ChemEnthusiast Posted December 26, 2015 Author Posted December 26, 2015 54 minutes ago, ChemEnergy said: Awesome, thanks a lot answering. My last LOR submitted on like 11/30 so I figured that didn't leave very much time for the possibility of early acceptances. Enjoy your holidays as well and goo luck with the rest of your apps! No problem buddy, you too!
alvinnari Posted December 27, 2015 Posted December 27, 2015 Anyone have any news on UC Berkeley chemistry? I saw some people heard back from some PIs and I haven't heard anything yet so I'm wondering if there is no hope
raybans7 Posted December 28, 2015 Posted December 28, 2015 I haven't heard anything, but I also don't really think that I will get in because I didn't send them my Chem GRE scores. Since the scores were optional and I didn't do so hot it didn't make sense for me to pay and send them when they wouldn't help my application.
Venomoose Posted December 28, 2015 Posted December 28, 2015 I heard back from Berkeley on the 21st directly from a PI that had interviewed me and has connections to my current PI. He said he was letting me know because the paperwork likely wouldn't go through before early January when official acceptances were happening. So if you haven't heard anything that doesn't necessarily mean you aren't going to get in. They also tend to accept in waves so even if you don't hear anything in early January there is still a chance (albeit a lower one) that you will be accepted. Also to raybans7, I was in a similar position to you and was still admitted so that may not be such a big deal.
alvinnari Posted December 28, 2015 Posted December 28, 2015 2 hours ago, hooblewoop said: I heard back from Berkeley on the 21st directly from a PI that had interviewed me and has connections to my current PI. He said he was letting me know because the paperwork likely wouldn't go through before early January when official acceptances were happening. So if you haven't heard anything that doesn't necessarily mean you aren't going to get in. They also tend to accept in waves so even if you don't hear anything in early January there is still a chance (albeit a lower one) that you will be accepted. Also to raybans7, I was in a similar position to you and was still admitted so that may not be such a big deal. Thanks for the reassurance lol. If you don't mind me asking, what was the interview you had with this PI? Was it related to the application process or did you have the opportunity to talk to the PI before you applied?
Orgo for days Posted December 28, 2015 Posted December 28, 2015 17 hours ago, alvinnari said: Anyone have any news on UC Berkeley chemistry? I saw some people heard back from some PIs and I haven't heard anything yet so I'm wondering if there is no hope Hey man, don't even start to worry! As you can see, most people last year didn't get in until a week into January: http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=chemistry+berkeley&t=a&o=&pp=25. I also am waiting nervously for Berkeley, they're one of my tops! We just gotta wait it out.
ChemEnthusiast Posted December 28, 2015 Author Posted December 28, 2015 I am applying for Berkeley too and I am in the same shoe as you guys. It's my super reach school tho so I did not give it too much hope. Just enjoy the holidays coming up next and ready to be active in January!! 19 hours ago, alvinnari said: Anyone have any news on UC Berkeley chemistry? I saw some people heard back from some PIs and I haven't heard anything yet so I'm wondering if there is no hope
Venomoose Posted December 28, 2015 Posted December 28, 2015 16 hours ago, alvinnari said: Thanks for the reassurance lol. If you don't mind me asking, what was the interview you had with this PI? Was it related to the application process or did you have the opportunity to talk to the PI before you applied? The interview was related to the application process. One of my POIs cold called me to ask about my research interests/reason for wanting to attend Berkeley, and also spent some time telling me about his research. He said that they were calling some other candidates that they were interested in for interviews before they made their decisions. I'm not sure how many people they reached out to though or what bearing it had on my admission.
xena93 Posted December 30, 2015 Posted December 30, 2015 So far I've heard back from Vanderbilt and Cornell with offers from both! I was wondering if anyone on here had any advice for going on visits? I'm not really sure what are some important questions to ask the graduate students or faculty. Thanks so much and good luck!
KaffeeCafe Posted December 30, 2015 Posted December 30, 2015 52 minutes ago, xena93 said: So far I've heard back from Vanderbilt and Cornell with offers from both! I was wondering if anyone on here had any advice for going on visits? I'm not really sure what are some important questions to ask the graduate students or faculty. Thanks so much and good luck! I'd also like to hear people's suggestions about good topics -- is it expected to talk to profs with whom you'd like to work that you have interest in rotating/joining their lab so to get the best idea how much room/$ they will have? I made contact ahead of applying with at least 1 at each school, but want to get an idea of the probability I would have of joining one of the 2-3 target prof's labs.
Orgo for days Posted December 30, 2015 Posted December 30, 2015 41 minutes ago, xena93 said: So far I've heard back from Vanderbilt and Cornell with offers from both! I was wondering if anyone on here had any advice for going on visits? I'm not really sure what are some important questions to ask the graduate students or faculty. Thanks so much and good luck! Congrats, both Vandy and Cornell have quite a few amazing profs! They're also beautiful schools with well-funded labs, so props. In terms of advice for visiting, I haven't gone on any visits myself, but I am part of an R1 research lab and have been gleaning visit weekend tips from the grad students I work with now. The most important things seem to be determining the professor's mentorship abilities and style (does he work through problems with you or does he scream at you? How present is he in the lab during the week?), the overall attitude of the lab (eg. is the group happy? motivated? tight-knit?), and the expectations of the prof/group (how many hours a week do people work? how long till you get a PhD?). You can ask some of these questions to the professors themselves, but the most helpful people will be the more jaded 3rd-6th year grad students who know clearly what it's like to work in PI X's lab and who will not hold back anything negative if pressed. Ideally, you will join a happy, hardworking group with a passionate, helpful, and patient professor in a lab with a balanced work/play mentality where you will publish 3 JACS articles and graduate in 5 years. However, most groups are flawed in some way or another, and your visit weekend is your best chance to figure out whether or not a group's certain flaws are a deal breaker for you. So I guess the best advice would go into visit weekends with an understanding of what you want in a research group and with a goal to figure out which groups fit this understanding best. St Andrews Lynx 1
ChemEnergy Posted December 31, 2015 Posted December 31, 2015 On December 30, 2015 at 9:53 PM, xena93 said: So far I've heard back from Vanderbilt and Cornell with offers from both! I was wondering if anyone on here had any advice for going on visits? I'm not really sure what are some important questions to ask the graduate students or faculty. Thanks so much and good luck! Apart from learning about the professors and their groups, make sure you are asking about whether your stipend is guaranteed and for how long. Some schools do not guarantee funding for your entire time, albeit both of those schools probably have enough endowment for your entire time, but it's nice to make sure. I would ask about how long their teaching commitments last. I'm also planning to ask grad students about living expenses and whether the school has housing for graduate students (my university does) or if it's a better option, monetarily and environmentally, to rent nearby.
yuwenxuejian Posted December 31, 2015 Posted December 31, 2015 Do most of the graduate admission offices close during the winter time, and re-open only after 4th Jan? I have been refreshing my email and this website every several minutes this week = =
St Andrews Lynx Posted December 31, 2015 Posted December 31, 2015 On 30 December 2015 at 9:53 PM, xena93 said: So far I've heard back from Vanderbilt and Cornell with offers from both! I was wondering if anyone on here had any advice for going on visits? I'm not really sure what are some important questions to ask the graduate students or faculty. Thanks so much and good luck! In addition to funding, advisors' mentoring styles: How many of the former students have gone on to get good academic/industrial jobs (depending on what your career goals are). How much the PI helps prepare you for the job market. What the average teaching gig is like. Will you have to teach 2 lab sections each week for the next 5 years? How many years will you typically have to teach if you join a particular lab? Is there fierce competition in the Department for TA posts (or conversely, research posts)? What is the typical research output for a student in a particular group. Are you likely to get any papers before you graduate? Will you have the opportunity to present your work at conferences? Does the PI want you to come up with your own projects, or will they have their own ideas?
electrochem Posted January 4, 2016 Posted January 4, 2016 Got an email requesting an interview from MIT Chemistry. Any pointers on what questions should I expect ? PS: I am an international applicant.
TongueSten Posted January 4, 2016 Posted January 4, 2016 I received an acceptance from UW-Madison today! I am crazy excited!
KaffeeCafe Posted January 4, 2016 Posted January 4, 2016 29 minutes ago, TongueSten said: I received an acceptance from UW-Madison today! I am crazy excited! Nice! Was it via phone/email/or the update on the MyUW page that you saw it? I'm awaiting some news as well...
TongueSten Posted January 4, 2016 Posted January 4, 2016 1 hour ago, KaffeeCafe said: Nice! Was it via phone/email/or the update on the MyUW page that you saw it? I'm awaiting some news as well... It was via email. First I got an email from the executive director of the department (that ended up in my spam oddly enough, so check there!). About an hour later I heard from the co-chairs of chem-bio path by email also.
yuwenxuejian Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 Anyone knows what kind of questions they usually in the Scripps admission interview? How technical could the questions be? Most people will be accepted after interview, right? Does Scripps still require to reply to the offer within 2 weeks upon the decision? Thank you
ChemEnthusiast Posted January 5, 2016 Author Posted January 5, 2016 (edited) I think you can check for questions in last year posts. It should be about your research, personality and language skills I think. Edited January 5, 2016 by ChemEnthusiast
evanescent_wave Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 TongueSten, thanks for mentioning that UW's emails was flagged as spam. I might not have found it for quite a while otherwise!
kwaldner Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 (edited) is it common to have interviews for MIT? Edited January 5, 2016 by kwaldner
raybans7 Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 I have no idea. I always thought interviews were more common in Biology programs and/or for international applicants. Did you get an interview at MIT? I applied and haven't heard anything since I submitted my application.
kwaldner Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 (edited) nope I haven't received an interview, but I wanted to know if it is true that MIT only interviews people they are interested in. Edited January 5, 2016 by kwaldner
raybans7 Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 Oh well I don't have the slightest idea. It wouldn't surprise me though.
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