Fall 2018 Cycle

[lostkey96]

5 hours ago, rwoodward said:

Just got into UC Berkeley for Organic! Cannot believe it!

The e-mail says "By this time, you should have been contacted by a member of Chemistry's admission's committee" but this has not happened haha. Should I e-mail the person back saying this hasn't happened? Or is there no point? 

No point contacting the person back. I was contacted by a member of the admission's committee, but the only info he gave me is re-listed on this email.

[ChemDude]

I've been lurking around this forum since August. I recently got admitted to one of my matches (UMN - Twin Cities)!

Undergrad Institution: Small Public Liberal Arts (but a bit known)
Major(s): Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics
Minor(s):  Statistics
GPA in Major:  4.00 (for chemistry)
Overall GPA:  3.99
Position in Class: N/A
Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?) International (US Degree), Male

GRE Scores (revised/old version): 
Q: 167 (92%)
V:  158 (80%)
W:  5.0 (93%)
S (Chemistry):  760 (68%) - not quite happy about this.

Research Experience:  3 summers (all chemistry research) -  Two at my college and one at R1 university with well-known organic prof.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) Several awards from my college - nothing major.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, etc...) Multiple ACS national meeting poster presentations, one semester organic lab TA, and one semester chemistry tutoring (going on second semester now).

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Part of honors program at college and held several leadership positions on campus (not in chemistry though).

Special Bonus Points: From a country less represented in US graduate schools? Two excellent recommendations and one (probably) good recommendation.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where: Indicated inorganic on official part of app but said interested in both organic and inorganic (more specifically organometallics) in personal statement.

Reaches

• Harvard
• Princeton
• Yale

Matches

• UMN - Twin Cities (Accepted!)
• Purdue

Safeties

• Michigan State
• WUSTL (I realized too late that this school was a terrible choice due to lack of communication and un-updated sites; my recommenders had already sent their letters at that point, so, I could do nothing. But I'm not too worried anymore since I got into one of my matches!)

Edited January 11, 2018 by ChemDude

[someth1ngAus]

25 minutes ago, ChemDude said:

Reaches

• Harvard
• Princeton
• Yale

Harvard is always a reach but I don't think Princeton and Yale are unattainable based on your stats - I think your research XP is a slightly low for someone starting a PhD but it's looks more like an intermediate between match and reach for those two.

PS I only applied to Princeton so it's my safety, match, and reach xD

Edited January 11, 2018 by someth1ngAus

[ChemDude]

18 minutes ago, someth1ngAus said:

Harvard is always a reach but I don't think Princeton and Yale are unattainable based on your stats - I think your research XP is a slightly low for someone starting a PhD but it's looks more like an intermediate between match and reach for those two.

PS I only applied to Princeton so it's my safety, match, and reach xD

Yeah, based on the stats of this forum, I noticed that. I didn't have much time for research (other than during the summer). 

Edited January 11, 2018 by ChemDude

[matchem95]

Hello everyone! I've been following this thread for a while now and thought I'd share my results as well!

Undergrad Institution: Small liberal arts college
Major(s): Chemistry
Minor(s): none
GPA in Major: 4.00
Overall GPA: 3.98
Position in Class: not sure, but definitely at the top
Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?) domestic female

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 165
V: 161
W: 5.0
S: 780 (73%)


Research Experience: 3.5 years of materials research including 2 summers at home institution, 1 NSF REU at UPenn, and part-time work during semesters. Have presented at multiple ACS meetings and have a 1st author paper submitted to top materials journal.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) numerous school departmental awards and research fellowships, Goldwater honorable mention, Phi Beta Kappa, Outstanding Presentation Award at GCURS

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, etc...) chemistry tutor and TA for 5 semesters

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: My research interests are very closely related to my previous work.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I know at least one of my LOR will be stellar.

Applying to Where: all for materials chemistry/closely related disciplines

UC Berkeley, Harvard, Caltech, MIT, Stanford, Northwestern, Columbia, UCLA, U of Michigan, Georgia Tech, UCSB, U of Washington

So far I've been accepted to Caltech, Northwestern, UCLA, Michigan, UCSB, and Washington! I'm a bit worried about Berkeley at the moment since I've seen so many acceptances posted....

Edited January 11, 2018 by matchem95

[raul.carmo]

Admitted to the University of South Carolina!!! I know it is not a top program but I was so worried I wouldn't get any acceptances at all I can't describe how happy I am

[euronymous_oystein]

2 hours ago, raul.carmo said:

Admitted to the University of South Carolina!!! I know it is not a top program but I was so worried I wouldn't get any acceptances at all I can't describe how happy I am

Why are you so pessimistic? Your profile is not bad at all.

[raul.carmo]

Just now, athan892 said:

Why are you so pessimistic? Your profile is not bad at all.

It's because I applied to other programs last year and got rejected to all haha. But they were MS programs and my GRE scores were much lower, and I found out later that my recommendation letters had like 3 lines because my professors were so lazy that they would write something like "he's a good student and I recommend him for a doctoral position at your institution" END. Now I even have a strong recommendation letter from a famous PI in the US (after years he still remembers me) but he is in the field of entomology (I was a biochem major then transferred to chemistry).

[PhD_hopeful_]

2 hours ago, raul.carmo said:

Admitted to the University of South Carolina!!! I know it is not a top program but I was so worried I wouldn't get any acceptances at all I can't describe how happy I am

Congrats!

[scientific]

On 1/10/2018 at 12:46 AM, rwoodward said:

If it's any help, for organic they CC'ed the same professor for everyone who organises all the visit weekends etc. Might be the same for you!

congrats on berkeley by the way!! out of curiosity, can I ask what the stipend looks like out there?

On 1/10/2018 at 5:14 AM, rw16202 said:

I think she might be the pchem program coordinator? they told me to contact her re: visiting details. and I'm sure they'll let you come to an admitted students weekend! it'll def be a totally different experience, plus you'll get to meet potential classmates! maybe I'll see ya there! 

ahh that makes sense! I'm glad then.

 

On 1/10/2018 at 10:27 AM, cater99 said:

Congrats again! May I ask what's ur undergrad school? 

I went to one of the UCs ^^

[rwoodward]

12 minutes ago, scientific said:

congrats on berkeley by the way!! out of curiosity, can I ask what the stipend looks like out there?

 

Thank you  It is $33,959 per year

[NervousChemApplicant]

Looks like people have gotten into Yale... what type of chemistry, to anyone that's been admitted?

[NervousChemApplicant]

7 minutes ago, inorgphd said:

Looks like people have gotten into Yale... what type of chemistry, to anyone that's been admitted?

NVM it looks like organic!

[citrullination]

23 hours ago, rwoodward said:

Just got into UC Berkeley for Organic! Cannot believe it!

The e-mail says "By this time, you should have been contacted by a member of Chemistry's admission's committee" but this has not happened haha. Should I e-mail the person back saying this hasn't happened? Or is there no point? 

I got the same email and also haven't been contacted by a member of Chemistry's admissions committee - I feel like replying might not be worth it but I'm unsure.

[rwoodward]

16 minutes ago, citrullination said:

I got the same email and also haven't been contacted by a member of Chemistry's admissions committee - I feel like replying might not be worth it but I'm unsure.

Ok, that makes me feel better (was beginning to think they accepted me by mistake). I'm not going to reply to it.

[Flyera]

Has anyone else heard from Berkeley for physical? I've seen mostly organic or unspecified offers from Berkeley on the results page.

[ChemDude]

Did anyone get into Yale for inorganic?

[someth1ngAus]

9 hours ago, rwoodward said:

Thank you  It is $33,959 per year

That's like 28k-ish take home? Quite nice, actually. Even though Berkeley is more expensive than most places.

[rwoodward]

3 hours ago, someth1ngAus said:

That's like 28k-ish take home? Quite nice, actually. Even though Berkeley is more expensive than most places.

Yup, something like that - I was quite surprised at how high it is. But like you said, I believe Berkeley is a very expensive place.

 

[someth1ngAus]

4 hours ago, rwoodward said:

Yup, something like that - I was quite surprised at how high it is. But like you said, I believe Berkeley is a very expensive place.

 

Yeah, I decided to look up the cost of living - it's pretty high. Comparable to cities like Sydney, Seattle, Boston, and London. But hey, it's not Switzerland, so that's good. If me being in Sydney is anything to go by, 28k USD take home should be fine.

[NasrinGavidel]

Hi every body! I am new in gradcafe  and Thanks God you are here to help me calm down! I have applied 7 PhD program in Chemistry and Bio medicine but no result! ( Purdue, Pitts, Northeastern, Rutgers, ESF, UIC(Medicinal Chemistry) and Cleveland state uni!

I see people get interview email or skype email and it is really disappointing!!!I am international,Should I wait more or this mean I don't have chance to get position?

[NasrinGavidel]

On 1/10/2018 at 10:37 AM, Ashok@513 said:

I had an interview with one of the professor from Purdue university. Did anyone had interview with Purdue? 

which Program did you apply?

 

[pchem2018]

20 hours ago, Flyera said:

Has anyone else heard from Berkeley for physical? I've seen mostly organic or unspecified offers from Berkeley on the results page.

I just got the phone call from the physical department head that I was accepted, and they apologized that they had gotten back to me later than other schools. I hope you get a phone call soon too!

[matchem95]

I also just got a call from the head of the physical department at Berkeley saying I was accepted. They’re one of my top choices so I’m super excited!

[rwoodward]

I have got to the stage now where I dread the weekend because no grad offers come out...

INO, has anyone organised a visit weekend yet? I was wondering how it works... do you organise it all and then the department pays you back? Or do the department make suggestions for places to stay etc?