2017 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[Coburn]

I heard from UC Berkeley last night. A professor contacted me via email to tell me I was recommended for admission and highly likely to be accepted!

[jmaj]

I got an email about TSRI interviews; it says that I need to pick which campus to interview (can only get into that one obv); I was wondering if anybody knew about what portion of the CA interviewees get offers? It looks like most people that interview at FL get offers, so I wasn't sure if I should just do that. I'd rather end up in CA, but there are literally profs at both campuses I could work for. Thanks y'all!

[sk8er determinant]

@Coburn whoa congrats!!

Also to everyone, I'm concerned about my chances at schools with December 1st deadline. One of my professors was super busy and submitted the rec letter on the 6th, and UC Berkeley says that the deadline is the 1st. I'm wondering if that'll affect my chances a lot because that was something beyond my control (and of course I reminded the professor to submit it. The professor told me to be on the case about it in case she forgets, so I did)... I'm getting really worried! 

[funebrene]

3 hours ago, jmaj said:

I got an email about TSRI interviews; it says that I need to pick which campus to interview (can only get into that one obv); I was wondering if anybody knew about what portion of the CA interviewees get offers? It looks like most people that interview at FL get offers, so I wasn't sure if I should just do that. I'd rather end up in CA, but there are literally profs at both campuses I could work for. Thanks y'all!

congratulation! When did you get the email?

[Frozen__waffles]

3 hours ago, sk8er determinant said:

@Coburn whoa congrats!!

Also to everyone, I'm concerned about my chances at schools with December 1st deadline. One of my professors was super busy and submitted the rec letter on the 6th, and UC Berkeley says that the deadline is the 1st. I'm wondering if that'll affect my chances a lot because that was something beyond my control (and of course I reminded the professor to submit it. The professor told me to be on the case about it in case she forgets, so I did)... I'm getting really worried! 

I don't think that'll effect your chances too much. I had the same fear with TAMU because there was an issue with my transcript. One of my friends actually works in grad admissions at a school and she says the day you submit your application it counts as the "submission date". The supplemental materials that get added later just end up in your folder and don't affect the date. The only issue would be if they had already met and decided a round of acceptances, which is unlikely to have been completed between the 1st and the 6th.

[mapthesoul]

Hello! I've heard back from a few schools so I figured I'd post here.

Undergrad Institution: Small liberal arts college in New England
Major(s): Chemistry
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 4.00
Overall GPA: 4.00
Position in Class: Don't know
Type of Student: Domestic
GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 166 (91%)
V: 160 (99%)
W: 5.0 (93%)
S: 710 (53%)

TOEFL Total: N/A

Research Experience: I did research with a psychology professor freshman year, then realized I liked orgo and have been a member of a synthetic organic chemistry lab at my school since the beginning of my sophomore year. I spent one of my summers doing research in that lab and another in one of the synthetic organic groups at UC Berkeley. I also did a semester of orgo research in a lab at my study abroad university.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Merit scholarship/2 year research fellowship from my school, ACS Inorganic Undergrad Award, POLYED Organic Undergrad Award, CRC Press Freshman Gen Chem Award

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for Orgo I and II labs for two semesters.

Publications: None (professors at my school don't publish much since we're a little school without grad students)

Presentations: Just poster or oral presentations at my school and the other schools where I've done research. My school has an annual undergrad research conference-type thing and I've presented at that twice. No conferences.

Special Bonus Points: Woman in STEM? (don't actually know if that counts as a bonus point)

Applying to Where: 

I am interested in natural product total synthesis and medicinal chemistry.

Accepted to UT Austin and Pitt (emails from admissions people a couple weeks ago) and UC Berkeley (got a phone call this evening from the professor I did summer research with and want to work with again for grad school)

Still waiting to hear from UPenn, Columbia, UNC, MIT, Stanford, and Georgia Tech.

[Bioachemist]

Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you all know I received my UW-Madison acceptance this morning via email. No interview as I'm a domestic student.

Undergrad Institution: University of Arizona
Major(s): Chemistry (primary), Mathematics (secondary)
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 3.85
Overall GPA: 3.71
Position in Class: Top 25% (I think)
Type of Student: Domestic, male, Caucasian
GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 161 (79%)
V: 164 (94%)
W: 4.0 (59%)
S: 690 (47%) (Only reported this to UC-Berkeley and UW-Madison)

Research Experience: Research since May 2015 at the UA Cancer Center working in biomedical applications of chemical contrast agents in MRI

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: ACS Analytical Undergrad award

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for Gen Chem I labs for two semesters.

Publications: 1 first authored conference publication

Presentations: Oral presentation at SPIE Medical Imaging 2016 in San Diego

Special Bonus Points: Come from financially challenged family

Applying to Where: 

UWashington - Chemistry - Analytical (Accepted Dec. 12th via email, along with fellowship!)

UW-Madison - Chemistry - Analytical (Accepted Dec. 30th via email)

Utah - Chemistry - Bioanalytical (Accepted Dec. 28th via email, along with fellowship)

UC-Berkeley - Chemistry - Analytical (No news)

[Dibenzofulvene]

@Bioachemist

Congrats on the UW Madison acceptance!

[esmyra]

On 12/29/2016 at 3:05 PM, Coburn said:

I heard from UC Berkeley last night. A professor contacted me via email to tell me I was recommended for admission and highly likely to be accepted!

@Colburn congrats! I also got an email from one of the profs at Berkeley, but mine was a straight "congratulations on being accepted... expect a formal admission letter soon." Hope to see you there for visit weekends or next fall perhaps.

 

The email also mentioned I should call the prof to discuss visit options and answer questions I have about the department. Does anyone know if I should expect this to be a quasi-interview when I call? U Washington just directed me to the program coordinator for this. 

Edited January 1, 2017 by esmyra

[Chem123]

9 hours ago, esmyra said:

The email also mentioned I should call the prof to discuss visit options and answer questions I have about the department. Does anyone know if I should expect this to be a quasi-interview when I call? U Washington just directed me to the program coordinator for this. 

It won't be a quasi interview. You are already admitted so don't worry about it. I skyped with a prof from UChicago after being admitted - took up the offer with the prof who emailed me about being admitted. He offered to answer any questions I had about the program or the university, so I just read through the website again and wrote down some questions I wanted to ask. Was all very informal. 

[jeromass]

Has anyone been heard from CMU, UMich, Cornell, UPenn and Purdue?

Interview or Accept...

[jeromass]

On ‎2016‎년 ‎12‎월 ‎28‎일 at 4:41 PM, Dibenzofulvene said:

I forgot to mention that I received an email acceptance to Purdue on the 23rd. I applied Dec 10th - 12th in that timeframe.

Dear Dibenzofulvene,

Did you receive an email acceptance without interview?

[someth1ngAus]

On 12/30/2016 at 5:41 AM, Dibenzofulvene said:

I know that some professors actually view computational background as an advantage. A couple years ago, Dr. Zhang was looking to increase his utilization of computation, but I'm not sure what his perspective is now.

I'm interested to see the path that Princeton's Chemistry Department goes in the next couple of years. 
One thing that has stood out about Wisconsin Madison was the honest feedback and help that they provided during the application process. The admissions secretary is very nice and really went out of her way to answer a lot of questions I had back in March. 

I hope we can meet during visiting days!

I agree, I do research in catalysis (enrolled in an Australian PhD) but will be applying to go to the US (to start in 2018) since there are very little catalysis opportunities here (I'm pretty much the only person doing catalysis at my institution) - also primarily interested in Doyle. Based on experience, I would say that computational experience is a massive advantage in catalysis but wet lab skills are the most important. If you are proficient in computational chemistry but have mostly done research in wet labs, that would be highly looked upon. Doyle has some computational experience when she did organocatalysis during her PhD under Jacobsen to investigate preferred conformers and convergence of a thiourea to an intermediate. However, to my knowledge, it was pretty brief and naturally, doing catalysis, most of her work was screening and synthesis of new thiourea catalysts.

[Dibenzofulvene]

4 hours ago, jeromass said:

Dear Dibenzofulvene,

Did you receive an email acceptance without interview?

Hi! I received an email and a letter in the mail without an interview. I am a domestic student and submitted my application Dec 10-11th. 

[jeromass]

2 hours ago, Dibenzofulvene said:

Hi! I received an email and a letter in the mail without an interview. I am a domestic student and submitted my application Dec 10-11th. 

Aha!!! Congraturation!!!!

Thank you for informing me !!!!!

I am submitted my application Dec 4th..  but... still no response...Maybe. because.. I am an international applicant!!!

R U waiting for another admission?

 

 

[Dibenzofulvene]

6 hours ago, jeromass said:

Aha!!! Congraturation!!!!

Thank you for informing me !!!!!

I am submitted my application Dec 4th..  but... still no response...Maybe. because.. I am an international applicant!!!

R U waiting for another admission?

 

 

You're welcome! And thanks!

I am waiting on U Michigan, Yale, Princeton, UC Irvine, Wisconsin Madison, UPenn, Boston University,  and UNC Chapel Hill. So quite a few schools! Hopefully we hear something this week

[jeromass]

2 minutes ago, Dibenzofulvene said:

You're welcome! And thanks!

I am waiting on U Michigan, Yale, Princeton, UC Irvine, Wisconsin Madison, UPenn, Boston University,  and UNC Chapel Hill. So quite a few schools! Hopefully we hear something this week

Thx!!!! I hope so!!!!

Ah.. I had an interview from UMich. Dec. 22. They said me, they will make decision mid Jan.

I am waiting on UPenn, Harvard, Caltech, Purdue, CMU, Cornell, TAMU, UT-austin, CUNY and, ChemE in Wisconsin Madison, BioMed in BCM.

Hopefully we hear somthing happy this week!

Good Day!

[MoChick]

Is it a good idea to send your contacts and/or the admissions department an update of your fall semester grades even if you haven't been accepted? Would it be better as a listed thing in an email or to copy the official transcript? I just took a graduate level class this past semester and wanted my grade to be included in the evaluation process.

[Dibenzofulvene]

1 hour ago, MoChick said:

Is it a good idea to send your contacts and/or the admissions department an update of your fall semester grades even if you haven't been accepted? Would it be better as a listed thing in an email or to copy the official transcript? I just took a graduate level class this past semester and wanted my grade to be included in the evaluation process.

Hi @MoChick I sent my fall grades to a couple of schools, but not all. The schools let me send an email with an unofficial copy of the updated grades. 

Edited January 2, 2017 by Dibenzofulvene

[.letmeinplz//]

49 minutes ago, MoChick said:

Is it a good idea to send your contacts and/or the admissions department an update of your fall semester grades even if you haven't been accepted? Would it be better as a listed thing in an email or to copy the official transcript? I just took a graduate level class this past semester and wanted my grade to be included in the evaluation process.

I did, 2 schools replied the next day that they updated my application with the transcript I sent. Another school just allowed me to do it on the application itself. The only one that didn't want fall grades was CMU.

I'm not sure a few classes will make or break you but might as well try.

[funebrene]

Just got an email from POI at UMich for admission!!

[jeromass]

2 hours ago, funebrene said:

Just got an email from POI at UMich for admission!!

wow!!! congraturation!!!!

R U domestic?!?  

when did you get emaile?!? is it official !?

 

Edited January 3, 2017 by jeromass

[funebrene]

10 minutes ago, jeromass said:

wow!!! congraturation!!!!

R U domestic?!?  

when did you get emaile?!? is it official !?

 

Thanks! I am international but  study in US institution. I got email this evening from a POI not listed in my PS. He told me to expect official letter in a couple days.

[jeromass]

24 minutes ago, funebrene said:

Thanks! I am international but  study in US institution. I got email this evening from a POI not listed in my PS. He told me to expect official letter in a couple days.

Thank you for infotmation!!!!

got admission without an interview?!

I have been looking forward to hearing happy news fromUMich..since I had an interview..

Congaraturation again!!^^ 

 

[Herbert West]

I just got an email containing visit weekend info from UW-Madison that said I was recommended for admittance! Hope everyone's doing well!