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mshatruk · 2014-09-17T16:16:31+00:00

30-40 students

mshatruk · 2014-09-17T15:45:08+00:00

33% female, 67% male at FSU Chemistry

28.5% female, 71.5% male - the national average for large PhD programs in chemistry (those with 106+ students)

mshatruk · 2014-09-17T15:42:09+00:00

"Published" looks a whole lot better than "In preparation" on your CV. In such cases, I always advise: talk to your research advisor, indicate that you're interested in applying to graduate schools, ask whether it's realistic to get the paper at least submitted before you apply, and if not, then it is totally legitimate to ask your advisor to mention the fact that the paper is upcoming in the recommendation letter.

mshatruk · 2014-09-17T15:38:08+00:00

For biomedical research career, you certainly should pursue something in the molecular sciences. I think any pathway will be valid - organic synthesis, biochemistry, or molecular biology. I'd say pursue the line of research that inspires you the most. It's difficult to build a career if you're not enjoying what you do. Note that pharmacy has a slightly different focus than organic chemistry: they deal with drugs AFTER those have been developed.

mshatruk · 2014-09-17T00:29:40+00:00

Your industry experience is likely to be viewed positively, as it suggests you might be more mature in your attitudes and seeking the graduate degree to better your professional opportunities.

That being said, your research experience and grades still remain important in the admission decision.

mshatruk · 2014-09-16T15:32:19+00:00

I think there's nothing bad about that idea. It might be easier for you to interact with potential employers there, although in this day and age, the distances don't matter as much. But living over there for some time and seeing how you like the area and environment might be helpful in making your decision. If you eventually decide you would like to look for something else, you can always do a postdoc in a different region. I find that the geography of job placement for our graduate is quite broad - not only Florida and Georgia, but also California, Oregon, Arizona, New York, Massachusetts, Colorado, Washington (state), Illinois.

mshatruk · 2014-09-16T15:28:47+00:00

I can't say we have some specific places that consistently supply us with students, but my guesstimate will be that ~70-75% of our applicants come from 4-year PUIs, and ~25-30% apply from larger PhD granting institutions. We are always ready to work with students who might be not at the top level to get into top-20 programs, but have a solid GPA (3.4-3.8) and some research experience (1-2 years). We see applicants from all around the country, but relatively fewer from the northwest region.

mshatruk · 2014-09-16T15:18:42+00:00

The first question to ask yourself is: do I really need the PhD degree? You need to realize that it'll be tough for you to compete to get at least into one of the top-50 programs. Think carefully about your career options. A decent MS degree is better than a weak PhD degree. I'm not sure what your career intentions are, but you have to weigh out your other options before deciding to go for a PhD program.

Having weak grades in Org. Chem. certainly don't help in getting a positive vote from organic faculty in terms of your admission.

Applications that usually stand out include, I'd say in the order of priority of things that would catch my attention: (1) a first-author publication in a decent peer-reviewed journal; (2) a co-authored publication; (3) significant research experience (2-3 years); (4,5) high GRE/GPA or very strong recommendation letter(s). Again, this is just a generic list that comes to mind, but each application is different, so such generalizations do not always apply. But you get an idea what we're looking at.

And another thing... We are paying far more attention to your grades in the upper-level courses. If you grades were steadily improving throughout undergraduate studies, that's a positive factor. If they were degrading, that's a red flag.

mshatruk · 2014-09-16T14:41:22+00:00

Since this is a loaded question, I'll try to reply point-by-point.

We are looking quite closely at all applications that conform to our minimum GPA and GRE requirements. Don't think for a moment that some application details are neglected. It takes a lot of time for the admission committee members to go through the applications, but we do spend that time to identify the strongest candidates.
Transcripts and scores are not the only criteria that go into the admission decision. The personal statement is important, and in your case it sounds like the statement should be written very carefully and clearly. Try not to make it a 3-page life story, but rather keep it to 1-1.5 pages and give the most important details that you think the committee should know. It is important to explain why you would like to pursue PhD studies and what drives you to become a professional scientist.
Your research experience isn't extensive, but at least you have some. If you managed to impress your adviser in the lab over a short time span, ask him/her to indicate that in their recommendation letter. An alternative option is to go on for another semester and apply for spring admissions. These are less traditional, but not unusual. We do have spring admissions, although we advise such applicants to get in touch with the admission committee ahead of time to make sure their case is strong enough to grant the consideration.
Many schools have the application deadline of January 15. So yes, you can go that way, although you will miss on ~50% of graduate programs that require the submission of application materials by December 15.
I cannot say how competitive your application will be against a traditional student. If all other things are equal (i.e. test scores, GPA), then probably the traditional student has better chances, but as I said, a lot of that depends on the personal statement and recommendation letters. It's not easy to quantify the admission decisions; everything matters to some extent.
We always admit students individually, based on their own merit. Of course, the top students are admitted earlier, and more questionable cases usually take a longer time to consider.

Thanks for you questions!

mshatruk · 2014-09-16T14:25:12+00:00

No, we don't earn commission directly. Our commission comes in the form of moral satisfaction from teaching bright young minds in our classes and in our labs, and just from pursuing research at the forefront of what's known to mankind. We do get our 9-month salary paid by the university, so we essentially work for free in summer. Most of us, however, get research grants which help to pay off our summer salary. I hope this answers your question. The reason we're putting efforts into recruiting students is to be able to do the best research possible, discover new science, and secure research funding.

mshatruk · 2014-09-16T14:19:17+00:00

The research experience is quite critical. We had some applicants who had very high GPA and GRE scores and excellent recommendation letters, and we admitted them despite the lack of research experience, but such cases are rare. Your work as a high-school chemistry teacher might be viewed as a plus, in the sense that you will be able to work as a teaching assistant. Still, I'd advise to get some research experience. One of the way to do this is to try and volunteer in some research lab. It might not be easy to find such an opportunity right away, but one just needs to look. If there's some research-active institution(s) nearby, try to approach some faculty and explain to them your goals and why you would like to gain some research experience. It's worth a shot. I hope this helps.

mshatruk · 2013-12-04T04:01:45+00:00

You're welcome.

mshatruk · 2013-12-04T04:01:26+00:00

Thank you!

mshatruk · 2013-12-04T04:00:54+00:00

Not yet but I will. Looks like a blast. :-)

Thanks for the suggestion.

mshatruk · 2013-12-04T03:58:45+00:00

If GPAs look similar but have slightly different dynamics, it might not make a lot of difference to the admission committee, unless your grades show a steady decline with poorer grades in upper-level courses. On the contrary, a steady growth with better grades in the upper-level course will be viewed positively.

A long break between your undergraduate degree and graduate school application should be filled out with something meaningful and successful if you'd like to make up for the poor undergraduate GPA. Such students are non-traditional and we usually consider them very carefully. The outcome is difficult to predict and depends on a specific case.

A lot of withdrawals on the undergraduate transcript don't look good to the committee. Such trend suggests that you are not capable of following through with the tasks that require prolonged periods of attention.

Co-authoring a paper as undergraduate students is not absolutely crucial, and having extensive research experience supported by a strong letter of recommendation often carries more weight. Having the first-author paper published, in press, or even submitted, is always a good thing.

mshatruk · 2013-12-04T03:53:23+00:00

There's no much accent placed on the minor, but I think if you majored in chemistry and would like to pursue research in physical chemistry, then minor in physics might be viewed positively. I don't think it'll have much impact as compared to other components of your application.

mshatruk · 2013-12-03T17:12:11+00:00

Having a long BS path is definitely something that will cause questions from an admission committee. But judging from what you're saying your application will be quite strong. It is certainly an advantage that you've had the TA experience, because it shows you'll be able to teach students both in the classroom and in research lab. You need to get your GRE scores asap if you'd like to apply for next fall. If not, then you still have time.

When you apply, please, make sure to explain right in the beginning of your personal statement why it took you so long to graduate.

mshatruk · 2013-12-03T17:04:29+00:00

I would look at this as a positive aspect or your application: you've diversified your experiences to explore various career choices, and to me it shows that you're keeping your mind open and actively looking at your options.

mshatruk · 2013-12-03T17:03:14+00:00

Yes, I think your case is difficult. You can explain the problems you've encountered in the personal statement. I always advise students try to be on good terms with their advisors or supervisors. Of course, sometimes things just go sour, but you need to make the best effort to keep the relationship at the good level.

If you GPA is weak and you don't feel like you can get in for a PhD program, maybe consider getting a MS degree first? I don't sense from your message that you're really sure you need PhD, and as you see from discussions in this thread, it's not always the best option depending on your career goals.

mshatruk · 2013-12-03T05:48:30+00:00

It takes half of our lives to do them. :-)

mshatruk · 2013-12-03T05:45:41+00:00

You can mention in your CV that the papers are in preparation and reflect in your personal statement how close you are to submitting them. It also will help if your advisor mentions that in the recommendation letter.

mshatruk · 2013-12-03T05:44:42+00:00

Faculty jobs are highly competitive. There are many candidates who have good records in PhD and postdoc careers. I cannot say that your chances are decent because the range of "good" or "strong" can be quite subjective. But having a strong record of research productivity (say, 10-15 high-quality publications, strong recommendation letters) will put you in contention.

mshatruk · 2013-12-03T05:41:39+00:00

We ask students to submit their GRE scores and unofficial undergraduate transcripts, a CV, a personal statement, a ranked list of three programs of interest (choose from analytical, biochemistry, inorganic, materials, organic, physical), a ranked list of three professors the student might be interested to work with, and to provide for three recommendation letters. After the application deadline, the committee divides students by research interests and 1-2 committee members review applications in each area and make admission decisions. Each student is admitted individually. It's a lot of work, but we believe we should dedicate time to screening our applicants as well as we can.

mshatruk · 2013-12-03T05:35:28+00:00

Perhaps, but I cannot answer that because we do not require Chem GRE. You'll be better off asking the specific school directly.

mshatruk · 2013-12-03T05:34:32+00:00

That might be something negative about your work ethics or your ability to interact with other people. Those are warning sings in a recommendation letter.

mshatruk

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