<p>REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates).</p>
<p>Does anyone know about this program? There are so many universities with REUs, so how many of them should one apply to? Also, how selective are they and what do they expect? Will they look down upon a freshman with only single-variable honors calculus and linear algebra, mechanics/E&M/waves, and first year honors general chemistry? (as opposed to multivariable calculus, organic chemistry, and quantum physics?) I'm currently a high school sophomore going into university next year so I would love to be enlightened with information about REUs.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Also - is prior research experience required? It would be my first experience in actual research. And are students applying from the same university hosted by the REU advantaged? Also - are any of them friendly to freshman who aren't so exceptional?</p>
<p>I run an REU site in Chemistry at the Environmental Science and Forestry campus of the SUNY system (<a href="http://www.esf.edu)%5B/url%5D">www.esf.edu)</a>. These are usually 10-week summer programs of research in academic departments, involving 10 or more undergraduates. The best place to get information about the options is <a href="http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/index.jsp%5B/url%5D">http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/index.jsp</a>. Also check out SURF (summer undergraduate research fellowship ?) programs.
The REU programs cover all fields of science (including some social science) and engineering and range a lot in competitiveness. For example, the number of applicants to our program jumped from 60 to 110 to 200 over our first three years. We are turning down juniors with 4.0 GPAs this year (our third). Most programs want sophomores and especially juniors.
If professors at your own university have National Science Foundation research grants, they can usually get a supplement to have individual undergraduate students work with them over the summer, given a month or two of notice. This is not usually part of an REU site, which usually has some formal educational programming to go along with the research experience.</p>
<p>In answer to your last questions:
The stated goal of the REU is to get more students interested in research careers, so prior research SHOULD not be a prerequisite. However, a strong letter from a research advisor is usually more persuasive than one from a professor who only knows you from courses.<br>
I believe most of the REU programs are aimed at students outside the host university, so there is little advantage that way.</p>