quantummoon

I've actually committed to the UW Madison Chemistry PhD program starting this fall, so obviously I would pick Madison over Yale. For you, I wonder which of your pros/cons you hold in higher priority. Are location and proximity to family very important to you? You mentioned career development opportunities - do you know what you plan to do in your career? My current PI believes UW Madison carries as much weight as any top chemistry program if you were to pursue a career in research or academia. If that's not what you want, that's a point for Yale. As far as labs you're interested in, as long as there are several labs at both places you would be happy working in, then that's reason enough to go. You may be worried about the Yale faculty's inexperience, but is that make or break for you? Would that prevent you from wanting to join those labs? Similarly, does the research at Madison interest you enough to choose that over Yale? Do you think you would fit in with not just the research, but also the group culture of labs you're interested in at both schools? As for the stipend, I think as long as it's enough to live off of comfortably (and I think Madison's is) it's not worth comparing differences of a few thousand dollars a years between programs once you've accounted for COL. Good luck with your decision!

I'm choosing UW Madison over UIUC. I'm sure UIUC is a great school, but the students seemed...depressed...at the visit

Finally got my Caltech rejection!

Also got a rejection email this morning! Glad I finally know for sure good luck guys!

Berkeley's are the first, second, and third weekends in March

I was accepted in physical chemistry to UIUC on Dec 21. I don't know if they're still admitting applicants, but the registration deadline for their visit weekends was Jan 22.

Berkeley's are March 5-6, 12-13, and 19-20

I'm not holding out hope, haha, but I am also very happy about Berkeley. Maybe you will! Still, good luck with Caltech!

I also got into Berkeley and didn't get an interview from Caltech. Guess they're looking for different things ?‍♀️I applied pchem and didn't submit GRE scores to either of them fwiw

if you read back earlier in this thread there was more info posted about how many people were in the collective Zoom interviews

I also applied to UW-Madison, Caltech, and MIT, as well as Berkeley, UIUC, Pittsburgh, and UChicago. I've heard back from Madison, Berkeley, UIUC, and Pittsburgh, and it seems like Madison is mostly done since they have fully scheduled both their visit weekends. Berkeley gave a deadline of Feb 5 to register for their visit weekends so most acceptances should be sent out before then. Not sure where UIUC is, but for Pittsburgh I think it's still early for them. I haven't heard a word from Caltech, MIT, or UChicago. I do figure that means I was rejected from Caltech (Pchem).

Ah ok, I agree that makes sense!

I have to wonder how much the process can actually be quantified by "stats" this year. I've always thought the personal statement and letters of recommendation were most important; GPAs can only really be judged in the context of your own institution and many schools did not require the GRE this year - I didn't submit any scores at all. Number of publications and presentations can also mean different things depending on the research you're involved in and the quality of those pubs/posters. I don't see how comparing "stats" could really give any useful information, but more power to you.

Just got an email a few hours ago!

I didn't apply to Northwestern, but I am currently attending for undergrad so I might be able to share any experience I may have had with your POI