Just wondering if anyone here has gone to or is going to graduate school (PhD program) for chemistry.

I am finishing up my last 2 semesters for my undergraduate and I was looking for some input on possibly when to take the GRE and how much time should I really be spending on studying for it, and also how did you choose or you think a good way to choose schools would be? I need to make a list of schools to look into and get in contact with so I can visit their campus and have an idea of where I want to go so I don't have to worry about it later.

Thanks

honors first pal

Have you heard of the "Cumes?"

what? honors? graduating with honors? cause i will be....

and yes i have heard of cumes and well yea they will suck.

then id recommend doing a couple years of work first

well thats not even the point... im not asking about work experience... I do chemistry research for my university.. im just wanting to see peoples opinions on how to choose graduate schools and how to prepare for the GRE.. i know what i want to do with my life... just figuring out how to narrow down 1000 options to ~10 is a different story

It's pretty simply. You get a list of the top post graduate programs in your state/country, and you systematically apply to each in orfder of the list, or your personal preference.

The best thing to do is to contact some well known professors or scientists that work in your area (or maybe they're just good, doesn't have to be well known), ask them for some advice, ask them what colleges they would recommend. Look at the graduate class size of each school you're looking at -- the bigger means the more grants they get, which means they have a well known program (and a wider variety of research options too!). You can take a list of top grad programs like ASMOL said, but the thing is that once you enter the top 25 to 50 colleges list, you will find both professors and students of the same caliber -- it really doesn't vary too much unless you go to a top 10 (in which case you will find many high caliber students)

As for GRE...can't really help you with that -- all the advice I gave you is based on what my cousin did at as engineer. Hope it helps.

yea, sounds good.. i appreciate the input.

only problem for me picking out graduate schools that are "ranked" is they get ranked based on some stupid things that dont really make their program better than another... and the fact i dont know exactly what area of chemistry i want to do in grad school so i have to look for a school that is decently well known, but also all of their areas of chemistry are well rounded and not just analytical for example is top and everything else sucks..

thanks for the help guys... if anyone else has some input go for it!

Ok, so regular GREs you can take anytime in almost any major city/university. Sign up for these at your convenience. Don't study for them, just do a bit of one practice test to familiarize yourself with the question format.

Chemistry GREs are a bitch. The next offering is April 4th- thats when I'm taking them. They're offered 3x per year- usually october, november and april, so get on that ASAP. Generally domestic students majorly suck at these, and international students study heaps for them and rock the test. In the end, as a US student you have an advantage in the application process anyway. A lot of state schools do not require the subject test, but you may as well take it.

As for best schools... that depends on what specialty you want. UPenn is awesome for Biochem (but not so good at other chems), Stanford has a decent Nanochem program, Berkeley has a very nice Ochem program. What is your undergraduate research in and do you have any publications?

I also haven't chosen what I want to specialize in yet, its a pain in the ass. You said you had 2 semesters left, so you're graduating in December, right? Most programs wont begin until August the following year anyway, so you've got a lot of time.