your response as clearly and concise as possible so that we accurately evaluate your potential to teach. We do not want you to regurgitate material to us but rather answer questions as honest as possible while paying close attention to your speech and understanding of the English language. If you would like more detailed information about the language proficiency requirement, visit: http://www.indiana.edu/~dsls/publications/TEPAICIEPEExam.htm If you are indeed interested in participating in the Skype video interview please respond to this email by Thursday, January 28, 2016, by 8:00 am Bloomington time. And then in the link provided it says: The Indiana English Proficiency Exam (IEPE) is an Indiana University entrance exam required of all undergraduate international students whose first language or mother tongue is not English, and all those graduate students who do not present minimum TOEFL scores (see the “TOEFL Requirements” Sidebar for details) or whose departments require the IEPE in addition to TOEFL scores.

Congrats ! Hope I'll hear about mine too (hopefully). Probably taking longer for me since I am international

Thanks ! Congrats to you too - I guess that this means that they actually are starting to review our applications (and not just saying that) now. Like you said, the fact our apps still show "being reviewed" when rejection letters are already being sent out (according to the results search page) is probably (hopefully) a good sign that there's still hope ! Just have to be patient and see what happens !

I was checking that graduate application tracker UC irvine gave when I submitted my app and saw that my application status went from "under review" to "being reviewed" - has anyone noticed this ? Isn't "under review" the same as "being reviewed "? I have no idea what the difference is and I'm really confused..

Congrats to everyone who's heard back from UC Irvine ! I am anxiously awaiting my results too, but my graduate application tracker still says "under review". Perhaps it takes them longer to review international applications ?

Just got an interview from UCLA ! Thank you for your application to UCLA's Chemistry and Biochemistry department. Our faculty have reviewed your application and the department is considering you for admission into our doctoral program. Before making a final decision, we would like to set up a video live session through Skype to assess your English language ability. Please list 3 different times that you are available for a 10 minute video session starting Wednesday, January 6 through Thursday, January 14th, 8:00am - 11:30am and 12:30pm - 4:30pm Pacific Standard Time, excluding Saturday and Sunday. The video session will be with a Graduate Student Affairs Officer from the department. When responding with your availability, please make sure you note the time difference and respond in pacific standard time. Furthermore, please include your Skype user name as well as your TOEFL total and speaking score.I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Hi there, I am actually in a bit of a similar situation as you, except that a) I am in a MSc program (but applying for a PhD) and that at my current institution, we call this "co-advising". In my case, my school lists Prof.A as my advisor even though I don't actually work in his lab but rather in Prof.B's lab at another institution. This is because of regulations at Prof.B's institution that do not allow him to take on students from other institutions and because of credit-counting purposes (my seminar and research training classes list me as Prof.A's student). Usually, I would be assigned to work on something that is relevant to the research interests of both labs- in this case, since Prof.A works in chemical biology and Prof.B works in synthetic organic chem, Prof.B would have me working on say synthesizing molecules that Prof.A needs for his research and then do some further functionalization on them. In cases where Prof.A doesn't really have such needs, I would simply work on something that Prof.B is interested in. If I publish something, both professors get to put their names on the paper but only Prof.A would sign off on my master's thesis (since I am registered as a Prof.A's student).I'm not sure whether my story would be helpful since cases like mine are pretty rare (at least in my current school) and are thus treated on a case-by-case basis. But yes, you are right about these two professors needing to be in clear and regular communication with each other- luckily,this isn't usually a problem since people who would agree to this arrangement usually already know each other (as in my case where Prof.A and Prof.B did their postdocs in the same school and are already friends). If joint appointment isn't an option for you, it sounds to me like the second PI is a better choice. I did my undergraduate research and half a semester of graduate research with a PI (now ex-PI) that was not only unavailable, condescending and rude but that also refused to change a lot of the equipment in the lab that obviously needed to be changed (rotavaps with broken heat baths, nitrogen lines with nitrogen that isn't dry, completely nonfunctional dry solvent systems, missing or unusable chemicals, etc) and it made my life so miserable that I almost thought about giving up my degree. Trust me, you do not want someone who puts you down in front of the entire lab during group meetings or someone who tells you to "figure it out yourself" when you've been stuck on a problem for months. Good luck !

I applied to Princeton last fall- I didn't get my rejection letter until 1/16. They won't come out that quickly so be patient !

Congrats ! I also applied to UWashington but I haven't heard anything yet- what division are you applying to ?

Prof.Beaudry contacted me ! I listed him as my first choice on my app- I also listed Blakemore but he didn't contact me. And yes, Prof.Beaudry is on the adcom

I am also applying to organic chem ! He said that I have a very strong application and that he would like to hear more about my research- I wrote back with a short summary of my research so far and asked about the research going on in his lab and that's when he asked if he could call me. Not sure about this either but sounds to me like yours has a better of chance of actually being an interview than mine since he didn't say that it was to discuss my application. Which professor is this by the way ?

Congrats ! Was the word "interview" specifically mentioned in the email ? I also got an email from a PI from oregon state a few days ago asking if there would be a good time for him to call me via phone but I'm not sure whether he's asking for an interview since he didn't mention the word "interview" in the email

ChemicalPenguin, when did you submit your app for UC Irvine? Also, what division are you applying to ?

evanescent_wave, the first school is Oregon State and the second is Texas A&M. What division in chemistry are you applying to ? I am also applying to UMich and UC Irvine

Yea that's what I thought too-good to hear that I wasn't wrong