Hey everyone, I’ve got some questions regarding the ever-popular REUs!
So my main question: Does having other experiences similar to REUs hurt your chances of getting into one? I hear so much that REUs are only for students that didn’t have the opportunities to do awesome research at their university or at other internships so will me having both of those things hurt me or make my application stronger?
Background:
So I’m a third year Ecology major (And yes…unfortunately I’m a white male) at an R1 university (UCSD) who has been heavily involved in research for over 2 years (Pretty much from my first quarter there). Last year I applied for a few REUs but I also applied for a Summer Research Fellowship at the Institute of Conservation Research, part of the San Diego Zoo. Although I got a couple phone interviews, I didn’t get a actually paying REU. However, I got into the aforementioned Summer Fellowship which was not only a dream come true, but also extraordinarily lucky as over 70 people applied for my position and they accepted 2. So we’re talking ~3% for my department and overall, ~5% for the entire program which I’d say is rather competitive. The summer fellowship was pretty much exactly what an REU is-independent work, top notch facilities, incredible personnel, great experiences, and of course, money. So after that awesome opportunity, here I am beginning to apply for REUs again and this time I really want to get at least one of the 12 I’ll apply to. My grades aren’t spectacular (GPA ~3.3) but my experience and letters of recommendation will hopefully shine as before. I’ll also have some much-needed field research experience as this Spring I was admitted into another program that will let me fulfill lab classes while doing field research all over California.
But overall, as my question lays out, I kind of got into an REU last year and I definitely don’t fit the mold of the ethnically diverse and opportunity lacking REU applicant that they want to see. Will all of that hurt me significantly or bolster my application? Thanks for any feedback!