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Undergrad Institution: A national institute in India. BS+MS degree.Major(s):ChemistryMinor(s):-GPA in Major:- Overall GPA: 3.8Position in Class: N.A. Type of Student: International, male.GRE Scores (revised/old version):Q: 169 (96%)V: 161 (88%)W: 4.0 (60%) LOL!S: 870 (93%)Research Experience: 3+ years. ~1 year in organic chemistry, ~1 year in computational/theoretical chemistry in India. ~1 year in computational/theoretical chemistry towards master's thesis project in the US. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: National merit-based scholarship for education in sciences. Fellowship to pursue summer research in the US.Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Master's thesis involved full-time research.Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Presented a poster in a regional ACS meeting. One publication, nothing exceptional.Special Bonus Points: Talked to a Prof. in UCI I want to work with. He seemed interested. Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Solid recommendations from two profs. in theoretical chemistry, one of whom is my master's thesis advisor in the US. Decent recommendation from the third prof.Applying to Where: Theoretical/Computational Chemistry: Caltech, Stanford, Cornell, MIT, U. Penn, U. Chicago, U. Michigan A.A., U. W. Madison, U.C. Irvine.

Makes sense. Thanks a ton!

Thank you very much for your reply. I will check older posts to see if people had to go through interviews. Apart from fellowships and TAs, is there any other advantage of applying early?

I was talking to a friend of mine who is going to apply to molecular biology programs for a PhD in the US. She told me that interviews are a part of the application process. Is this true for Chemistry programs too? I am not really mentally prepared for an interview! Also, does applying early help in any way?

Thanks a lot for your views and suggestions.

Ok, so here's the situation. I am a master's student working in a lab in the US for a year-long master's thesis project. I will be graduating from an institute in my home-country this coming May, and I am applying for graduate school for the fall '18 cycle. My PI is a very well known scientist in our field and working here is awesome, but I am not in a top tier university right now and I am pretty sure I do not want to join the PhD program here because I am pretty sure I can get into a much better school. Here's where it gets a little tricky. I want my PI to write a recommendation letter for me. I am worried that when I go ask him for one, he might ask me why I don't want to continue working with him. I am not sure what to tell him. Any suggestions?

Thanks. What about Cornell? Do you know how good the theory/computation side is? Also, how's the department and the school in general?

Hello, I am looking forward to applying to a chemistry PhD program for the fall of 2018. I wanted to know if there are any schools that "specialize" in theory/computation. Or, what are some schools that have really good faculty in this field? Thanks