duncandam

First name basis is pretty common at my school b/w grad students and advisors.

I think it's also important to take into account which discipline he/she wants to pursue in graduate school. If you want to do biochemistry, but having no lab/ research experiences, even you try to get rid of all the W's and F's, I still don't think you will be able to get into good (not even decent) graduate schools

There is a star buck on Main (Conner b/w chicago and Main), 1 to 2 minutes walk to the El-stop. Right there is also the Northwestern intercampus shuttle bus stop, so when you have to Wildcard you can get on the bus for free (I have been doing that for the last week, since I'm working in the chem department right now). Jewel - Oscos (grocery store) and Whole foods (organic food store) are right down the street, a block from Main street. There is a mexican restaurant on Main, next to the metra station, subway at the corner of main and chicago, greek restaurant on Chicago, Thai restaurant about a week toward Northwestern direction, as well as an Ethiopian restaurant. There are many more in Davis street (downtown Evanston) only 15 minutes walk (about 3 blocks or 2 El-stops). The area is very safe, I have walked around at mid night and have no problem at all. However, you still need to be careful since you are still in one of the biggest cities in America. FYI, I live close to Main and Chicago. Main is the pretty long road so I'm not sure about other parts of Main. However, the area between main and Dempster are very good to live according to many graduate students walking in my lab. It's also very easy to get to Chicago from Main. You can hop in the El-Train at Main, switch to Red line at Howard and get to downtown with only 2 dollars. If you like ethnic food, you can go to Argyle (tons of Vietnamese and Chinese foods) or go to Chinatown which is much further away on the south side of Chicago. They are both red line El-train stops. Good luck with apt hunting

I live close to Main and Chicago in Evanston right now. My apartment is decent size and I pay less than 700/month including heat and water. In addition, my apt is less than 5 minutes walking to the El train station and the NU intercampus bus stop. It's not as bad as a lot of people said to live in Evanston. It's a very nice area. However, you may be able to find better deal in Roger Park, but you will have to commute further. I'm gonna be an official graduate student in Sept,, but working in a chem lab at northwestern for the summer. Let me know if you guys wanna hang out.

For the GRE, I just kept retaking the GRE powerPrep exam everyweek. Practice is the key, I figured that learning 2000 ish words doesnt really help when you take the exam. You need to practice as much as you can, tt's the key. Peace

I think your verbal score killed your chance to get into a lot of programs. I, honestly, think you shouldn't attend Drexel w/o funding, but reapply for next year. If you are international, I understand it's hard for you with the verbal section (I'm international student too). However, you can spend this entire summer to prepare for it. 500 ish is not impossible; and since you are doing engineering, 500 in verbal will be more than enough for you to get into a decent program with funding. Good luck tho!

I got a lab position over summer with Teri Odom. I really like her research so I will start in June.

Northwestern

I'm going to Northwestern this coming Fall. I'm planning to be there in June to start my research work early at the Chem department. I'm looking for roommates right now. If you guys are interested (and able to move in around June) please let me know. Duncandam

So may I ask what are the reasons which affect your decision to turn down NWU?

Can you tell me more about Northwestern? I'm going next week.

I think i met you at penn state Tehmatrix, and I will see you today at Penn

Thank you very much. I have visited Illinois, and I really liked it. I did talk to a lot of graduate students, and I got very good answers for many of my questions. I'm visiting Cornell and NWU at the end of March and early April. It's just that I have been to both of them before and I really liked them. It just makes this whole thing harder. Anyways, congrats on your acceptances at Montana and Davis (My advisor went there and worked with McQuarrie).

If you were me in this situation, what would you do? I have been accepted to Illinois, Northwestern and Cornell. Those are the three best programs for nanomaterials chemistry. I couldn't make up my mind, so I think I should ask for some advice. They both give me the same amount of money, although Cornell comes with a little more money over the summer. I all like them equally, so that is the hard part. I can see myself working with at least 4-5 people from each school as my potential advisors. Please give me your advice. It will all be appreciated. Thank you

Not sure about that. I have a friend who got accepted to Wisconsin last year in April. So as long as, you haven't received any thing offcial. There is still a chance.