1. Graduate School Prep Club:
Applying to Graduate School!
January 27, 2012
6:00 PM

2. Choosing a Grad School
• Rankings
• Faculty Research!
• Atmosphere

3. Overall Rankings
1. Caltech
1. MIT
1. University of California—Berkeley
4. Harvard
4. Stanford
6. University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign
7. Northwestern
7. Scripps Research Institute
7. University of Wisconsin—Madison
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-
schools/top-science-schools/chemistry-rankings

4. Biochemistry Rankings
1. Harvard
2. University of California—Berkeley
3. University of California—San Francisco
4. Scripps Research Institute
5. University of Wisconsin—Madison
6. MIT
7. Stanford
8. Caltech
9. Yale
10. University of California—San Diego

5. Whose research interests you?
• Adviser will be most important factor of your
research experience…
• Choose schools with more than one faculty
member whose research interests you.

9. Tips
• Apply to a variety of schools (don’t be afraid to
apply to a great school!)
• Have back-up choices
• Start gathering application materials early…

10. Any time!
• Look into/begin doing undergraduate research.
• Consider doing a research program during the
summer.
• Read journals and learn about research from
faculty at other schools.
• Start working on your list of schools to apply to
(ask faculty for help)

11. Senior Year
• October
• request recommendation letters/transcripts
• Register for GRE/chemistry GRE
• November
• Take GRE (or earlier), chemistry GRE (October or
November)
• Mid-December—Mar 1
• Apply to schools (look at your choices’ deadlines)
• Jan/Feb
• Hear back from schools
• Feb/March
• Visit accepted schools
• April 15

12. Application Requirements
• Personal statement
• Previous research experience and/or interests
statement
• GRE/Chemistry GRE
• Recommendation letters
• Transcript

13. What do schools look at?
• Grades/Courses
• Research experience
• Recommendations

14. Visitation Weekend
• Travel/accommodations usually covered
• Learn more about faculty research
• Talk with students
• Atmosphere of the program!

15. Myths
• You have to know what area of chemistry you want
to study.
• Grad school is expensive.
• Applying to grad school is expensive.
• You should visit schools before you apply.
• You have to have a great score on the chemistry
GRE.
• If you want a masters, you should apply to a masters
program.