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I just finished my first semester in grad school, and my boss started our lab here in July Last year, I was offered spots in top schools, but eventually turned them down to go work for him. Why I have come to that decision? I considered these: 1. How self-motivated are you? - For many months, I was office-less, because the lab was being built. Everything we started from scratch, and I meant everything! My field is computational theoretical chemistry, and we started without desktops/ computer clusters/ desks! Every calculation, every script was started by me, or him. I have had no senior graduate student to help me out with troubleshooting. 2. How good is your mentor-mentee relationship? - If you really consider working for this POI, Skype with him often. Ask him to lecture you on things. Email students that worked with him during his postdoc to learn about his working/teaching style. Read his papers. Not only you have to truly believe in his potential, but also have to build a solid relationship with him. Being the first student, you would have to work one-on-one with him a lot. There is no way around it. I arrived early to do full-time research, so it's been a solid 6 months. Overall, I'm happy with my decisions. I have learnt more than I had ever learnt, and now I'm starting to mentor new undergraduates and graduate students in the lab. It's a truly rewarding experience to start something from scratch, and to do it with a very enthusiastic and awesome scientist. If you have more qs, PM me

Honesty is the best policy. Give them a few lines in your statement(s) to explain how you have grown to be more mature. People make mistakes, and committees know that. But I doubt they would tolerate lies. At the end of your applications online, there's always one statement that you declare that you understood their policies and questions, and have given them the best honest answers within your knowledge. By signing it, you are obliged to be truthful.

I do agree that not all authors are good writers and many articles are esoteric, but most journals are to present the cutting edge research in a particular field, so it is absolutely important to build up basic knowledge required in that field, as well as the skills to read and understand them. One problem I have noticed is that most students don't start reading articles and follow journals until AFTER they get in grad school. That's why it's stressful and difficult to read 3 papers in one sitting!

This is how I do it: First, having papers organized in broad topics in my Mendeley. This helps a lot when I read a difficult paper and try to relate it back to the general ideas, or original papers in that topic. Of course, you can search for that specific term in your favorite organizer. Then I read a paper twice: once skimming to see if it has what I look for, and to get the general ideas, the second time more thorough (if needed). I made notes, and highlighted important sentences (right inside Mendeley). The last thing and the most important is to read a lot. I read at least one new paper a day. It's a good habit and you'll see that not only you learn more, you also learn faster. Hope this helps

I second Eigen that calculus-based physics is a must. In the first semester of grad school that I have just completed, both Quantum Mechanics and Statistical Mechanics are calculus heavy and I would not have sailed through it without a solid physics base from undergrad.

Please read a bazillion threads on this same topic. Like one pinned right above yours??????

Congrats, OP! My undergrad mentor, a grad student, and his wife had a kid during their last year. Both were writing their theses and managed it wonderfully. I'm sure you will, too. I'm going to do my part and down vote everything Pinkster12 says until she stops giving her unwanted opinions. tee hee

Time management. I tend to be a perfectionist in everything I do so I had a hard time wrapping up a class project early to save time for my own research projects.

From what I heard from the Seattle visit weekend in April, UW sends out first-wave acceptance emails in the first and second weeks of January. Thats when I got mine as well. That might have changed this cycle. Just dont freak out this early!

Try to relax. Now the apps are submitted, they are out of your hands. The first year is always overwhelming (I just finished my first semester! phew) so enjoy your time off now

Statistically unlikely... It's called superiority illusion http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/02/15/1221681110.abstract

My GRE was slightly better than yours, and I got in Austin (I'm not going there though). These theoretical programs you applied for are in the top 10 in the country, so maybe higher GRE would help a bit. How is your GPA? Are your projects significant, or just running routine calculations? For theoretical chemistry applications, during the visits they mentioned to me that they look for particular skill sets (coding, theory, math). What specialty are you going for? electronic structure? Molecular dynamics? biophysical? Be sure to elaborate what you have learnt and how your background overlaps with your POIs'. If your app can show that, and your rec letters are good, I wouldnt worry about the GRE scores.

I'm quite confused about what you want. Do you want just any relationship or a good long-lasting relationship? Either way I wish you luck.

It would be better if you use spellcheck in your word processor first.

All statements should be written using standard 8.5" x 11" page size, 12-point, Times New Roman font or 12-point, Computer Modern (LaTex) font, 1" margins on all sides, and must be single spaced or greater. Only publications and presentation citations may be a smaller font, no less than 10 point, Times New Roman or 10-point, Computer Modern (LaTex). Small type size makes it difficult for reviewers to read the application; consequently, the use of small type not in compliance with the application guidelines may be grounds for NSF to return the application without review.

No strict requirement on indentation. Past winning essays some have indentations, some dont. Between paragraphs you can add an extra 4 pt (to the minimum "single spaced") to make it easier to read. Source: Director of the Office of Grants and Fellowships at my school.

I dont know. Im not a reader. But rather than doing something shady, I would suggest you pick a review article to cite and that will help cut down the # of refs.

If there is no place for a CV, then it's not needed. In fact, it is not needed.

Keep it less than 10. You can cite review articles from big name journals that include the most current advancements in the field. Even a very theory-heavy proposal ive read cited 3. Doable. And yes, the references can be in one line. All the winners I know did that.

I'm doing theoretical chemical physics so I'm doing a fair bit of math as well. I tend to scribble on papers and then take pictures of the few thats worth keeping. Most of the time, I end up take notes and get my math problems solved on Mathematica on my laptop. I found keeping another gadget in my messenger bag very exhausting... I might give Notability a try though!

I've faced the same problem and it almost turned into a life crisis. I'm taking 3 classes, TA'ing 3 sessions, having 3 research projects going on, going to 3 different group meetings a week. It is a common problem. Just do your best, and try to organize your time to take small breaks, do exercise, see your friends, cook a nice meal... Good luck to all of us

"Please help me with my mid-term" Funniest joke ever. For real. Check chegg.com or something, dude.

No. This is not a place to ask for homework help. Go somewhere else.

Im super stoked! After these midterms that I did pretty well, now I could come back to research and proposal writing... hopefully submit a paper by the holiday!!!

I didnt know people expect help with their research on thegradcafe forum as well? Have you tried reading journals? like scientific journals?