[What were you doing when you received your acceptance?]

Here's my epic story on January 24:

Woke up to check gradcafe to learn the day before that Harvard's POIs have started informing accepted students of their acceptance through emails/calls but I have had no emails since yesterday so that dosen't look too good...

Went about with college (am still a senior completing my final semester) and went to order noodles for lunch... checked my email inbox while waiting for lunch, well no new mail in my inbox, but one junk mail. Being slightly annoyed by anyone who was trying to send me junk, I went in to clear that mail immediately.

Then, I saw that the *JUNK* email was sent from my Harvard POI, entitled Congratulations! and the rest is history. Turns out that the email was assigned to my junk mail for a good 36 hours without me knowing. I was frantically double-checking that mail's authenticity while I was having my noodles to make sure it was not an elaborate prank.

So.... please check your junk mail. Some of the best news come from the junk mail.

[Chemistry Fall 2019 cycle]

27 minutes ago, PCCP said:

Cheers!  Always good to verify, but I also heard after filing you would get some of that money back.  Any leads on how much you would get back in tax returns?

Would be a great question to ask during your visit weekends - stipends, tax filing, cost of living 

[Chemistry Fall 2019 cycle]

10 minutes ago, chemapplicant19 said:

I’m applying to analytical programs at Michigan, Purdue, Wisconsin, and Illinois-Champaign. Has anyone heard back from these programs? All of my appplicstioms just say awaiting decision or something to that extent. 

I have heard from UIUC before Christmas for inorganic/physical

[Chemistry Fall 2019 cycle]

 

@chemphysbus @impulsechemist I have similarly been rejected by MIT so I guess it's time to make arrangements for the visit weekends

[Visiting Weekends 2019]

UM-Ann Arbor: February 22-23; March 22-23

University of Chicago: February 7-9; February 21-23

University of Washington: February 21-23; March 7-9

UW-Madison: February 15-17; March 8-10

Yale: March 7-8; March 28-29

Columbia: February 8-10; March 8-10

Northwestern: March 15-17; March 22-24 (On the department website)

UCSF: January 27 - 28, and February 3 - 4

(this is assuming that the interview serves as the visiting weekend because why fly candidates out twice when interviews are required)

Rice: Feb 7 -9

UC Santa Barbara - Feb 21 -23

Caltech: March 7-9; March 21-23

UC Berkeley: March 1-2; March 8-9; March 15-16 (expect Stanford's visit to be the day before Cal's - they always coordinate visits)

UCLA: February 21-23, March 14-16

 Georgia Tech: January 24-26, February 28-March 2

Colorado State: February 15-17, March 8-10

 USC: Feburary 8-9

Princeton: February 22-23, March 1-2, March 15-16

UT Austin: February 22-23, March 22-23

 UCSD: February 8-9, March 1-2

CU-Boulder: February 28-March 2; March 14-16

UPenn: Feb 22-23 (Open house/ interview weekend)

Harvard: March 14-16 (department of chemistry & chemical biology CCB)

[Chemistry Fall 2019 cycle]

21 minutes ago, hsnuoscar said:

 

 

I also had a phone interview on Jan 7th and I applied to inorganic group.

Most of the questions were about my undergrad research and I don't think I performed well in the interview...

I assume that the phone interview is only for international students, and maybe only for inorganic group, so don't give up too early.

Hello fellow inorganic applicant not sure who the call was intended for but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for everyone

[Chemistry Fall 2019 cycle]

3 minutes ago, impulsechemist said:

Do you have any idea how they decide to interview people? I'm assuming they don't interview everyone (I feel like I would have heard about this?) and also I don't want to give up hope because I didn't get an interview haha

Unfortunately I have no clue as to the interview selection process, but I was interviewed for what seems to be the inorganic/materials/energy/nanoscience division. I'm not too sure if the physical or organic departments have interviews for MIT?

[Chemistry Fall 2019 cycle]

7 hours ago, hsnuoscar said:

Also want to know.

Does anyone get the interview from MIT ?

Also @chemthrowaway: I have had a phone interview on 7 Jan with MIT. 7 Jan appears to be reserved for an entire day of interviews, as we were made to choose from some 10-20 interview timeslots on that day. I have been told that decisions will be made end Jan-early Feb. I'm also currently waiting so all the best! 

[Visiting Weekends 2019]

UM-Ann Arbor: February 22-23; March 22-23

University of Chicago: February 7-9; February 21-23

University of Washington: February 21-23; March 7-9

UW-Madison: February 15-17; March 8-10

Yale: March 7-8; March 28-29

Columbia: February 8-10; March 8-10

Northwestern: March 15-17; March 22-24 (On the department website)

UCSF: January 27 - 28, and February 3 - 4

(this is assuming that the interview serves as the visiting weekend because why fly candidates out twice when interviews are required)

Rice: Feb 7 -9

UC Santa Barbara - Feb 21 -23

Caltech: March 7-9; March 21-23

UC Berkeley: March 1-2; March 8-9; March 15-16 (expect Stanford's visit to be the day before Cal's - they always coordinate visits)

[Chemistry Fall 2019 cycle]

2 hours ago, SCRY30 said:

So...I have a question for you guys. I contacted a professor earlier and he told me last Tuesday like this: "I heard from the graduate office in our department that you could be receiving an offer from UCLA relatively soon. Fingers crossed." But I haven't heard anything officially from the department. Should I email the department to check my status? Is it rude or impolite regarding the professor? I really need some advice, thank you guys so much!

Absolutely great news to hear  Normally unofficial acceptances (recommended for admissions by particular PIs) need some time to be processed by the department and the graduate school office before an official offer is made... so I recommend that you wait out and not contact anyone until Feb!

Once again, congratulations on the great news!

[Chemistry Fall 2019 cycle]

4 hours ago, coppertellurium said:

It looks like the only people who were notified had some fellowship. There's no need to worry unless you don't hear back in February

You are right on this one... the offer was accompanied by the Dean's fellowship 

[Chemistry Fall 2019 cycle]

Berkeley and Columbia has offered admissions

MIT has scheduled phone interviews early next week, but I've heard its for internationals hmmmmm

[Chemistry Fall 2019 cycle]

2 hours ago, Apple123 said:

Does anyone know if Caltech has sent out formal acceptances yet? 

I have replied to another person on reddit for the same question - got a call on 20 Dec, but am not expecting formal acceptances until after the New Year's break... offices are closed for the winter break isn't it?

[Chemistry Fall 2019 cycle]

Caltech has called to offer admissions yesterday!

[Chemistry Fall 2019 cycle]

4 hours ago, chemthrowaway said:

Still waiting on Berkeley, Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Caltech, and Scripps!

I've applied to similar grad schools as yours, give or take a few! However, I am applying for physical/inorganic materials.

From what I recall, these schools do not make decisions until late this month and most of them stream in Jan so the wait ensues... All the best for you at Scripps, hopefully you get the call for the interview weekend soon!  

[Chemistry Fall 2019 cycle]

Reporting in here too! Looks like we all have a long wait ahead...

[Chemistry Fall 2019 cycle]

Now that most US grad schools have started accepting applications... 

Here is an old copy & paste profile format to make things a bit easier.

Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?))
Major(s):
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 
Overall GPA: 
Position in Class: 
Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?)

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 
V: 
W: 
S: 


Research Experience: 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, etc...)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: 

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:

School - Department - Research Interest
School - Department - Research Interest
School - Department - Research Interest

[Interviews for top US/UK programs?]

@Ketchup, cool! thanks for your reply! I had thoughts that the writing sample section would be more relevant for the arts and humanities... guess not having to upload one would save some time in the application process!

All the best everyone!

[Interviews for top US/UK programs?]

On 9/3/2018 at 2:46 PM, ketchup said:

^ 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.

 

Hey cool, thanks for your reply! 

I have started looking up at some of the application forms and have noticed a section for uploading supporting/supplementary writing samples. May I check if writing samples are generally required in chemistry PhD applications? 

[Interviews for top US/UK programs?]

Hello!

I'm going to be applying for Fall 2019 admissions (good luck to everybody!) and was wondering if there will be an interview component after the submission of the application and LORs. 

I do know that UK schools (oxbridge) usually conduct an interview after reviewing our applications but I read elsewhere that top US schools normally do not conduct interviews and make admission decisions based solely on the application materials. Is this true?

In that case, if I were to visit the US grad school next year during their visits (should I be fortunate enough to be gifted an acceptance)... will there be an interview of sorts then?

Thanks for all your help and all the best for your applications!!! 

[Should I contact the profs before applying to the program?]

23 hours ago, ketchup said:

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! 

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? 

[Should I contact the profs before applying to the program?]

@pchem: thanks for your reply! I figured that I probably will not be able to get a reply from some of the bigname professors given their busy schedule too! 

May I know why you were advised to wait for an acceptance to the program before contacting the professors?  

On 4/15/2018 at 10:31 PM, pchem2018 said:

I’m a domestic student, so I can’t really speak from your position, but in general the advice I was given was to wait to contact the professors until after you’ve been officially accepted. Of course, I think there are situations where contacting them early would be a good thing. For example, at my undergraduate school we don’t have a great graduate program and not very many people apply, and almost all of the students are international and get accepted. Our program is actively searching for graduate students, so reaching out to one of the professors at my school would probably be received enthusiastically. Of course, it’s probably not super necessary as you’re almost guaranteed acceptance. Also, professors who are in their first two years or so seem to be more active in trying to recruit people to their group, so they would also probably be happy to speak with you. However, if you’re applying to really prestigious schools and famous professors, there is a good chance you won’t get a response and they won’t be invested in speaking with you.

 

[Should I contact the profs before applying to the program?]

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!!