mseapplicant

The bay area has an amazing music scene, comparable to the diversity of NYC's music scene. in berkeley in particular: right on campus is the greek theater which has a ton of top tier concerts, and in oakland are many great hip music venues like the Fox Theater and The New Parish.  Not to mention, SF is 30 minutes away which doubles the amount of concerts and music life going on. You can definitely find open mic nights and jazz bars. In berkeley specifically, a local favorite for open mic and "funk night" on thursdays is the starry plough bar in south berkeley. options are limitless since oakland and SF are so close and have great scenes. i went to at least 10 concerts as an undergrad

I just graduated from berkeley and am a now current PhD student at another university, and I can tell you that's pretty much as good a stipend as it gets (except ivy leagues pay like $40k/yr, but thats such a small difference), unless you have fellowships to add onto school funding. you can definitely thrive in berkeley on $36k a year, i survived on half that as an undergrad, paying my own rent. you just wont be saving too much, but that's phd life for everyone. berkeley chemistry is one of the top chemistry departments in the world, definitely plan on going there! also berkeley is a great city with good food/bars, and 30 mins from san francisco, which is a great city too. congrats! 

Me too! Weird that it happened to all of us today. DIdn't get to see who it was "Held" with, though. I heard the new system's been causing some confusion for GEM employers so don't lose hope, possibly a glitch! 

There are many programs where you are "guaranteed" funding, but the form that takes can be very different between universities, and even between departments. In my department, most people are funded by training grants or their PI's grants. In the department my housemate is in, people are funded almost solely through Teaching Assistantships, which take up a considerable amount of time. Being able to have a few years without teaching to focus solely on research is huge and a big reason why many of them apply as already matriculated grad students.

Is anyone waiting on making a PhD school decision until they hear from NSF?? One school is really putting the pressure on me to tell them my choice but, the tow choices I have are so highly ranked for me it really is coming down to the funding. I feel like I should wait.... anyone with a similar problem?

There is still plenty of good diverse food in SD and plenty to do (ie. North Park, Gaslamp, Pacific Beach). The food and stuff to do isn’t at the caliber of LA, but it’s nothing to sneeze at, only LA, NY, and the Bay Area can definitively outdo SD in diversity, food, and things to do.

Hi people! 
Undergrad Institution (approx. rank/reputation in STEM): Top 5 public, prestigious for both physics and MSE
Major(s): Physics 
Overall GPA: 3.48/4.00
Demographics/Background: US citizen, female

GRE Scores:
Q: 160 (74%) 
V: 154 (84%)
W: 5.0 (92%)

LOR: 2 Professors & 1 staff scientist (national lab) all from different research projects, though one prof is from research project in a different STEM field. 

Research Experience:  2 years research experience.
current project (2 years long): materials characterization using tomography, writing first author paper on this project but not published yet.
current project(2 years long): non-related STEM field project (started before i decided my career path)
1 REU this past summer, very energy materials focused super relevant
 
Publications/Abstracts/Presentations:
4 presentations (posters not at major conferences except for one)
1st author paper in progress
3 publications for non-related STEM project. 6th author on one (submitted), others much lower on author list (submitted).
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 
Prestigious scholarship for women in science at my home institution.
Best poster presentation award 
Fellowships/Funding:
applied for NSF GRFP
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 
2 part time jobs (non related)
Other Miscellaneous Accomplishments:
lots of diversity in STEM outreach!
Anything else in your application that might matter (faculty connections, etc.):  have contacted some profs (met/skyped with 2) but no promises!
Research Interests:
Energy materials
 
Institutions/Programs:  all MSE PhD's 
APPLIED (12)  - Northwestern, Berkeley, UCSB, UCLA, UCSD, Columbia, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Uni of Washingtion, Oxford, EPFL 
didn't apply to safeties but hoping for at least one... will let you guys know

Thanks! Interested in batteries, thermoelectrics, solar cells.

Hi people! 
Undergrad Institution (approx. rank/reputation in STEM): Top 5 public, prestigious for both physics and MSE
Major(s): Physics 
Overall GPA: 3.48/4.00
Demographics/Background: US citizen, female

GRE Scores:
Q: 160 (74%) 
V: 154 (84%)
W: 5.0 (92%)

LOR: 2 Professors & 1 staff scientist (national lab) all from different research projects, though one prof is from research project in a different STEM field. 

Research Experience:  2 years research experience.
current project (2 years long): materials characterization using tomography, writing first author paper on this project but not published yet.
current project(2 years long): non-related STEM field project (started before i decided my career path)
1 REU this past summer, very energy materials focused super relevant
 
Publications/Abstracts/Presentations:
4 presentations (posters not at major conferences except for one)
1st author paper in progress
3 publications for non-related STEM project. 6th author on one (submitted), others much lower on author list (submitted).
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 
Prestigious scholarship for women in science at my home institution.
Best poster presentation award 
Fellowships/Funding:
applied for NSF GRFP
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 
2 part time jobs (non related)
Other Miscellaneous Accomplishments:
lots of diversity in STEM outreach!
Anything else in your application that might matter (faculty connections, etc.):  have contacted some profs (met/skyped with 2) but no promises!
Research Interests:
Energy materials
 
Institutions/Programs:  all MSE PhD's 
APPLIED (12)  - Northwestern, Berkeley, UCSB, UCLA, UCSD, Columbia, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Uni of Washingtion, Oxford, EPFL 
didn't apply to safeties but hoping for at least one... will let you guys know