<p>Hey, I'm a 3rd year chemical engineering student. I want to get an REU next summer, but I don't know how competitive my application would be. What would a prestigious school, like Yale, be looking for compared to a less prestigious school, like University of South Dakota? Do I need to have a 4.0 gpa?</p>
<p>Currently I have a 3.35 gpa, the team leader in an international engineering project at my school, and conducting my own research experiment advised under a professor in the chemE department. Also, I'm a Jewish woman (not sure how much being Jewish counts as a minority for REU). I'd get my letters of recommendation from either a professor whose class I aced, my research professor, or the adviser of my engineering project. </p>
<p>Please let me know what your opinion is, because I'd like to choose the REU program wisely.</p>
<p>There is an NSF website with links to programs and it gets updated as programs open up for applications. Keep an eye on the site for schools that you are interested in. I think that being female is definitely an advantage. There are a few in the Boston area that specifically mention underrepresented minorities.</p>
<p>Doing the applications and getting the one or two recommendations is work and most students have a limited number of recommendations that they can garner from their professors so picking wisely is a good idea. It’s also important to have interest in the areas of research presented. Note that the areas listed don’t always exactly match the projects.</p>
<p>I think that selectivity depends on the number of students that apply. I’ve seen REUs that were still looking for people as late as May because they didn’t receive enough applications. In the current economy, my guess is that there’s much more interest in REUs.</p>
<p>They will be looking for students from the University of South Dakota since typically REUs are aimed at undergrads from colleges with less extensive lab facilities as a way for them to explore a career in research.</p>
<p>I was at a tier 1 research type school for undergrad and I found most REUs to be extremely difficult to get into. Most of my friends were only able to get lucky with one or two offers. However, when grad school acceptances happened all of us got into a bunch of top schools.</p>
<p>That’s really unfortunate because the university I am from is also a top research school. Some REUs request students have at least one semester of research before the application. Do you think they will want somebody from a research university then?</p>
<p>It definitely won’t hurt to apply to those sorts of things. If nothing else it’s great practice for graduate school and fellowship applications.</p>
<p>Be sure to look carefully at the info for each REU as they do vary widely in terms of their objectives and orientation because each school develops its own program. Some will take only students that they feel have a good chance to be published – i.e., the student with a near-perfect GPA, who has already taken a substantial number of upperclass or even grad courses in the field, AND has previous research experience. But there are other programs that want the exact opposite; they are specifically looking for students who come from smaller schools where there are few opportunities for undergraduates to gain research experience and perhaps even limited course offerings in the field. </p>
<p>Also be aware that some REUs clearly state their primary objective is to help minorities or women, and being a white male is really going to count against you there.</p>
<p>The bottom line is: do your “research” (pun intended!) on each program and then target your applications to those sites where you feel you have the best chance of meeting their criteria.</p>
<p>A very good point that a lot of programs are aimed at minorities. I think I was one of three white guys in my REU program of 25 people or so. (I played up the fact that although I’m “white,” the different sides of my family come from very diverse backgrounds.)</p>