Green Cat

Both of you referred it was not good to enter a low ranking program and prepare for next round. My major is polymer materials and engineering, and I'm applying for Chem/MSE/Chem Engineering PhD. I think your advise makes some sense, but I don't know whether it's a good choice, or in other word, I'm a bit scared to do so. Will those schools regard me the same as the undergraduates at the next round, or be more strict with me? What could I do in such a blank year? Maybe I could apply for summer experiments in good graduate schools, which many competitive candidates did last summer. And I could do better in language scores, but my low GPA couldn't be changed any more. Yeah, there seems a lot to do, though it really takes me some courage to decide. You know, as I'm to be busy preparing next year's application, most of my fellows have started their brand new journey. What if I couldn't do better at the next round?Will this additional year be wasteful? Do you know any one gapping a year and trying again for the next round? Could you introduce s/he to me? And why shouldn't I go to low-ranking program first and then apply to a higher one? Some of my friends say it will be a better applying platform if I go to America first, while now I'm in China. What do you think of this? And is the transferring available only after finishing the master degree(2~3years), or in the first year of Ph.D? I have so many questions, and I appreciate it so much if you could be so patient to reply to me!

Hi Sheldon, I am an undergraduate, and my applications for 2018 fall are not good. I plan to accept a low rank Ph.D, and then try to apply again for better Ph.D programs. I'm really unsure about this. I'm so thrilled to find similar situations like me. Could you tell me the situation and result of your transferring? Thank you!