Does anybody know how hard it is to get in MRC as a freshman? What can a student do to improve his or her application?
I heard it is pretty competitive - I would make sure the MRC essays are well-written and not done in the last second.
It is extremely competitive. If you don’t make the cut, you can still do UROP, Schedule an in-person visit to the research community and make a good impression. Only about 150 students get in, so it’s a reach for most students. But again, UROP is still available to those outside the community, and it’s a terrific program.
@MaryGJ how hard is it to get into urop freshman year?
I don’t think I’ll be able to make an in-person visit because I live in Europe and the deadline is in May… Btw, does it help (for the diversity) being an international student?
My kiddo had no problems. She’s an average student at UMich and was accepted with no issues. She did, however, do UROP her Sophomore year (though plenty of kids do it their Freshman year) She had a slighly unique situation, in that she did her project at a lab she was already doing work-study for, and her boss sponsored her project. She was also able to do UROP for her Work Study. Was pretty cool to get paid for doing her own research. She was able to land a job at a UMich lab Freshman year, which is a little unheard of…but possible if you’re a go getter. She does a lot of grunt work at her lab, but they’ve given her raises, taught her new skills, given her more and more responsibilities. She kinda lives at her lab. Eats lunch there often, studies there…kinda found her people there. Tons of mentorship and meetings that interest and inspire her.