scientific
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Posts posted by scientific
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Hello all,
I majored in chemistry with an environmental emphasis. What this means is that I took several environmental emphasis classes in addition to my chemistry courses while not needing a few higher level math courses. I tooka few for my own personal growth but since they were not technically for my major I didn't spend a lot of time on them and did not do as well as I could have. However, I want to apply for physical chemistry (math-heavy).
Will my "major GPA" be what should've been for what I'm applying for, or just what I would've used for my major?
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Thanks, Butterfly_effect! I know Master's are rarer in the US, but I'm not really sure how else I can combat my low uGPA. I'm already a non-traditional student (few years out of school, worked in unrelated family business, but back doing research in a new chemistry lab). (Other background: 3.22 GPA from US top 50 public state school, 2 publications in unrelated chemistry field, ~4 years of research including conference abroad by the time I apply, 162/162/5 GRE, 3 good-strong LOR, 3 years TA/tutor/tech positions)
My dream schools/programs are University of Chicago and University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign for physical/astro-chemistry. I have no illusions about University of Chicago and know I have extremely low chances about getting in, but the professor I talked to essentially said that the same goes for UIUC, despite the fact that the (different) professor I'm working for now there did his PhD there. He essentially told me to shoot for much lower ranking programs than I was originally hoping for, which was really hard to hear since I thought I had a decent shot at some around 15-35 ranked schools.
I'm really regretting all the extracurriculars I did in my undergrad lately... Should've studied harder!!
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I asked something similar in another forum. There are definitely far fewer masters programs in the States at "prestigious" universities (for example, in California, the UCs don't really have direct masters of chemistry, but the Cal States do); furthermore, you tend to have to fund yourself, and depending on the school it can cost anywhere from 10k-40k.
I read somewhere (i'm not sure how true it is) that professors tend to not care as much about master's students (unless you are at a school that only does masters and no Phds), and if they are more selective, it is because no one wants to sink the time into a student who will leave shortly. The other thing I've heard is that because Master's are self-funded, they might have an easier time in because the school gets money out of them. I don't know which is true.
So the way I see it, there are a few options (which I've spent a long time thinking about and haven't come to a conclusion myself, but we'll see if it helps you):
1. Take some time and do research/otherwise strengthen your application. If your GPA is excellent, it is easier to remedy any issues in your app (kind of). Look for research positions; if there are none, consider working part-time and volunteering in a lab. If you can't do this, commit to a non-cert research program (I've seen some at certain schools in the States, but I've seen more abroad). Unlike low GPAs (my issue), lack of research is fixable, if time-consuming or expensive.
2. Apply to Master's abroad (more schools outside of the States tend to do masters). Uni of Tokyo has one in English for 1 year. This has the added benefit of international experience which can show you are flexible and adaptable; Uni of Tokyo is an excellent school and I think the program was roughly $5000 for the year (don't quote me, i looked at it over a year ago). You'll have to make sure to have an excellent GPA in a master's, though, because doing poorly says you're unlikely to be a successful PhD student.
3. Apply to a mix of master's programs and PhDs. See what chances you DO have at other schools for their PhDs; if you absolutely can't get into any, maybe some Masters will take you. This is risky, obviously, in different ways--if no PhDs take you and the Masters programs you applied to and got into aren't really your cup of tea, you're stuck having to take an additional 1-2 years, and any other risks taking a Masters could do.
I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do or what's "best", either. I would talk to your undergrad's grad advisor or any professors you were close with. Apologies that this isn't a directly answer (Which I kind of think no one has an answer to), but some of the things I've thought about and might help you out.
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Thanks for your resposne, TakeruK. My biggest concern is definitely cost for the master's, so it's not been an easy choice. I don't really want to become a professor or anything, but I would like to be in research career-wise, whether it's at an academic institution or not; it's something I've found I really enjoyed over the 3 years or so I've done it.
Do you feel like it's common to get burned out doing a masters (1-2 years) before a PhD (~4 years)? I'm definitely worried about that since I got burned out near the end of my undergrad (I majored in an emphasis I ended up disliking). I was also under the impression that master's students don't typically do a lot of research, which is why a lot of schools in the states don't take them on.
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Hi all,
Had a wildly discouraging talk from a professor in which he said I have no good shot at my two dream schools due to my low GPA. I'm considering a master's to compensate for it (3.22).
What were some of your reasons? Do you think you'd do it again, or go to a lower rank school straight into a PhD?
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I had a 3.2 at top 50 school with similar experience. A professor in ochem told me that I probably wouldn't have a shot at "the top 10 schools" for organic chemistry since it's quite competitive. There are some more factors so it would be helpful to chat with a professor who might have some idea of your shot.
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Hey everyone!
I'm preparing for the chemistry GRE. I Used Mcquarrie for pchem, which if anyone knows, was extremely, rigourously math-based. I'm skeptical to use it as a review because I doubt the chemistry GRE requires a lot of "higher level" math... Can anyone talk about their experiences? What was some of the more complicated calculations you had to do?
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Went to UC Davis for my undergrad (didn't read all the posts yet, so if someone answered, I'm sorry!) I actually didn't receive my driver's license til after graduation because the public transportation + biking town made it so easy to not need to drive anywhere. Getting out of Davis becomes a bit more questionable, but even then, there's an Amtrak to San Francisco/San Jose/most of California, daily shuttles to Berkeley, bus lines to west of Davis and to Sacramento. I didn't leave the town that often, but I rarely had troubles doing so when I had to. Definitely a dream for those without cars or licenses, and I absolutely loved it! In fact, depending on where you live and want to go, having a car might become a pain in the ass.
I actually disagree with those above comments about the heat. I'm from Colorado, then moved to LA before going to Davis, and get terrible rashes in hot weather and from sweat. Yes, the weather in Davis gets hot in spring/summer (worst heat wave brought 101F +), but it was dry heat, and there are so many trees in Davis anyway and every building was so cold that when I worked in the summer I had to bring a sweater anyway. In fact, if you leave to get to school early enough (earlier than 9) and get home past 7, you'll probably want a light jacket since it gets cool in the nights. I think humid heat is worse, since it gets inside you and sticks to you and makes everything feel sticky. No offense to those who love it
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Background: graduated 2 years ago from a top 50 US school in chemistry; 83-93 percentiles in GRE (differs for each section), lots of research, international experience, two good LoRs, but poor GPA w/ lots of questionable gaps (sub 3.3/4.0). An adviser recommended that with my writing skills (received a 5 on the writing section in GRE), I should focus on writing a strong SOP.
Intended field/Degree: Physical chemistry, PhD
So I don't intend to tell an actual story like "once upon a time, a young undergrad..." ; I mean it in "the sense of the flow." I know there's a lot of back-and-forth about whether or not to include explanations for questionable portions of GPAs, so I was thinking about essentially writing about how I got into my field (essentially as an uncertain and indecisive, unfocused but curious and ambitious undergrad), what lead me to take the actions I did (take on research, do research abroad, change research groups... basically how my indecisiveness lead me to explore different fields) and finally how those experiences and maturity (research abroad; extracurricular activities; work and volunteer) both during and after my undergrad career have shaped both who I am and the strongest traits I have (flexibility/adaptability to almost anything, hard-working attitude, critical-thinking, motivation for the field I've chosen).
Based on some of the SoPs I've seen, this doesn't really seem to be the standard...The ones I've read are people who did well talking about why they did well and doing better. Obviously, since I did not do that well in my undergrad, I can't write that essay. I'm especially hesitant because obviously I will be discussing some weak traits I had in my undergrad. I'm hoping that this will perhaps touch upon or explain some of the weaker aspects of my grades, without directly addressing them.
Should I stick with talking about my strengths and the motivations, and ignore the reasoning behind them? Will adcomms even care about how I matured into a stronger candidate, or do they just want to know that I did?
thanks all!
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I'm sorry since this isn't directly an answer, but I talked to a graduate affairs advisor from my undergrad. He said that it always helps if a program "doesn't have to pay for you, or for you for the whole time." He was talking about PhDs and fellowships, but maybe it's applicable to your situation.
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I did my undergraduate work there, and did ~2 years of research there as well. I had professors range from great mentor and guide through research and others that were hardly on campus the entire time I worked for them. You will have to do a rotation when you arrive, and you will be given an idea of the professor then. If you have anyone in mind you'd like to ask me about, feel free to PM me.
I knew a lot of really smart people who went to UC Davis, all the professors I've had were excellent and almost all the groups churn out a good number of papers each year. It's a solid school.
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Dells_of_bittersweet, thank you for the information!
I guess the big issue here is that since I have no gauge as to where I'm competitive/qualified to apply to, I'm not sure of what steps to take. I'd ideally not like to spend $500+ on applications if I have no shot/barely any shot. There are aspects of my application I know are weak, but others I feel are nothing to shake a stick at. I suppose that if I'm not a strong candidate, I'd rather take time to strengthen it through industry jobs, or perhaps trying to find work at a school. I'm just not entirely sure if I'm being overly ambitious or not.
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4 hours ago, scientific said:
Aberrant, thanks for your response! For some reason I actually don't have the option to edit my post anymore--or at least I can't find the option to do so, but I am applying for 2017. I'm not an international student, and I'm not quite sure what gave you that impression? But I will be applying out of state (I am in California, probably not applying to anywhere in California)--not sure if that matters.
So in short: 3/2011-9/2012 organic lab, 2 papers, 9/2012-6/2013 astronomy/physics teaching assistant, 1/2013-3/2014 analytical lab no paper (and the project was quite slow while I was there so I doubt that anything I did there will be published anytime soon, if at all), 3/2014-8/2014 international inorganic lab, small conference/presentations and possible paper. Traveled for sometime, then 1/2015 - present, working at my family company (not research or science related); 9/2015-present teaching assistant and local community college observatory/equipment technician/teaching assistant. So not research, either, but it gives me time to work in the day time and do astronomy/astro-spectroscopy related activities in the evening. I know that's not all research related, but there are reasons for my gaps in research. I am quite bummed that I haven't been published since 2012, either, but I wanted to spend time figuring out what I liked to do.
I actually do worry that being all over the place will hurt my chances, but I took a long time deciding what--if at all--I wanted to pursue.
Edit: I definitely checked and the "edit" post option is not available for first post, so I can't edit that. But yes, I hope to apply this upcoming fall........ so to attend the 2017 semesters.
sorry for the weird font changes, I just wanted to make sure anyone who passed by the thread could see it.
Would doing absolutely amazing on the chemistry subject test help?
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Aberrant, thanks for your response! For some reason I actually don't have the option to edit my post anymore--or at least I can't find the option to do so, but I am applying for 2017. I'm not an international student, and I'm not quite sure what gave you that impression? But I will be applying out of state (I am in California, probably not applying to anywhere in California)--not sure if that matters.
So in short: 3/2011-9/2012 organic lab, 2 papers, 9/2012-6/2013 astronomy/physics teaching assistant, 1/2013-3/2014 analytical lab no paper (and the project was quite slow while I was there so I doubt that anything I did there will be published anytime soon, if at all), 3/2014-8/2014 international inorganic lab, small conference/presentations and possible paper. Traveled for sometime, then 1/2015 - present, working at my family company (not research or science related); 9/2015-present teaching assistant and local community college observatory/equipment technician/teaching assistant. So not research, either, but it gives me time to work in the day time and do astronomy/astro-spectroscopy related activities in the evening. I know that's not all research related, but there are reasons for my gaps in research. I am quite bummed that I haven't been published since 2012, either, but I wanted to spend time figuring out what I liked to do.
I actually do worry that being all over the place will hurt my chances, but I took a long time deciding what--if at all--I wanted to pursue.
Edit: I definitely checked and the "edit" post option is not available for first post, so I can't edit that. But yes, I hope to apply this upcoming fall........ so to attend the 2017 semesters.
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I agree with the above. I was told the GRE loves that "grey area," but to make sure you thoroughly prove why even though there might be something that seems like a valid point, how it can be easily overcome/isn't valid. Additionally, it shows that you really have taken some time to think critically about the topic, since there are few situations in which one side is right.
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Thank you, I appreciate your response! I have a very hard time gauging where I stand competition-wise.... My GPA is quite low but I worked very hard in research and hopefully that can explain the grades.
I just took my GRE yesterday and received a 162/162 on each part. Not that high but it is top 25% or so I think.
I'm actually applying this upcoming fall, so hopefully my past research is enough. Additionally, my two papers are quite old (maybe around 2012?). Anymore feedback would be appreciated in general.
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Hello all! I looked for this on the forum and online before my test and found no real suitable answer, so I wanted to help anyone with the same situation/fear in the future.
I am an American, so I was able to use a driver's license.
I signed up for the GRE using my first and last name (popular American name and "American-ized" simple last name). In total my name has six letters in the first name and four in the last. However, I did not input a middle initial, since I don't use it for anything--not even when I applied to undergrad, or even health insurance! The problem is, on my legal documents, it included my middle name, which is a long, hyphenated foreign name. I'm not sure about other states, but on American passports and (new) California IDs, the middle name is on the same line as the first name/given name section. Everything I searched came up short.
Now whenever I scoured the ETS site, it said that I had to sign up with a name that was identical to my ID, and I have heard horror stories of people who were not let into the test due to signing up with a somewhat different name, or differently ordered name, etc. Even the most random problems like signing up the first/last name in reverse order (first and last names are such different concepts in many cultures).
I called ETS three times, and e-mailed them three times with unsatisfactory answers. Two of the phone calls were helpful, but I worried because there seems to be a huge difference between ETS and their hired phone staff.
Anyway, the day of my test, I brought my driver's license and student ID (can be supplementary and I only used my first and last name NO MIDDLE NAME on it). At first, the receptionist at the front desk seemed hesitant to allow me because of my name/ID difference. However, I explained it was my middle name and was allowed in.
Hopefully this helps someone. I don't assume that all testing centers are the same, but I DO recommend calling instead of emailing; I don't think they even read the emails.
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This isn't directly a response to your question, but I've taken free classes at Kaplan and used Magoosh for my GRE. I actually hadn't heard of PowerScore until just the few days before my test.
Kaplan provides a lot of extra stuff that if you utilize, probably will help you a lot. It looks like PowerScore is comparable but I didn't sign up for Kaplan. What I did like about the free class I took was the instructor made sure to have a lot of participation, making it an active learning process. They have free lessons every few weeks, so you can sign up and take a look.
I chose Magoosh solely because of the price. They have a series of study plans with additional book recommendations, so assuming you buy them all, it's still the cheapest option. The lessons I took were great and I learned a lot of great tricks, but it is a passive action. The questions are quite hard, but come with lots of explanations. I loosely followed the three month plan (emphasis on the loose) and used the ETS official guides and the 5 lb of GRE Questions book from Manhattan. I wish I had spent more time doing problems (I maybe only spent about a month just doing questions) but I feel that I did as good as I could hope.
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Kaplan Practice: 158/158
Magoosh predictor: 153-159Q/159-162V
Powerprep 2nd test: 157Q/160V
ETS Paper test 1: 161Q/160V
ETS Paper test1: 157Q/157V
Actual: 162V/162Q/AW???
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Definitely agree it depends on professor--at my undergrad, the professor I researched with was very helpful and accommodating but driving. However, another professor in the department lost all funding and his grad students were stuck for a long time and forced to mostly TA instead of research (it was a pretty bad situation honestly).
On a related note--how can one tell how a professor is doing? Just research recent publications? For those grad students, obviously it's a bad situation to be in--how do you avoid those?
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I'm taking the GRE tomorrow and I haven't decided where to send my four free to.
I'm very serious about graduate school, but I really have no gauge of where I'm likely to get in, and whether or not I have to do make up classes, or whatever it takes. I'd love some advice based on my qualifications; I'm hoping to go to a higher ranked, top 25 school/grad programs.
I'm currently trying to build my resume before applying to grad school for the 2019 year and I'm looking for advice to boost my chances for acceptance. Thus far:
Program: PhD in Physical chemistry or Astrochemistry
Major: Chemistry with applied emphasis in Environmental studies
GPA: 3.22, one D+ in atmospheric science, three late drops (additional math and bio classes I didn't have time for) not major required. I know my academic record looks a bit sketchy, but I did well in my physical chemistry and physics classes (B+ and up). I didn't start calculus off well, but improved over the years.
Undergrad school: School in California; top 50 school/R1 school; ranked top 40 chemistry programs.
Years since graduating: 2 years
GRE: To be taken; have been getting around 160V/158Q on practice tests, so not ideal.
LoR: I have a handful of people I'm looking to talk to, but haven't decided on any. I am fairly certain will have at least one strong (organic research), two good (inorganic research and physical chemistry class professor), and two additional to consider (astronomy professor I currently work for and graduate student at my analytical research project)
Research Experience: 2.5+ years, five projects, two published papers (third and second, respectively...but in organic chem, not what I'm applying for.) I also have international research experience (Osaka University in Japan), incl. one conference, one poster (third)
Other Experience: Introductory astronomy class teaching assistant for one year; private math and chemistry tutor for one year; currently assisting at local community college observatory as telescope technician/class assistant
Other details: fluent in Mandarin and working level in Japanese; directed fundraisers and social work programs for one year; volunteered in various minority/underprivileged projects throughout. Currently working as property management assistant.
I have my two ideal schools (University of Chicago and University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign), but I really have no gauge of whether or not I'll get in. I'd ideally like to apply out of California/West Coast and honestly not in the South (i.e., not Georgia, Texas, Florida). My current school list is all over the place, but any advice/opinions would be great:
(In order of choices)
University of Chicago
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
Northwestern University
Cornell University
Ohio State University
Penn State
University of Maryland--College ParkShould I be widening my search criteria; i.e., stay in California? Are most of these schools just way out of reach? If so, what can I do? Like I said, I really can't tell--am I being too hopeful and have no shot?
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Depending on school, i've heard that grad student letters may not carry any weight. The point of a LOR is for a professor to understand your capabilities as a graduate student, so the idea is that a professor is the best bet to gauging your abilities in grad school.
CV question--would my title be "author"?
in Statement of Purpose, Personal History, Diversity
Posted
Hope this is the right subforum.
I'm writing my CV. I contributed a page/chapter to an online textbook in my field; it's an NSF- funded project. It is open for professors of a specific list of the field to contribute to and for students (if professors agree/give permission).
What would my official title be? It's hundreds of pages now, but I think the page I wrote is used in a course now. Would it be author, editor, contributor?