I live in Florida and I recently received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Sciences. I finished with a 3.87 GPA, did okay on my GRE general test, and I did an Honors Thesis. I’m interested in getting a Ph.D. in Chemistry. I haven’t decided which Chemistry I want to study, but it’s likely that I’m going to choose between Organic Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, and Physical Chemistry. In the long-term, I would like to get accepted to a position at a university where I can conduct and be involved in chemical research, and I would also like to teach chemistry as a professor. I applied and got accepted to the Ph.D. programs at the following schools. However, I do not know which school I want to go to. I checked out the programs from each school and I looked at various rankings, but I still can’t decide. Please help me make this choice and explain with reasoning on where I should go, as I have a life changing decision to make. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks.
University of Florida
I always wanted to go to UF. It’s definitely the top university in Florida and it is considered as a “Public Ivy”. They will pay my tuition and offer me a teaching assistantship currently worth $19,000 a year. If I go there, I don’t have to deal with residency issues as I am already a Florida resident, and I don’t have to move very far from home. It’s going to be the cheapest of the schools I applied to cost-wise. However, there are a lot of people that go there and I’m afraid that they might have a budget crisis.
Georgia Institute of Technology
It’s a public Institute of Technology and they have a great chemistry program. There is a chemical ecology professor over there that I really want to work with. They are offering me a fellowship that is worth up to $28,000. They are very strong in terms of academics and they offer a huge number of chemistry graduate courses. Out of all the schools I applied to, it was the hardest school I got into. Not as good as the other Institutes of Technology though.
Indiana University – Bloomington
From what I heard, they have a very strong chemistry program. Their Organic Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry departments are excellent. It’s one of the best places to go for academia. They are offering me a five year reward package that includes a first year stipend of $21,373.20, plus $24,617 for tuition fee remission, $1,913 for healthcare, and Chemistry Department Fellowship of $1,000 for my first year of graduate work. However, I keep hearing rumors that it’s a party school.
Iowa State University
It’s a good research school, especially in the chemistry department. They are also good in academics. They will pay my tuition and offer me a stipend with teaching or research assistantship currently worth $22,800 per year. I don’t know how good the university is in terms of reputation though.
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University is definitely a good school. It is no doubt one of the best schools in the country and perhaps the whole world. They will pay for my tuition and offer me monthly stipends, with the exact amount to be determined. A degree from Johns Hopkins is certainly good for my career. However, since it is a private university, it can be a bit pricey and it’s going to be very tough to live in Baltimore. Even though it is a great university overall, I hear that their chemistry program is just plain average.
Which Chemistry Graduate Program should I go to? URGENT!?
The University of Florida would probabally be the best if you wanted to go into research and live in your current area in the future.
It sounds like Georgia got a bump in your rankings because it has someone you really want to work with, but I don't find that to be a good reason.
Indiana and Iowa should be ruled out due to lower quality / reputation right away. Plus in terms of living, either one would be a huge shift from Florida life, would you be ready for that?
John Hopkins is great, but if the program is subpar and you don't want to go into the corporate world (where big name recognition if more of an issue), why consider it?
Which Chemistry Graduate Program should I go to? URGENT!?
Have you visited any of the schools? If not, I would recommend doing so ASAP. That should help. Otherwise, I would go for one of the first 3 that you mentioned.
