KaffeeCafe

Hopefully they give out more than 70 awards this year... For those applying, I wonder why there is a rather poorly formatted Jobs/Internships, Publications, etc section if you also have the opportunity to upload a CV ?

I agree. I very luckily emailed them to confirm I had all three letters received because of this issue. Good thing I did this because I only had 2/3 received despite my third letter writer swearing they had submitted it. The lack of receiving any final confirmation is very unsettling.

I was just confused because the form autopopulated the "Graduate School Major Field" but not my current institution. I am currently a graduate student so I wasn't sure if there was an issue where it didn't have my graduate school on record.

I just received an email requesting “updated education information” with a link to a form to update my graduate institution / specialization. What does this mean? Anyone else ?

I believe it is 40%

Yes -- under overall status mine says the same. I and the previous poster were referring to the 'Applicant Data' info box on the right side when you first log in.

Sorry, but should it say something else ? Mine also says 'Received' and under Final Status it is blank. Do other people have a different status ?

Is there a way to confirm that references have been submitted / received by our recommenders ? I reached out to confirm that the link worked for my recommenders and one said they had submitted but I would have had no way of knowing for the one I haven't heard from.

Thanks -- just found that field today. Are people really taking serious there 'resume' specification as opposed to CV ? My friends are trying to condense down a multiple page CV into a standard one page Resume. Since there is nowhere else in the application portal to list awards or publications it seems hard to keep it Resume length. There is an 'Additional Upload 3' option but no instructions what this could be used for. Any ideas ?

Is it possible to change your CV after uploading / creating the account ? Or do I have to remake another account just to update it ?

Quick question for context : If us entering 1st years wait until 2nd year to apply (having never applied before), how best to avoid "stagnating" over the next year with courses etc. and little, but maybe some, potential for research contributions? I suppose it would be a great time to develop a solid BI/Outreach. But as an incoming student, I feel I could be competitive with a good "trajectory" -- since I have a couple previous papers / and worked for two months during the summer here / have gotten into some broader impacts already. But I'm struggling to decide about applying having not applied before. I have a nice Personal Statement and a very rough draft of the Research Statement that is somewhat coming along, but I'm running into difficulties fleshing out my project details and so I'm not very confident in it. All of this is probably made moot by the fact my PI advised I should just apply next year. So, to have a competitive 2nd year application -- do we really need significant research progress (i.e. have a paper submitted) ?

Best bet is to find / download the official ACS exam study guides. Some of my undergrad classes used the ACS exams in the classes and they really aren't too bad, especially if you review a bit and go through the booklet to see which type and how they ask the questions. You should be able to have a pretty good idea of how well you will do based on how you feel after going through the booklets. Then use that to guide yourself through your notes/books etc.

Definitely agree with trash talking other students. We just got a lab volunteer (undergraduate!) in the lab I'm a Tech in after another volunteer left. The last volunteer wasn't very successful on the project, not having much research experience beforehand, so we put the new guy on it. One day he came up to me to ask "so what did dumb-nuts do wrong last time?" and a variation of "how he f***ed up" -- this was all before he had even started on ANY experiment, much less the same project, and he was already cursing previous lab members who I had mentored. Basically he seems to have this entitlement to the lab -- speaking out at lab meetings making suggestions he isn't really entitled to make since, you know, he hasn't done any work yet with this confidence of coming to graduate school here after he graduates.

Congrats to everyone! I'll be heading to Hyde Park around the start of July for a PhD (Chemistry) -- been scoping out Marketplace and trying to tie something down. Any French/German speakers who'd be interested in looking for a place ?

I'm still going through this thread so sorry if I am repeating anything, but does anyone have any property management companies / complexes etc to avoid ? Also, how close to move in should I be worried the good places are getting taken ? I will be moving in July, so I'm trying to decide between a short sublet until starting a year lease or looking to get a long-term from the get go.

I would say definitely Fulbright.

Hey, thanks for your response! I agree with what you said, but I just re-read what I wrote and maybe I wasn't clear. For all I know, the relations with other professors are just fine. What I meant was that, while there are another lab or two I could work with (if my primary one didn't work out), my first choice there, from what I've heard, creates some problems within the lab. One could say very hands on etc to the point where people have warned me about that group. That's what is more of red flag since if I cross this lab off my list my reasons for the going to the school drop quite a bit.

Great! Glad to hear you enjoyed your weekend as well. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you want!

Sorry -- I'm confused. You went to the visitation weekend while waitlisted, or was the visitation weekend for interviews and you were waitlisted after ? Even if you are admitted, I think you need to secure a positive response from him before committing.

Hey, thanks a lot for the response ! I too was really blown away at the visitation weekend, and I found myself thinking back to Duke every time I was on another visit. I think all of your reasoning really reflects mine. I agree -- it seemed like a lot great up and coming profs ; it is obviously a great institution that shouldn't be discredit just because 'lower on the list' !. Thanks for your input and I'll probably be around in a few months! I just needed to hear this from someone other than myself!

Thanks a lot! I feel like it was something I just needed to hear from someone other than myself -- especially when some people around me were placing too much emphasis on the rank and giving suggestions based on that.

Hey, thanks for your response ! Lab availability of my POIs has been something I've been thinking about since I started applying. Aside from one school I've crossed off now, I think I will have good options (for both availability and funding) open based off my previous communications over the past few months, but that is something I am confirming this week over email! Now I'm wondering whether to be safer with the school that has a multiple labs as options (with good research), or my fave research in a lab I've heard has had some problems with the PI (although all my interactions have been very positive) with another lab or two there I also could see myself in.

Keep in mind the placement rate / prestige of the institution won't carry much weight if you yourself can't do the work to back it up (i.e. don't have good advisor fit / support). Again, not sure about your field -- but you need to think where you can do your best work, not assuming that the better school will certainly mean better prospects for you.

Not sure what field you are in or what is common -- but I wouldn't go somewhere only for one PI, unless everything was perfect and you had near certainty you would be able to work with them (and certain you'd get along). Besides the visit weekend, has your communications prior indicated he has a spot for you? School B, with multiple professors in a general interest could be good. Most people would agree that your interests don't have to overlap 100% (after all they could/may change), but having a supportive and good mentor fit is the most important provided the fit is good enough to motivate you. Good luck!

Hey, thanks for responding! I visited at the end of January (they tried a really early visit for some of their first round of acceptances I think since their other only free weekends were in April; it was a pretty small group there though). I came away very impressed and it had a great feel for it -- especially since, as you say, not "top ten". Let me know what you think! I think I might end up there.