chemblah Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 (edited) Let me preface this by saying, the problem I am facing is an excellent problem to have. I applied to 6 schools: UIUC, UW Seattle, UNC-Chapel Hill, UT Austin, MIT and Cal Tech. I heard back and have been accepted to all but my top two schools: Cal Tech and MIT. I haven't heard from these two yet, so I don't know if I got in. If by some magic I got accepted to these two I would absolutely need to visit! So if I got accepted (by some magic) to all 6 schools and even if I wanted to visit all of them, I couldn't. Some of the visit weekends conflict, so in theory I could visit only 5 schools. However, the ACS National meeting is in the midst of all these visits so traveling that much probably isn't a good idea anyway... So here's the deal: How many schools should you visit? How many is too many? How do I choose which ones NOT to visit?? Should I contact MIT or Cal Tech to feel out my chances or let them know the situation? Do I reserve Cal Tech and MIT's visit weekends just in case I get in? I don't want to waste an opportunity to visit another school if I get rejected, but if I get accepted, I don't want to have to turn down visits to my dream schools (and miss vital info on making my final decision) because I already committed to visiting another school.... If anyone is curious here are the visit weekend options: Feb 27: Seattle, Austin, Cal Tech* Mar 6: UIUC (already committed to this one) Mar 13: UNC, Seattle Mar 20: Cal Tech* Mar 22-26: ACS Denver Meeting Mar 27: MIT*, Austin, UNC *Don't know if I am invited yet Also my stats: I attend a medium sized undergraduate private uni, 3 domestic research internships (one at a Community College while in dual enrolled in college and high school, the other two at R1 unis), an international REU, Goldwater Scholar, 3 posters, 1 pub in preparation, GPA 3.98 , Chem GPA 4.0, math and physics minors, GRE 157V, 157Q, 4.5W, CHEM GRE 680 I appreciate any advice! Thank you!! Edited January 9, 2015 by chemcece
doyouevenchop Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 (edited) Option 1 Feb 27: Seattle, Austin, Cal Tech* Mar 6: UIUC (already committed to this one) Mar 13: UNC, Seattle Mar 20: Cal Tech* Mar 27: MIT*, or Austin, Option 2 Feb 27: Seattle, Austin, Cal Tech* Mar 6: UIUC (already committed to this one) Mar 13: UNC, Seattle Mar 20: Cal Tech* Mar 27: MIT*, OR UNC Unless I'm missing something, it seems the question is if you'd rather miss out on UNC or Austin. If you get in both MIT and Cal, you'll have to skip one of the two Edited January 9, 2015 by doyouevenchop chemblah 1
Whisky-with-a-Y Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 That is really dependent on your interests. Other than the two you haven't heard from, there isn't a hierarchy between the remaining 4? I wouldn't visit all 6, assuming you get into them all. I wouldn't even visit 4, but that is personal as I don't wish to be out of town that much. Also, I already know that certain professors at certains schools interest me more than others. So I applied to 8, have gotten accepted to 5 and haven't heard from 3. I will probably only visit my top 2-3 choices. The others were fillers and I wanted to make sure I got in some where. Also, by declining early, especially to a school you know you won't go to because you have already gotten into better, allows for other students to be accepted.
Kinetic Isotope Defect Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 Well, when are the deadlines to RSVP for visit weekends to the programs you've been accepted to? The two I've heard from have deadlines in mid-February, so I'm waiting to RSVP just in case I get accepted to other programs that would conflict with them. I wouldn't make a decision for another couple of weeks unless you know for sure you won't be attending one or more of the schools (in that case, you should decline quickly so the spot will open up for others, as mentioned). As for the question "how many schools should I visit?", this depends but you should make sure it's a number that doesn't overwhelm you. I'm personally capping myself at 3, but I'm TAing a lab this semester so I won't have as much leeway as other people.
chemblah Posted January 9, 2015 Author Posted January 9, 2015 Other than the two you haven't heard from, there isn't a hierarchy between the remaining 4? I guess that's the problem, there isn't much of a hierarchy between the last 4 schools. I know I will visit UIUC, I already have a connection with a prof there and had a great phone call with another prof I am interested in working as well. So I guess I will need to spend some time really thinking about the remaining three schools this weekend...
chemblah Posted January 9, 2015 Author Posted January 9, 2015 (edited) Well, when are the deadlines to RSVP for visit weekends to the programs you've been accepted to? No one has given me RSVP deadlines! But Austin said the February date is filling up soon... Edited January 9, 2015 by chemcece
TakeruK Posted January 10, 2015 Posted January 10, 2015 If there is no deadline, then wait as long as you can. You might also be able to interview on a special alternate date if nothing else works. These things are more flexible than they seem, usually. chemblah 1
16777216 Posted January 11, 2015 Posted January 11, 2015 Let me preface this by saying, the problem I am facing is an excellent problem to have. I applied to 6 schools: UIUC, UW Seattle, UNC-Chapel Hill, UT Austin, MIT and Cal Tech. I heard back and have been accepted to all but my top two schools: Cal Tech and MIT. I haven't heard from these two yet, so I don't know if I got in. If by some magic I got accepted to these two I would absolutely need to visit! So if I got accepted (by some magic) to all 6 schools and even if I wanted to visit all of them, I couldn't. Some of the visit weekends conflict, so in theory I could visit only 5 schools. However, the ACS National meeting is in the midst of all these visits so traveling that much probably isn't a good idea anyway... So here's the deal: How many schools should you visit? How many is too many? How do I choose which ones NOT to visit?? Should I contact MIT or Cal Tech to feel out my chances or let them know the situation? Do I reserve Cal Tech and MIT's visit weekends just in case I get in? I don't want to waste an opportunity to visit another school if I get rejected, but if I get accepted, I don't want to have to turn down visits to my dream schools (and miss vital info on making my final decision) because I already committed to visiting another school.... If anyone is curious here are the visit weekend options: Feb 27: Seattle, Austin, Cal Tech* Mar 6: UIUC (already committed to this one) Mar 13: UNC, Seattle Mar 20: Cal Tech* Mar 22-26: ACS Denver Meeting Mar 27: MIT*, Austin, UNC *Don't know if I am invited yet Also my stats: I attend a medium sized undergraduate private uni, 3 domestic research internships (one at a Community College while in dual enrolled in college and high school, the other two at R1 unis), an international REU, Goldwater Scholar, 3 posters, 1 pub in preparation, GPA 3.98 , Chem GPA 4.0, math and physics minors, GRE 157V, 157Q, 4.5W, CHEM GRE 680 I appreciate any advice! Thank you!! Hey! I'm in the exact same situation as you, and it sucks. I think the only way to do it is to establish a hierarchy and then wait as long as possible. The first big wave of MIT acceptances should be coming soon (last year it was Jan 15th to the 30th about), so I'm holding out planning anything else until then. Question: how do you know when MIT's visit weekend is? I couldn't find it on their website, but maybe I'm just not looking in the right place. Also, I'm visiting UIUC too! Too bad I'm going in February or maybe we could have met up. chemblah 1
doyouevenchop Posted January 11, 2015 Posted January 11, 2015 I'm visiting UIUC in March. Anyone planning on going to the first Scripps weekend in Feb? (19-22 I think)
chemblah Posted January 11, 2015 Author Posted January 11, 2015 I'll be going to the Materials Chemistry Visit weekend at UIUC (March 5-7) and the UT Austin visit weekend in February, feel free to say hello if you see me!
16777216 Posted January 11, 2015 Posted January 11, 2015 (edited) I'm visiting UIUC in March. Anyone planning on going to the first Scripps weekend in Feb? (19-22 I think) Whoops, NVM. Edited January 11, 2015 by 16777216
SarshTheAwesome Posted January 12, 2015 Posted January 12, 2015 I know atleast with UIUC, they have different weekends for different fields of interest. The analytical one may conflict with ACS, so they told me if I need to I could switch weekends and go with a different department. They also said they would pay for a flight from Denver to UIUC if need be. Maybe other universities do that as well?
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