<p>I'm sure you get a lot of these but bear with me.</p>
<p>Recent BA Chem graduate from Delaware, 3.08/3.137 Cum/Major, currently working in industry and considering looking to get my PhD somewhere in chemistry.</p>
<p>Taking GREs in early October, but I expect to do well, I'm a good test taker (1390 on SATs if that means anything).</p>
<p>Assuming good GREs, let's say 1300+ and well written statements and letters of recommendation, what would be chances be of getting in someplace?</p>
<p>And where should I look, I live in NY right on the border with NJ.</p>
<p>First off, you have a chance at getting in somewhere; where depends on your entire application package (GPA and GRE are a part of it, but a lot of weight is also put on your Statement of Purpose, Letters of Recommendation, research experience, and your fit at the program).</p>
<p>Second off, nobody’s going to be able to tell you where to look. A) You haven’t listed any research interests, and saying “something in chemistry” is NOT the mentality you want going into graduate school, and B) that’s just being lazy.</p>
<p>Going for a PhD means working in a (fairly narrow) interest; figure out where your interests lie in chemistry, then look at the professors of schools you might be interested in. Ask yourself if you could honestly see yourself doing work of this sort for 5 to 7+ years for a PhD with this professor, then see if you can find at least one, preferably two+, more professors at the school so you have a good foundation there. </p>
<p>Grad school/PhD is far more about fitting a particular institution’s strengths than it is about the program as a whole, and it’s a lot more work than choosing an undergraduate school.</p>
<p>Ok, first off, no need to be rude and call anyone lazy.</p>
<p>I’m not 100% sure on my research interests, simply because I’m not 100% sure that this is the path I will be taking. It is just one option I will be leaving open.</p>
<p>And it terms of potential research, while not specific enough, I’d be most interesting in organic chemistry. Organic synthesis in particular has always piqued my interest (although I know that alone is still not specific enough).</p>
<p>I haven’t looked into chemistry graduate labs, but–if it’s anything like biology–just go to a website you like the idea of (I chose some schools in the midwest, for example). They should have the faculty divided by research interest, and just poke around and see if there’s anything you’d like–that’s how I found out I was interested in stem cells, then narrowed my interest to neural stem cells/viral gene transfer.</p>
<p>And sorry about earlier, not in the greatest of moods and took the ‘where should I go’ the wrong way. My bad!</p>
<p>Definitely not looking for top schools. I’ve looked at so far (and again, in my region, I live in southern NY):
Delaware (where I went for undergrad)
Maryland
SUNY schools (Albany, Stony Brook)</p>
<p>What in the area might be an easier choice and a reach?</p>