lcmerrill

Hi Everyone, So I'll be starting my program in just less than a month and I'm having all sorts of anxieties regarding it. Mainly, if I chose the right school, if my apartment will be livable or not (reviews weren't that great but it honestly seems like a step up from my undergrad apartment), and if the professor I anticipate wanting to work with will also want to work with me/if I will like her advising style. I understand that it is natural to have these types of anxieties, especially considering it's a big change and I'll be leaving my comfort zone, but I can't help feeling unsettled about it. I was wondering if anyone had any tips about calming nerves and dealing with such anxieties before moving and starting a PhD program? Thank you in advance.

So I ended up only applying to 5 PhD programs for chemical engineering because I chickened out of applying to some due to only having a year of research experience. I didn't apply to any top 20 programs and have gotten into 3. 1)UConn - has some research in what I'm interested in but the GA I was offered was with a professor doing unrelated work. 2) Notre Dame - higher ranked program (among the 3), has some research I'm interested in. (Visiting this weekend and will have more insight after that) 3) Ohio University - lowest ranked program but has strong research in what I'm interested in with lot of resources. PI seems to have a lot of connections. I'm just not sure how strongly I should consider the ranking of the schools. Especially because none of them are particularly well known for chem eng. Just hoping for some insight/opinions. Thank you.