Super senior thinking about the Ivies

Graduate School
1

<p>Hi guys, this is my first post on this forum so bear with me if I my questions seem very standard and overdone. I’ve read the forum countless times but I truly believe my situation is quite unique so any input at all would be highly appreciated.</p>

<p>I’m a Canadian student and I’ve just finished my 3rd year at the University of Toronto. Currently I’m majoring in chemistry but due to my changing of majors (from biochem to chem) after sophomore year I will need an extra year to complete the course requirements for my chem major. My plan is to either pursue a PhD at one of the following:
-UPenn
-Princeton
-Stanford
-Cornell
-MIT</p>

<p>or an MSc at Purdue if I’m not 100% sure about a PhD/fail to get accepted at any of the above</p>

<p>First some stats about myself:
-Cumulative GPA: 3.96
-Major GPA: 4.0 (A+ in every chem course so far except one)
-Bunch of chem related awards for being one of the top students in the dept + award given by University for being top 100 in the entire Faculty
-3 years of summer research, 1 in biochem, 2 in chem (different profs). Plan on doing research again next summer and also an honors thesis in my final (fifth) year
-Prof this summer said there’s a very good chance of publishing the stuff I’m working on, but of course no guarantee at this stage.
-Will have one solid LOR from current prof and another good one from the other chem lab I used to work in. Obviously still need a third one so will try my best to impress my next PI, most likely whoever I work with next summer/thesis supervisor.
-Haven’t done GREs yet, plan on doing both general as well as subject GRE.</p>

<p>Now everything should’ve been just fine, but please keep in mind that I’ll be doing an extra year just to wrap up my program requirements for my degree.
So regarding that, I’ve been told various things by various people ranging from “you can forget about the Ivies” to “it doesn’t really matter you’re doing an extra year”. I’ve done a bit of research and it seems that as long as I have a reasonable explanation for taking an extra year then I should be fine (in my case it was to catch up with one year’s worth of course requirements) but of course I’d like to hear your guys input.</p>

<p>The second thing that concerns me is my courseload. I took 5 credits (1 credit at UofT = 6 semester hours) in my first year, 4.5 in my 2nd and 5 again just this year. I only need 20 to graduate, any extra would kind of go to waste, so starting this year I’m inclined to just take 4 credits, complete the chem major requirements + chem electives that I’m interested in and call it a day. That and starting next year most of my courses will be hardcore chem courses. For example my schedule for next year, I’ll be taking 2 lab courses each semester, total of 4 chem courses in 1st semester and 3 chem courses in 2nd semester. I <em>might</em> also do lab research during school year so the workload will be unduly heavy.</p>

<p>Again I’ve been told that I should strive to maintain a full courseload, especially since I’ll be doing an extra year, and failing to do so will only demonstrate I’m incapable of handling a heavy workload. Just how important is maintaining a full courseload exactly? I don’t want to kill my chances, but I’d also like to keep my mental and physical health at the same time lol.</p>

<p>Very sorry for the loooooooong post, I’m long winded and it takes a bit to explain my situation and my worries. Thanks ALOT for reading this and giving your insight! :)</p>

<p>EDIT: If I decide to go for an MSc at Purdue, what are my chances of securing funding as an international student?</p>

2

<p>I’m in the “I doubt five years will hurt” camp. With your GPA and your research experience, you should be able to get into a top program. I also don’t think it will matter how many credits you take in the coming year. All they will care about is that you will get your bachelor’s degree. You should briefly address the major switch in your SOP in the context of how you found your passion in chemistry.</p>

<p>Unless your LORs are subpar, you should have excellent results.</p>

3

<p>I don’t think you have ANYTHING to worry about. 4.0 in Chemistry to me is just insane (I’m a UofT-er, also just finished by 3rd year). I have taken 4.5, 5.0, and 4.5 credits during the year, and 1.0 credits in the summer both summers. I’ll graduate with 20.5-21 credits (just cause there are too many good courses!), and honestly I haven’t through about this. I don’t think it matters. This isn’t like CAN med schools where they want to see you take a full-course load. At least I hope it isn’t. Graduate school isn’t like UofT undergrad x10, like UofT med is. </p>

<p>I also don’t think taking 5 years to graduate because you switched majors is a big deal. I mean, that’s as legit of a reason as ever. You decided you didn’t like biochem and switched to chem… okay, that’s if anything, great… it means you figured out what you wanted early on! Don’t worry about this. You are a solid candidate in my opinion, great marks, great research experience, awards, etc. If you are worried then I should be in panic (eh, well, I am).</p>

<p>Also, if you apply and get NSERC grad funding, you can take it to the US. You will have to apply in 5th year with your probably thesis professor. There’s a little part in the application outlining why you want to pursue your degree where you want to pursue it. I am not sure how this works since I will be applying to UofT and McGill as well (I’m in neuro). But I guess you can say why you don’t want to stay in Canada? I don’t know what happens if you apply to UofT, say you want to stay in Canada, but also list US schools and then take it to the US… as I am sure your chances are better if you stay in Canada…</p>

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<p>Thanks for the feedback so far. Good to see another fellow UofTer! <em>highfive</em></p>

<p>I was worried about the courseload thing because if I were on the adcom I’d find it a bit weird for someone to take 5, 4.5, 5 credits in their first 3 years and then finish off their remaining 2 years with just 4. Don’t want to give off the impression that I’m slacking or something. </p>

<p>As for why I’m applying to the US… I suppose the most obvious reason would be the really interesting research some of the big names in the field are doing over there as well as the overall prestige of said schools. They also have a lot more funding than UofT and have better facilities overall. As well I’d also like a change of environment after 5 years at UofT. Don’t get me wrong, the chem dept here is very strong and I love the research environment, but I think it’d be in my best interest to go somewhere else for grad school, even just somewhere else in Canada. </p>

<p>Btw, anyone wanna take a stab at how likely I can secure funding as an international at Purdue?</p>

5

<p>In general, adcoms don’t care about your courseload provided you are at least full-time. People often take a reduced courseload their final year to allow time for research, grad applications, job searches, etc.</p>

<p>As to funding an international student, the only thing working against you is that there are some national programs which are limited to US citizens (like NSF fellowships). Just about anything offered by the university will be 200% available to international students - in the sciences at least!</p>

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<p>OP: You do not say what your intend PhD field is. Why are you only looking at Ivies for a PhD? The Ivy status does not really apply for graduate program. Using biomedical sciences as an example, Berkeley and Rockefeller are considered “better” programs than Cornell and Princeton. Dont pick your schools based on undergrad reputation. The best way to pick schools to apply to is by looking at the faculty research interests.</p>

<p>As an international student, you probably need to apply to more places!</p>

<p>Good luck</p>

7

<p>I thought it’d be obvious from my post that my intended field of study would be chemistry, but I guess I could use this post to elaborate a bit more. </p>

<p>I’ve always been a fan of synthesis, and until recently I always thought I’d go for a hardcore total synthesis lab somewhere. But recently I’ve started reading about organometallics and it completely blew my mind. So I guess I’d be looking at a lab where they combine synthetic methodology along with natural product synthesis, bonus points if they’re also doing some medicinal chemistry work on the side. </p>

<p>It just so happens that the Ivies have some of the best chemistry depts, and the schools I listed all have faculty who’re doing stuff that matches my interests pretty well – MacMillan (Princeton), Njaroarson (Cornell), Buchwald + Jamison (MIT), Bode (UPenn), Wender (Stanford), Fuchs + Colby (Purdue). It also helps that some of them (Buchwald, MacMillan) are pretty big names in the field.</p>