3.8 Chem GPA (3.98 advanced GPA which they requested). Honors. A lot of extracurriculars. 1st author manuscript in prep and 9 poster/oral presentations. Small state school in undergrad but worked at a top-national program for the past year. 4 great LORs. Rejected last year, accepted this year. If you put in the effort and truly have a passion for chemistry, they will see it. SO EXCITED!

E-mail from the department. Seems that they are still working on selecting International applicants, I guess.

Email to check portal.

2 high profile LORs. Low GPA. Top 10 ranked undergrad school. High general GRE, no subject submitted. 1 publication in engineering lab. Less than a year of chemistry research experience at time of application.

2 excellent LORs. Low GPA. High general GRE, did not submit subject. 1 publication in engineering lab and half a year of chem research. Wasn't very committed to any particular PI. Emailed to check status on portal.

About a year of research experience. Publication set for early summer. Slightly above average GRE score good amount of outside work experience and volunteer work.

About a year of research experience. Publication set for early summer. Slightly above average GRE score good amount of outside work experience and volunteer work.

Failed trial to apply for an area didn't been researched before

Failed trial to apply for an area didn't been researched before

Failed trial to apply for an area didn't been researched before

You are spot on about dealing with rejection in a better way. Writing to the committee is a stupid step as well. I guess its just frustration. However, watching so many Americans get into top schools with half as good credentials, whereas 400 international students fighting for 15-20 seats just seems so unfair. It has been so incredibly difficult for us in Asia to even get into good undergraduate institutions. It might take an entire lifetime to overcome the privilege of birth! Incredibly frustrating. P.S.- I am not the person who posted below.

To the poster below, you need to deal with rejection a little bit better. Plenty of us have worked in top labs and published in high IF journals. That does not mean we are entitled to admission into any program. Writing a letter to dispute the decision with the committee is only going to confirm their suspicion that you are not ready for a PhD because you clearly can't handle rejection (which is a large part of being a scientist). It will also make you look bad in the event that you reapply next year. Good luck with the rest of your admits.

What a big and unexpected surprise! I have a solid background in materials chemistry, including four academic journal papers (one first authorship) and two oral presentations. I did an internship in a distinguished materials scientist group but still was rejected by Brown University. I decided to write an argument letter to the committee of Brown; the rejection from Brown is not a piece of good news for me.

Chem E undergrad. Expected.

Perfect MS gap. About two years of research experience. Several award-winning presentations. 4 strong LORs. 1 first author publication in the works. Good SOP.

Good GPA, good TOEFL, 4 research internship at different instititutes including an international experience. TAship, no publication. I thought I have been rejected because of GRE, now it tells a different story.