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Interviews are not necessary for chemists! I'm thankful for this, as it makes grad visits more fun.

Age: 21 M/F: F Location when applying: Nashville, TN Major(s) in undergrad: Chemistry Undergraduate institution: Vanderbilt University Major(s) applying for: Chemistry Area of specialization: Organic, materials Degree(s) earned: B.S. Degree(s) applying for: PhD Undergrad GPA (try to adjust to 4.0 system): 3.94, except if you're from MIT. Then my GPA is 3.97. (There are advantages to submitting your application before fall semester grades are finalized.) Class Rank (if applicable): GRE Verbal: 760 GRE Math: 770 GRE Writing: 4.5 How many months did you study for GRE general: 1 (focused on verbal and greatly improved my score by intensively studying vocab.) GRE Subject (if applicable): 94 percentile How many months did you study for GRE subject: I studied sporadically throughout the summer, but probably not seriously enough to do much good. Taking the online practice exam the night before the real thing did help. A lot. Researched as undergrad in University (y/n & years): yes (3 years and under 3 different PIs at 2 different institutions) Researched as undergrad in Industry (y/n & years): yes (1 summer) Published (y/n & # of articles): yes (1 article in J Mat Chem) Other: Advice to those applying to grad school: I would have applied to Harvard had I realized that the deadline for chemistry applicants was December 8 before ... December 9. Oh, well. Had I really wanted to go to Harvard, I'd have been as obsessive about submitting my application early as I was for MIT. Keep track of deadlines and systematically monitor what materials have been and need to be submitted. I think 6 schools is about the maximum one should apply to; I certainly don't have time in March to visit any more than 6. I focused on schools that were geographically appealing (for personal reasons) and that I had connections to (I'd met professors from Caltech and MIT at conferences and I'd participated in CPIMA SURE, a summer internship with ties to Stanford and Berkeley). UNC was a back-up school. Columbia I applied to on a whim on December 15 (the application deadline). In my view, the most important part of a PhD application is the letters of recommendation. I had 3 strong letters from 3/4 PIs I'd worked under. If you don't anticipate a publication by the time applications are due, presentations at conferences look good, too. The point is to show that you can produce tangible results from your research. Test scores and GPA are nice, but you need to convince the admissions committee that you will be a productive researcher. For obvious reasons, departments like applicants who bring their own fellowship. Most fellowship decisions aren't made until after grad admissions decisions, but if you have won other scholarships your sophomore or junior year in college (notably, the Goldwater Scholarship), the admissions committee might suspect that you're a likely to receive an external fellowship for grad school (e.g., NSF GRFP or NDSEG). Accepted Schools (aid: y/n and how much and what form; date notified and method of notification): * UC Berkeley (e-mail, Dec. 28) * UNC - Chapel Hill (letter, second week of January) * Stanford (letter, third week of January) * Caltech (e-mail, January 26) * Columbia (e-mail, February 1) * MIT (e-mail, February 8) All these schools offer >25k stipend for TA position. Rejected Schools (date notified and method of notification): none :) Waitlisted Schools: none :) Chosen School: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (tentative choice)

I received an email today (8 February) informing me of my admission to MIT's chemistry program.

I received an e-mail on January 26 letting me know that I was accepted to Caltech and including information about the visit dates. A postal letter of acceptance arrived on or about the same day.