chemist_689

I'll be going the opposite way!! from Idaho to University of Tennessee!!

I did not get the chance to look and any specific places while I was there because I was with the department all weekend but my wife did go look at quite a few and I do not remember specific names of the ones she like but I do know that there are a lot of dog friendly places there ( we are bringing a dog too). If you go to Knoxvilleapartmentguide.com its an awesome website with lots of info on many different apartments.

Yes I think that the cost of living there is really low compared to other cities of the same size. As far as accessibility to campus I think that west and north are fairly easy. In the west there is the Kingston pike that goes right into campus. My wife and I are still looking for places to live also and will most likely have to go stay in a hotel for a couple days before school to find something.

My visit last weekend was great! I really loved the campus and the area around Knoxville. It really sounds like if you are going to move there find a place in either west or north Knoxville and stay away from south and east with an emphasis on east Knoxville!! But overall nice city with great nightlife downtown on the weekends with plenty of places to find some good live music and a drink. Also having the smoky mountains so close is a plus if you are an outdoor person!

I have also been accepted to Tennessee and will be visiting there in about two weeks!!

I got an email today from one of my top choices stating that they are "waiting for final approval of my admission from the graduate school" but they invited me to a research open house... This is a good sign right?!? (The trip is covered by the department also). So I'm not sure if I should go into this 'open house' as an interview setting or is it more of a recruitment thing?

I am writing my SOP for admission to a PhD program in chemistry for fall 2013 and have been reading this thread for a few weeks now. But, I haven't seen if a mediocre GRE, GPA scores should be mentioned and explained if possible? If there is another thread on this that I've missed the link to that tread would be greatly appreciated if possible. Thank you for any input!!

Hello, I am currently looking at different programs for next year to apply to and was wondering if anyone here has applied to or looked at U Mn for grad school? How hard is it to get in to and how is the lifestyle there? Any input is greatly appreciated about the school!! Thank you

OK I will apply this season for sure and cross my fingers Would it be good to email some professors at schools I am interested in and get to know them a little? also I am really unsure of how to find the schools that I have the best chance of getting into? I really like some of the research being done at U of Minnesota (is this a very popular or good school?)

Thank you for the reply, I have also seen this 3.0 cut-off at a few of the schools that I have researched. Because applications are generally due December-January my GPA will be under the 3.0 but I should be able to get it above that by graduation. will this have any effect at all or does only my GPA at the time of the application due date matter?

I am currently a senior undergrad at Idaho State (will graduate in May 2013) with a BA in chemistry. My goal is to go to a chemistry graduate school for a PhD in analytical chem. I started doing research the summer after my freshman year and have been doing that non-stop since with three poster presentations and two publications to major journals with my work, however my GPA is not very good. as of right now its a 2.98 (has been going upwards after sophomore year). I know that my GPA will hold me back some but I also know that I have good research experience and that I can get 3 strong letters from professors here. I just don't really know how much my GPA is going to hold me back from a lot of schools and how small of schools I should be looking at? any help is appreciated. Thanks