fretting
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Posts posted by fretting
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Hmm....have people who were not accepted in January received rejection letters from Harvard yet? I know acceptances were sent out at the end of January but I still have not heard anything from them. I know there is a 99% chance I didn't get in but it would be nice to get some closure... I didn't think it would take 2 weeks for me to get the letter from Boston (I'm on the east coast not so far away).
I emailed the Graduate Program Administrator and she replied on 7 Feb that "Our admission decisions have been finalized. A letter from the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences informing you of our decision will be mailed out on Tuesday, February 10th".
Anyway, I am international, so I have not received anything yet, but I presume she was just being tactful and did not want to tell me over email that I had been rejected....
Same for Berkeley, got a reply on 7 Feb as well which said "We have completed our first round of admissions, and it is unlikely that additional offers will be made. Applicants not offered admission will be notified at the end of February or sooner."
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Thanks for your advice, it's solid. It just sucks knowing that pretty much the only reason to start early is because it benefits my PI and not me, and yet, I'm still probably going to do it. This whole process is just so grim, you know.
Oh, also, industry contacts can absolutely help you get a job, even if your contacts are scientists. A lot of companies have a way that scientists can recommend people they know, and that can be the only way your resume even gets looked at, or at least this is what my manager at my last internship told me. It's pretty much irrelevant anyway--which PI you work with is obviously more important--but never underestimate the importance of networking!
Also, my name's Chloe! Although if you wanted to keep calling me 16 I wouldn't be overly opposed, haha.
Ah shucks. Thanks for sharing guys! And anyway, I agree that getting the PI that you want is way more important than getting an internship in! For my case, I'm currently working and I am under contract till early august so i don't think there's any way i can start in the summer. I guess this is something I will have to discuss with the PIs during the visit.
anyway, my name is Yong Yao (i know it's not easy to remember so just my initals YY is fine too!) and I think i should be seeing Diana at the visit! As for Chloe, we can probably compare notes about UW Madison and Princeton after our visits!
In any case, just wanted to say that in the past few days, Princeton has vaulted firmly into pole position for me, particularly thanks to the information shared in this thread!!
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I just asked the graduate student who contacted me about the benefits/downsides to starting in the summer (vs. an industry internship) and how much it affects which PI you can work with. So I'll post his responses to that here, I'm sure someone else is making some similar decisions.
thanks! that would be good to know because I probably can't start in the summer!
Being a university town, Princeton has plenty of restaurants and a handful of bars. The best burger place in town is probably 30 Burger
Hoagie Haven is also pretty popularPopular hangouts include Small World Coffee which is indigenous to Princeton, and an assortment of tea rooms, ice cream places, etc.There are a few Chinese places downtown, with varying degrees of authenticity. The most authentic Chinese restaurant that I know if is Szechuan House which is ~10 miles away in Trenton. Dr. Yang took our research group there about a year ago (he knows the owner). By all accounts, we were served food that we could expect to be served if we were in China. For other Chinese restaurant recommendations, I would ask some of the international students on your visit.Bars include: Winberie's, the Nassau Inn taproom, The Alchemist and Barrister (decent, student - friendly bars), a few really classy bars like in Agricola and The Witherspoon Grill, and Princeton's premier dive bar, The Ivy. In addition, the Grad College is home to The Debasement Bar (we just call it the D-Bar) which is run and bar-tended by grad students: the drinks are cheap but good. You'll get to visit the D-bar during the visiting weekend.Finally, there are two malls nearby Princeton: Market Fair Mall which is a 5-8 minute drive from the middle of town and the Quaker Bridge Mall which is ~ 10 minutes drive south on Route 1. Quaker Bridge is larger and has more department stores. It also has a Cheesecake Factory =-) .Hopefully that answered your questions. Let me know if anything else comes up!"Actually, this does makes Princeton sound like a nice town! The visit cannot come quickly enough, I can't wait to see the place for myself. Thanks for sharing!
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Please do paste his responses here! Im curious to learn more about the department. I will also meet with a few princeton grad students next week because im closeby the area and i'll let you guys know what i find out!
Here!
1. Being a fourth year is interesting. At some level, it feels like I just got to Princeton, and at another, it feels like I've been here forever. As a fourth year, you don't have to take classes, teach, take an ethics course, do generals, or give a departmental seminar (all of which are departmental requirements in the first three years). You get to focus solely on research, and it's nice. On the other hand, being a grad student is stressful, and that's never going to go away! My friends and I all have our good days and bad days.2. The generals exam is very stressful, but, with the right preparation, you'll likely do well. Unlike some other departments, chemistry doesn't fail many students. As I said, the exam is exceedingly stressful, but you'll have the support of your advisor and others who have gone through it before, so you'll have all of the resources you need to do well. The independent proposal was the most stressful part of my exam. Nonetheless, at that point, you would have read enough literature that coming up with a viable original proposal isn't impossible.3. The department is extremely close. They have plenty of money to throw large yearly parties (Frickmas, Fricknic, etc.), and we have a departmental social every Friday at 5 PM. The GSO (Graduate Student Organization, of which I am a member) also hosts movie showings, apple cider/doughnut parties in autumn, ice cream socials, etc. We have seminars most weeks, so you'll never be bored of that. This isn't to say that it isn't stressful--most of the time, my friends and I are stressed beyond belief, but this will be true at any graduate school. It definitely helps, though, that the department is as close as it is.4. The graduate students like to pretend that the university doesn't recognize us as people, but it's totally overblown, and you shouldn't get the wrong idea. The university treats graduate students extremely well. Our health insurance is fantastic, our graduate coordinator (Meghan) is incredibly helpful, our salaries are very reasonable, our housing arrangements are fair (for the most part), the maintenance staff is quick to respond to issues in our apartments, and the shuttle system makes it easy to get around campus. We still get access to the gym and health center, and as far as most people are concerned, we're just students. In reality, the graduate students are just bitter because our work is significantly harder than the undergraduate's. That's really all it comes down to. Princeton is not a PUI (primarily undergraduate institution), and the ratio of undergrads to graduate students is 2:1. The university isn't going to forget about 1/3 of its student population.5. I'd describe Princeton as a beautiful and relaxing town. It certainly doesn't compare to NYC/Philly in terms of nightlife, but personally, I'd rather drink beer at a friend's apartment while playing poker anyway =) I'm very lucky because I have a strong group of friends that are all my year. In an average weekend, we'll probably go to a movie, play some board games, go to a bar or two, play cards while drinking beer, etc. We don't often go to either Philly or NYC, but the option is always there. There are some bars in Princeton (including the graduate school's own bar, the DBar), but most tend to be on the expensive side. People put a lot of emphasis on nightlife when choosing graduate schools, but in reality, you likely won't have too much time as a graduate student.6. I narrowed my decision down to Princeton, Yale, and the University of Washington. I'll be honest--the research at Washington attracted me more, but I wanted to balance being close to my family (they live in MA), the research, and the department. Princeton made me feel very comfortable, and I love the quiet town feel. It's hard to put into words, but at the end of the day, I thought I'd be happier at Princeton. -
Are we twins? I'm also thinking really hard about UW Madison, they're probably my second choice and visits could definitely sway me. When are you visiting UW Madison?
Ah this is awesome information re: cost of living! Yeah I'm just going off the internet and my Dad, and since he owned a house & stuff it's totally different. $340 for rent is almost literally impossible in Boston as you can imagine. The only real wrinkle here is that I can't drive, so I can't live too far away (although I might learn over the summer).
I will be visiting UW-Madison on the weekend of 27th Feb!
Anyway, I think the department at Princeton is getting current graduate students to make contact with prospective students like us! I corresponded with a 4th year student in the Bocarsly lab over the weekend and he has been an absolute wealth of information. Think you guys should have received an email from someone or will be receiving one soon! if you are interested, I can just paste his responses on this thread.
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wow looks like i have competition for macmillan and doyle
anyway, application season is probably over for me as well and since Princeton was my first choice (solely based on faculty) before application season started, I am indeed leaning towards Princeton. I will be visiting on the 6th as well! I will also be visiting UW Madison, and lately, UW Madison is looking more and more attractive to me so I think the visits will really help me decide!
in terms of pros, i agree that the organic department has been growing in stature in recent years, and if i miss out on macmillan and doyle, i still have other options that I am interested in. Another thing is that it seems like they are fairly committed to getting you through grad school in 5 years, unlike at some other programs where it might drag on.
in terms of cons, it would be location. while this is nullified somewhat by being an hour away from nyc, i still get the feeling that the Princeton area doesnt seem like a place where you can meet people outside of the university. i will be spending the back half of my twenties getting a phd, and I hope to be further along in terms of my personal life by the time I am done! hopefully the visit assuages this and it turns out I really like the place!
Also, I have been reading up on Princeton online, and it seems like they take particular pride in stating that their focus is on undergraduate education, so this made me wonder about the treatment graduate students would get in terms of funding and stuff. hopefully it's nothing, but this is the one thing that raised a mini red flag in my head.
anyway, that's just my two cents! psyched for the visit! hopefully i will see you guys there!
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Do you think all the Caltech, MIT, and Scripps interviews/acceptances are out? I'm getting really anxious and stressed, and kind of wish they would send rejections out already...
i feel you mate. sometimes it just makes you wonder how hard it can be for schools to send out all the acceptances on the same day, instead of this rolling system. sure would save us all a lot of grief.....
Just called Stanford. They said a majority of acceptances have not yet been sent out and they are still reviewing applications. However, they said they would all be out by Feb 5th.
could someone do this for caltech and mit too HAHA. thanks for that by the way!
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In response to all your questions:
I applied for organic chemistry, and unless I get accepted by both harvard and stanford, I should be visiting!
pros:
1) there are a lot of people that I would like to work with from an organic chemistry standpoint, not exactly big names but people whose projects sound really interesting. and I actually enjoy a hands off approach when it comes to supervision. the main thing I need from my supervisor is that his/her door must always be open. i.e. I don't mind a big group, but i want a supervisor who is around most of the time. this would be what I would be trying to suss out about the faculty on visitation weekend.
2) as ghostar said, very well respected chemistry program in general
3) great city! i have not been there, but everything that I have read and heard about the city has been positive. do check out the Madison city guide on this forum! (link: )
cons:
1) it gets really cold in winter... (I hail from sunny Singapore and did my bachelors in London, so I am used to no winter or mild winters!!)
2) I feel like this shouldn't be a concern, but I know that some part of me is still a school snob and wants to go to a big name school, and UW madison isn't really that big a name. It just feels like something that I might look back on and regret, if I do reject a more famous school for UW madison. please do share your thoughts on this!!!
P.S. if there are any LGBT applicants out there, one of the Chemistry faculty, Tehshik Yoon, is on the LGBT committee. found out while sleuthing online as he's one of the PIs I am interested in working with!
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There's the chemical biology PhD program (which allows you to work for PI's from outside of the chem department) and there's the department of chemistry & chemical biology (CCB). If you applied for chemistry, you applied to CCB, which doesn't have interviews.
oh right okay. thanks for clearing that up!
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all harvard chemical biology invites were sent out today
When you say chemical biology, does that include organic chemistry? They seem to all belong to one department of chemistry and chemical biology
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Okay, I guess that is the acceptance letter, then. I too thought that was kind of strange, in addition to the empty email body. Eh whatevs
Yupps same here!
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Yeah you are right I think you should direct the student to the professor, and put in a good word for the student if you feel that he/she is deserving!
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I am an international student from Asia who went to college in the United Kingdom, and I am currently applying to do a PhD in the US.
I feel that I have quite strong research experience (see signature), however, none have resulted in any publications.
I was wondering how this lack of publications would affect my chances of getting into the Top 10 schools that I am interested in?
Chemistry Applications Fall 2015
in Chemistry Forum
Posted
I am not sure what the chances are of being admitted after being waitlisted, but I think the top-10 schools have probably already accounted for the fact that many of the candidates they want (i.e. the exceptional people) will likely receive multiple offers and might reject their offer, and have adjusted the number of acceptances they give out accordingly.
in any case, from what I have gathered on the results page, I doubt you will hear back from the waitlist any time soon, as people will probably want to complete all their visits before making their choice, and some even wait till the April 15th deadline to finalize their decision!
good luck!
(p.s. wish i had been waitlisted for some of the schools instead of an outright rejection, would have been good to know I was that close to making it)