My REU Advice

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

<p>So I am currently doing my second REU at Harvard University and have nothing but good things to say about the experience. It' a tremendous opportunity for scientifically inclined students, especially those who do not attend Ivy League or top ranking universities. To make this a quick post, here are some facts about REU's that you need to know:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>They're Very Competitive - This is no secret, REU's are more competitive than graduate schools because they get a ton of applicants, many of whom have no interest in pursuing science as a career (i.e pre-med, pre-dentistry, pre-pharmacy) and typically, there are a few dozen 4.0s and the like. </p></li>
<li><p>Diversity, diversity, diversity - This is perhaps the most intriguing aspect of REU's, but one which warrants itself perhaps. Many of the students, both in my current and last (which was at Caltech) - are not typically your top notch students, they are however - minorities/women. Don't get me wrong, I would say about 90% are your typical top students, but not all. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>The reason why this is the case is because Graduate School does not care about diversity, at least not at schools like MIT, Caltech, Harvard etc...</p>

<p>3.Connections - Several students I know have gotten into REU's because they're 1) Local or 2) Know someone there already. I was accepted into an REU program at Yale, without even applying. This is quite demoralizing, but it is the truth - networking is very important. </p>

<ol>
<li>Apply to at least 5 schools, preferably more. </li>
</ol>

<p>So My first round of applications, I applied to about 12 REU's. Keep in mind I'm not a minority, and my GPA is around 3.9, and I had about a year of research experience, and 2 excellent letters of recommendation from faculty. </p>

<p>I got into 3, and only 1 of those was one I really wanted to go to. So yes, it is very competitive, and an uphill battle if you're not a minority. </p>

<ol>
<li>Apply smart: Make sure you have an exceptional statement, as well as carefully selected letters of recommendation - these are more important, in my opinion, than your GPA. </li>
</ol>

<p>Any questions, just inbox me, thought I should share my advice.</p>

2

<p>I’ll definitely second the fact that REUs are very competitive. I probably applied to about eight of them my junior year and was only accepted into one. I still don’t even know why I applied for it; I hadn’t even heard of the school before. Was still a fantastic experience, though.</p>

<p>When grad school applications came around I was accepted into a number of top-10 programs in my field.</p>

3

<p>I’m doing my first REU right now. If I decide to do an REU again, should I try for the same place or try somewhere different? Or does it not matter, just personal preference?</p>

4

<p>I’d suggest trying a different place. The REU that you are at right now might not even really want the same student back.</p>

<p>You are getting exposure to research and the host university. You could shoot for something else that interests you in a different part of the country. You might also shoot for a school that you may eventually want to go to for graduate school.</p>

5

<p>You can try talking to the coordinators of the program to see if they allow students to stick around for a second year. If you really like the lab you’re in and could see yourself wanting to go there for grad school in the future, then I don’t see anything wrong with possibly sticking around for another time.</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the advice!</p>

7

<p>I have seen postings for REUs in the Boston area that state that they are looking for Under-represented Minorities (URMs). An example that I found is:</p>

<p>Boston University
REU Site: Expanding Minority Research Opportunities in Cross-Disciplinary Biology</p>

<p>I had a look at the roster of students for Summer 2012 and it looks like at least two participants are black (I looked them up). Another 7 look Latino going by their last names.</p>

<p>Department of the Navy
REU Site: Minority Research Opportunities in Science and Engineering at the US Naval Research Laboratory
Naval Research Laboratory
Washington D.C., DC 20375-5328 </p>

<p>Worcester Polytechnic Institute
“REU Site: Intergrated Bioengineering Research, Education, and Outreach Experiences for Females and Uderrepresented Minorities at WPI”
Biomedical Engineering
Worcester, MA 01609-2247 </p>

<p>EBICS announces its “Engineering Biological Machines” REU program for the summer of 2012. The REU is a summer research program that will fund 15 undergraduate students assigned to EBICS labs at each primary institution: Georgia Institute of Technology, Massachusetts’s Institute of Technology, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. </p>

<p>Program dates are as follows:
UIUC & Georgia Tech: May 29, 2012 - August 3, 2012
MIT: June 11, 2012 - August 17, 2012</p>

<p>Women and students from underrepresented minority groups are strongly encouraged to apply.</p>

<p>There’s a picture of MIT REU 2011 students in the lower left-corner of the second page. I count 2 black, three white, two asian, one hispanic.</p>

<p><a href=“Home | MIT Department of Biological Engineering”>Home | MIT Department of Biological Engineering;

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<p>Part of the diversity they’re also looking for in REUs is what schools the students come from. Most of the other students at my REU were from smaller name schools, typically those without strong research programs of their own. There was a decent number of white guys, but not similar to the usual breakdown you see in engineering of white/asian/Indian guys.</p>

9

<p>When does the application process usually start? </p>

<p>At my university, you just kind of tell the advisor or your prof you’re interested and they will look at your stats and pull the strings. I am interested in going somewhere else, if it’s financially feasible for summer 2013.</p>

10

<p>Most REU programs don’t allow you to reapply if you have been an REU student at said program before. I only know of 3 programs that let you reapply even if you participated in the past. Another thing is that most REUs have program dates that are not flexible, so if you go to a quarter system university, you are at a great disadvantage because quarter system students don’t finish final exams until the 2nd or 3rd week of June and most REU programs start before then. Meanwhile, semester students are able to attend REUs hosted by quarter system schools because the semester system student completes the REU right before their semester school starts. </p>

<p>So it is unfair.</p>

<p>I never applied to any REUs because I found out about them towards the end of my 3rd year and most REU programs don’t allow graduating seniors to apply.</p>

<p>My brother applied to 7 programs at 6 schools and got accepted to 2 programs. He wanted to attend the other program, but the deadline to accept the 1st one was 1 week after notification, so he had to stick with the one he accepted initially. The 2nd program with the later notification date only allowed 2 days to accept.</p>

11

<p>Even though they claim very tight windows for when an REU occurs, they can actually have some flexibility since they know every school runs on a different schedule. An REU I was at finished a week into my semester (school was on the quarter system and my school started earlier than usual in August), and we worked it out where I’d finish a week early.</p>

<p>That said, it’s probably harder to go from quarters to a semester school even if they allow you to start late because you’d miss a lot of the orientation activities/fun.</p>

<p>REU application season is in the late fall. I seem to remember most of them being due by the beginning of January. Be sure to start asking for recommendations in October/November so the people you’re asking have plenty of time to put off writing it.</p>

12

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<p>I saw many that had late January deadlines, some with February and very few as late as March. The one with January deadlines allow you to get your LORs during the break which can be easier than getting them during the fall semester. Basically it’s the same as with any kind of job search - get it done early.</p>

<p>I think that there was one student that arrived a little late on one of my son’s REUs.</p>

13

<p>Thanks for the info - I’ll definitely figure it out sooner rather than later :)</p>

14

<p>Concerning the idea of doing an REU at the same school twice, it depends. Doing an REU in a lab twice means you’re most likely getting a more powerful letter of rec. At the same time, it doesn’t exactly diversify your experience. If you feel like there is a real possibility of getting a paper, I would say go for it.</p>

15

<p>Also, I would definitely recommend applying to like at least 5, unless you know you have a letter which basically says you’re the best student in the world. </p>

<p>There are also numerous non REU programs, many of which are less competitive as well. </p>

<p>The Harvard program I am in now is not entirely an REU thing, its funded by harvard and not NSF. It might not be as prestigious, but its still Harvard. I strongly recommend taking time to look through programs and be very selective in your application process. </p>

<p>Even though I got into a summer program at caltech and harvard, i got rejected by NYU and a bunch of other schools which aren’t that competitive. It could be anything really, but applying to more than 5 is critical.</p>

16

<p>On a final note on the issue of diversity. </p>

<p>There are far fewer african americans than you might think, and generally these schools are looking for people from lesser research institutions, more than diversity actually.</p>

17

<p>Does anyone know of any REUs or SURFs that offer “post-program support”? Some offer these, but I don’t know what this means. Does it mean they help you apply to PhD programs later on or they help you find post-doc positions, tenure-track assistant professor faculty positions, or industrial positions after you get your PhD? What exactly is “post-program support”? I know the Amgen Scholars Program have a network for alumni that only alumni can access through username / password.</p>

18

<p>It might mean any of those things, you really have to e-mail them to ask.</p>

19

<p>Do SURFs / REUs / Amgen Scholars sites / etc. know what other summer research programs you are applying to without you telling them? The UCSD Amgen Scholars Program asks “Are you applying to any other Amgen Scholars site(s)? If yes, which one(s)?” </p>

<p>I am not sure if putting down yes is a good thing or a bad thing because it can be a good thing to put down yes to show that you are dedicated enough to apply to more than one Amgen Scholars site knowing that your chances of getting accepted to each one is around 1%, but at the same time, putting down yes also shows that you lack the dedication and commitment for the UCSD Amgen Scholars program which may lower your chances of getting accepted to the UCSD Amgen Scholars program. </p>

<p><em>Shrugs</em></p>

20

<p>They probably don’t.</p>

<p>These are often run by professors or grad students that already have a lot on their plates. It’s a fair amount of work going through the applications, reviewing LORs, setting up housing and the employee/contractor stuff, getting office space and computers and making food arrangements for ten or twenty students.</p>