Hey guys,
I was wondering who else has applied to UCLA’s new masters program for chemistry for Fall 2022?
Hi, I’m applying. Did u apply, get in, or anything wanna share abt the program
Hello! Yes I did apply and got into the program! I am apart of the first cohort for the MACS program. I will be graduating June 2024.
Is there specific/advice info that you’re looking for? I’m down to answer any questions you have about the program.
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Oh thank you so much for the quick reply:)…I was rly anxious abt the app process till I saw your reply
I have a bunch of questions, hope it won’t bother you:
1-Is the program competitive? Since it’s new, I was hoping it’s not, but it’s UCLA. I’m applying for this June 1st deadline. I got a BA with a life sciences concentration and a bunch of chem classes. I did an orgo capstone project and other research projects, and I have one published paper. My profile is ok overall, but I was concerned abt the BA degree even if it’s from a good US liberal arts school…I only got admitted at 1 out 9 schools I applied to, and thought that may be the reason.
2-How many students are in your cohort and did most get funding or paid out of pocket?
3-How do u like the program overall? Is the work manageable?
4-Do you know if the chances of getting it are less in June period than Jan? If they accept international students?
5-Should I contact someone in particular in the department to show my interest in their lab or just apply normally?
Sorry, it’s a lot of questions, but this program is my last chance of getting into grad school for the upcoming fall and I’m rly anxious abt the application and wanna give it my all. If you have any advice that worked for you in boosting my chances of getting in, I’d really appreciate it! Thanks a lot!!
1 - When I applied, since this was the first year, they basically accepted most people who had applied (I also think that since it was a new program, not that many people knew about it). However, from what I was told, more people have applied for the next academic year (about 70+ students). I think the BA should be fine. I looked up the requirements of the program and it doesn’t really state the degree needed. Some of the students in the cohort actually got their degrees in biology so I think as long as you have an undergraduate degree then you should be fine.
2 - For my cohort there are 21 students including me. However, next year should be around 25 students. Since the program is considered “self supported” program therefore there is no funding. I believe the program did give out to everyone about a $2000 for the year and I believe they will give that out again next year as well. So yes, it is paid out of pocket. Most students in the cohort were able to find TA positions which covered some of the costs of tuition alongside a monthly stipend.
3 - The program is ok, it does have some issues but I believe its just because its a new program which is why these issues arise (the biggest issue is that its unorganized). The work itself is super manageable in my opinion. The MACS related courses are interesting and not too difficult. You are supposed to take an elective or two per quarter and those courses arent bad either. As long as you participate and turn in your work, an A/B is manageable.
4 - To be honest, I am not too sure if you will have a harder time for the second round. I did ask the program directors if they save certain spots for the Jan round and spots for the June round but I never really got a definitive answer on that. But I would apply anyways because people who got in during the Jan round might choose not to SIR to the program so I would say you still have a chance.
Yes they accept international students! I would say around half of the students in this cohort are international students. Also the tuition is the same regardless if you are a citizen or not.
5 - There is no need to contact anyone in the department for interest in the lab. You would just apply to the MACS program. Once you get in, then I would start asking but you are not required to be in a lab until your capstone project (your 2nd year) and the program director would help place you in a lab. However, there are some students who did start doing research the summer/fall of the first year so if you want to start doing research during the first year, you can. Also the research doesn’t need to be within the chemistry and biochemistry department. You can definitely ask other departments (as long as its related to “applied chemistry”).
These were really good questions! I with you the best! Some advice I can give you for your application would be to emphasize some of your goals for after you graduate the program and/or why this program interested you. Remember, this program is supposed to be more emphasized on industry rather than academia, so my main focus in my application was geared towards my future goals, aspirations, and things that I thought the program would help me with after I graduate.
Thank you so much for the advice. I was really having a tough time getting myself to apply to this program after getting back-to-back rejections, but your advice was a lifesaver, and I started my application today and emailed profs abt rec letters, so thanks a lot for your help!!
Since I applied to mostly food science programs, I need to reframe my SOP and personal statement to reflect what you mentioned about focusing on the program’s goals. Did you have any SOP/per stat example you drew inspiration to write yours for the program?
Also, I’m thinking of emailing the program coordinator and a couple of profs just to show interest and get them to notice my name in case there are a lot of apps, I don’t know how effective this is, but I felt that one of the main reasons for my rejections was not reaching out to profs early. I don’t know how effective this can be, but I’ll just give it a shot since this is my last chance of getting into grad school this fall. Do you happen to know any faculty who are friendly to contact to show interest?
I’m really sorry for bombarding you with all types of questions, but I just wanna give this app my app and not regret it later on. Thanks a lot and have a good day!
Of course! I am happy that my advice is helpful!
So for your SOP/Personal Statement, I would say it wouldnt hurt to include a section on your interest in food science. To give a little background of myself and what I wrote in my application, my previous job was in a pharmaceutical company; however, I have always leaned heavily towards materials science since thats been my passion. It was hard for me to find a job since I had no prior research experience. So I mainly wrote about that and why I was so interested in the MACS program since they offered a Materials Track. My main advice is to speak about your interests and how that would correlate with the MACS program. So if you are interested in being a food scientist in the future, you can definitely talk about that.
Also I agree with you, you should reach out to the program directors. I did the same thing. Here is a link to the program advisors: About — Master's in Applied Chemical Sciences
If you click the “learn more” link below there photos that gives you more info like their emails etc. You can also email at macs@chem.ucla.edu, for other questions about the program. For faculty, I would email Paula Diaconescu as she is the Program Director but she is also a professor at UCLA and does really good research too.
I am cheering you on! I hope you also have a great day! Good luck on your applications.
Hi!! I just got the notice that I got into the MACS program!! It’s 2 am in my country and there is no one to share this with, so I wanted to share it with you first because you’re the main reason that I didn’t give up on this application…thank you so much!!
I’m really happy about this acceptance, but I just need to figure out two things, can you please help me with that?
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The email is from Dr Paula and it says “The offer described in this letter is contingent upon the successful completion of your undergraduate degree, submission of your degree-posted final transcript, and admission approval from UCLA’s Division of Graduate Education.” does that mean that I got in or there are further steps that I need to be admitted by the grad school committee?
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Do you know who I can contact for a TA or RA position? It will be impossible for me to attend without my tuition waived and I really need to get some form of funding for that.
Thanks a lott!!
OMG! IM SUPER HAPPY FOR YOU!!! CONGRATULATIONS!
For sure, I hope I can answer your questions:
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From the message that Paula sent you, it seems that you got in. I think you would just need to send your final official undergraduate transcripts to show that you have completed your degree. I think you would also need to submit the SIR and SIR deposit. You can do that by creating a my.ucla account. If you indeed got in, then after creating your account, I believe there should be a message or some type of form for SIR. If you are having trouble creating an account or not sure that you officially got in, I would email Dr. Tremylla Johnson (macs@chem.ucla.edu), she is the assistant director.
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You can also contact Dr. Johnson or Paula about TA positions, I dont think as a MACS student, we are eligible for RA-ship though. Also, you don’t have to TA for the chemistry department to get tuition waived, you can TA in any department. Some of the people in my cohort have TA’d for the linguistics department and life sciences, so there shouldn’t be a restriction for you in that regard. Although I say contact Dr. Johnson, it is easier if you contact the department themselves about open TA positions to be honest. You can join the “TA Positions Group” to see other department vacancies. Here is the link for that: https://grad.ucla.edu/funding/working-at-ucla/ase-gsr-positions/
One thing to note is since the MACS program is in the category of “self-funded”, we only get about half of our tuition waived + a stipend of about $2500 a month I believe (I think the TA-ship also pays for health insurance too). So that would mean you would still need to pay about $6000-ish dollars per quarter. I would look for outside scholarships if possible. Perhaps Dr. Johnson or Dr. Paula might be able to guide you for outside scholarships or they might know about other forms of funding to help you out.
I hope to see you this Fall!
Got it, Thanks a lot for always helping me figure things out…I really appreciate it!!
6000$ per quarter and a 2500$ stipend sound like a great deal, and I would totally attend if I could get the TAship. The problem is I don’t know how hard it is to get one. When I emailed Dr Johnson, she said that they have only 2 guaranteed TAships within the department, and they would wait until mid-September to hire for those. Also, I tried going through the link you gave me, but as a new admit, I need to wait until the admit term to sign up (I dunno what that really means).
So from your experience and your cohort, do you have an idea how hard it is to get a TAship within the chemistry department or outside? I tutored for Gen Chem and Ochem in undergrad and tutored Arabic and French as foreign languages throughout my life. I’d be really happy if I can get a TAship from any sort in any department, but taking the risk of attending without a secured TAship may be a tough decision.
I am also also trying to get a TAship as well lol. I didn’t do it last year but alot of us in the cohort got TAships last year. However, the chemistry department does things super last minute, so you wouldn’t know if you got the TAship until mid-September. Also, from what we were told, the next academic year might actually be more difficult to get TAship (within the chem and biochem department specifically) since they accepted more PHD students and they get priority for TAship. Also, although theres only 2 guaranteed spots, taht doesn’t mean you wont get a spot, you would just have to apply yourself to the professor who needs a TA instead of going through Tee.
With that being said, if I were you, I would email professors throughout the summer and see if you get any responses. Since you have done foreign languages, maybe you can ask to TA for a language course. You would need to know which professor is TAing those courses (once you get access to my.ucla, I think youll be able to look at the class rosters and check for professors there?). Again, you can try to TA for any course that you have even a small amount of experience, it doesnt have to be within the chem department.
Also i think admit term may be that you arent a student yet (like you would need to SIR first and go through that process since you would need to be a ucla student to get access to those things).
I hope you end up getting a TAship, I know that the process can be frustrating. Most of the people in my cohort didn’t find out if they got TAship until a week before classes actually began, so I hope you get better luck than that.
Hey, I hope you’ve been well. I’m coming to campus next week and as a token of gratitude, I wanna bring u gift for all the help and support u gave me through the application process, but I’m not sure of ur preferences. I’m coming to LA from Egypt, so if there is anything specific u want from there, please let me know!
Also, if u have any material/syllabus from MACS 1st year program, can u please share them with me at nedalsaid585@gmail.com? I’m trying to review some chemistry concepts to get ready for the new academic year, but don’t rly know from where to start 
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Hello! I am happy you are able to attend omg! I don’t think I will be on campus next week, but I definitely will be hanging around during week 0/week 1 ( I am a commuting student btw). Also, I said it in my email but most of your review should be based on what elective you decide to take since the MACS courses (at least in the fall) will be more on developing soft skills and analytical skills.
Also it is very sweet of you to bring a gift! You don’t have to bring me anything, but if you do, I will be happy with anything!
I am excited to see you and the rest of the new cohort next quarter!