someth1ngAus

Yeah, some from Duke, GT, UCSF, FSU, and Chicago... I only applied to Princeton and I'm pretty sure they usually release everything at once (Jan 25ish, but it says February).

Yeah, I mean, I got V152, Q169, W4.5, C880...applying to Princeton (only place) and I'm nowhere near confident - I'd be fucking thrilled, though. I have around 4 years of research experience in a bunch of different areas, 2 of which are full-time and a perfect research fit. I'd say my odds are <30%, at best.

Apparently, not heavily weighted. GRE isn't heavily weighted but you're international, like me, and they will generally look at it more closely for us. Yours can be a red flag, especially the Q score and the lack of the subject score.

I'd say there a chance for schools like Rochester, MSU, and slim chance for GT. I don't think Oxford will help because a lot of commonwealth universities will basically admit everyone but not everyone will get funding. It's really the funding which is your admission or rejection.

I feel like I should've applied to more schools (I'm already a grad student at USyd though)...

I feel like your creds are enough to get into at least some schools. You surely have a good shot at schools like UCI and Michigan.

You don't need to include it if it's in your CV (which it should be). The SOP is not a second CV -- you need to include information that they can't get from there. General piece of advice, try to convey meaning with less words... Your section: Dr. Sigman research on metal-catalyzed coupling reactions is specifically what I want to investigate as a graduate student, I think coupling reactions can pave the way for more efficient biorenewable olefins valorization, while also generating less waste than traditional methods of alkene modification. Edited: I am interested in Dr. Sigman's research on metal-catalyzed coupling reactions towards more efficient biorenewable olefins valorization compared to traditional alkene modifications. See how I've basically said the same thing with like, half the space? It cleans up your writing and removes the fluff that isn't needed. It gives you more space to write something meaningful. Avoid saying things that are obvious - like, generating "less waste" and "more efficient" don't really need to be stated together. They're almost the same thing and you waste space - just use one of them.

Geeeeeez, lol.

To be honest, I feel like you tell more than you show - you need to also consider why you are a fit for them, not just how you fit there. I don't feel you really explain why you're a good fit for particular groups. What about their research interests you - you don't even mention the research they do...

It's based on WES conversions, which is pretty standard. Obviously, difficulty depends on the person - most people that went on exchange to UC Berkeley, UPenn, and Cornell etc never got below a 3.8 GPA (around 80 averages in Australia). My average is around 77 but my chemistry is around 85. My honours mark is 88 which is around 90+ percentile in chemistry and around 80 percentile in honours. Also, I'm at Sydney - completely different model to Melbourne.

Undergrad Institution: Top 3 Australian UniversityMajor(s): Chemistry, Environmental StudiesMinor(s):GPA in Major: ~3.8 (Aus GPA), equiv. ~3.9+ (US GPA), First Class HonoursOverall GPA: ~2.6 (Aus GPA), equiv. ~3.6 (US GPA)Position in Class: Top 20% in the Honours class, probably top ~5% in all of chemistry.Type of Student: International, Male, Asian, PoorGRE Scores (revised/old version):Q: 169 (96%)V: 152 (56%)W: 4.5 (82%)S: 880 (94%)Research Experience: Two years full time in mechanistic and catalysis. As undergrad RA, ~6 months in drug discovery, one summer in environmental sciences, a semester in spectroscopy, and a semester in physics education research.Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Chemistry prize for honours, two residential college scholarships, a council scholarship, RTP stipend ($27k/year), and CSIRO top-up scholarship ($7k/year)Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Lab demonstrator for first and third year chemistry, total of two years teaching.Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Two poster presentations at high-level conferences Special Bonus Points: Australian accent for advertising purposes, if needed.Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Went on exchange to UW-Madison for a semester Applying to Where:Princeton University University of Cambridge (possibly)

Hi, Just wanted to know whether my profile is reasonable to apply to places like Penn, Princeton, Yale, and Cambridge (those are places with my interests). I'll probably only apply to four places since I'm already at a decent university (usually ranked around the same as upper-end US public universities like UW-Madison). Undergraduate Details First class honours (88) WAM/GPA: US equivalent of ~3.5, around 3.9 for chemistry. One semester on exchange to UW-Madison (but I got rekt in classes, around 3.2 GPA lol). Currently a grad student at my undergrad institution on around five scholarships (total around $40k/year + $10k for research expenses - too bad this can't transfer to the US =/) (two full-time research years in my current group - honours year is one, this year is my second) working on a project that was predominantly my own idea in photoredox catalysis. Obviously, from the funding I have here, I'm only considering places that have research that I think is more or less perfect fit. Other research: One summer at another university doing environmental science, one semester in physics education research, one semester in organic solar cells research, one semester in drug discovery (malaria) So yeah, 2 full-time years, around 1.5 years of not full-time research. From this, have a decent grasp on HPLC, NMR (did lots of quantitative NMR), GC-FID From research, I would have two letters from supervisors - my current supervisor has sent a bunch of students to places like Cambridge before and has said I'm more than capable, so I guess that should be a strong letter. Another from the postdoc I was assigned and is now a Lecturer (equiv. to Assistant Professor) which I expect is strong. Last one is probably from a professor that has a close relationship with my current group (ie we have the same group meetings and share all our resources etc). My personal statement is tailored towards Princeton (mainly Doyle and MacMillan groups) - my current work is photoredox catalysis which was based on an idea I have in my current lab but my university is really not tailored towards catalysis work (hence applying to Princeton). GRE V: 152 (56%) (obvious weakness here) Q: 169 (96%) W: 4.5 (82%) C: 880 (94%) Also, I'd like to know how high I can aim for and still have a reasonable shot. Obviously, acceptance rates are <10% but I don't want to be throwing my money around lol Thanks

I'd say the top 4 in Australia for chemistry would be: 1. Monash University 2. University of Melbourne 3. Australian National University 4. University of Sydney Realistically, any university from the Group of Eight (similar to Russell Group in the UK) will be fine .

Australia doesn't require a master's to do a PhD. I definitely know some people doing proteins and peptides stuff at the University of Sydney.

Just curious, how open is Princeton to accepting international students? Of the groups I'm interested in, there aren't many international students but I'm not sure if it's because far less international students apply or it's much tougher to get admitted as an international.

That's fantastic news! UCSD is very respectable and a hard to get admitted to - so congrats! Obviously, you must've gotten some absurdly strong letters or written a great statement.

Yeah, that's a lot of money (more than I expected) - the system we have here is definitely very different because our stipend and tuition usually comes directly from the government (second tier students get stipends from the university) so admission is usually pretty easy. All the institutions I'm applying to are private schools except Cambridge (4 schools total) - I'm currently a grad student in Sydney (same institution as undergrad) but research fit is fairly average so no big loss if I get rejected from everywhere. Acceptance rates are usually a fair bit lower for international students though, even at private schools.

Yeah, makes a lot of sense now. I think there is some element of competition between countries but within academia itself, the research is more curiosity-driven rather than for a direct economic outcome (which would be industry). I guess I should just start applying for some external funding to make myself more competitive. Just curious here, international students are fighting uphill - how much external funding would I need to level the playing field? $A40000 for one year like the Fulbright and a few other programs? We have a few major scholarships like $A65000 per year for three years but I'm pretty sure that's enough to make a strong case for admission.

Congrats on your acceptances to Princeton.

I did not think of that, at all. I think whenever science is discussed in politics, it's viewed as a competition between countries so I had assumed that I would appear like I would try to compete against them in future. I guess it was a bit silly to think that. Okay, that's fair - Princeton specifically asks for a range of reasons why I am applying to their program. I think my research goals and lack of opportunities in Australia are an integral part of that.

I'm just pre-writing a draft SOP for my application later this year. In an SOP which requires you to talk about your intentions after a PhD: Does it look bad to say or imply that you intend to continue research back in your home country (Australia)? To me, it sounds like, "I want to suck your resources then take it back to my country to compete against you" but I'm not sure if that's really how it's interpreted. A major reason why I am going to apply for a program in the US is because there is a serious lack of research in my area of interest (huge area of chemistry) in my home country (Australia) but is extremely common in some (very respectable) institutions, namely Princeton. Is this something I should mention, given the above? It sounds like my intention is to leave and compete against them. Other reasons include significantly more/better resources (particularly equipment), better location (closer to other strong institutions so better seminar series/better learning), lots of people in my area of interest - allowing more ideas to spawn and more experience to draw from (I'm pretty much self-taught in the area, right now). Hopefully these are good reasons.

Just curious, how many people quit (as a percentage)? I'm guessing around 30%? I have only met one person that quit a PhD in Australia but I'm sure there's a lot more that I haven't seen.

Jacobsen could be another but he definitely focuses much more on the organic/synthesis side.

I agree, I do research in catalysis (enrolled in an Australian PhD) but will be applying to go to the US (to start in 2018) since there are very little catalysis opportunities here (I'm pretty much the only person doing catalysis at my institution) - also primarily interested in Doyle. Based on experience, I would say that computational experience is a massive advantage in catalysis but wet lab skills are the most important. If you are proficient in computational chemistry but have mostly done research in wet labs, that would be highly looked upon. Doyle has some computational experience when she did organocatalysis during her PhD under Jacobsen to investigate preferred conformers and convergence of a thiourea to an intermediate. However, to my knowledge, it was pretty brief and naturally, doing catalysis, most of her work was screening and synthesis of new thiourea catalysts.

I image there are a bunch of professions where a strong background in science and law would be beneficial. For example, politics is one of them where expertise in science and law would introduce an amazing and informative perspective. There are roles in law involving chemical companies and pharmaceuticals where lawsuits are probably not that uncommon. That's not to mention the huge skill set you would graduate with which would enable you to work in other areas like finance.