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SunnygirlDiana

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  • Gender
    Female
  • Location
    NJ
  • Interests
    Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Biological Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Quantum Mechanics

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    Applicant to Fall 2015 Chemistry PhD programs --
    Applying: Harvard, Princeton, Northwestern, UC Irvine, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Columbia, Caltech, MIT
    Accepted: Princeton, UC Irvine, Northwestern, Columbia, Caltech
    Rejected: Harvard, MIT

    Chemistry and Engineering double major
    Overall GPA: 3.3
    Chemistry major GPA: 3.7
    GRE General: Verbal: 163; Quantitative: 167; Analytical Writing: 4.5
    GRE Subject in Chem: 810

    Focus in organic chemistry. Four years in the same synthetic organic research lab: resulted in 3 publications (all second author) in relatively high impact journals -- 2 in Organic Letters and 1 in Angewandte Chemie.

    International fellowship in Germany with a famous professor. Four recommendation letters: one excellent, one from a famous professor, and two decent ones.

    Two talks at ACS conferences too in the Organic Division.

    Got a bunch of dumb departmental research awards and research fellowships/grants from my school, and had a full "presidential" scholarship for college if those count for anything.....
  • Application Season
    2015 Fall
  • Program
    Chemistry

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  1. I think 1672216 (Chloe) said she will be going this weekend but I'll be going on March 6th!
  2. Yes, all my questions have been answered now...thanks so much!!! The format of the general qualifiers at princeton is pretty similar to those that my department have as well then...originally i was nervous because i thought there was a comphrehensive written test (i really dislike taking long and diifficult written tests haha. I prefer this proposal format overall) that covered many subfields of chemistry. I know the proposals and the questions asked there will be difficult as well but i still immensely prefer this arrangement compared to what i thought i read in the handbook at first!! In any event, thanks again for fielding all my questions! You were a great help, and i'm looking forward to meeting you on march 6th visiting weekend! :)
  3. Hi again. Thanks for your fast reply! I was just wondering about the instruments because when I was researching abroad in Germany, their department didn't allow anyone to take NMRs by themselves, and they had technicians to do it, which I found somewhat annoying. So I was just curious if the setup was like this at Princeton for all or some of the instruments. Did you have any thoughts on the second year quailfying exam (either that you heard from more senior students in your lab, or in general right now?), or are you guys not allowed to discuss the exam after taking it. I just noticed you're only a first year student so you might not have as much of an opinion as of now haha! The question I originally asked about it was: "1. I want to know a little bit about Princeton's second year qualifying exam, because at my university we only had research proposals in field and out of field. What kind of material/subfields is covered on the test and how thorough or difficult is the material (undergraduate or graduate level?)? Did you study for it a lot/ how long did you study? And did you find the qualifiers in general (proposals and exam) to be stressful or difficult?" I also asked a third year at Princeton this question and they also didn't respond to it...I'm not sure if it was because he didn't see the question among my other ones, or if it is because you guys are not allowed to discuss it afterwards....in any case, please let me know which is the case! P.S. I'm leaning towards Princeton as of now, but Columbia of course is a very attractive option as well and I am visiting there also
  4. Hi Alchemist!! Thank you sooo much for reaching out to us! You guys really have a great culture in terms of helping out prospective graduate students at Princeton! I was impressed by how many grad students at Princeton have been offering to answer my many questions recently hahaha! Maybe you should start by answering Chloe's (16777216's) question above about whether it would be disadvantageous for her to do an internship this summer instead of coming to work in the lab starting in July...in terms of successfully getting into, for example, Prof. Doyle's lab.... As for my questions, I will start with a couple logistical/living questions: 1. I did have a question in terms of parking. I have heard from a few people that parking at princeton can be very competitive and that some of my friends end up just living extremely close to campus and that walking in. Is that true? If so, when do you recommend me to come by and apply for a permit? 2. Are you living on campus or off campus now? If you are living off campus, I am curious as to if you think there are any good/cheaper neighborhoods within 10-15 minutes drive of Princeton that I could rent out. I would prefer a one bedroom apartment if possible. Also, what is the average monthly rent in Princeton like for the case where: A. You are sharing a house with four roommates (estimate rent per person please!) B. Monthly rent for a one bedroom apartment in or near Princeton. And now I have a couple department related questions: 1. I want to know a little bit about Princeton's second year qualifying exam, because at my university we only had research proposals in field and out of field. What kind of material/subfields is covered on the test and how thorough or difficult is the material (undergraduate or graduate level?)? Did you study for it a lot/ how long did you study? And did you find the qualifiers in general (proposals and exam) to be stressful or difficult? 2. I also have another question in terms of the use of equipment around the department. In particular, do you guys have NMR technicians or are students allowed to take their own NMRs and use the instruments themselves? And what is the availability and the system of using (technicians vs independent use) things like GC-MS, esi-MS, IR? Please let me know whenever you get time!! Thanks in advance for your time and consideration!
  5. Hi Chloe! it's nice to talk to you on the forum here and sort of get to know you...my name's Diana (as you might have been able to guess). Im excited to meet you in the fall especially because we'll be organic synthetic buddies and prob taking classes together too Yes, I did agree with you that it is worth it get industry contacts still especially for referrals. But all I meant is that a lot of them don't actually have full power to really get you a job, but it definitely helps to be one of those primarily considered still. Don't think the process is grim!!! You're going to Princeton or UW Madison!! They are both top programs in the country and you are really talented and lucky to be able to get in so you should be happy overall I think everything will turn out fine for you, as your applications seem to have
  6. Hallelujah! I saw from the main applications thread that you got accepted to Penn State! Congratulations! The prayers worked out it seems! ;P Now you dont have to worry about this stuff anymore :)
  7. Hi chop! Yes I'm definitely visiting!! However, I will be visiting on the march 19-21 weekend and i am super looking forward to it!! I see mainly pros in this program actually! At least for my case, I think they have very excellent organic catalysis/methodology/synthesis PIs (Fu, Reisman, Stoltz for example), and I hear they are also very strong in Biochemistry (Frances Arnold and Hsieh-Wilson for example). They also have a ton of great choices for Inorganic chem (Grubbs, Peters, Agapie, to name a few), and are just a really well rounded department overall in terms of great, young/active, productive professors to work for with funding too! I also hear that most of the PIs in this department are pretty laid back/lenient compared to at other schools, so that's always nice...in the case of Caltech, it's the students who are really self-motivated too so they don't necessarily need strict professors either haha! For most people, they will love the weather and cool west coast culture and surroundings that Caltech is in, and that there are a lot of things to do in the area,...however for me, this was the main con, because i LOOOOVE the east coast and i want to live and work in NJ someday!! Honestly, if it wasn't for this, I think I would strongly strongly consider going to Caltech because i think their department is very excellent and well regarded too. The PIs I am interested to meet are mainly Fu, Reisman, Stoltz because my research interest lies in organic synthesis and methodology.
  8. Hi 16. This is just me...but I'm definitely going to start researching in July. This is mainly because I heard that Professor MacMillan's lab is very competitive and that most students who are successful in joining his lab start researching over the summer (and I would really love to work for him!) I was a little conflicted like you as well because I was considering doing some summer research fellowship in China at Jilin university (I love research abroad and new living abroad experiences!) but I think I will have to give that up because I am looking at the next five years of my life vs one good summer...because in my case it's not necessarily about getting settled in the lab beforehand or not, but it will probably be about being successful in joining the group vs having to join a different group =\ In terms of your case, it really depends what you want. If you are doing the internship in order to get more job experience specifically, i dont' think it's worth it because generally undergraduate interns are given easier and less serious work to do, and this work will not be a good reflection of the job opportunities and responsibilities you will have for the work you get after you have a PhD. However, if you are doing it in order to get more industry contacts, then it may be worth it to do so...however, your professor in grad school could also have some industry contacts and help you get a job (though i agree it helps to know some people in the company already too). Personally, I think if the people you will meet are not directly repsonsible for or at least associated with hiring, then it won't help, because a lot of associate and senior scientists are separate from that process. Usually people in HR and the hiring managers will be responsible for that. In any case, it is also possible to get internships later in graduate school with your advisors permission (depends on your advisor), and I have known quite some people who have done this as well, and maybe you would be given more advanced work as well. Just realize that if you take this internship now, it may slightly lower your chances of getting into certain advisors' labs if their labs are really competitive. Overall, I am just trying to say that you should carefully consider the slight risk of taking the internship now, and how it may silghtly lower your chances of getting into your top choice PI's lab, but I do agree that you could still gain valueable industry contacts from it (just not as valuable job experience). If I were you, I would just contact your top choice PI ahead of time and ask them if they prefer that students start work over the summer, or if they are receptive to you doing an internship first, and then act accordingly. You should also ask the graduate students in their lab what they observed their years in terms of what students were accepted into the group because maybe the PI's answer wont' be 100% accurate either. You can reach out to those PI's now via e-mail and let them know you're interested in their research and then ask them their thoughts maybe, as I have talked a bit to Professor MacMillan already as well. This way you won't have to wait until the visit to hear some of their opinions. And as the graduate student mentioned in his e-mail, dont' worry too too much about the "risk" either if you end up taking the internship....he did mention "the process is not as harrowing as it likely sounds in this e-mail"...and that it may not really be a problem at all with some PIs. Just reach out to them and see.
  9. Hi again guys! So I asked a graduate student about the schedule of "rotations" or when we can start researching and how and when we will have to commit to an advisor and decide which lab we wanna work in. There is also some additional information he gave about places to hang out and things to do around princeton that I asked about (restaurants, malls, bars, hangouts etc):: "Hi Diana, Let me see if I can address each of your questions: While we don't have formal research rotations in the chemistry department here, you are afforded the opportunity to try working in multiple labs before the November deadline for choosing an adviser, so that you find a group that's a good fit. Most incoming students seem to have a pretty good idea of who they want to work for and tend to stick with the professor they start out with, but being undecided at first is fine also. (When I got here in September 2012, I worked for two different professors before choosing a group, so it's no problem). The department is always happy to have students come early over the summer and will help you arrange university housing as well as providing financial support. This is something that will be explained in more detail during the visiting weekends. You can come as early as July and possibly even in June depending on who you would like to work for. You will also have the opportunity to see the university housing options when you visit. Being a university town, Princeton has plenty of restaurants and a handful of bars. The best burger place in town is probably 30 Burger http://30burgers.com/ Hoagie Haven is also pretty popular http://www.hoagiehaven.com/menu-sandwich.html Popular 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. http://www.yelp.com/biz/szechuan-house-hamilton 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!"
  10. Wow this guy is a little crazy! He sounds super stressed out! This isn't exactly the norm for the graduate students at my school (don't get me wrong, they definitely have their good and bad days as well and are a little stressed overall but I don't think they would describe anything as EXCEEDINGLY stressful!) but this may partly be because the general qualifiers at our school are less intense. If you're not the kind to get stressed out as easily, or if you weren't too stressed overall during your undergrad years, I wouldn't be too intimidated ("tendency to get stressed" is the kind of thing that's just determined by our genes more than our environment )....however, it really does sound like a lot to have on your plate during that second year to possibly balance classes, qualifying exam AND research! geez! But a lot of people at my school will usually take about one month just doing parttime in lab to write their proposals so that should be fine overall... My impression was that most schools either had a qualifiers test OR an in field/out of field research proposal pair as the general qualifier....hence why I asked this question in the original post. I thought it was surprising that princeton had a qualifying test and THREE proposals! wow! However, I do feel bad for the princeton students because he says the FOURTH year is the first year year without any kind of qualifier?? That is a little unfortunate then, as students at my school are done with their qualifiers at the end of the second year. I'm not sure if my school is out of the norm, or if Princeton is, but I was just curious as to when/what year other programs wrap up their qualifiers.... On a happier note, I think the "graduate student life" and the social atmosphere of this program is very good compared to a lot of grad schools I've been to or heard of (maybe because princeton has such good funding for things in general too ). The GSO sounds quite busy then if it is hosting all of these events -- it must be tough to be a board member then! -- but I think its really nice that they have a departmental social every Friday so that you have a good chance to network with people in the department that you don't usually see (not as many opportunities for something like this at my undergrad institution). I'm happy that despite this student's tendency to get stressed, him and others in the program seem to have a good social support network to lean on And honestly, I'm shocked but relieved to hear that these people are actually HANGING OUT and HAVING FUN every weekend instead of working in lab....what?! ;P Overall, I'm really glad to hear this! I view being close to others in the department and having a close network as extremely important and a really positive point, especially because i'm quite extroverted and talk too much ;P
  11. Haha you definitely should!! Dont worry, almost everyone drives -- so it cant be that difficult or scary! But not everyone can get admitted to top chem programs like UWMad or Princeton so you should have confidence! 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!
  12. Yes that is one option I am going to switch to soon as well. I think if I am going to settle down around Princeton or NJ area for at least five years, it can be a good investment to buy a small apartment instead of renting some place out for the whole time and putting my money in a "black hole"....maybe you can talk to your dad and consider this as well (because in that case, even if rent is somewhat expensive, you can at least sell your apartment after that 5 years and get some of the money back)! And i see...in that case, maybe it is best that you live on campus or within walking distance...parking is pretty competitive at Princeton I heard. In this case, your cost of living may be somewhat high unless you want to learn to drive later then relocate. In any case, it won't be a problem because the stipend will comfortably cover your living costs especially if you don't have to pay for auto insurance and gas too...there is a small downtown area next to the and some things within walking distance. however, aside from that, it might be incredibly boring in princeton area/ hard to get groceries and do some daily things without a car......
  13. I think MacMillan usually has high capacities...it just depends if he likes the student whether or not he'll take you (i saw one year he took 5!!) so hopefully we don't have to compete too much! ;P Yes, that is true of a lot of chemistry graduate programs in general and especially with places in NJ or random college towns like UIUC's i bet....if you are speaking in terms of finding a relationship, many of my friends who come to grad school single and are interested in dating kind of struggle to meet and find new people throughout grad school....a lot of them resort to online dating, i'm not sure, maybe this is also because they are introverted but i would be cautious is how you proceed with this because it can really be a serious distraction from research from what i've seen (although if you're successful, the payoff is great!) But yeah, chances are you won't find romantic partners within the department LOL. If you are speaking just in terms of meeting friends outside the department, I think most areas are easy to do this, and even in Princeton, and in NYC nearby, there are alot of bars or social events you can frequent to do so. Haha, I doubt this will be a problem because as I said, Princeton is a pretty rich school and they are known for "pampering their students" compared to the other IV Leagues too...my dentist whose son went to Princeton for grad school told me that they treat undergraduates very well, but if thats so, the graduate students are like "royalty" there. Not sure why he thought that, but I don't think they will be too stingy or mean to us overall then!! haha!
  14. Cool!!! glad to know someone else on this forum is interested in princeton! maybe we can meet in the fall then -- unfortunately I'm visiting on the 6th instead. Haha the biggest perk in terms of location is just that its close enough to NY and you can easily take a train there!! I'm biased but I think NYC is the best city in the world (but this is only after going to most major american cities, chinese cities, and west european cities so I'm still missing a lot of 'em ahhaha) so I love this!! But i guess if you were used to living IN a city it will be very different and boring for sure. Princeton is not an exciting town by any means. HOWEVER, i don't think the cost of living is actually too bad ... it is definitely more expensive in Princeton but depending on how long you're willing to commute to school, you can find lots of cheaper nearby NJ neighborhoods to princeton. For example, I live about 25 minutes away from Princeton now and am only paying $340 per month for rent....but I would say the average rent in lots of Jersey neighborhoods, if you split with roommates, is a little above $500-600, so not too bad. If it is the case that you end up deciding to go to Princeton and want recommendations for cheaper neighborhoods to live in, you can message me and we can discuss it (i am around this area now and have some inside info on this then)
  15. Hi ghostar. Yeah, I've heard on this forum and elsewhere that a lot of people don't end up going to Princeton even if they are offered admission for whatever reason...and I'm a little surprised at how few responses ie little interest in Princeton's program there seems to be on this forum then... The biggest reasons I want to go to Princeton are: 1. I have received some very positive and encouraging e-mails from Professor MacMillan since my acceptance and he is my top choice in terms of PI out of any university I have applied to. He is a giant in organocatalysis as you probably know, I am really fantastically interested research, and his students have great placement. There are many other reasons why I want to work for him too in terms of the culture of his group but I won't go into them. Hopefully I can get into his group, but if not, there are other choices for me there too! 2. I want to live and work in NJ and settle down here when I grow older. I really love NJ and greater new york city area, and my family is here too. If this is the plan, sometimes it is better to go to a good university inside that state of interest, rather than a better, maybe higher ranked program that is farther away. 3. Princeton's program is on the rise in the past ten years especially after Professor MacMillan went over and became chair. They are intertwined with the surrounding industry (lots of companies here go to recruit at Princeton, and really seek out the Princeton grads), especially pharma. For example, Merck donated a bunch of money to build the Merck Catalysis Center over there for high throughput screening and reaction development etc. Also, Princeton has a BEAUTIFUL NEW CHEMISTRY BUILDING now (i think it was built within the past two years) which is really sweet because then you really get state-of-the-art equipment and facilities and its just a great place overall to do chemistry then (this should really be a dealmaker to a lot of people!! New facilities are the best!!!) 4. Places like Princeton and Harvard don't usually have problems with funding....it is really a relief to know this after my experiences at my undergraduate institution......for example, I didn't like my advisor telling me we "couldnt' afford to" order new parts for our high vacuums, and then having to deal with crappy pumps that only pulled to ~2 Torr for four years....or not being able to afford slightly expensive chemicals... 5. I like smaller programs and class size. I like the school and the campus and environment (for grad school, but maybe I wouldn't have preferred this for undergrad). I like that they kinda pamper their students and aren't as intense and rigorous as somewhere like MIT (I work hard but i'm not THAT intense either. I like my breaks every so often lol). Overall, the environment is a good fit for me. Also, I like that Princeton's department has more young, active faculty, rather than just old emeritus previous Nobel Prize winning professors that don't take students anymore. Hahah, yes for the PIs question, I was mainly targeting this to people who are not planning on doing organic chemistry. I am generally familiar with the big names in my field, but not necessarily in P chem or Inorganic etc...So i was curious who at princeton is really well regarded in those other fields. I am going to visit Caltech, Columbia and Northwestern before finalizing my decision but I really have my mind set on Princeton now overall. I think of all the programs I applied to, Caltech is very excellent in organic methodology/catalysis particularly, and in terms of research, it may be the best fit for me, but I just don't prefer California overall and would rather stay east, I have visited UC Berkeley and Stanford before and don't like the overall experience as much...I feel the best way I can make up for turning down such a great program would be to work with Professor MacMillan at Princeton! haha. Sorry for the huge rant but hope I sufficiently answered your questions
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