CoordinationChem

My interests perfectly coincide with one of the professors at UChicago, but I'm a little concerned that UChicago might have less name recognition than Cornell. Also the professors at Cornell are somewhat older and, therefore, more known. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Can somebody comment on how Cornell and UCLA stack up? I've narrowed it down to these 2 schools, but I have trouble choosing between them. They are both good fits, but something tells me Cornell might be able to provide more opportunities.

I noticed that their chemistry PhD program is so biologically/medically inclined that it can hardly be called a chemistry program. That's why I didn't apply there. I imagine it's similar for many other people. In other words, it's like frozonecom said: it's a matter of research fit.

Thanks.

Guys, if you had to pick one of the two, would you choose Cornell or UCLA (assuming both were equally good in terms of research fit)?

Has anyone here heard anything from Caltech (other than those accepted after the interviews)?

Thanks.

Guys, do you think job prospects for international students after Cornell are much worse than after, say, MIT, Harvard, Caltech, Berkeley? I've noticed that most people that became professors at top 5 universities (for chemistry) in the US got their PhDs from Caltech/MIT/Berkeley/Harvard. I've only seen a couple of professors there that got their PhDs from Cornell.

I think so.

@spaghettios, @timothychem, @quantummoon Thanks.

Can somebody please tell me the virtual visit dates for Berkeley, Caltech, UChicago, and Columbia?

Same. I genuinely don't understand. 1 solo pub, 1 first-author pub, and a couple of publications in preparation. Perhaps my GRE (331) or my TOEFL speaking section score was a bit low. I've explained it in my SOP, but maybe, I shouldn't have done it. Or maybe, it's something else entirely. I wish they at least told me the reasons for rejection...

I'm an international applicant in Inorganic, and I'm still waiting on Yale and UChicago. One of the UChicago's POI conducted an interview with me in December, but I haven't heard from them ever since.

Thank you!

Guys, can anyone please tell me when the visitation weekends for Yale, Columbia, and Berkeley will be held?

Thx.

I don't know if they are still accepting people (if I had to venture a guess, I'd say they probably are), but I can tell you that the Virtual Open House events will be hosted on February 20 and March 27. I have the same question to you regarding UW-Madison I applied there as well but still haven't heard back. Maybe, that has sth to do with the fact that I'm an international applicant, but it seems some other internationals have been accepted...

Would you happen to know something about the environment at Cornell and UCLA?

Thank you, that does make me feel slightly better. I've heard about the toxic environment and suicides, but I thought it only pertained to organic chemistry.

Got rejected by Harvard. I'm so disappointed. The fact that this rejection came so soon makes it even worse. Damn it, if I had taken the subject GRE and gotten 99 percentile I would've probably had a better chance. Or maybe, it was just a matter of research fit, but still... Has anyone else received any updates from Harvard?

Damn, I'm in inorganic, but that still got me worried...

Thanks! That's somewhat reassuring!

Hey, did he seem enthusiastic about working with you? I'm curious because if he did, then maybe he decided to accept you without bothering you with an interview. And if so, then who knows, maybe it's similar for me... Wishful thinking on my part I guess, but I cannot help it...Oh God, this obsession is not healthy, is it?

Well, I received a phone call from my top choice PI at Cornell in December, but I haven't heard back from Berkeley yet. Didn't apply to UWashington and NW. I'm in inorganic chemistry too, but AFAIK, some universities have different timelines for reviewing applications based on the sub-subfield within inorganic chemistry and on whether they're international or domestic applicants.

Similar situation here. First I was really confident I'd be accepted everywhere, and than I nearly had a breakdown due to fear of not getting in anywhere because the competition between international applicants is pretty intense (probably, even more so due to the pandemic), and I didn't even have the same research opportunities as applicants from more developed countries. I calmed down a bit after getting accepted to Cornell and one of my safety schools in early December, but now, I'm even more nervous than before that because I still haven't heard back from Harvard, Berkeley, and Caltech Sometimes, it's funny how human mind works...