Kinetic Isotope Defect

If you're in interesting in working with Sames, you should google "Sames and Sezen fraud".

That GPA will definitely not rule you out (I've been accepted to 3 top 30's and offered a chance to interview with another with a 2.9 cumulative GPA this cycle). You do have to make sure that everything under your control (LORs, GRE scores - definitely aim for 800+ on the subject, personal statement) are outstanding. It sounds like you have a good shot at it, good luck next year!

Yep, that sounds like what I got.

Princeton's rejections have started going out. Oh well! Congrats to everyone who was admitted!

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.

Based on the last few year's results, I think the majority of Columbia's admission offers come mid-January to early February.

Just got invited to interview weekend at Michigan! I'm very excited, they're one of my top choices.

Well, when are the deadlines to RSVP for visit weekends to the programs you've been accepted to? The two I've heard from have deadlines in mid-February, so I'm waiting to RSVP just in case I get accepted to other programs that would conflict with them. I wouldn't make a decision for another couple of weeks unless you know for sure you won't be attending one or more of the schools (in that case, you should decline quickly so the spot will open up for others, as mentioned). As for the question "how many schools should I visit?", this depends but you should make sure it's a number that doesn't overwhelm you. I'm personally capping myself at 3, but I'm TAing a lab this semester so I won't have as much leeway as other people.

I don't think UMich has made very many decisions for chemistry at all, the results search shows only one person here has been accepted so far.

shadowclaw, I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you are doing well in your master's, admission committees will care much more about that than your undergrad experience. If you are asked about it you should explain in plain terms that you had difficulties because you were working full time and lacked direction in your education (best to leave out personal details, as explaining those can get lengthy and won't help you). I had a very similar experience, I had a horrible first two and a half years (my gpa was something like 2.4 after my second year) but turned around when I switched majors. There's only one program I'm applying to that requires an interview, but I mentioned my grades very early in my SOP, gave a short explanation, and then turned it around into demonstrating how far I've come academically (mentioning research awards, seeking out new academic opportunities, teaching, etc). So far, that approach seems to have worked, as I've managed to get early acceptance to two very good PhD programs. It's best not to dwell on it too much, they can see how well you're doing in your masters and you're obviously prepared for the rigors of graduate school.

I submitted my application for Northwestern on December 14th.

I actually was accepted to Northwestern earlier today. I was sent a generic email with the offer letter ($30k/year + tuition and health insurance) and a couple other documents. Hopefully I will be able to calm down a bit and stop worrying about all my other applications now (probably not). Good luck to everyone else who applied!

From what I've heard Harvard tends to send out decisions starting in mid-January and most come in early February. In other news someone from Scripps looked at my LinkedIn profile last week, so it looks like they've started reviewing applications (I submitted mine on December 1st, for reference).

My stats are below & in my profile. My main concern is my low GPA (for the first two years of college I was in a major I absolutely hated, and it made me really dislike school) will make it so my application won't even be looked at, but I know my research abilities and chemistry knowledge are very good so I'm applying to highly ranked programs. My strategy is to apply to as many programs that interest me to buffer for the denials based on my low GPA. I even got one right off the bat (received a call from a professor at Texas A&M a couple nights ago!), so that's encouraging. Good luck to everyone else! GPA: 2.93 cGPA: 3.24 GRE: 163Q (86%), 164V (93%), 4.0AW (56%) Chem GRE: 810 (79%) Research interest: Chemical Biology Research Experience: 1.5 years in organic lab Publications: None yet, preparing multiple 1st author manuscripts at the moment Other Related Experience: Taught advanced organic lab 1 semester, developed 2 experiments for the course Awards: Departmental fellowship, university research scholarship, Dean's list Presentations: 1 poster at big ACS event at school