UnlikelyGrad

One way to do it is to check the US News rankings: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad By my definition, 'top tier' is one of the top 10 or 15 schools in your subject area, 'middle tier' is on the list but not one of the top ones, and anything else is 'low'. Alternatively you can search by the Carnegie rankings--RU/VH (high intensity research school) vs. ...I don't remember the other rankings.

If it makes you feel better, even if I get in this year, by the time I'm done with my Ph.D. & the all-but-mandatory-for-scientists post-doc, I'll be 45 or so. Getting a tenure-track position in academia is going to be a little rough for me in any case. If I have to push it off another year...meh.

Good thinking, Nemo! I've used that site to check out professors at my current school, but the thought of checking out future schools never even occurred to me...

My SO & I have been married for 18 years and have four kids, so breaking up is not an option... His job is flexible, and he claims he is willing to follow me to the ends of the earth. However, when I expressed interest in the program at Columbia, he said he would NOT live in NYC. Period. He also discouraged me from Yale and pretty much everywhere on the East Coast. Maybe I should have applied somewhere like the Weizmann Institute; then he'd find NYC tame and bearable.

Ye I agree. I got 800 Q and was 94th percentile, whereas 790V was 99th.

All I can say is, I'm glad I'm not the only one in the 33-39 age range.

I took it once after a lot of preparation. 790V, 800Q, 5.0 AW. I was hoping for a 5.5 AW but clearly didn't quite make the cut...

You mean the essay topic that made me want to barf? Yeah, I know what you mean. What evil person thinks up these things? Oh, and there was a similar (but not quite the same) essay on the fellowship application for Davis. Bleah. Having to do one was bad enough...

Uhhhh....NO. Well, maybe as a supplement, but definitely don't make it one of the required three. My sister is a professor of engineering at a top-tier university. She says that in her department, LoRs from people like athletic coaches, residence hall advisors, etc. are viewed rather dimly. I think there are some fields in which such a LoR would be viewed as a bonus. Business, for example. But science? Naaaah.

I'm already blogging (see link in signature) since I found scant amounts of helpful advice for non-traditional applicants. I've been figuring things out as I went along and thought I should record the process for posterity.

9 applications: 3 acceptances 2 waitlists 4 rejections

The local state university has a very late application date. I can apply after 4/15 and still get into their MS program. I'm already taking classes there & doing research with a professor so I'm relatively sure of my chances of success...

Another Chem Ph.D. applicant here. Wish I'd found this place earlier.