mastergod6767

Thanks for the recent responses, I have a few follow-up questions for you guys. @TakeruK: Where do you think I fell short? @Hani2015: I have contact with one past professor and she already wrote my LOR, though she is in a different aspect of materials science (spintronics/semi-conductors). How important is it that they do the same research as the program I apply to? How would you suggest I go about getting more academic references if I work in industry, short of switching jobs?

Is there any place I can find aggregated statistics? Most schools provide only demographic statistics and I've had a hard time finding anything on GPA, GRE, etc. I know GradCafe has a results section but that's self-reported and not very comprehensive.

Thank you everyone for your responses, they've given me some perspective as to what I am going to do moving forward. I'll add a few more details about my applications that were brought up by some replies: 1) All of my LORs are from PhD's that have ties to the top schools in engineering/hard science (think MIT and Bob Langer) 2) My SOP was tailored to each school if by "tailored" we are talking about being a good fit. I specifically identified my interests and experiences and how they relate to specific professors/groups within the department. 3) My first application cycle was straight out of undergrad and was to mostly physics programs as I was doing research on spintronics at the time. The LOR I mention from that time was the director of the materials department at my school. It wasn't until I took my job that I discovered what I was truly passionate about! Now onto my thoughts as to what I am going to do moving forward: I don't think I will be applying this fall. In order to fully prepare myself I am going to be retaking the general GRE as well as taking a subject GRE as well as try to connect with some professors where I want to study. I'm also considering switching jobs to an academic institution in order to get more academic references and experience, as that is valued more so in applications (it seems). My target application date is for Fall 2017 and I will be targeting schools that are in line with my credentials (GPA). The bench marking comment was very helpful, thank you. I don't take any offense to being told my GPA is low, haha. I'm well aware of it and the reasons for it are silly, but I have no regrets (Read: didn't care about attendance which was 30% of the grade in most first year classes so I got a few C's) I also have a personal belief that its more the person than the school, so I think not going to a top 10 school won't negatively impact me or my experience. I'm going to aiming at around 15 applications the third time around. I will not be applying exclusively to Materials Science. There are a number of groups that work on what interests me that have positions in chemistry, chemical engineering, pharmacy, biophysics, etc. In terms of my plan for post graduate work I want to continue doing research either in academia or industry on drug delivery, active targeting, and bio-compatible polymers. Thank you again to everyone! EDIT: For the two most recent replies: I have biochemistry experience from my chemistry major and my current work is directly related I definitely read a lot of academic papers regularly as well as patents

I have had my application accepted up to two days late. If the status says accepted then you should be fine, but I called to confirm, so I suggest you do the same.

Hi everyone, I've been a longtime lurker but this is the first time that I am contributing, and its been spurred by another year of flat-out rejection. I'll get right into my credentials: Major/GPA: B.S. Chemistry and B.S. Physics with a cumulative GPA of 3.26 Work Experience: 2 years as R&D at a start-up drug delivery company Publications: 1 patent currently, one patent being drafted, and one publication being drafted GRE: 159V/161Q/4.5Writing LOR: one from past research adviser, two from current occupation (supervisor and chief scientific officer). The CSO is extremely well respected in the field and has won numerous awards. Statement: Vetted for by all my LOR writers and refined throughout the year. Emphasis on what I want to do, how i fit in with specific professors at schools, and relevant experience. I did a lot of reading on ~3 professors at each school I applied to and tailored the statements to each school. I applied to materials science programs wanting to pursue study in bio compatible polymers and drug delivery. The first year I applied was pretty haphazard and I got rejected flat out, since then I worked and got a lot of relevant experience. This time around I was very focused and took a lot of time to consider where to apply and how to go about it. I've been flat-out rejected from schools for the past two years that I have tried. First year I applied to eleven schools ranging from state all the way to Ivy league. This year I applied to four schools with the same spread (2 and 2). I've given this a lot of thought and come up with the following next steps: 1) Retake GRE and get >=90% (currently in 80%) 2) Take a subject test in chemistry 3) Apply to ~15 schools again What am I missing? Why do I keep getting rejected? Are there some apparent "red flags"? Thanks for any input you may have!