Big-Name Schools

     Few people appreciate the fact that faculty at big-name schools attempt to derail their competitors by recommending inferior personnel. Well, some very good scientists wrote strong letters of recommendation in support of my applications to graduate school. This, I believe, is how (for instance) MIT came to offer me admission to its chemistry program, despite less-than-sterling grades and a score on the chemistry GRE somewhere around the 60th percentile. The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of university research is undertaken by graduate student researchers. If Professor A can saddle Professor B with a grad student who is lazy, dumb, or otherwise incompetent, then Professor A's research will prosper relative to that of Professor B.

     Seriously, though, I am greatly indebted to my undergraduate advisor Professor John Baldeschwieler for getting me out of Caltech with a viable career plan. Also, I am deeply appreciative of the encouragement that Professor Ahmed Zewail gave me when I was a student in some of his classes. (This dude won a Nobel prize a few years after I graduated!)

Home