quantummoon

Prospective students deserve to how this chemistry department treats graduate students. The following is a non exhaustive list of events that have happened in the last five years. 
Students sexually assaulted by lab members in at least 2 labs. PIs know, but no negative consequences for the rapists. A few labs do not follow their own published protocols because the published protocols are made up. One lab uses alarm clocks that shake their whole bed to wake up because the students are so sleep deprived PI shaved someone's head against their will when the student wanted to leave lab in the afternoon to get a haircut PIs involved in hiring new professors said the women faculty candidates were nowhere as good as the men faculty candidates and interviewing women was just for show Screaming at students in their offices PIs don't wear masks while talking to their students during COVID Fume hood doors broke in synthetic lab. Department did not fix even after multiple maintenance requests. Department only fixed when students complained on twitter. Many of the hallways near synthetic labs smell like solvent because the hoods are so outdated. 50% of the graduate student population reports being depressed. No efforts made to alleviate this. Informing students that they must come in to work during the polar vortex or they'll need to use their vacation days Informing students during the COVID pandemic that there are work requirements and warning students that stipends can be revoked if they do not work their normal hours. The department also refuses to provide face masks for students. Gender favoritism in terms of who passes candidacy in certain labs

lol same here

Finally got my Caltech rejection!

agh same ! ?

Same situation but not that lucky...
Leave PhD program in 2019 with a master's degree and no publication, organic division, international applicant in the US
Rejection from Emory (1/7), Penn State (1/23) and Mich (2/3). No interviews, no offers for now.
Still waiting for UCSD, Ohio State, etc.
Ohio State's visiting weekend seems to be last weekend according to one of PIs' twitter
Good luck to you guys all

@spaghettios, @timothychem, @quantummoon
Thanks.

I was accepted yesterday via zoom. Faculty told me that they are still in the process of admitting students. From what I've heard, this applies to all chemistry divisions (not to pchem exclusively). Admissions are kind of late this year, anyways. I know that this is not really helping with your nervousness and anxiety levels. Still, this hopefully gives you a broad understanding that things are not yet carved in stone. Stay positive and good luck to everyone who applied! 

Do you think there's a chance MIT is still gonna send pchem acceptances? I've seen a few so far, but the acceptances today after all the rejections yesterday are tripping me up on where they are with everything

Don't be sad, many more of us will get rejected vs. admitted, you are clearly not alone today, I didn't doubt the authenticity of the rejections, I am just kind of impatiently waiting for mine (sadly), but I got a really great fellowship offer from Michigan that I am really excited about, so at this point I just want to know so I can make a decision. Do you mind saying what division you applied to?  I applied for Chemical Biology at MIT, and I didn't originally think I had much of a shot, but I had two zoom meetings with a PI there who seemed really interested, and it all went really well, he invited me to an MIT faculty lunch talk he gave to the department, and he kept emailing me encouraging statements "fingers crossed" etc. but I didn't ever really get my hopes up, I have a 3.4-3.5 GPA so I know that is way low for MIT.  

Okay, This is it. It's February.
We're all going to be hearing back a lot in the next few weeks. 
Don't give up. We're so close. I hope that you all receive good news!!
Good luck everyone! I hope that you get into your dream school!

Hi all, I'm probably not the only person in this boat so I wanted to share this to hopefully put some minds to ease.
I was asked to leave with a masters degree in my last PhD program in chemistry (against my PI's wishes, no less). Applying this current cycle I was of course worried that no other department would want to take me knowing this. But I just want to make it known that I got an accepted to another chemistry PhD program today. If you haven't heard back from your schools yet, I'm sorry and just want to acknowledge that I know how horrible that feels. However, I hope it gives you hope to know that there are opportunities out there!

I’ll be honest- I’ve heard about the toxic environment from a lot of the top 5 schools which is a big reason I choose not to apply there. Northwestern was my dream school for years, and my undergrad PI told me she couldn’t send me there with a clear conscious because of the suicides. 
 
Don’t get me wrong- rejection sucks and getting into these schools is a HUGE accomplishment. But in some ways it may be better for your mental health 

Rip Harvard slaughter day. I didn’t even apply and I still feel bad. Sending hugs and well wishes to all of you.

Berkeley is awesome! I did my undergrad there. The profs are fantastic and the research is unlike anywhere else. We are very proud of our 14 element discoveries! 

I didn't submit GRE scores to either. I wonder if there's still a chance for us at Caltech. It's my top choice, but I am very grateful to get into Berkeley as well. Maybe I'll see you at Berkeley this fall 

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

So, theory people did get interviews at Caltech? That's kind of sad for me to hear. I did get into Berkeley and Northwestern, so I'm a bit surprised I didn't get an interview. I guess I could very well have gotten rejected from Caltech. 

It looks like a slaughter day for Harvard. So many posts in the results section. I know that this probably doesn't help with the dissapointment. I am not so sure Harvard has the best environment for chem. I did some research and it looks like mental health and students being over worked is a really, really big problem there. You may have dogded a bullet. 
 

If you filter the results page by putting in Chemistry Caltech in the search bar, you will see that there are like 6-7 posts about Caltech. I know inorganic, pchem, organic, and theory people who all got interviews and were admitted/rejected. If you also read this threat you will see people talking about the interviews and the number of people in zoom calls. I know like 18 chem bio and 18 inorganic were admitted that way. I also know that roughly 15 people have been admitted to pchem. I don't know about organic, but I wouldn't hold out too much for Caltech. 

I dont neccessarily think Caltech is done with admissions, dont feel too down or read into results pages too much!  I saw one person post for organic, and I havent seen anyone else post anything (Im suspecting a Troll). But Timothychem I think thats a great attutude, thats what Ive been thinking too!

unfortunately no ? pretty bummed bc that was my top choice by far, but it's all good! feeling positive about the choices I have so far!!

Yes, I agree. I was referring to programs applied and accepted, rejected, etc..

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.

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.

I'm a little late to the party, but I got accepted to UMich (Ann Arbor) and Berkeley for pchem a couple weeks ago! I'm still waiting to hear back from Boulder and MIT, so the suffering continues ?