Chemical Engineering PhD Fall 2022 Admissions

[galangal_gal]

Hi everyone! I know it's still early but I wanted to get this thread started to see if anyone else on here is thinking about their applications. Here's the template I've seen floating around below: 

Undergrad Institution (approx. rank/reputation in STEM): 

Major(s): 
Minor(s): 
GPA in Major: x.xx/4.00
Overall GPA: x.xx/4.00
Demographics/Background: 

GRE Scores:
Q: xxx (xx%)
V: xxx (xx%)
W: x.x (xx%)

LOR: 

Research Experience: 

 

Publications/Abstracts/Presentations:

 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

 

Fellowships/Funding:

 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

 

Other Miscellaneous Accomplishments:

 

Anything else in your application that might matter (faculty connections, etc.):

 

Research Interests:

 

Institutions/Programs:

 

Comments:

[galangal_gal]

I'll start with my profile. I'd also love to know if anyone else is struggling with writing their SOPs lol. 

Undergrad Institution (approx. rank/reputation in STEM): top 5 (US) in engineering/cheme 

Major(s): Chemical engineering
GPA in Major: 4.00/4.00
Overall GPA: 4.00/4.00
Demographics/Background: domestic applicant, Asian female. applying straight from undergrad.

GRE Scores: I'm taking it later this summer but half the schools I'm applying to don't require it. 

LOR: 2 from PIs I did research with, 1 from my internship mentor who is a PhD scientist.

Research Experience: 2 semesters in an environmental engineering lab, 2 semesters in a materials science lab, 1 semester in a mechanical engineering lab, 1 summer REU and 1 R&D internship at a well-known company.

Publications/Abstracts/Presentations: 3 presentations, no publications 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 1 technical award and 1 innovation award from the presentations 

Fellowships/Funding: received about $25,000 in grants throughout undergrad. 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: tutoring, volunteering at nonprofits 

Anything else in your application that might matter (faculty connections, etc.): no connections

Research Interests: biomaterials 

Institutions/Programs: MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UW Seattle, U Minnesota, Northwestern, U Chicago, WUSTL

Comments: all of my programs are super competitive, I know, but if I don't get into any I will just find a research-related job to strengthen my application since I know I'm somewhat at a disadvantage applying straight out of undergrad.

[heistotron]

On 5/31/2021 at 11:44 AM, galangal_gal said:

I'll start with my profile. I'd also love to know if anyone else is struggling with writing their SOPs lol. 

Undergrad Institution (approx. rank/reputation in STEM): top 5 (US) in engineering/cheme 

Major(s): Chemical engineering
GPA in Major: 4.00/4.00
Overall GPA: 4.00/4.00
Demographics/Background: domestic applicant, Asian female. applying straight from undergrad.

GRE Scores: I'm taking it later this summer but half the schools I'm applying to don't require it. 

LOR: 2 from PIs I did research with, 1 from my internship mentor who is a PhD scientist.

Research Experience: 2 semesters in an environmental engineering lab, 2 semesters in a materials science lab, 1 semester in a mechanical engineering lab, 1 summer REU and 1 R&D internship at a well-known company.

Publications/Abstracts/Presentations: 3 presentations, no publications 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 1 technical award and 1 innovation award from the presentations 

Fellowships/Funding: received about $25,000 in grants throughout undergrad. 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: tutoring, volunteering at nonprofits 

Anything else in your application that might matter (faculty connections, etc.): no connections

Research Interests: biomaterials 

Institutions/Programs: MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UW Seattle, U Minnesota, Northwestern, U Chicago, WUSTL

Comments: all of my programs are super competitive, I know, but if I don't get into any I will just find a research-related job to strengthen my application since I know I'm somewhat at a disadvantage applying straight out of undergrad.

Applied last year with a far worse profile and still got into a few top 10 programs, so I think you can bank on getting into the majority of your top choices. ChemE PhD admissions is highly competitive but your profile would be above average for admits even at places like MIT and the majority of admits are also direct from undergrad. I also didn't take the GRE.

[YogaChem]

Undergrad Institution (approx. rank/reputation in STEM): University of New Orleans.  Not highly ranked

Major(s): Chemistry
Minor(s): Math
GPA in Major: 3.2/4.00
Overall GPA: 3.0/4.00  (returned to undergrad after 18 years off as a senior with a low GPA.  4.0 GPA within the 3 semesters I used to complete my degree)
Demographics/Background: White american male

GRE Scores:
Q: 165 
V: 155 
W: 4.0

LOR: One from a professor I worked for, one from his post doc I worked directly on a one year project with, and one from the dept chair whom I worked for as a TA

Research Experience: One year in a research lab at UNO in conjunction with the Advanced Materials Research Institute in an inorganic nanoscale materials lab

 

Publications/Abstracts/Presentations: None

 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Outstanding chemistry senior at UNO (the competition was NOT fierce).  Poster/zoom presentations

 

Fellowships/Funding:  Funded by AMRI as an undergraduate researcher

 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 15 years experience as a flight attendant for a major airline.  This likely helped since I have corporate experience, am older, and plenty of experience working on a team with various personalities as well as safety/compliance experience that comes with working corporate

 

Other Miscellaneous Accomplishments: Learned portuguese by myself to fluency.  Not sure this helped for chemical/materials engineering, but it sounds cool on an application

 

Anything else in your application that might matter (faculty connections, etc.):  Being local within New Orleans likely helped get into Tulane, and my boss at AMRI has tons of connections at Tulane ChemE dept since UNO and Tulane are the only 2 research institutions in New Orleans.

 

Research Interests:  Materials

 

Institutions/Programs:  Tulane University Chemical and Biomolecular engineering, Accepted with funding.  I was told to apply to other institutions by my boss (MIT, CalTech, Stanford, etc) but am too tied down to New Orleans (married/house/dogs) so only applied at Tulane

 

Comments:  Accepted offer at Tulane with full funding

Edited January 4, 2022 by YogaChem