Accepted for PhD in Chemistry

[bardo-being]

Hi, I am new to The Grad Cafe!

So, I am going to UC-Irvine for PhD studies in Chemistry, and just got couple of questions for people who know some stuff about the school.

1. Should I be considering starting early? Because, I was told classes start September 20 or so, but I want to get a head start and possibly start during July. And, what is the general process for starting early?

2. I hear that some schools give their graduate students exam on the first day to see if they need any remedial courses, I am just wondering if anyone is aware if UC-Irvine gives their new grad students such exam? If so, how should I go about preparing for it?

I appreciate any other tips/help

Thanks!

[chaospaladin]

Hi, I am new to The Grad Cafe!

So, I am going to UC-Irvine for PhD studies in Chemistry, and just got couple of questions for people who know some stuff about the school.

1. Should I be considering starting early? Because, I was told classes start September 20 or so, but I want to get a head start and possibly start during July. And, what is the general process for starting early?

2. I hear that some schools give their graduate students exam on the first day to see if they need any remedial courses, I am just wondering if anyone is aware if UC-Irvine gives their new grad students such exam? If so, how should I go about preparing for it?

I appreciate any other tips/help

Thanks!

All PhD Chemistry Programs give diagnostic exams at the beginning of the year.

[blackcat]

All PhD Chemistry Programs give diagnostic exams at the beginning of the year.

Actually not all chemistry PhD programs give diagnostic exams.

[bardo-being]

Is there anyway i can find out if UC-Irvine has an exam that they give to their entering grad students? I've tried calling but the secretary doesn't seem to know

[Eigen]

You could e-mail either the graduate advisor, or one of the current students.

Our entrance exam was basically the ACS standard exams for each canonical area (Org, Inorg, Physical)... I don't think anyone got "held back" from the grad level courses in my cohort, you would have had to do pretty badly for that to happen.

I just went through and reviewed the texts I had used for the undergrad courses in the week or so before the test- there's only so much you can cram into your head!

As for preparing for the courses, you could see who's teaching what, and ask what texts they used... I didn't find that to be necessary starting off for me.

I did end up needing a lot of math review for my QM course first semester- I had a Russian theoretical physicist, and he expected us to know all of our complex integrations off the top of our head, and it had been like 3 years since I'd had Calc3. All the courses allowed for enough lead time at the beginning to catch up, especially because almost everyone in the course had different amounts of background in the subject area. Not sure if it will be the same at Irvine, but I'd imagine there would be some similarities.

[chaospaladin]

Actually not all chemistry PhD programs give diagnostic exams.

What is an example of a PhD Program that does not give diagnostic exams?

[Eigen]

Penn State doesn't require entrance exams, from what I recall.

[prolixity]

What is an example of a PhD Program that does not give diagnostic exams?

Harvard.

[drumms9980]

Hi, I am new to The Grad Cafe!

So, I am going to UC-Irvine for PhD studies in Chemistry, and just got couple of questions for people who know some stuff about the school.

1. Should I be considering starting early? Because, I was told classes start September 20 or so, but I want to get a head start and possibly start during July. And, what is the general process for starting early?

2. I hear that some schools give their graduate students exam on the first day to see if they need any remedial courses, I am just wondering if anyone is aware if UC-Irvine gives their new grad students such exam? If so, how should I go about preparing for it?

I appreciate any other tips/help

Thanks!

I visited UCI but ultimately turned it down. It was a real nice department and I really like the campus. On my visit they told us that there are NO entrance exams. Did you visit? Not the 2nd weekend I suspect if you did. Who do you want to work for there?

[bardo-being]

I visited UCI but ultimately turned it down. It was a real nice department and I really like the campus. On my visit they told us that there are NO entrance exams. Did you visit? Not the 2nd weekend I suspect if you did. Who do you want to work for there?

There are several professors in the Chemical Biology division that I am really interested in working with. I have not visited yet, but I plan to after my graduation.

Anything else you remember about their chemistry department that you liked/disliked?

Thanks again

[drumms9980]

There are several professors in the Chemical Biology division that I am really interested in working with. I have not visited yet, but I plan to after my graduation.

Anything else you remember about their chemistry department that you liked/disliked?

Thanks again

Hm, I do organic synthesis but I did meet with Jennifer Prescher (I think she does Chemical Biology) and she seemed like she's doing some interesting stuff. They said that most grad students live in the grad student housing (which is really nice and modern). I don't remember anything else particularly. You accepted UCI without visiting?

[prolixity]

Hm, I do organic synthesis but I did meet with Jennifer Prescher (I think she does Chemical Biology) and she seemed like she's doing some interesting stuff. They said that most grad students live in the grad student housing (which is really nice and modern). I don't remember anything else particularly. You accepted UCI without visiting?

Yeah, I'd say that Verano place is more modern than contemporary.