Grad School 101
Not completely cogged from the internet.
The title is, however, pretty non-original.
What you need – Min Requirements
1. 1-2 internships
2. 3 Good Recos
3. GRE, TOEFL, Subject GRE (Chemistry)[Physics or
Biochemistry GRE can be taken if you are keen to
apply in those fields]
4. <= 2 fields of focus (for internships, MSP,
Seminar)
5. Decent CPI (> 8 would be nice, > 9 is enough to
get you top apps if you have the other 4)
Timeline
• First Year
 Concentrate on coursework, try to maintain an 8 above CPI from the first year
 Think about your career goals, and whether you want to go to graduate school
• Sophie Year
 Learn more about the department and see what area you would like (Organic,
Inorganic, Physical, Biochemistry)
 Internship either locally at IIT or abroad .Good to get one reco secured, maybe
even a publication
• Third Year
 During the semester try to work in a lab of choice
 Internship either locally or abroad. Try to work in the field which you would
like to pursue in your further research
• Fourth Year
 Seminar/ Electives/GRE/TOEFL
 Consult the professor for MSP
 Can go for an internship abroad if your professor consents
• Fifth Year
 Apps, MSP
 GRE/ TOEFL before October if pending
 Subject GRE in November
First Year / Second Year
• First year end: Go home! If enthusiastic, read about different
topics or talk to people about it
• Second year:
Imp. Courses: Pay attention!
Talk to Seniors about projects in department during the semester
Internship after second year advised
Start looking at your fields of interest ( You will be exposed to
courses and labs)
 Maintain your CPI above 8
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Third Year
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Start searching for internships in August, September
More courses in department to find out your intersts
Improve your CPI
Try finding a project to do in the department during the
semesters
Fourth Year
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Choose your electives according to interest
Seminar topic and professor should be reflective of your
interests
Search for internships from august/september if you are
interested in a summer internship and get the consent of
your MSP supervisor
If you are giving GRE in the second semester of the fourth
year start preparing
TOEFL can be given a month after GRE
Fifth Year
• Give your GRE/TOEFL before October
• Prepare for Subject GRE(exam in India is
usually in November first week)
• Work hard on MSP and keep the professor
happy
• Be ready with a list of universities and professors
• Work on your applications
Fields of interest
• You need upto 2 fields of interest to app
• Common ones at IITB
 Organic
 Inorganic
 Physical
 Biochemistry
• Other fields
 Nanomaterials
 Chemical Biology
Fields of interest (contd)
• More the better, but too much is bad
• One sub-dept decides to take you
• Two is good to diversify [Organic, inorganic, physical,
computational(good to simultaneously work on biological
applications), biochemistry]
• Ideally, the two should have some solid connections that
you can emphasize in your SOP
• Not completely binding later on, unless you app to a prof or
to a particular group (depends on univ)
• Better to app in areas you have worked on
• Choose 2 fields wisely asap!
Fields of Interest and respective Profs
• Organic synthesis: Kaliappan, Namboothiri, Rodney
Fernandez, V. K. Singh, Suvarn Kulkarni
• Inorganic: Lahiri, Balakrishna, H B Singh, Ravikanth, P
Ghosh
• Physical: Anindya Dutta, S N Dutta, Arindam Chawdhury, G
N Patwari
• Biochemistry: Pradeep Kumar, Ruchi Anand, Durani
• Computational: Sunoj, Sashidar
For remaining profs visit www.chem.iitb.ac.in
MOST UNIVERSITIES
OFFER ONLY PhD
PROGRAMS IN CHEMISTRY
Recommendation Letters
Need 3. Be ready with more than 3 in case profs have a limit on the
number of recos they can send
Plan early. Start looking for these in 8th semester itself.
Sources
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2nd year internship guide
3rd year internship guide
Seminar guide (Same as MSP guide ?)
MSP guide
3rd year / 2nd year Winter internship guide (?)
Course instructors (last option)
Look for recos from researchers with enough experience in the field,
PhDs from good US universities and in general successful
(connections to univs you wish to app to is a bonus)
Apping – What Matters
CPI / DR
 Matters ENOUGH, but not as much as you may think
 Can be substituted with good research work
 High CPI + Decent-ish recos = a top-6 app
• Recos
 Very important
 excellent reco from well known prof = damn good chance of a great
app
• Papers / Publications
 A good publication can do wonders for your application
 Good publication = good reco
 Too tough for a UG, atleast in some areas, don’t run behind
publications. Good research work is always noticed
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Apping – What Matters
• Internships
 More the better
 Prof with whom you work more important than the place you work in
 It should be consistent i.e the field of research should not vary much
• SOP
 Consult enough people and write good English
 A good SOP is essential to demonstrate your past research experiences
and future goals
 Do not copy others’ SOP
• GRE / TOEFL /Subject GRE
 Not important for good universities (1400 above is preferred, 100
above in TOEFL helps when TAship decisions are made)
 800 above in Subject GRE is good, 900 above is excellent( it can
compensate for lesser CPIs)
 Aim to do well enough for it to not show up as a black mark on your app
Apping – What Matters (contd.)
• Moral of the story:
 Univs look for research calibre
 Stuff which proves that, for example
o Good recos from researchers to that effect
o Good research internships and projects
o Good academic background
• Therefore, aim to maximize these qualifications:
Take good internships, do good work and
impress profs!!
Apping – The Process
• Number of univs to apply to:
 Varies with your profile
 App to enough places, but not too many
 Apply to places keeping the expenditure in mind
• Coordinate:
 A person with similar profile and higher CPI would invariably be chosen
over you, unless they are picking many people
 Good univs don’t take too many junta
 Try to have a different profile from others apping to the same place (else
clashes will hurt)
• Choice of Universities
 Aim high: app to places where you think you don’t stand a chance just for
kicks,
 Apply to places where you have a decent chance of getting in
 As a backup apply to places where you will certainly get in
 10 should be an upper bound for > 8.5 CPI junta, and 8-9 should be an
upper bound for > 9 CPI junta.
Apping – The process (contd.)
• Choosing where to app:
 Places / groups / people that have similar research interest to
yours
 DO NOT app to places where there is no one working on areas
that you have worked on
 Customize your application to highlight the work you’ve done in
the area of the group which you want to get into
 Choose univs which have more than one prof in the field you are
interested in
 Talk to your guide and google for places that match your interests
 Overall goodness vs. Group goodness - Depends on what you are
looking for
o wanting to explore (not sure) vs. fixed on area
o brand name / industry exposure / prospects / collaboration vs. good
advisor / better research
o Generally a good professor in a decent university is better than a bad
prof in a top university as PhD is a prof- student thing
Links to rankings of Grad programs
in Chemistry
• file:///C:/Users/DEEPTI/Documents/Applying
%20to%20univs%20for%20Phd/Rankings/Top
%20Chemistry%20Grad.%20Programs%20%20Web%20Ed.htm
• US News website
Apping – The process (contd.)
• (More) Lessons learnt
 Choose MSP/Internship topics wisely. Avoid obscure/non-realworld topics (pick problems being worked on at the places you
want to be when you graduate)
 Do enough research, start short-listing universities early
 Work with well known profs and show them your initiative and
expertise => good recos, maybe paper, all are beneficial
 Work hard on acads, always helps to have something tangible on
your app
 Take that extra step – attend conferences, meet people, look for
opportunities to interact with potential gradschool advisors. This
is not necessary but certainly helpful
Apping – The myths 
• Extra curriculars matter
• You need a +9 cpi to get into a top-6 place
• I can loaf off in my fifth year and still expect to get
a good app
• Aim to publish at any cost
• If I choose a field now, I have to do a PhD in it
• Undergraduate time is for checking out as many
fields as possible
To Go, or Not to Go
• Good Reasons to Go
Enjoy research
Want to teach at the college level
Careers with more autonomy
Deep interest in and dedication to
a single area
 More challenging work (?)
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• Not Such Good Reasons
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What else will I do next year?
Make more money
Prestige of another degree
Pressure from family, friends,
others
Financial Issues
• Funding?
 Ph.D. students are generally supported financially
• Types of Funding
 Teaching Assistantships
 Research Assistantships
 Fellowships
To Go Now, or To Go Later
• Now
 Your TA salary looks big
compared to actually paying
tuition!
 More family responsibilities later
 Larger peer group
 Might lose interest in pursuing
PhD if you defer
• Later
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More professional experience
Greater focus
Financial considerations
Take a break from school to
avoid burnout
General Advice
• Nothing is permanent!
 If you take a job, you can always go back to school
 If you decide grad school isn’t for you, you can always get a
job
 Either way, don’t burn your bridges
• Be flexible
 Many people change research areas
 Program might take longer than you expect
• If unsure, you might as well apply and decide later 
• Applications can be deferred by a year. Check university
website for the procedure and make your decision after
consulting seniors
Best of Luck