Fall 2013 Chemistry and Biochemistry

[Faraday]

Just got my first acceptance today: UCSD!!  So psyched to get one before the holidays.

Congrats, hearing back this early is a great sign!

[pennchem]

Hey everyone, I've been reading the forums for a while but this is my first post. Just got my first acceptance to Northwestern! I applied to the organic division, but plan on doing research that overlaps between organic and materials.

[MadScience]

i recieved a letter today. visiting weekend in March and a stipend package. did you get the same letter?

Yep, got mine the next day! I guess I'm impatient Same info.

And congrats to theoretician and pennchem!

Edited December 21, 2012 by ashonmetomotto

[DropTheBase]

Got an acceptance email from a professor in my SOP for Northwestern! Formal email to follow. I applied for physical chemistry. Just wanted to thank all the users on this forum for years of excellent advice.

[perryfal]

Another Northwestern (Inorganic/materials) acceptance here!  The phone call woke me up (I'm on the west coast), but it was definitely worth it haha

[inorgchem]

Aaand yet another Northwestern acceptance for inorganic--phone call from a prof I mentioned in my SOP!  Got an additional 10K for my first year to sweeten the deal.  Only slightly awkward moment was when I mentioned another prof I was interested in and he told me that was his wife...

[theoretician]

Why are so many people getting into Northwestern the past couple of days? Anyone know if this is the only wave of acceptances or if they will be doing more as they go through them?

[Artoy]

The 4 acceptances from U of Chicago is truly unsettling... 

[tyther]

The 4 acceptances from U of Chicago is truly unsettling... 

Same goes for the ones from Northwestern. Anybody from either one of those schools mind sharing their stats and what field of chemistry they are in?

[DropTheBase]

Northwestern:

From a very good undergraduate chemistry program.

GPA: 3.3

GRE (percentile): v:83 q:80 a:49

Chem GRE (percentile): 52

Worked on three different research projects starting from freshman year.

1 really good letter, 1 good letter and one okay letter (from professor, not PI).

No publications, one manuscript in prep.

No honors/awards

[perryfal]

Also Northwestern (they also gave me the additional 10K for first year):

 

Inorganic/Materials Chemistry
Liberal Arts College (some regional recognition)
GPA: 3.95

Major GPA 4.0
GRE: 168Q/162V/4.0

Chem GRE: 830 (83%)
Experience: REU at top 15 institution

REU at top 3 institution

Semester internship at National Lab
a JACS publication from each project (one 1st author, two 2nd authors)
2 posters + 1 speaking presentation
3 very strong LoRs from people known in the field

 

The professor didn't say anything about the admission process, but the visitation dates are mid-march, so I would imagine they are not done with admissions yet. Good luck!

[gps]

Got accepted to Stanford about a week ago as well.

Stats:

GPA: 3.92
Top 10 school
GRE: 168Q/170V/6.0W
Chem GRE: 830 (83%)

Experience:
2 summers + 3 semesters research
1 publication submitted

Accepted so far: UIUC, Princeton, Stanford

[theoretician]

Congrats gps, that's awesome!!!  I didn't even realize the top programs were sending acceptances yet.  Would you mind sharing your subfield?

 

Thanks.

[Daffodils]

Hi all I got accepted into Northwestern. I'm an international student applying for theoretical chemistry. My stats: GPA: 3.7/4.0 GRE (V/Q/A): 540/800/3.5 GRE Subject: 810 4 first authored publications Many academic awards and conferences Lots of research experiences

[Hoosierguy]

I also got an acceptance call from Northwestern the other day, which was a little off-putting because I woke up from a nap to answer it. But I applied for Chemical Biology, which I don't see a lot of on here.

 

My stats are:

Dual Degree BS Biochemistry/BA French from Top 30 University, Honors in both

Overall GPA/Major GPA: 3.99/4.00

GRE: Q: 164/90% V:165/95% A:6.0/99%

CHEM GRE: 860/90%

 

2 Full-time Summers and 4 Semesters working in a Chemical Biology/Organic Lab

1 Research Conference Presentation

No publications, to me the most unsettling part of my application ?

And these are just assumptions, but two very strong Letters and one good one, and I think my SOP is pretty good

 

Applied: WashU, UCSD, Wisconsin, UMich, UNC, Yale, Harvard

Accepted: Northwestern

Rejected: -

[theoretician]

Just got into Stanford!!!  Very excited.

[Faraday]

Just got into Stanford!!!  Very excited.

Congrats, I knew you'd get in to one of them!

[DropTheBase]

Just got into Stanford!!! Very excited.

Of course! Congrats!

[theoretician]

Thank you, I really appreciate it!!

 

As far as scheduling visits goes, what are most of you doing?  Are you waiting until the end of January or first couple of weeks in February (when the last notifications will probably be made) or are you just making arrangements as you get acceptances?

 

I'm just not sure how to go about this to make sure I don't have conflicting visitation weekends after I already schedule a visit but also to make sure I don't make my travel arrangements too late.

 

What do you guys think?

[rayray09]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could tell me if I have a chance of getting into these schools.  I'm sorry this probably gets pretty annoying, but I'm so nervous and would like some people's opinions.

 

I'm applying to: NC State, Vanderbilt, Colorado State, Indiana, UCLA, UCSB, UC-Irvine, and UNC as the dream school.

 

My GRE scores are v:154 q:157 and w:4.0 and my gpa is 3.27 in chem and cumulative, but I have two semesters of undergraduate research, and two summers working at a government lab full time (which got me a co-author on a publication).  My letters of recommendations should all be really good as I got them from my boss at work (300+ publications), my organic professor that I do research with, and an organic professor whom is my advisor.

 

I have taken every single chem course that was available to me at my school and I genuinely love chemistry and would like to teach it.  I have contacted professors at all the schools and told them I was interested in their research and asked if they had spots open.  I have done Cross-Country and track all four years of undergrad and that takes up at least 21 hours a week and am regretting doing it a little now after looking at some of these gpa's, because you guys all seem awesome.  If anyone on here is on a admissions committee would you mind telling me how athletics look on a resume on a applying undergrad?

 

Thank you for any help and I wish everyone the best of luck!

[Faraday]

Thank you, I really appreciate it!!

 

As far as scheduling visits goes, what are most of you doing?  Are you waiting until the end of January or first couple of weeks in February (when the last notifications will probably be made) or are you just making arrangements as you get acceptances?

 

I'm just not sure how to go about this to make sure I don't have conflicting visitation weekends after I already schedule a visit but also to make sure I don't make my travel arrangements too late.

 

What do you guys think?

 

 

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could tell me if I have a chance of getting into these schools.  I'm sorry this probably gets pretty annoying, but I'm so nervous and would like some people's opinions.

 

I'm applying to: NC State, Vanderbilt, Colorado State, Indiana, UCLA, UCSB, UC-Irvine, and UNC as the dream school.

 

My GRE scores are v:154 q:157 and w:4.0 and my gpa is 3.27 in chem and cumulative, but I have two semesters of undergraduate research, and two summers working at a government lab full time (which got me a co-author on a publication).  My letters of recommendations should all be really good as I got them from my boss at work (300+ publications), my organic professor that I do research with, and an organic professor whom is my advisor.

 

I have taken every single chem course that was available to me at my school and I genuinely love chemistry and would like to teach it.  I have contacted professors at all the schools and told them I was interested in their research and asked if they had spots open.  I have done Cross-Country and track all four years of undergrad and that takes up at least 21 hours a week and am regretting doing it a little now after looking at some of these gpa's, because you guys all seem awesome.  If anyone on here is on a admissions committee would you mind telling me how athletics look on a resume on a applying undergrad?

 

Thank you for any help and I wish everyone the best of luck!

Yes, you have a change of getting into those schools.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

On a serious note I've already heard back from Colorado State (stats posted on first page) for Organic and if anything it sounds like you have better "stats" in everything except GPA/GREs so your chances there are probably quite good there as well assuming you are a domestic applicant. They updated my status on their application website a few days before I recieved an email from a professor so you can keep checking that if it helps you to cope with the stress.

It seems they don't offer health insurance to TA's though and the stipend is only ~20K after university fees, however, so I don't know what to think about their program. If I end up seriously considering it more (I don't get accepted to Princeton, Yale or Michigan) then I guess I will need to call and confirm the health insurance policy. They've got some great people doing organic synthesis though.

 

 

Thank you, I really appreciate it!!

 

As far as scheduling visits goes, what are most of you doing? Are you waiting until the end of January or first couple of weeks in February (when the last notifications will probably be made) or are you just making arrangements as you get acceptances?

 

I'm just not sure how to go about this to make sure I don't have conflicting visitation weekends after I already schedule a visit but also to make sure I don't make my travel arrangements too late.

 

What do you guys think?

 

I feel like I heard somewhere Berkeley/Stanford coordinate so students admitted to both locations can visit both places. Maybe not. Either way it's hard to imagine a school that would take priority over Stanford (out of the top 5) and it is hard to imagine any schools in the top five where you might be accepted would want to conflict with another top 5 school, so you might as well make the reservations as soon as possible, within reason. Do they require you to make reservations though a travel agency? If that's the case you may have to book things a few weeks in advance.

Edited December 28, 2012 by Faraday

[theoretician]

Thanks for the suggestion. The only thing is that Stanford has 4 visiting weekends while most schools probably only have 1 or 2 so I don't want to schedule this one too early so that I wouldn't be able to visit others. As far as how to make the arrangements, I am not sure because I haven't gotten the official letter yet, just an email from a POI.

[Faraday]

Thanks for the suggestion. The only thing is that Stanford has 4 visiting weekends while most schools probably only have 1 or 2 so I don't want to schedule this one too early so that I wouldn't be able to visit others. As far as how to make the arrangements, I am not sure because I haven't gotten the official letter yet, just an email from a POI.

Ah, if you have 4 weekends then you should wait it out as long as possible. If you have to book through a travel agent they might have a time limit to how late you can book (e.g. 3 weeks in advance) to keep costs down. If you are just going to get reimbursed then I suppose it doesn't really matter as long as you are not too close to their reimbursement limit (i.e. booking late would put you over).

[rayray09]

Faraday,

 

http://graduate-school.phds.org/university/colostate/program/ranking/chemistry/3673

 

This link confirms the health insurance policy, I have also seen it on another website that I can't recall right now, but it said that you can buy health insurance thorugh the school for $740 or $940

[bskaplan]

Does anyone here who applied to Columbia have confirmation of GRE scores being received?  I sent mine in about 3 weeks ago and it says they have not received it yet.