ketchup
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Posts posted by ketchup
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On 8/27/2018 at 1:24 PM, mcfc2018 said:
It is program dependent, but most schools will do an initial screening before inviting the best prospects to do an interview. I believe all domestic students will have an interview prior to being accepted, but I don't know if it differs for internation students. But, in general, all programs will have interviews. If you have any programs in mind, you should look through their application page for more details.
^ This is untrue for chemistry.
It is true that barely any interview. A couple do, but it's more of a last check after deciding offers to make sure you are a normal person/can speak english well. You won't be formally interviewed at visits, but it is basically an interview for the group you want to join at some places. You will be being watched.
- AntiSpinel and jhopp_
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1) Apply to a mixture. It can't hurt to aim high.
2) Your GPA is quite low. Would that be a major GPA jump from 3.1 to 3.4? If not, doesn't seem like a big jump.
3) I would take it if you think you can do well in it!
The fact you have a first author paper as an undergrad should help a lot. Is there a reason your GPA is low? You/your letter writers may be able to explain it away.
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On 5/9/2018 at 11:59 PM, nerdandcoffeeandstress said:
Hi y'all,
I'm currently a sophomore chemistry student struggling through finals at UT at Austin. I really want to go to graduate school for organic chemistry and this semester has been horrible for me in term of grades.
I'm aiming to get As for my chemistry courses. Currently, my GPA for chemistry is 3.9 and my cumulative GPA is around 3.66. However, by the end of this semester, my cumulative GPA will go down to 3.56. I have been researching since the Spring of freshman year and will be joining and continuing so with an amazing research group. I only have been presenting at my school forum but planning to attend and present as much as conferences as I can.
I really want to aim to apply good top 15 graduate organic chemistry programs such as UMich, U Wishconsin, Princeton, etc. So my question is how important is GPA to get into these programs? Do i need to keep at least above 3.5? Or my chances are gone?
Thank you so much!
If you have any of the following things: great LoR, publications, a famous advisor, excellent research experience... then you'll be fine.
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12 hours ago, AntiSpinel said:
Alright may for the UK applications if we are applying to the department/school or to the lab? It appears to me that for UK applications... having a placing may not guarantee funding so would it be advisable for me to check with the profs if they have funding for a PhD student for the new year?
Yes you should contact them and ask that. Many will probably say no but they will point you to relevant scholarship schemes/apply for funding on your behalf. Unless you are applying for a CDT then you'll apply directly to the supervisor.
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On 4/15/2018 at 7:26 AM, AntiSpinel said:
Hello!
I am an international applicant who is considering to apply to UK/US grad schools for chem this coming Dec for the 2019 Fall cycle.
I was wondering if I should be making some initial email contact with potential supervisors at the grad schools I intend to apply to before making the application to the program. Unfortunately, visiting the schools or the prof in-person would be quite impossible until the official visit weekend... so the next alternative I have will be email correspondence/skype.
Would that be advisable and if so, how early should I be making contact with them (this summer...?) ???
Thanks!!
If you are applying to the UK then you should definitely contact professors. I also contacted professors in the US (even got replies from some of the bigger names...) and got into schools both where I emailed profs and where I didn't. Pretty sure at least one offer was because I did email a prof though as we ended up talking a lot!
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16 hours ago, pchem2018 said:
I should have clarified and said that people’s opinions about the “top 5” can vary quite a lot, and discipline does matter. Honestly, deciding which schools make the cut is a little silly. For example, several professors I’ve spoken to think very poorly of Harvard, and definitely wouldn’t put it in the top 5, but other professors I spoke to strongly recommended me to apply there. I was giving those five schools as a general top 5 from what I’ve heard. That being said, I did have a synthetic organic chemist friend who applied to Princeton as a backup school (he got into Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, along with others) and he didn’t even go to Princeton’s visiting weekend as it was so far down on his list of all the places he got into (he still visited 6 schools), and I’ve never heard someone speak that highly of Princeton.
Princeton has a young faculty and is not traditionally known as a top school for Chemistry. It is very up and coming, especially for organic chemistry. I would agree that it has a stronger department for straight, pure organic chemistry (particularly if you want to do methodology/catalysis) than Stanford or Harvard as well. This all changes however if you want to add a biological element to your PhD.
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On 09/04/2018 at 6:01 PM, thatchemgirl said:
I am really stuck between attending one of these schools to pursue a PhD in organic chemistry and am desperate for some advice!
About me: Graduating from UC Berkeley, interested in total synthesis/Natural products. I’m most likely choosing between Noah Burns at Stanford and Tim Newhouse at Yale. I came out to Berkeley after living in NY for 5 years and am familiar with both the Bay Area and the NYC area. After visiting both schools, I feel more comfortable at Stanford, being that I liked the campus/weather/area more and really connected with the graduate students. Yale was comparable (if not quite as nice) in terms of facilities, although I didn’t resonate with the campus and graduate students as much. I am also not a fan of the cold winters. The problem is I feel the research in my field is stronger at Yale. I feel much more inspired by the work they’re conducting. There are also more PI’s whose labs I’m really interested in joining, and know they are consistently putting out strong, interesting research that I could get in on the ground floor. Yes, of course the researchers at Stanford are renowned as well, and often ranked higher for chemistry, but after visiting the department and talking with people in my department at Berkeley it’s clear that Yale is the department that’s going places in the next 5 years.
Im afraid of being stuck in Stanford with a PI who can’t get tenure, who only publishes occasionally and is mediocre in terms of creating inspiring projects and molding their students to be extremely strong, capable scientists. However, the grad students there seemed obviously bright and capable and very happy.
After being on my visits, I also don’t know anyone committing to Yale, but know a few at Stanford, and am afraid of not getting a strong incoming cohort at Yale.
Any thoughts from people who had to make a similar decision? Research strength vs lifestyle?
I was faced with a similar problem (I'm also in organic chemistry).
I think you need to figure out what is important to you. For me I decided the 'vibe' of the department was important, as I'm quite a social person and I wanted to have like minded students there that I resonated with. Personally I would not pick a prof if I didn't jive well with their graduate students since that is who you will spend most of your time with. However this may not be the top of your list.
It sounds like you need to figure out the negatives of the Yale prof(s) since you've only listed negatives for the Stanford prof (all groups have negatives). I ended up going against Stanford for the exact reasons you list, but mostly because of lack of faculty I was interested in. You never know what will happen down the line. It does seem however that the department and graduate students as a whole are very confident Noah Burns will get tenure, and I thought he seemed like a great PI.
Might be worth talking to other people you met who chose between Yale and Stanford! Feel free to PM me. I did not visit Yale but I did visit Stanford.
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On 09/04/2018 at 5:08 AM, dells_of_bittersweet said:
Stanford is a top tier program. The others fall into the category of "top ten, but not top 5." How important is prestige to your future? Are you looking for a tenure track faculty position?
What are the top 5? Does it actually matter? Surely advisor is more important...
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2 hours ago, redevol727 said:
Judging by the way you talked about all the schools, Stanford sounds like your favorite. Personally, I don't think that a professor not having tenure yet is a bad thing. I am intentionally picking professors who's labs are young because I feel like they are more hungry/eager to prove themselves and publish. Also, keep in mind that your interests might (in fact, most likely will) change once you enter grad school. I'd try to expand the scope of professors you're looking at, maybe include some professors who are in other departments (chemical biology, chemical engineering, or just other disciplines of chemistry) that are conducting some sort of synthetic work, especially if the school allows you to join research groups outside of o-chem without much hassle.
Scripps was my dream school but I have heard from many, many students that it is very cut-throat and that some of the students are miserable. I guess that's the price you pay for working with researchers of their caliber. I would advise against going to a school you couldn't see yourself being happy at or getting along with the students. Work-life balance is important, even if you love your work.
Also, personally, location is rather low on my list of priorities. I'm from the East Coast so I'm a bit biased but the cost-of-living might make the stipends you received at Stanford/Scripps stretch less (and I'm not a fan of perpetually sunny weather). I'm only considering schools from the Midwest and public transportation is a must for me, not sure if it is for you. I'd rank facilities above location, but to each their own!
Thanks for your help! I agree about Scripps and I'm going to scratch it.
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2 hours ago, rising_star said:
I'm not sure it's realistic to have a true summer "off" in graduate school, tbh. What do you propose to do with your summers off? Have you spoken to professors at Scripps and Stanford about the possibility of a summer off?
I'm a gambler so I'd probably choose Stanford but only if the one person you're interested in has already agreed to take you into their lab. If not, then Princeton. (And while NJ isn't most people's favorite state, you would be about 90 minutes from both NYC and Philly, which gives you great opportunities.)
I must not have been clear. I mean that I want the upcoming summer off before grad school starts, as I know I am never getting the opportunity to have this much time off in the next 5+ years.
Thanks for your help!
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Might be worth calling up to see if all acceptances are sent out (or not). They might give you more information.
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Wow I can't decide where to go... here are my thoughts, please help. These are all for org chem.
Stanford - Perfect research/personality fit with a professor. Group were great as well. However he doesn't have tenure yet and there is only one other person in the department I am somewhat interested in. I'd much prefer to be on the west coast.
Scripps - Multiple professors I am interested in. Fit is not quite as perfect as Stanford but there are options I would be happy with. Appears to be heavy competition for rotations. To be honest, I felt some of the grad students were quite miserable. Location quite good.
Princeton - Multiple professors I am interested in, again fit is not quite as perfect as Stanford. Facilities are amazing. Location sucks. Feels like you need to do a summer with the PI to get into the group you want and I want the summer off ideally.
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On 3/14/2018 at 7:18 PM, singinglupines said:
I'm torn between my two choices. Very clearly two different schools in terms of atmosphere. I feel really comfortable at one, but there's really only one prof I'd want to do research with. The other is super intense and people seemed stressed out, but the research is very interesting!
I've ended up picking the (only) place that doesn't have only one prof that I want to work for. You never know what is down the road!
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How are everyone's visits going? Anyone made any decisions yet?
I think while I am halfway through my visits, I have a pretty good idea where I'm going. -
Has anyone heard from Stanford about the visit after filling out the RSVP form?
Just getting a little worried as I have heard from all other schools I RSVP'ed to.
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Anyone heard from Caltech or Scripps for organic?
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5 minutes ago, Eigen said:
Then don't string the school along and decline.
All you're doing right now is keeping the school (and other applicants) in limbo. If you want to withdraw your application and would never consider an offer by the school, do so as soon as you make that decision.
OK, thank you!
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8 minutes ago, Eigen said:
I've got to ask... Why would you apply if you wouldn't want to go there?
Or is this totally unsolicited (you didn't apply), in which case.... I've never heard of grad students being headhunted like that, which is weird.
I would have been interested if I had not been accepted into other schools but I've just received three better offers which I cannot see myself turning down over the university in question.
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A big name professor keeps e-mailing me encouraging me to visit their university and skype them. Initially I was polite, and expressed moderate interest in visiting although cited for financial reasons it may not be possible. However, I don't really see why I would accept their offer.
My current schedule does not have time to visit the school, but I really do not want to annoy this professor. How can I politely decline their requests to call/visit? Should I accept to skype and then not visit or would that be more rude?
Thanks for your help. -
1 hour ago, raul.carmo said:
I've heard that the chances of acceptance are lower for international students for several reasons. Are there any chemistry PhD programs in the US known for high international acceptance rates? I've been told that two of the institutions I applied to almost never admit international students and now I am worried about not having applied to the right programs.
Usually acceptance rates for international students are higher at private institutions than at public institutions.
I think this is because at private institutions it costs the same to fund domestic and international students. This is not true at public institutions where a non US citizen's tuition is substantially higher than a US citizen's since the latter can qualify as an 'in-state' student when they've lived in the state for a time.
However there are other reasons why international students may be disadvantaged such as familiarity of school/recommender/grading system... but this is true at any school.
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On 12/27/2017 at 5:26 PM, forensic_chemist said:
I am applying for PhD at West Virginia University (Forensic Science), University of Central Florida (Chemistry with focus on Forensic Science), University of Florida (Chemistry), Florida International University (Chemistry with focus in Forensic Science), University at Albany (Chemistry with focus in Forensic Science).
2 years research experience, 3.5 years work experience in forensic science, 3.98 master's gpa, 155/141/4.0 (v/q/a).
I am worried about my quantitative being so low. Do you think that will count against me?
I wouldn't worry about it, there isn't anything you can do now! Remember that applications are looked at holistically and you seem to have a ton of research experience (arguably the most important part of the application).. while I'd say GRE is the least important part of the application.
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Hi all! I'm applying for Organic (anyone else?).
I noticed on the results page that someone has heard from Berkeley and Caltech - if those people are following this thread, I was wondering which area of Chemistry have you applied for?
Interviews for top US/UK programs?
in Chemistry Forum
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There are no required writing samples. Sometimes they let you upload extra documents. I would only do this if you could add a publication for example (I didn't do this, btw).