Chemistry Fall 2019 cycle

[NoNo1]

Try checking Chicago's portal if ur applying. Just got my acceptance.

[SCRY30]

1 hour ago, jhopp_ said:

I got a call informing me of my acceptance from one of the professors there on December 18th

So have you received the official offer from them? I assume it's UCLA?

[chemthrowaway]

6 hours ago, Peebee said:

@chemthrowaway Ehhh maybe try a little bit harder if you wanted to stay anonymous? Saying that you included your current institution on the list and listing your state in the location part is like lowkey hoping someone would recognize you on Gradcafe.

It seems this entire process stressed you out way way more than it should lol

Yeah...it kinda did, oops. Thanks for letting me know! I'm just super stressed because I haven't heard back from anywhere yet, so I kinda jumped the gun a bit there.

Edited January 5, 2019 by chemthrowaway

[Snik]

Anyone heard back from Yale? Seems like they sent out a couple of offers in late December but that's about it. Of course, gradcafe result submissions would probably reflect a tiny percentage of people who've received offers, no?

[LOST!!!]

2 hours ago, NoNo1 said:

Try checking Chicago's portal if ur applying. Just got my acceptance.

Lol i just jot my first rejection there instead. Congratz!

[chemphysbus]

Hey everyone, I just found this forum! I squeezed most of my application information into my signature. So far, I was accepted to Cornell (a few days before Christmas), and just today was rejected from UChicago. Pretty disappointed about that second one since UChicago was basically my top choice, but at least I have one acceptance and am still waiting on a bunch more (though all that's left is pretty much a reach for me now). Best of luck to everyone else still waiting!!

[wwwwwwww]

Welp it seems that there have been offers sent for Berkeley already. Guess that’s another school I’ve been unofficially rejected from. Guys, I don’t think I’m making it in to grad school this year :(

[lolchemist]

4 hours ago, wwwwwwww said:

Welp it seems that there have been offers sent for Berkeley already. Guess that’s another school I’ve been unofficially rejected from. Guys, I don’t think I’m making it in to grad school this year

Most students are getting notified by professors, some of whom may still be on break/taking their time to get through the list of students. It's too early to jump to conclusions, so just hang on tight. 

[NoNo1]

18 hours ago, chemphysbus said:

Hey everyone, I just found this forum! I squeezed most of my application information into my signature. So far, I was accepted to Cornell (a few days before Christmas), and just today was rejected from UChicago. Pretty disappointed about that second one since UChicago was basically my top choice, but at least I have one acceptance and am still waiting on a bunch more (though all that's left is pretty much a reach for me now). Best of luck to everyone else still waiting!!

First of all, congrats on Cornell! I have a question about ur referees. Do u know if they're well known in their fields and what kind of relationship do u have w them? I got into UChicago but my credentials aren't as good as yours by a wide margin I think. The fact that I got a pretty good referee who's a UChiago alumnus might have done it for me I think.

[impulsechemist]

Guess I'll jump in, since I've been following this thread for a while.

Undergrad Institution: Private research university
Major(s): Chemistry
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 3.82
Overall GPA: 3.75
Position in Class: Not Listed
Type of Student: Domestic

GRE Scores:
Q: 168 (94%)
V: 162 (91%)
W: 5.0 (92%)
S: 720 (58%)

Research Experience: Two academic years (plus summer between) in a bio lab, which is unrelated but got me a great letter; one academic year (plus summer) in a physical chemistry lab (my field) doing honors research with my current PI.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Summer research fellowship, ACS pchem award, dean's list, honors program at last school (I transferred after a year)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Two semesters tutoring, three years teaching middle schoolers (volunteer work)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Two posters (one at university poster session, other at regional conference), plus plan to present another at the national ACS this spring

Special Bonus Points: Took/taking graduate courses in pchem (probably helps?)

Applying to Where:
Accepted: UW-Madison, WashU, UChicago, Yale, UM-Ann Arbor

Waiting to Hear: MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Columbia, CU-Boulder

[wwwwwwww]

3 hours ago, coppertellurium said:

Most students are getting notified by professors, some of whom may still be on break/taking their time to get through the list of students. It's too early to jump to conclusions, so just hang on tight. 

Man I wish. It's really really hard not to get discouraged.

[chemphysbus]

49 minutes ago, NoNo1 said:

First of all, congrats on Cornell! I have a question about ur referees. Do u know if they're well known in their fields and what kind of relationship do u have w them? I got into UChicago but my credentials aren't as good as yours by a wide margin I think. The fact that I got a pretty good referee who's a UChiago alumnus might have done it for me I think.

Thank you!!

My recommenders were all pretty good: have great, long-standing relationships with 2 of them (one was a pioneer in the field and has been a leader for decades, the other is also fairly well-known, but younger); a good relationship with 1 (though she's not a leader in her field); and then pretty standard student-prof relationships with my other 2 (both somewhat well-known with impressive backgrounds, but not to the level of the first two). None were ever affiliated with UChicago though.

The only thing I can think of is that the admissions committee didn't like my SOP for some reason, but not entirely sure what that reason would be. At the very least it was well-written and discussed everything they asked for. Regardless, who knows how exactly they make decisions haha, stats definitely aren't everything. Congrats on your acceptance!!

[PCCP]

I was accepted to UCLA and University of Washington, waiting to hear back from UCB, Caltech, UCSB and UCSD.  UCB and Caltech definite reaches for me, stats aren't awesome so not expecting much and am pretty happy with the acceptances at this point.  Put specific stats in my signature as well.  Hopefully posting these stats will help others in the future/ease some concerns for people waiting!

Edited January 6, 2019 by ChemPhysPhysChem

[SCRY30]

2 hours ago, PCCP said:

I was accepted to UCLA and University of Washington, waiting to hear back from UCB, Caltech, UCSB and UCSD.  UCB and Caltech definite reaches for me, stats aren't awesome so not expecting much and am pretty happy with the acceptances at this point.  Put specific stats in my signature as well.  Hopefully posting these stats will help others in the future/ease some concerns for people waiting!

Congrats on your acceptances! Do you mind me asking if your acceptances from UCLA and UW are official offers or from individual professors?

[PCCP]

15 minutes ago, SCRY30 said:

Congrats on your acceptances! Do you mind me asking if your acceptances from UCLA and UW are official offers or from individual professors?

Hi Scry, these were official letters I received via email.  But looking at past years these schools send acceptances out in waves, so I am sure there is more coming and I wouldn't sweat it yet.

[Pillarsofcreation]

I see lots of acceptances from UW-Madison. But my profile is still open to change and reupload. l feel they have not even reviewed my app! Is that yours like this?

Edited January 6, 2019 by Pillarsofcreation

[Masington]

Undergrad Institution: Foreign (Russia)
Major(s): Chemistry
Minor(s): ---
GPA in Major: ---
Overall GPA: 3.79/4.00
Position in Class: ---
Type of Student: male, international

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 156 (61%)
V: 151 (52%)
W: 3.0 (17%)
S: 820 (85%)

IELTS 7.5

Research Experience:  4 years in computational chemistry, 3 years in organic chemistry, 4 pubs in good journals (1 first author). 5th is on the way. 1 summer of research in the US; 3 conferences (posters)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Intel ISEF winner. Does it even count? I guess not.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 2 summers as a tutor at science camps in my free time.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: 

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where: UIC (accepted, 12/11); UMich, Ann Arbor (interview, 12/21); UW-Madison, MIT, Princeton, Columbia (no asnwer yet).

I think I've overestimated myself a little bit. Regarding UW-Madison, my profile is open too. Seems like they have what they want...

[SCRY30]

So...I have a question for you guys. I contacted a professor earlier and he told me last Tuesday like this: "I heard from the graduate office in our department that you could be receiving an offer from UCLA relatively soon. Fingers crossed." But I haven't heard anything officially from the department. Should I email the department to check my status? Is it rude or impolite regarding the professor? I really need some advice, thank you guys so much!

[AntiSpinel]

2 hours ago, SCRY30 said:

So...I have a question for you guys. I contacted a professor earlier and he told me last Tuesday like this: "I heard from the graduate office in our department that you could be receiving an offer from UCLA relatively soon. Fingers crossed." But I haven't heard anything officially from the department. Should I email the department to check my status? Is it rude or impolite regarding the professor? I really need some advice, thank you guys so much!

Absolutely great news to hear  Normally unofficial acceptances (recommended for admissions by particular PIs) need some time to be processed by the department and the graduate school office before an official offer is made... so I recommend that you wait out and not contact anyone until Feb!

Once again, congratulations on the great news!

[SCRY30]

5 hours ago, AntiSpinel said:

Absolutely great news to hear  Normally unofficial acceptances (recommended for admissions by particular PIs) need some time to be processed by the department and the graduate school office before an official offer is made... so I recommend that you wait out and not contact anyone until Feb!

Once again, congratulations on the great news!

Thank you for the answer! I just feel that his words are not 100% sure so I was kinda anxious. Also, he is on the admissions committee and I saw many people have already got official letters from UCLA so I am still worried. 

[jeter59]

Also waiting on an "unofficial" decision. Prof is changing schools, but all but promised that admissions wouldn't be a concern/was already planning projects. I would assume it might take even longer for a decision to come through, since he isn't on the admissions committee for this application season. Very worried ?

[SCRY30]

2 hours ago, jeter59 said:

Also waiting on an "unofficial" decision. Prof is changing schools, but all but promised that admissions wouldn't be a concern/was already planning projects. I would assume it might take even longer for a decision to come through, since he isn't on the admissions committee for this application season. Very worried ?

So...are you going to email the department to check?

[jeter59]

23 minutes ago, SCRY30 said:

So...are you going to email the department to check?

Hm. My PI at my undergrad (on the admissions committee) told me not to, because most of the time emails to the department get a generic “we don’t know yet” response, or in some cases can hurt your app...

What would you normally ask?

[jeter59]

^when sent too early.

[SCRY30]

1 hour ago, jeter59 said:

^when sent too early.

I don't think it will hurt the app, but probably a "we don't know" answer. I'll just go with "I'm just wondering the status of my application?" Also I saw from the results that some people get notified that they are rejected by UCLA when they email to ask, so I guess they will give me an answer, but I'm still hesitant since I worry that this will show that I don't trust the PI. Will the department and the faculty get in touch regarding such questions?